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The History of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia

by S. J. Quinn · English · Gutenberg #41597 · 770,886 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: The History of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia

Author: S. J. Quinn


        
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Language: English

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[Illustration: S. J. Quinn]

THE HISTORY OF THE CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG
VIRGINIA

Prepared and printed by authority of the
Common Council thereof,
under the direction of its Committee on
Publication, consisting of the following
Councilmen: H. B. Lane, Wm. E.
Bradley and S. W. Somerville

S. J. QUINN, Historian








1908
The Hermitage Press, Inc.
Richmond, Va.

Copyright, 1908,
On all original matter herein,
By
H. B. Lane, Chairman of History Committee,
for the City of Fredericksburg, Va.




Dedication


TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO BRAVED THE DANGERS OF LAND AND WATER IN 1608,
AND DISCOVERED THE SPOT UPON WHICH THE CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA,
NOW STANDS, AND TO THOSE WHO WROUGHT SO HEROICALLY AND SUCCESSFULLY IN THE
SETTLEMENT AND PROSPERITY OF THE SAID CITY TO THE PRESENT TIME, 1908, A
PERIOD OF THREE HUNDRED YEARS, THESE PAGES ARE RESPECTFULLY AND
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY THE PRESENT COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FREDERICKSBURG




PREFACE


_To Messrs. H. B. Lane, Wm. E. Bradley and Prof. S. W. Somerville,
Committee on History of the Common Council_:

GENTLEMEN--When I was requested by your predecessors to write a history of
Fredericksburg, I regarded it as quite an honor, and in the discharge of
the duty I have found great pleasure. Not that the material needed was
ready at hand and the task was easy, but because I found so many of the
best of our citizens eager to assist in getting the material together,
that had been laid away for ages, and placing it at my disposal. Moreover,
their kind words very much encouraged me, and I wish I could here record
their names, but as it might not be proper, I take much pleasure in
extending to them my grateful thanks.

The records concerning the town reach back only to the close of the
Revolutionary war. If Major Lawrence Smith, who constructed the fort and
governed the settlers by military law or "as a county court might do,"
ever kept any records of his acts, we have been unable to find them, and
the same is true of the Trustees who had the management of the town from
the time it was "laid out by law," until it was chartered by the
Legislature of Virginia. Therefore, much that is found in the following
pages in reference to "the olden time," came from families who had
preserved it in various forms for many generations.

In presenting this history it is not claimed that all is said about
Fredericksburg that could have been said or that incidents have not been
related as others have heard them, but it is believed that all important
events have been referred to and incidents given as they have been related
to us by those well informed and who were regarded as authority on such
matters. Nor is there any claim made for originality. The book is intended
to be a history of Fredericksburg, and "history is a narration of facts
and events which may be given chronologically or topically," therefore we
have written in the main what others have spoken and have disregarded
chronology and even the arrangement of subjects. But it is believed that
the arrangement herein is probably best adapted to impress the reader with
the splendid history of the town and the magnificent achievements of her
sons and those men of fame who sprang from her immediate vicinity.

It is believed this book will be welcomed by all citizens and their
friends, whether those friends be former residents or descendants of such,
or those veteran soldiers on either side of the late Civil Contest who
performed such gallant deeds upon our hills and within our valleys. No
soldier of either army--the Army of the Potomac or the Army of Northern
Virginia--can ever forget Fredericksburg. It was in the four great battles
fought in and around Fredericksburg that he won imperishable glory as an
American soldier, that name which to-day is written on the highest
pinnacle of military fame.

No living citizen, or the descendant of such noble sires, wheresoever
dispersed, can ever forget the town or lineage from which he sprang. None
such can ever fail to appreciate those citizens, who, in the most trying
times, and under the most adverse circumstances, were conspicuous for
their love and loyalty, suffering and sacrifice, daring and doing for home
and country.

Let their deeds and sacrifices be preserved for imitation of future
generations, which is one of the objects of this book.

  Very respectfully,
    S. J. QUINN.




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.


                                   Facing Page

  Baptist Church                           132

  Butterfield Monument                     288

  Capt. S. J. Quinn               _Frontispiece_

  Catholic Church                          272

  Chancellorsville Tavern                   82

  Charity School                           232

  Christian Church                         240

  Church of God                            304

  City Hall                                192

  Com. M. F. Maury                         320

  Confederate Cemetery                     122

  Confederate Monument                     264

  Court House                               22

  Eagle Hotel                              182

  Entrance to Confederate Cemetery         222

  Entrance to National Cemetery            256

  Exchange Hotel                           172

  Federal Hill                              32

  Fire Department                          232

  First Mayor's Residence                  182

  Forsythe's Birthplace                    102

  Fredericksburg College                   172

  Fredericksburg from Marye's Heights       12

  Fredericksburg from Stafford Heights      12

  Free Bridge                               22

  Free Lance--Star Office                  248

  Hon. Montgomery Slaughter                 72

  Jackson Monument                         202

  Kenmore                                  212

  Marye Mansion                            328

  Mary Washington House                     32

  Mary Washington Monument                  52

  Masonic Lodge                            222

  Meditation Rock                          152

  Mercer Monument                           92

  Methodist Church                         162

  M. W. M. Lodge                           142

  Old Planters' Hotel                      296

  Opera House                              296

  Postoffice                               280

  Power Dam                                152

  Presbyterian Church                      162

  Presbyterian Memorial Chapel              62

  Public School                            288

  Remarkable Tombstone                     264

  R., F. & P. R. R. Bridge                 312

  Rising Sun Tavern                         52

  Section Stone Wall                       112

  Sentry Box                               102

  Shiloh Church, N. S.                     304

  Shiloh Church, O. S.                     272

  Stevens House                            192

  St. George's Church                       62

  Stone House                               92

  Sunken Road                               82

  Superintendent's Lodge                   256

  Trinity Church                           240

  Trustees' Office                         112

  Union House                              212

  View on Princess Anne St.                 42

  Wallace Library                          142

  Water Power Office                       328

  Wm. Paul's Gravestone                    280




CONTENTS


  CHAPTER I
    Captain John Smith Explores the Rappahannock River--The
    Flight of Pocahontas--Major Lawrence Smith's Fort--Governor
    Spotswood's Miners at Germanna,                                     11

  CHAPTER II
    The Knights of the Golden Horse Shoe--Governor Spotswood's
    Expedition over the Blue Ridge Mountains,                           27

  CHAPTER III
    Fredericksburg Incorporated by the House of Burgesses--Col.
    Byrd Walks about Town--A Church Building Erected--Rev.
    Patrick Henry Rector--Augustine Washington a Town Trustee--
    Stock Fairs Inaugurated--Limits of the Town Extended,               37

  CHAPTER IV
    Encouraging Home Industries--Further Extension of the
    Town--Tobacco Inspectors Appointed--Modes of Punishing
    Criminals--Prosperity--Military Ardor--Under the United
    States Government--A New Order of Things,                           46

  CHAPTER V
    Lease of the Market-House Lots--The First Serious Fire--
    Fredericksburg an Important Center--An Act Concerning
    Elections--Half of the Town Destroyed by Fire--
    Fredericksburg an Important Postal Point--How the Mails
    were Carried--A Congressional Investigation--Amendatory
    Acts of 1821--The Great Fire of 1822--The Trade of the
    Town--Contagious Diseases--The Town in 1841--Acts of
    Extension, 1851, 1852, 1858, 1861,                                  57

  CHAPTER VI
    The War Clouds Gather--Fredericksburg in the Southern
    Confederacy--Troops Raised and Equipped--Town Surrendered
    to Federal Authorities--Citizens Arrested and Held as
    Hostages--Thrilling Evacuating Scenes--Citizens Flee from
    their Homes--Bombardment of the Town,                               71

  CHAPTER VII
    The Great Battle--The Town Sacked by Soldiers--The Federals
    Recross the River--A Great Revival of Religion--The Battle
    of Chancellorsville--Gen. Sedgwick Captures the Town--The
    Wilderness Campaign--Many Noncombatant Citizens Arrested
    and Imprisoned--A Statement by the Council--The Citizens
    and Federal Soldiers Released,                                      90

  CHAPTER VIII
    The Armies Transferred to Richmond and Petersburg--Gen. Lee
    Surrenders his Army--Citizens Return Home--Action of the
    City Council--Fredericksburg Again Under the Old Flag--The
    Assassination of President Lincoln Denounced--
    Reconstruction Commenced--An Election Set Aside by the
    Military--All Civil Offices Set Aside and Strangers
    Appointed--The Financial Condition of the Town--The Town
    Again in the Hands of its Citizens--Splendid Financial
    Showing,                                                           107

  CHAPTER IX
    The Courts of Fredericksburg--The Freedman's Bureau--Court
    Orders and Incidents--First Night Watch Appointed--
    Ministers Qualify to Perform Marriage Ceremony--First
    Notary Public--Fixing the Value of Bank Notes--Prison
    Bounds for Debtors--Church Buildings,                              123

  CHAPTER X
    Public Buildings--Court House--The Jail--Town Hall--Fire
    Department--School Buildings--Wallace Library--Normal
    School--Government Building,                                       136

  CHAPTER XI
    Ancient and Historical Buildings--Mary Washington
    Monument--General Mercer's Statue--Mary Washington's Will,         148

  CHAPTER XII
    Hotels of the Town, old and new--Agricultural Fairs and
    Toll Bridges--Care of the Dependent Poor--City Water
    Works--City Gas Works--Electric Light--Telephone Company--
    Fire Department,                                                   164

  CHAPTER XIII
    Volunteer Militia--The Confederate Cemetery--The National
    Cemetery--The Confederate Veterans--The Sons of Confederate
    Veterans--The Schools, Private and Public,                         182

  CHAPTER XIV
    The Churches of Fredericksburg,                                    202

  CHAPTER XV
    Charitable and Benevolent Societies--Mary Washington
    Hospital--Newspapers and Periodicals--Political
    Excitement--Strong Resolutions Against the Administration--
    An Address Approving the President's Foreign Policy--The
    Names of Those who Signed the Address,                             217

  CHAPTER XVI
    Distinguished Men Buried in Fredericksburg--A Remarkable
    Grave Stone--Three Heroic Fredericksburgers, Wellford,
    Herndon, Willis--The Old Liberty Bell Passes Through Town--
    Great Demonstration in its Honor--What a Chinaman Thought
    of it,                                                             235

  CHAPTER XVII
    Visits of Heroes--Gala Days--The Army of the Society of the
    Potomac Enters the Town,                                           251

  CHAPTER XVIII
    The Society of the Army of the Potomac Continued--Welcome
    Address--Laying a Corner Stone,                                    263

  CHAPTER XIX
    Doctor Walker's Expedition--Bacon's Rebellion, so-called--
    The Fredericksburg Declaration--The Great Orator--
    Resolutions of Separation--The Virginia Bill of Rights,            280

  CHAPTER XX
    Declaration of Separation--The Declaration of
    Independence--Washington Commander-in-Chief of the Armies--
    John Paul Jones Raises the First Flag--First to Throw the
    Stars and Stripes to the Breeze--Fredericksburg Furnishes
    the Head of the Army and Navy--The Constitution of the
    United States,                                                     292

  CHAPTER XXI
    The First Proclamation for Public Thanksgiving--
    Pennsylvania Whiskey Rebellion--John Marshall and the
    Supreme Court--Religious Liberty--The Monroe Doctrine--
    Seven Presidents--Clarke Saves the Great Northwest--The
    Vast Western Territory Explored--The Louisiana Purchase--
    The Florida Purchase--Texas Acquired--The War with Mexico
    and its Rich Results--The Oceans Sounded, Measured and
    Mapped--The Ladies' Memorial Association--The Mary
    Washington Monument--General Mercer's Statue,                      306

  CHAPTER XXII
    Fredericksburg at Present--The Health of the City--Its
    Financial Solidity--Its Commercial Prosperity--Its Lines of
    Transportation--Its Water Power--Its Official Calendar--
    List of Mayors,                                                    322

  Official Calendar--September 1, 1908                                 333

  Mayors of Fredericksburg in Their Chronological Order                336




HISTORY OF THE City of Fredericksburg, Virginia, FROM ITS Settlement to
the Present Time




CHAPTER I

    _Capt. John Smith Explores the Rappahannock River--The Flight of
    Pocahontas--Maj. Smith's Fort--Gov. Spotswood's Miners at Germanna._


In what year the white man first set his foot upon the present site of
Fredericksburg is not certainly known. The mind of man, of the present
generation, does not run back to that time, and if the first white visitor
to the place thought it of sufficient importance to make a note of it that
note was not preserved; or, if it was, it is unknown to the present
inhabitants of the town, unless that visitor was Captain John Smith.

It is stated that after John Smith was captured by the Indians, while on
his trip exploring the Chickahominy, his captors marched him through the
country, amid great rejoicing, visiting the Indian towns on the Pamunkey,
Mattapony, Piankitank, Rappahannock and Potomac rivers, but it is not
stated that he was taken as high up the Rappahannock as the falls. This
trip through the country, however, while it was attended with hideous
yells, cheers and all sorts of mournful noises by the excited throng, gave
John Smith some idea of the rich and fertile valleys, the beautiful rivers
that flowed from the mountains, and a desire to explore them if he should
be fortunate enough to get back to the English settlement alive.

For soon after his release, in writing of the discoveries, having already
explored the Chesapeake bay, he says:[1] "There is but one entrance by sea
into this country, and that is at the mouth of a very goodly bay, the
wideness whereof is near eighteen or twenty miles. The cape on the south
is called Cape Henry, in honor of our most noble Prince. The show of the
land there is a white hilly sand like unto the Downes, and along the
shores great plenty of pines and firs. The north cape is called Cape
Charles, in honor of the worthy Duke of York.

"Within is a country that may have the prerogative over the most pleasant
places of Europe, Asia, Africa or America and for large and pleasant
navigable rivers, heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place
for man's habitation, being of our constitutions, were it fully manured
and inhabited by industrious people. Here are mountains, hills, plains,
valleys, rivers and brooks, all running most pleasantly to a fair bay,
compassed, but for the mouth, with fruitful and delightsome land. In the
bay and rivers are many isles, both great and small, some woody, some
plain, most of them low and not inhabited. This bay lies north and south,
in which the water flows near two hundred miles and has a channel for one
hundred and forty miles of depth betwixt seven and fifteen fathoms,
holding in breadth, for the most part, ten or fifteen miles. From the head
of the bay at the north, the land is mountainous, and so in a manner from
thence by a southwest line. So that the more southward, the further off
from the bay are those mountains, from which fall certain brooks, which
after come to five principal navigable rivers. These run from the
northwest into the southeast, and so into the west side of the bay, where
the fall of every river is within twenty or fifteen miles one of another."

Early in the year of 1608, his life having been saved by Pocahontas, John
Smith made a number of trips, exploring the rivers of this section of
Virginia, entered the mouth of the Rappahannock and, but for an accident
that befell him, might have continued his trip to the falls.

They found fish in abundance in all the streams and, "near the mouth
of the Rappahannock, Smith plunged his sword into a singular fish like a
'thornback,' with a long tail and from it a poisoned sting. In taking it
off it drove the sting into his wrist, producing a torturing pain, and in
a few hours the whole hand, arm and shoulder had swollen so fearfully that
death seemed inevitable. He pointed out a place for his grave, and his
men, with heavy hearts, prepared it. But Dr. Russell applied the probe and
used an oil with such success that Smith was soon well and ate a part of
the same fish for supper."[2]

[Illustration: View of Fredericksburg from Marye's Mansion, showing ground
charged over by Federals in battle 1862. Confederate line at fence. (See
page 91)]

[Illustration: View of Fredericksburg from Stafford Heights, where Federal
guns were located in 1862, showing the old Scott bridge. (See page 171)]

Some writers contend that it was while on this trip that Smith came up the
Rappahannock to the falls and had a battle with the Indians, but this is a
mistake. This trip was commenced on the 20th of June, 1608, and it was
directly after entering the mouth of the river that he saw so many fish in
the clear stream and caught one on the point of his sword; for Russell,
the physician, who accompanied him, says after Smith was thought to have
been fatally poisoned, "having neither surgeon or surgery, but that
preservative oil, we presently set sail for Jamestown. Passing the mouth
of the Piankatank and Pamunkey rivers, the next day we safely arrived at
Kecaughtan."[3] If Smith had been very far up the Rappahannock he could
not have passed the mouth of these two rivers the next day.

The voyage that Smith made, during which he explored the Rappahannock
river to the falls, was commenced on the 24th of July, more than a month
after he entered the mouth of the river and was stung by the fish which
turned him back. As this trip up the river is of great interest, being the
first made by white men, it is here given in full as narrated by Anthony
Bagnall, Powell and Todkill, Smith's companions, who wrote it down at the
time. They say:

"In the discovery of this river, that some called Rappahannock, we were
kindly entertained by the people of Moraughtacund. Here we encountered our
old friend Mosco, a lusty savage of Wighconisco, upon the river Patawomeck
[Potomac]. We supposed him some Frenchman's son because he had a thick,
black, bushy, beard, and the savages seldom have any at all, of which he
was not a little proud to see so many of his countrymen. Wood and water he
would fetch us, guide us any whether; nay, cause divers of his countrymen
help us tow against wind or tide from place to place till we came to
Patawomeck.

"The next morning we went up the river, [Rappahannock] and our friend
Mosco followed us along the shore, and at last desired to go with us in
our boat. But, as we passed by Pisacack, Matchopeak and Mecuppom, three
towns situated upon high white cliffs; the other side all a low plain
marsh, and the river there but narrow, thirty or forty of the Rapahanocks
had so accommodated themselves with branches, as we took them for little
bushes growing among the sedge, till seeing their arrows strike the
targets and drop in the river; whereat Mosco fell flat in the boat on his
face, crying, the Rapahanocks, which presently we espide to be the bushes,
which, at our first volley fell down in the sedge: when we were near half
a mile from them, they showed themselves dancing and singing very merrily.

"The kings of Pessassack, Nandtaughtacund and Cultatawoman, used us
kindly, and all their people neglected not anything to Mosco to bring us
to them.

"Betwixt Secobeck and Massawteck is a small isle or two which cause the
river to be broader than ordinary; there it pleased God to take one of our
company called Master Fetherstone [Richard Fetherstone, Gent.], that all
the time he had been in this country, had behaved himself honestly,
valiantly and industriously; where in a little bay, called Fetherstone's
bay, we buried him with a volly of shot: the rest, not withstanding their
ill diet and bad lodging crowded in so small a barge, in so many dangers,
never resting, but always tossed to and again, had all well recovered
their healths.

"The next day we sailed so high as our boat would float; there setting up
crosses and graving our names in the trees. Our sentinel saw an arrow fall
by him, though we had ranged up and down more than an hour, in digging in
the earth, looking of stones, herbs and springs, not seeing where a savage
could well hide himself.

"Upon the alarm, by that we had recovered our arms there was about an
hundred nimble Indians skipping from tree to tree, letting fly their
arrows so fast as they could; the trees here served us as baricades as
well as they. But Mosco did us more service than we expected; for having
shot away his quiver of arrows he ran to the boat for more. The arrows of
Mosco at the first made them pause upon the matter, thinking by his bruit
and skipping, there were many savages. About half an hour this continued,
then they all vanished as suddenly as they approached. Mosco followed them
so far as he could see us, till they were out of sight. As we returned
there lay a savage as dead, shot in the knee; but taking him up we found
he had life: which Mosco seeing, never was dog more furious against a
bear, than Mosco was to beat out his brains. So we had him to our boat
where our Chirurgian [A. Bagnall], who went with us to cure our Captain's
hurt of the stingray, so dressed this savage that within an hour after he
looked somewhat cheerfully and did eat and speak. In the mean time we
contented Mosco in helping him to gather up their arrows, which were an
armful; whereof he gloried not a little.

"Then we desired Mosco to know what he was and what countries were beyond
the mountains; the poor savage mildly answered, he and all with him were
of Hassininga, where there are three kings more, like unto them, namely
the King of Stegora, the King of Tauxsintania and the King of Shakahonea,
that were come to Mohaskahod, which is only a hunting town, and the bounds
betwixt the Kingdom of the Mannahocks and the Nandtaughtacunds, but hard
by where we were.

"We demanded why they came in that manner to betray us, that came to them
in peace and to seek their loves; he answered, they heard we were a people
come from under the world, to take their world from them.

"We asked him how many worlds he did know; he replied, he knew no more but
that which was under the sky that covered him, which were the Powhatans,
with the Monacans and the Massawomeks that were higher up in the
mountains.

"Then we asked him what was beyond the mountains, he answered the sun;
but of anything else he knew nothing because the woods were not burnt. [A
foot note says 'they cannot travel but where the woods are burnt.']

"These and many such questions were demanded concerning the Massawomecks,
the Monacans, their own country and where were the kings of Stegora,
Tauxsintania and the rest. The Monacans, he said, were their neighbors and
friends, and did dwell as they in the hilly countries by small rivers,
living upon roots and fruits, but chiefly by hunting. The Massawomeks did
well upon a great water, and had many boats, and so many men that they
made war with all the world. For their kings, they were gone every one a
several way with their men on hunting. But those with him came thither a
fishing till they saw us, notwithstanding they would be all together at
night at Mahaskahod.

"For his relation we gave him many toys, with persuations to go with us:
and he as earnestly desired us to stay the coming of those kings that for
his good usage should be friends with us, for he was brother to
Hassininga. But Mosco advised us presently to be gone, for they were all
naught; yet we told him we would not till it was night. All things we made
ready to entertain what came, and Mosco was as diligent in trimming his
arrows.

"The night being come we all embarked, for the river was so narrow, had it
been light the land on the one side was so high they might have done us
exceeding much mischief. All this while the King of Hassininga was seeking
the rest, and had consultation a good time what to do. But by their spies
seeing we were gone, it was not long before we heard their arrows dropping
on every side the boat; we caused our savages to call unto them, but such
a yelling and hallowing they made that they heard nothing, but now and
then [we shot off] a piece, aiming so near as we could where we heard the
most voices. Moor than twelve miles they followed us in this manner; then
the day appearing, we found ourselves in a broad bay out of danger of
their shot, where we came to an anchor, and fell to breakfast. Not so much
as speaking to them till the sun was risen.

"Being well refreshed, we untied our targets that covered us as a deck,
and all showed ourselves with those shields on our arms, and swords in our
hands, and also our prisoner Amoroleck. A long discourse there was betwixt
his countrymen and him, how good we were, how well we used him, how we had
a Patawomek with us [who] loved us as his life that would have slain him
had we not preserved him, and that he should have his liberty would they
be his friends; and to do us any hurt it was impossible.

"Upon this they all hung their bows and quivers upon the trees, and one
came swimming aboard us with a bow tied on his head, and another with a
quiver of arrows, which they delivered our Captain as a present: the
Captain having used them so kindly as he could told them the other three
Kings should do the like, and then the great King of our world should be
their friend; whose men we were. It was no sooner demanded than performed,
so upon a low moorish point of land we went to the shore, where those four
Kings came and received Amoroleck: nothing they had but bows, arrows,
tobacco-bags and pipes: when we desired, none refused to give us,
wondering at everything we had, and heard we had done: Our pistols they
took for pipes, which they much desired, but we did content them with
other commodities. And so we left four or five hundred of our merry
Mannahocks singing, dancing and making merry and set sale for
Moraughtacund.

"In our returns we visited all our friends, that rejoiced much at our
victory against the Mannahocks, who many times had wars also with them,
but now they were friends; and desired we should be friends with the
Rapahanocks. Our Captain told them, they had twice assaulted him that came
only in love to do them good, and, therefore, now he would burn all their
houses, destroy their corn, and forever hold them his enemies till they
made him satisfaction. They desired to know what that should be. He told
them they should present him the King's bow and arrows, and not offer to
come armed where he was; that they should be friends with the
Moraughtacunds, his friends, and give him their King's son in pledge to
perform it: and then all King James and his men should be their friends.
Upon this they presently sent to the Rapahanocks to meet him at the place
where they first fought where would be the Kings of Nantantacund and
Pissassac: which according to their promise were there so soon as we;
where Rapahanock presented his bow and arrows, and confirmed all we
desired, except his son, having no more but him he could not live without
him, but instead of his son he would give him the three women
Moraughtacund had stolen. This was accepted: and so in three or four
canoes so many as could went with us to Moraughtacund, where Mosco made
them such relations, and gave to his friends so many bows and arrows, that
they no less loved him than admired us. The three women were brought our
Captain, to each he gave a chain of beads: and then causing Moraughtacund,
Mosco and Rapahanock stand before him, bid Rapahanock take her he loved
best, and Moraughtacund choose next, and to Mosco he gave the third. Upon
this away went their canoes over the water, to fetch their venison, and
all the provision they could; and they that wanted boats swam over the
river. The dark [darkness] commanded us then to rest.

"The next day there was of men, women and children, as we conjectured, six
or seven hundred, dancing and singing; and not a bow nor arrow seen
amongst them. Mosco changed his name to Uttasantasough, which we interpret
stranger, for so they call us. All promising ever to be our friends and to
plant corn purposely for us; and we to provide hatchets, beads and copper
for them, we departed; giving them a volley of shot, and they us as loud
shouts and cries as their strengths could utter."

This account of Capt. Smith's exploration of the Rappahannock river, and
the country bordering on the stream is highly interesting for three
reasons. It shows beyond dispute, we think, that Capt. Smith and his
little band were the first white men to tread the soil where is now
located the city of Fredericksburg. It gives us a complete history of the
voyage, so that we may become his travelling companions as he ascends the
river, encounters the Indians, prospects for gold and other rich deposits
in the earth about the falls; also as he descends the river and calls the
Indian kings together, makes friends of them, settles differences between
them and their tribes and sails out of the river loaded with provisions,
carrying with him their promise that they will raise more for him in the
future. It gives us the names of many of the tribes of Indians, on the
Rappahannock, their kings, towns and other places, so that we may look at
his map of Virginia and locate many of them. It informs us that Richard
Fetherstone, who accompanied Smith, was taken sick and died while he was
here and was buried in the vicinity of Fredericksburg, he being the first
white man to find sepulture in this part of Virginia.

The locations of the following places, found on Smith's map of Virginia,
and mentioned in this work, will be of interest to many, and especially to
those who are familiar with the country. They seem to be located as
follows: Secobeck was just west of the city's almshouse: Massauteck was
located just back of Chatham; Fetherstone's bay is in Stafford, opposite
the upper end of Hunter's Island; Accoqueck was near R. Innis Taylor's
residence; Sockbeck was in the neighborhood of J. Bowie Gray's;
Anasheroans were about Moss Neck; King Nandtaughtacund lived near Port
Royal; King Cultatawoman was located in Stafford, just below Snowdon; King
Pissassack was located in Westmoreland county, near Leedstown; King
Tapahanock lived in the upper part of Lancaster county; Mahakahod was
about the line of Stafford and Culpeper counties; Hassininga was about
Indian Town in Orange county; Stegara was in the upper part of Orange, on
the Rapid Ann river; and Tauxuntania was located near the foot of the Blue
Ridge mountains.

The several towns at and near the falls of the river made it a general
rendezvous of all tribes for this part of Virginia. It was a favorite
place at which to meet for hunting, fishing and other sports, as was the
case when Smith reached here. It is more than probable that the beautiful
and fascinating Pocahontas, who saved the life of John Smith and who
captivated the bold and fearless Rolfe, spent some time at this point, in
her journeyings, resting here and feasting her youthful eyes upon the
magnificent scenery of the Rappahannock falls, and engaging in the sports
and pastimes of her distinguished father's subjects.

We are told[4] that in 1611 she was entrusted by her father, Powhatan, to
Chief Japazaws, who carried her to his home on the Potomac river, where
she lived some time in retirement--that is, away from the stirring scenes
around Jamestown. It is not, therefore, unreasonable to suppose that much
of the time she was with Japazaws was spent at this point, the favorite
gathering place of all the tribes at the different seasons of the year.

Why Pocahontas left her home for the protection of Japazaws is not
positively known. Howe thinks Powhatan was preparing for a great war with
the new settlers and wanted to get his daughter away from danger and the
exposure and discomfort that would result from such a conflict. Stith
gives no reason, "except it was to withdraw herself from being a witness
to the frequent butcheries of the English, whose folly and rashness, after
Smith's departure, put it out of her power to save them."

In the year 1612 Capt. Argall took a trip up the Potomac in search of corn
and other supplies for the English settlers, fell in with the old chief
and purchased the young princess from him, the price agreed upon being a
copper kettle, which was readily given. This prize Argall took to
Jamestown, where he hoped to receive a considerable sum from Powhatan for
her redemption, but the old King became very angry and refused to pay
anything, but declared he preferred to fight for her. The young princess
afterwards married Capt. John Rolfe.

At what time the first settlement was made at Fredericksburg is unknown,
but it must have been at a very early date. It is more than likely that it
was one of the many plantations that dotted the banks of our principal
rivers in the early settlement of the country, for, in 1622, John Smith
proposed to the London Company "to protect all their planters from the
James to the Potomac"[5] which territory must have included one or more
plantations on the Rappahannock river, because it lies immediately between
the James and Potomac rivers and is the largest stream between those two
rivers. And if there was a plantation on the Rappahannock it was, no
doubt, in the neighborhood of Fredericksburg. John Smith had visited the
place twelve years before and had found it "beautiful and inviting" and
an excellent place for a settlement, and possibly he recommended and
procured the location of a plantation in this vicinity.

But, whether or not this supposition be true, we know that the
Rappahannock falls some years afterwards became a point of considerable
interest and steps were taken to fortify and defend it; and for that
purpose a fort was ordered to be built here in 1676 to protect settlers
from the incursions of the Indians, who continued troublesome, which was
garrisoned by quite a number of men. "At a grand assemblie held at James
cittie, between the 20th of September, 1674, and the 17th of March, 1675,"
it was ordered that "One hundred and eleven men out of Gloucester be
garrisoned at one ffort or place of defence, at or near the ffalls of
Rappahannock River, of which ffort Major Lawrence Smith to be Captain or
Chiefe Commander," and that the fort be furnished with "ffour hundred and
eighty pounds of powder and ffourteen hundred and fforty three pounds of
Shott."[6]

This fort, it seems, was not constructed that year, but in 1679, Major
Lawrence Smith, upon his own suggestion, was authorized to settle or
"seate down at or near said fort by the last day of March, 1681," which we
are informed he did, and to have in readiness, on all occasions at the
beating of a drum, fifty able men, well armed, with sufficient ammunition,
and two hundred more within the space of a mile along the river, prepared
always to march twenty miles in any direction from the fort; and it was
stipulated that should they be obliged to go more than twenty miles
distance, they were to be paid for their time thus employed at the rate
paid to other "soulders." He was also empowered "to execute Martiall
discipline" among the fifty "souldiers so put in arms," both in times of
war and peace, and with "two others of said privileged place," he was to
hear and determine all cases, civil and criminal, that should arise in
said limits, as a county court might do, and to make by-laws for the same.
These military settlers were privileged from arrest for any debts except
those due the King and those contracted among themselves, and were free
from taxes and levies except from those laid within their own limits.

This fort was not named by the act authorizing its construction, and if
any was given it after its completion, it does not appear in the histories
or records at our disposal. It is quite likely it had some designation, if
nothing more than the Rappahannock fort--Smith's fort on the
Rappahannock--and it may have been known by one or the other until the
place was laid out for a town and received its present name. Or it may
have been known as "The Lease Land," the designation it had when it was
incorporated forty-six years afterwards.

It has been suggested, and believed by some few to be true, that this fort
was built at Germanna, about eighteen miles above the Rappahannock falls,
but this claim cannot be maintained. It is known that all of these
plantations and military stations were located on navigable rivers and
were reached and communicated with mostly, if not exclusively, by sail
vessels, and it is not reasonable to suppose that this fort was located
eighteen miles above tidewater, where it could not be reached by such
vessels. In addition to this objection, it may be added that the "gallant
cavalier, Governor Spotswood, at the head of the chivalry of Virginia,"
never made his dash above the falls to the "blue ridge of mountains" until
the year 1720[7] [1716 is the correct date], nearly fifty years after the
construction of the fort at or near the falls.

Besides this, Governor Spotswood did not come to Virginia as Governor
until the year 1710. After coming to this country he became possessed of
lands on the Rappahannock, at the mouth of Massaponax run, and from there
up the ridge, west of Fredericksburg, to the Rapidan river at Germanna. We
do not know when he became possessed of these lands, but it is known that
he built a wharf near the mouth of Massaponax run and opened the ridge
road from there to Germanna, now called Mine Road, over which he hauled
his iron ore for shipment. And so it was said, and it was true, that he
could go from his wharf on the Rappahannock to Germanna on the Rapidan on
his own lands without crossing a stream.

Germanna was settled in April, 1714, thirty-eight years after this fort
was built and thirty-four years before Governor Spotswood came to
Virginia. It was settled by twelve German families, who had been induced
by Governor Spotswood to come over from Germany to develop the iron and
silver mines he desired opened on his land, recently acquired by him,
several miles above the falls. These were the first iron mines opened and
operated in this new country, and being the first worker in iron gave him
the honorable appellation of the "Tubal Cain of America."

[Illustration: The Free Bridge over the Rappahannock River to Stafford
Heights. (See page 171)]

[Illustration: The City Court House and Clerk's Office. (See page 142)]

It has been a tradition held by some that the Germans, who settled
Germanna, came to this country as paupers, and when they landed at
Tappahannock, where their vessel anchored, they were unable to pay their
passage and were virtually sold to Governor Spotswood for a term of years,
he to pay the passage money and furnish the land upon which they were to
settle. It is further said that he induced them to settle on the river,
above Fredericksburg, where they built small huts, called the place
Germanna and opened the mines which proved so remunerative to the
Governor.

Much of this statement, however, is denied by the descendants of these
pioneers, who resent the charge of pauperism and show that these first
settlers were men of education, were skilled miners, and that they came to
this country under contract with Governor Spotswood, bringing with them
letters of commendation from gentlemen of influence and official position.

From a paper prepared, and left to posterity, by Rev. James Kemper, a
grandson of the emigrant, John Kemper,[8] we are able to cull some
interesting facts connected with these people, who became neighbors and
friends of the early settlers of Fredericksburg, and many of whose
descendants are now among us.

These Germans "did not 'happen' to come to Virginia, but came upon the
invitation of the Baron de Graffureid, who was a friend to Governor
Spotswood, and for the express purpose of developing the iron ore deposits
discovered by the latter upon his lands in the present county of
Spotsylvania. These people came from the town of Müsen, which was then in
the old province of Nassau Siegen, Westphalia, Germany. At Müsen there is
an iron mine which has been worked since the early part of the fourteenth
century, and is operated to this day. They were skilled workers in iron
and steel from the Müsen mines and built the old furnace in Spotsylvania
county."

These pioneers remained at Germanna until about 1720, when, owing to some
difference with Governor Spotswood, they removed to what is now Fauquier
county, then Stafford, later Prince William, and in 1759 the portion they
settled became Fauquier. They settled about nine miles south of Warrenton
on a small stream called Licking Run and named the place Germantown--thus
keeping up the German identity,--which is one mile north of Madison
station on the Southern railroad.

Rev. James Kemper, in the paper referred to, says the first year they were
in Germantown they "packed all of their provisions from Fredericksburg on
their heads and raised their first crop with their hoes, in both of which
the women bore a part." This shows that the village, afterwards called
Fredericksburg, was the trading place of the country above the falls at
that period.

The names of the twelve men who, with their families, settled Germanna,
are John Kemper, John Huffman, Jacob Holtzclaw, Tillman Weaver, John
Fishback, Harman Fishback, Harman Utterback, John Joseph Martin, Peter
Hitt, Jacob Coons, ---- Wayman and ---- Hanback. The Rev. Henry Hagen was
their minister.

These people were picked men for a special purpose, to do that which no
one then in Virginia could do--manufacture iron. Their descendants are
scattered all over this country and have filled high positions in the Army
and Navy, as well as in State and Church. They did two things worthy of
note: They laid the foundation of the German Reformed Church in the United
States,[9] and also the iron and steel industry, which now requires
billions of dollars to carry on successfully, and both of these were done
at Germanna, in Spotsylvania county, Virginia.

It has also been contended that the fort, built near the falls of the
Rappahannock river, was constructed on the north side of the river and
that the place where Falmouth now stands was the center of the military
district.[10] This assertion is not substantiated by any record we have
seen, and we are not prepared, in the absence of proof, to accept it.

There are two reasons which may be given which, we think, will show that
the site of Falmouth would have been an improper and unsafe location for
the fort, both of which would have suggested themselves to the
constructors of the fort. One is, that the place is on the bend of the
river and is surrounded by high hills, now known as Stafford Heights. From
the crest of these hills the fort could have been attacked by the enemy
and captured by any small force. And if it had not been captured the
elevation would have given the Indians great advantage over the garrison,
making their arrows very effective. To have placed the fort on either one
of the high hills would have thrown the garrison too far from the river to
protect their sail vessels, and in case they had been compelled to give up
the fort they could not have reached their vessels in the river, which, in
the past, had proved a safer refuge than the poorly constructed forts of
that day.

The other reason is, that to have constructed the fort on the north side
of the river would have placed the almost impassable Rappahannock between
the garrison and their remote friends on the south side, from whom alone
they could look for relief in case they had been besieged, or if they had
been compelled to retreat.

For these reasons, if for no other, we are satisfied that the fort was not
located on the north side of the river, but on the south side and in the
vicinity of where Fredericksburg now stands.

But this author, in speaking of the fort, says "not one stone or brick of
the fort is left on another, but the terraces on the long hill back of the
riverside houses still bear traces of ancient work." But this does not
prove the contention.

It should be remembered that forts were not constructed in those times of
stones and bricks, nor even of earthen walls, as they have since been,
but of wooden poles or logs, and very temporary at that. John Fontaine
gives a minute description of the fort built by the Germans at Germanna in
the year 1714, which will help us to understand what a fort was in those
days.

"We walked about the town, which is palisaded with stakes stuck in the
ground, and laid close the one to the other, and of substance to bear out
a mussket-shot. There are but nine families, and they have nine houses,
built all in a line; and before every house, about twenty feet distant
from it, they have small sheds built for their hogs and hens, so that the
hog-sties and houses make a street. The place that is poled in is a
pentagon, very regularly laid out; and in the very center there is a
block-house, made with five sides, which answer to the five sides of the
great enclosure; there are loop holes through it, from which you may see
all the inside of the enclosure. This was intended for a retreat for the
people, in case they were not able to defend the palisadoes, if attacked
by the Indians."[11] Col. Byrd, in 1732, called this a fort.




CHAPTER II

THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN HORSE SHOE.

    _Governor Spotswood and Others Start on an Expedition over the Blue
    Ridge Mountains--They Pass Through what is now Fredericksburg--They
    Join Others at Germanna, where they make Extensive Preparations--The
    Country Rough and the Woods Dense--Bears, Deer, Turkeys, Squirrels and
    Snakes Plentiful--The Summit of the Mountain Reached--The Sublime
    Scene--The Health of the King Drank and the Country Taken Possession
    of in His Name--The Shenandoah River, &c._


Two years after the settlement of Germanna Governor Spotswood visited the
place, in company with gentlemen and others who were to accompany him in
his famous expedition over the Blue Ridge mountains, which has been the
theme of the writers of song and story, and upon which has recently been
founded a secret benevolent order. So much has been written about this
expedition, in this country and in Europe, into which so much romance has
been woven, and yet so little is known about it by the general public, at
the expense of length and tediousness to the reader of the narrative, we
propose to give John Fontaine's[12] diary, written daily as they
progressed on the journey, from the time he left Williamsburg with the
Governor, until he returned to that city, that we may be thoroughly
informed of all the particulars. The expedition was made in August and
September, 1716, and the following is John Fontaine's diary:

Williamsburg, 20th August, 1716.--In the morning got my horses ready, and
what baggage was necessary, and I waited on the Governor who was in
readiness for an expedition over the Appalachian mountains. We breakfasted
and about ten got on horseback, and, at four came to the Brickhouse, upon
York River, where we crossed the ferry and at six came to Mr. Austin
Moore's house[13] on Mattapony River, in King William County; here we lay
all night and were well entertained.

21st.--Fair weather. At ten we set out from Mr. Moore's, and crossed the
river of Mattapony, and continued on the road, and were on horseback till
nine of the clock at night, before we came to Mr. Robert Beverley's house
where we were well entertained, and remained this night.

22nd.--At nine in the morning we set out from Mr. Beverley's. The Governor
left his chaise here, and mounted his horse. The weather fair, we
continued on our journey until we came to Mr. Woodford's where we lay, and
were well entertained. This house lies on Rappahannock River ten miles
below the falls.

23rd.--Here we remained all this day, and diverted ourselves and rested
our horses.

24th.--In the morning, at seven, we mounted our horses and came to Austin
Smith's house[14] about ten, where we dined, and remained till about one
of the clock, when we set out, and about nine of the clock we came to the
German-town, where we rested that night--bad beds and indifferent
entertainment.

German-town, 25th.--After dinner we went to see the mines, but I could not
observe that there was any good mine. The Germans pretend that it is a
silver mine; we took some of the ore and endeavored to run it, but could
get nothing out of it, and I am of opinion it will not come to anything,
no, not as much as lead. Many of the gentlemen of the county are concerned
in this work. We returned and to our hard beds.

26th.--At seven we got up, and several gentlemen of the country, that
were to meet the Governor at this place for the expedition, arrived here,
as also two companies of Rangers, consisting each of six men, and an
officer. Four Meherrin Indians also came.[15] In the morning I diverted
myself with other gentlemen shooting at a mark. At twelve we dined, and
after dinner we mounted our horses and crossed the Rappahannoc River that
runs by this place, and went to find out some convenient place for our
horses to feed in, and to view the land hereabouts. Our guide left us, and
we went so far in the woods that we did not know the way back again; and
so we hallowed and fired our guns. Half an hour after sunset the guide
came to us, and we went to cross the river by a ford higher up. The
descent to the river being steep, and the night dark, we were obliged to
dismount and lead our horses down to the river side, which was very
troublesome. The bank being very steep, the greatest part of our company
went into the water to mount their horses, where they were up to the
crotch in the water. After we had forded the river and came to the other
side, where the bank was steep also, in going up, the horse of one of our
company slipped and fell back into the river on the top of his rider, but
he received no other damage than being heartily wet, which made sport for
the rest. A hornet stung one of the gentlemen in the face which swelled
prodigiously. About ten we came to the town, where we supped, and to bed.

27th.--We got our tents in order, and our horses shod. About twelve I was
taken with a violent headache and pains in all my bones, so that I was
obliged to lie down, and was very bad that day.

28th.--About one in the morning I was taken with a violent fever, which
abated about six at night, and I began to take the bark, and had one ounce
divided into eight doses, and took two of them by ten of the clock that
night. The fever abated, but I had great pains in my head and bones.

29th.--In the morning we got all things in readiness, and about one we
left the German-town to set out on our intended journey. At five in the
afternoon, the Governor gave orders to encamp near a small river, three
miles from Germanna, which we called Expedition Run, and here we lay all
night. The first encampment was called Beverley Camp, in honor of one of
the gentlemen of our party. We made great fires, and supped, and drank
good punch. By ten of the clock I had taken all of my ounce of Jesuit's
Bark, but my head was much out of order.

30th.--In the morning about seven of the clock, the trumpet sounded to
awake all the company, and we got up. One Austin Smith, one of the
gentlemen with us, having a fever, returned home. We had lain upon the
ground under cover of our tents, and we found by the pains in our bones
that we had not had good beds to lie upon. At nine in the morning, we sent
our servants and baggage forward, and we remained, because two of the
Governor's horses had strayed. At half past two we got the horses, at
three we mounted, and at half an hour after four, we came up with our
baggage at a small river, three miles on the way, which we called Mine
River, because there was an appearance of a silver mine by it. We made
about three miles more, and came to another small river, which is at the
foot of a small mountain, so we encamped here and called it Mountain Run,
and our camp we called Todd's Camp. We had good pasturage for our horses,
and venison in abundance for ourselves which we roasted before the fire
upon wooden forks, and so we went to bed in our tents. Made 6 miles this
day.

31st.--At eight in the morning we set out from Mountain Run, and after
going five miles we came upon the upper part of Rappahannoc River. One of
the gentlemen and I, we kept on one side of the company about a mile, to
have the better hunting. I saw a deer, and shot him from my horse, but the
horse threw me a terrible fall and ran away; we ran after, and with a
great deal of difficulty got him again; but we could not find the deer I
had shot, and we lost ourselves, and it was two hours before we could come
upon the track of our company. About five miles further we crossed the
same river again, and two miles further we met with a large bear, which
one of our company shot, and I got the skin. We killed several deer, and
about two miles from the place where we killed the bear, we encamped upon
Rappahannock River. From our encampment we could see the Appalachian Hills
very plain. We made large fires, pitched our tents, and cut bows to lie
upon, had good liquor, and at ten we went to sleep. We always kept a
sentry at the Governor's door. We called this Smith's Camp. Made this day
fourteen miles.

1st September.--At eight we mounted our horses, and made the first five
miles of our way through a very pleasant plain, which lies where
Rappahannock River forks. I saw there the largest timber, the finest and
deepest mould, and the best grass that I ever did see.[16] We had some of
our baggage put out of order, and our company dismounted, by hornets
stinging the horses. This was some hindrance, and did a little damage, but
afforded a great deal of diversion. We killed three bears this day, which
exercised the horses as well as the men. We saw two foxes but did not
pursue them; we killed several deer. About five of the clock, we came to a
run of water at the foot of a hill, where we pitched our tents. We called
the encampment Dr. Robinson's Camp, and the river Blind Run. We had good
pasturage for our horses, and every one was cook for himself. We made our
beds with bushes as before. On this day we made 13 miles.

2nd.--At nine we were all on horseback and after riding about five miles
we crossed Rappahannoc river,[17] almost at the head, where it is very
small. We had a rugged way; we passed over a great many small runs of
water, some of which were deep, and others very miry. Several of our
company were dismounted, some were down with their horses, others under
their horses, and some thrown off. We saw a bear running down a tree, but
it being Sunday we did not endeavor to kill anything. We encamped at five
by a small river we called White Oak River,[18] and called our Camp
Taylor's Camp.

3rd.--About eight we were on horseback, and about ten we came to a
thicket, so tightly laced together, that we had a great deal of trouble
to get through; our baggage was injured, our clothes torn all to rags, and
the saddles and holsters also torn. About five of the clock we encamped
almost at the head of James River,[19] just below the great mountains. We
called this camp Colonel Robertson's Camp. We made all this day but eight
miles.

4th.--We had two of our men sick with the measles, and one of our horses
poisoned with a rattlesnake. We took the heaviest of our baggage, our
tired horses, and the sick men, and made as convenient a lodge for them as
we could, and left people to guard them, and hunt for them. We had
finished this work by twelve, and so we went out. The sides of the
mountains were so full of vines and briers, that We were forced to clear
most of the way before us. We crossed one of the small mountains this side
of the Appalachian, and from the top of it we had a fine view of the
plains below. We were obliged to walk up the most of the way, there being
an abundance of loose stones on the side of the hill. I killed a large
rattlesnake here, and the other people killed three more. We made about
four miles and so came to the side of James River, where a man may jump
over it, and there we pitched our tents. As the people were lighting the
fire, there came out of a large log of wood a prodigious snake, which they
killed; so this camp was called Rattlesnake Camp, but it was otherwise
called Brook's Camp.

5th.--A fair day. At nine we were mounted; we were obliged to have axe-men
to clear the way in some places. We followed the windings of James River,
observing that it came from the very top of the mountains. We killed two
rattlesnakes during our ascent. In some places it was very steep, in
others it was so that we could ride up. About one of the clock we got to
the top of the mountain; about four miles and a half, and we came to the
very head spring of James River, where it runs no bigger than a man's arm,
from under a large stone. We drank King George's health and all the Royal
Family's at the very top of the Appalachian mountains. About a musket-shot
from the spring is another, which rises and runs down on the other side;
it goes westward, and we thought we could go down that way, but we met
with such prodigious precipices, that we were obliged to return to the top
again. We found some trees which had been formerly marked, I suppose, by
the Northern Indians, and following these trees, we found a good, safe
descent. Several of the company were for returning; but the Governor
persuaded them to continue on. About five we were down on the other side,
and continued our way for about seven miles further, until we came to a
large river, by the side of which we encamped. We made this day fourteen
miles. I, being somewhat more curious than the rest, went on a high rock
on the top of the mountain, to see fine prospects, and I lost my gun. We
saw, when we were over the mountains, the footing of elks and buffaloes,
and their beds. We saw a vine which bore a sort of wild cucumber; and a
shrub with a fruit like unto a currant. We eat very good wild grapes. We
called this place Spotswood Camp, after our Governor.

[Illustration: "Mary Washington House," home of Mary, the Mother of
Washington, and where she died in 1789; now the property of the A. P. of
V. A. (See page 157)]

[Illustration: "Federal Hill," home of Thomas Reade Rootes, Gov. Brooke,
etc.; now the residence of Mrs. H. Theodore Wight. (See page 153)]

6th.--We crossed the river, which we called Euphrates.[20] It is very
deep; the main course of the water is North; it is fourscore yards wide in
the narrowest part. We drank some healths on the other side, and returned;
after which I went a swimming in it. We could not find any fordable place,
except the one by which we crossed, and it was deep in several places. I
got some grass hoppers and fished; and another and I, we caught a dish of
fish, some perch, and a fish they called chub. The others went a hunting,
and killed deer and turkeys. The Governor had graving irons, but could not
grave anything, the stones were so hard, I graved my name on a tree by the
river side; and the Governor buried a bottle with a paper enclosed, on
which he writ that he took possession of this place in the name and for
King George the First of England.[21] We had a good dinner, and after it
we got the men together, and loaded all their arms, and we drank the
King's health in Champagne, and fired a volley--the Princess's health in
Burgundy, and fired a volley, and all the rest of the Royal Family in
Claret, and a volley. We had several sorts of liquors, viz: Virginia red
wine and white wine, Irish usquebaugh, brandy, shrub, two sorts of rum,
champagne, canary, cherry, punch, water, cider, &c.

I sent two of the rangers to look for my gun, which I dropped in the
mountains; they found it, and brought it to me at night, and I gave them a
pistole for their trouble. We called the highest mountain Mount George,
and the one we crossed over Mount Spotswood.

7th.--At seven in the morning we mounted our horses, and parted with the
rangers, who were to go further on, and we returned homewards; we repassed
the mountains, and at five in the afternoon we came to Hospital Camp,
where we left our sick men, and heavy baggage and we found all things well
and safe. We camped here, and called it Captain Clouder's Camp.

8th.--At nine we were all on horseback. We saw several bears and deer, and
killed some wild turkeys. We encamped at the side of a run, and called the
place Mason's Camp. We had good forage for our horses, and we lay as
usual. Made twenty miles this day.

9th.--We set out at nine of the clock, and before twelve we saw several
bears, and killed three. One of them attacked one of our men that was
riding after him, and narrowly missed him; he tore his things that he had
behind him from off the horse, and would have destroyed him, had he not
had immediate help from the other men and our dogs. Some of the dogs
suffered severely in this engagement. At two we crossed one of the
branches of the Rappahannock River, and at five we encamped on the side of
the Rapid Ann, on a tract of land that Mr. Beverley hath design to take
up. We made, this day, twenty-three miles, and called this Captain Smith's
Camp. We eat part of one of the bears, which tasted very well, and would
be good, and might pass for veal, if one did not know what it was. We were
very merry, and diverted ourselves with our adventures.

10th.--At eight we were on horseback, and about ten, as we were going up a
small hill, Mr. Beverley and his horse fell down, and they both rolled to
the bottom; but there were no bones broken on either side. At twelve as we
were crossing a run of water, Mr. Clouder fell in, so we called this place
Clouder's Run. At one we arrived at a large spring, where we dined and
drank a bowl of punch. We called this Fontaine's Spring. About two we got
on horseback, and at four we reached Germanna. The Governor thanked the
gentlemen for their assistance in the expedition. Mr. Mason left us here.
I went at five to swim in the Rappahannock River, and returned to the
town.

11th.--After breakfast all our company left us, excepting Dr. Robinson and
Mr. Clouder. We walked all about the town, and the Governor settled his
business with the Germans here, and accommodated the minister and the
people, and then to bed.

12th.--After breakfast went a fishing in the Rappahannock, and took seven
fish, which we had for dinner; after which Mr. Robinson and I, we
endeavored to melt some ore in the Smith's forge, but could get nothing
out of it. Dr. Robinson's and Mr. Clouder's boys were taken violently ill
with fever. Mr. Robinson and Mr. Clouder left us, and the boys remained
behind.

13th.--About eight of the clock we mounted our horses, and went to the
mine, where we took several pieces of ore; and at nine we set out from the
mine, our servants having gone before; and about three we overtook them
in the woods, and there the Governor and I dined. We mounted afterwards
and continued on our road. I killed a black snake about five feet long. We
arrived at Mr. Woodford's[22] on Rappahannoc River, about six, and
remained there all night.

14th.--At seven we sent our horses and baggage before us; and at ten we
mounted our horses; we killed another snake, four feet nine inches long.
At twelve we came to the church, where we met with Mr. Buckner, and
remained till two, to settle some county business; then we mounted our
horses, and saw several wild turkeys on the road; and at seven we reached
Mr. Beverley's house, which is on the head of the Mattapony River, where
we were well entertained. My boy was taken with a violent fever, and very
sick.

15th.--At seven my servant was some what better, and I sent him away with
my horses, and about ten o'clock the Governor took his chaise, and I with
him, and at twelve we came to a mill-dam, which we had great difficulty to
get the chaise over. We got into it again, and continued on our way, and
about five we arrived at Mr. Baylor's, where we remained all night.

16th.--My servant was so sick, that I was obliged to leave him, and the
Governor's servants took care of my horses. At ten we sent the chaise over
the Mattapony River, and it being Sunday, we went to church in King
William County, where we heard a sermon from Mr. Monroe. After sermon we
continued our journey until we came to Mr. West's plantation, where
Colonel Basset waited for the Governor with his pinnace, and other boats
for his servants. We arrived at his house by five of the clock, and were
nobly entertained.

17th.--At ten we left Colonel Basset's, and at three we arrived at
Williamsburg, where we dined together and went to my lodgings, and to bed,
being well tired as well as my horses.

I reckon that from Williamsburg to the Euphrates River is in all 219
miles, so that our journey, going and coming, has been in all 438 miles.




CHAPTER III

    _Fredericksburg Incorporated by Law--Col. Byrd Walks About
    Town--Church Erected--Patrick Henry Rector--Augustine Washington a
    Trustee--Fairs Inaugurated--Limits of the Town Extended, &c._


Although the site upon which Fredericksburg now stands was settled by
white men, possibly in 1622, in the location of plantations by the London
Company referred to by Capt. John Smith, and certainly in 1681 by the
construction of Major Lawrence Smith's fort, yet the town was not
incorporated for many years thereafter. That it was a trading station and
a place of importance before its incorporation is admitted in the act of
incorporation itself, besides earlier writers refer to it as such. If the
inquiry should be made as to why the town was not incorporated earlier if
it was a place of importance, it might be answered with the fact that
prior to that time the authorities did not seem to think it was necessary,
as neither Richmond, Petersburg, Norfolk nor Alexandria was incorporated
for several years after Fredericksburg had a legal existence.

Fredericksburg was founded by law in 1727 and named for Frederick, Prince
of Wales, son of George the Second, by which act the people of the town
showed their attachment to the royal family of England. But this was not
all; they emphasized that attachment by calling nearly every street in the
original survey of the town after some member of the royal family or of
some country to which English royalty was closely allied. Sophia street
was named for the sister of George II; Caroline for his wife; Princess
Anne for one of his daughters, and Prince Edward for his grandson. The
cross streets were named, Princess Elizabeth for a daughter of George II;
Frederick for his oldest son; William for his second son, and Amelia for a
daughter. George was named for the King himself; Charlotte for the wife of
George III; Hanover for the House of Hanover, and Prussia for the country
of Prussia. This includes every street in the original survey except
Charles and Wolfe. We do not know for whom these two streets were named,
and we think the evidence is very clear that they were not laid out as
streets at the time of the original survey.

The act of the House of Burgesses, establishing Fredericksburg, in which
are preserved as near as possible the form, orthography, punctuation and
capitalization, is as follows:

    I. Whereas great Numbers of People have of late seated themselves and
    their Families upon and near the River _Rappahannock_, and the
    Branches thereof above the Falls, and great Quantities of Tobacco and
    other Commodities are every Year brought down to the upper Landings
    upon the said River to be shipped off and transported to other Parts
    of the Country and it is necessary that the poorer Part of the said
    Inhabitants should be supplied from thence with Goods and Merchandise
    in return for their Commodities, but for Want of some convenient
    Place, where Traders may cohabit and bring their Goods to, such
    Supplies are not to be had without great Disadvantages, and good
    Houses are greatly wanted on some navigable Part of said River, near
    the Falls for the Reception of safe keeping of such Commodities as are
    brought thither and for the Entertainment and Sustenance of those who
    repair thither from remote Places with Carriages drawn by Horses and
    Oxen; and forasmuch as the Inhabitants of the County of _Spotsylvania_
    have made humble Supplication to the General Assembly that a Town may
    be laid out in some convenient Place near the Falls of said River, for
    the cohabitation of such as are minded to reside there for the
    purposes aforesaid, whereby the peopling of that remote Part of the
    county will be encouraged, and Trade and Navigation may be increased:

    II. BE _it enacted, by the Lieutenant Governor, Council, and
    Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted,
    by the Authority of the same_, that within six Months after the
    passing of this Act fifty Acres of Land, Parcel of a Tract of Land
    belonging to _John Royston_ and _Robert Buckner_, of the County of
    _Gloucester_, situate, lying and being upon the South Side of the
    River Rappahannock aforesaid in the County of _Spotsylvania_ commonly
    called or known by the Name of the _Lease Land_, shall be surveyed
    and laid out, taking the whole Breadth of the Tract of Land upon the
    River, by the Surveyor of the said County of _Spotsylvania_; and the
    said fifty Acres of Land, so to be surveyed and laid out, shall be and
    is hereby vested in _John Robinson_, Esq; _Henry Willis_, _Augustin
    Smith_, _John Taliaferro_, _Harry Beverley_, _John Waller_, and
    _Jeremiah Clowder_, of the County of _Spotsylvania_, Gentlemen, and
    their Successors, in Trust, for the several purposes hereafter
    mentioned; and the said _John Robinson_, _Henry Willis_, _Augustin
    Smith_, _John Taliaferro_, _Harry Beverley_, _John Waller_ and
    _Jeremiah Clowder_, are hereby constituted and appointed Directors and
    Trustees for designing, building, carrying on, and maintaining, a Town
    upon the said Land: And the said Directors and Trustees, or any four
    of them, shall have power to meet as often as they shall think
    necessary, and shall lay out the said fifty Acres in Lots and Streets,
    not exceeding Half an Acre of Ground in each Lot, and also to set
    apart such Portions of said Land for a Church and Church-Yard, a
    Market Place, and publick Key, and to appoint such Places upon the
    River for publick Landings, as they shall think most convenient, and,
    if the same shall be necessary, shall direct the making and erecting
    of Wharfs and Cranes at such publick Landings, for the publick Use.
    And when the said Town shall be so laid out the said Directors and
    Trustees shall have full Power and Authority to sell all the said Lots
    by publick Sale or Auction, from Time to Time, to the highest Bidder,
    so as no Person shall have more than Two Lots; and when such Lots
    shall be sold, any two of the said Trustees shall and may, upon
    Payment of the Purchase Money, by some sufficient Conveyance or
    Conveyances, Convey the Fee Simple, Estate of such Lot or Lots to the
    Purchaser or Purchasers: And he or they, or his or their Heirs and
    Assigns, respectively, shall and may for ever thereafter peaceably and
    quietly have, hold, possess, and enjoy, the same, freed and discharged
    of and from all Right, Title, Estate, Claim, Interest, and Demand
    whatsoever of the said _John Royster_ and _Robert Buckner_ and the
    Heirs and Assigns of them respectively, and of all Persons whatsoever
    claiming by, from, or under them or either of them.

    III. PROVIDED _nevertheless_, that the said Directors and Trustees
    shall pay, or cause to be paid, unto the said _John Royston_ and
    _Robert Buckner_, out of the Money to be raised by the Sale of the
    said Lots, as soon as the same shall be by them received, after the
    Rate of forty Shillings for every Acre of the said fifty Acres of
    Land, according to the Right which the said _John Royston_ and _Robert
    Buckner_ now respectively have to the same; and the said _John
    Royston_ and _Robert Buckner_ shall also have each of them two Lots,
    which shall be assigned to them by the said Directors and Trustees,
    and they shall respectively remain seized of such Lots of the same
    Estate whereof they were respectively seized in the said Land before
    the making of this Act.

    IV. AND _be it further enacted, by the Authority aforesaid_, that
    after the said Lots shall be so laid out and disposed of, as
    aforesaid, the said Directors, or any four of them, shall have full
    Power and Authority to apply all the overplus Money which shall be
    raised by the Sale of the said Lots to such publick Use; for the
    common Benefit of the Inhabitants of the said Town, as to them shall
    seem best.

    V. AND _be it further enacted, by the Authority aforesaid_, that the
    Grantee or Grantees of every such Lot or Lots, so to be conveyed and
    sold in the said Town, shall, within two Years next after the Date of
    the Conveyance for the same, erect, build, and finish, on each Lot so
    conveyed, one House, of Brick, Stone or Wood well framed, of the
    Dimensions of Twenty Feet square, and nine Feet Pitch at the least, or
    apportionably thereto, if such Grantee shall have two Lots contiguous;
    and the said Directors shall have full Power and Authority to
    establish such Rules and Orders, for the more regular placing the said
    Houses, as to them shall seem fit, from Time to Time. And if the Owner
    of any Lots shall fail to pursue and comply with the Directions herein
    prescribed, for the building and finishing one or more House or Houses
    thereon, then such Lots upon which such Houses shall not be so built
    and finished shall be revested in the said Trustees, and shall and may
    be sold and conveyed to any other Person or Persons whatsoever, in the
    Manner before directed, and shall revest, and be again sold, as often
    as the Owner or Owners shall fail to perform, obey, and fulfil, the
    Directions aforesaid; and if the Inhabitants of the said Town shall
    fail to obey and pursue the Rules and Orders of the said Directors, in
    repairing and amending the Streets, Landings, and publick Wharfs, they
    shall be liable to the same Penalties as are inflicted for not
    repairing the Highways of this Colony.

    VI. AND for the continuing the Succession of the said Trustees and
    Directors, until the Governour of this Colony shall incorporate some
    other Persons by Letters Patents, under the Seal of this Colony, to be
    one Body Politick and Corporate, to whom the Government of the said
    Town shall be committed, _Be it further enacted_, that in Case of the
    Death of the said Directors, or of their Refusal to act, the surviving
    or other Directors, or the major Part of them, shall assemble, and are
    hereby Empowered, from Time to Time, by Instrument in Writing, under
    their respective Hands and Seals, to nominate some other Person or
    Persons, being an Inhabitant or Freeholder of the said Town, in the
    Place of him so dying or refusing; which new Director or Directors, so
    nominated and appointed, shall from thenceforth have the like Power
    and Authority, in all Things relating to the Matters herein contained,
    as if he or they had been expressly named and appointed in and by this
    Act, and every such Instrument and Nomination shall from Time to Time
    be recorded in the Books of the said Directors.

    VII. AND whereas _William Livingston_ is possessed of a Lease under
    the said _John Royston_, for certain Years to come, of Part of the
    said fifty Acres of Land, and hath erected buildings and made several
    Improvements thereon, which will be taken away when the said Town
    shall be laid out: For making Satisfaction for which,

    VIII. BE it further enacted, that the two Lots to be assigned to the
    said _John Royston_, pursuant to this Act, shall include the
    Dwelling-House and Kitchen of the said _William Livingston_, and shall
    be held and enjoyed by him for the Residue of the said Term, and at
    the Expiration thereof shall revert unto, and be vested in, the said
    _John Royston_, as aforesaid; and, moreover, the said Trustees are
    hereby enjoined and required to pay unto the said _William Livingston_
    the Sum of twenty Pounds current Money out of the Monies arising by
    Sale of Lots, as a Consideration and Compensation for the said Lease.

    IX. AND _be it further enacted_, that the Town aforesaid shall be
    called by the Name of _Fredericksburg_.

    This act of incorporation which elevated the Lease Land into the town
    of Fredericksburg, was signed by William Gooch, Esq., Governor, and
    John Holliday, Speaker.

By the authority conferred upon the trustees of the town by the sixth
section of the above act, the following paper was issued by the board of
trustees, appointing Augustine Washington, the father of General George
Washington, one of the trustees of the town. The original was presented to
the town some years ago by one of the descendants of Augustine Washington,
and is now preserved in the clerk's office:

    "Whereas, at a meeting of the Trustees of the town of Fredericksburg,
    April 6th 1742, according to directions of act of Assembly, Intitled
    an Act for erecting a Town in both of the counties of Spotsylvania and
    King George, To Supply the number of Trustees in the Room of those
    Gentlemen deceased, we have Unanimously made Choise of, and Elected,
    Augustine Washington, Gent., to be one of the Trustees or Feoffees for
    the town of Fredericksburg, in Spotsylvania county to fill up and
    compleat our full number and for confirming of the same We have
    according to Directions of the Sd Act, set our hands and seals, this
    20th day of April, 1742.

      John Taliaferro,
      John Waller,
      Ira Thornton,
      John Allen,
      Rob Jackson."

In the year 1732 the seat of justice, which had been located at Germanna,
where Governor Spotswood had settled, and where he started and operated
the first iron works in this country, heretofore mentioned, was removed to
Fredericksburg as a more convenient place. That change did not continue
long, for, in 1749, the law was again changed and the court was moved back
to Germanna, where it was held for several years, and until it was located
at Holidays, thence to the old Courthouse and finally to Spotsylvania
Courthouse, where it was held until abolished by the new Constitution.

[Illustration: Princess Anne Street looking East.]

In 1732, five years after the town was established by law, Col. Byrd, then
living on the James river, where Richmond now stands, made a visit to
Fredericksburg. This visit was made at the time he made his trip to
Germanna to see his old friend Governor Spotswood. While here Col. Byrd
wrote a description of the new town to a friend as he saw it, as follows:

    "Colonel Willis walked me about his new town of Fredericksburg. It is
    pleasantly situated on the south shore of the Rappahannock river,
    about a mile below the falls. Sloops may come and lie close to the
    wharf, within thirty yards of the public warehouse which is built in
    the figure of a cross. Just by the wharf is a quarry of white stone
    that is very soft in the ground, and hardens in the air, appearing to
    be as fair and fine grained as that of Portland. Besides that, there
    are several other quarries in the river bank, within the limits of the
    town, sufficient to build a large city. The only edifice of stone yet
    built is the prison, the walls of which are strong enough to hold Jack
    Sheppard, if he had been transported thither. Though this be a
    commodious and beautiful situation for a town, with the advantages of
    a navigable river, and wholesome air, yet the inhabitants are very
    few. Besides Colonel Willis, who is the top man of the place, there
    are only one merchant, a tailor, a smith, an ordinary-keeper, and a
    lady, Mrs. Livingston, who acts here in the double capacity of a
    doctress and a coffee-woman. It is said the courthouse and the church
    are going to be built here, and then both religion and justice will
    help to enlarge the place."

The church spoken of was built soon after Col. Byrd's visit. It was
located on the lot where St. George's church building now stands. It was a
wooden structure, about thirty by forty feet, to which two additions were
made as the town increased in population. The first addition was made to
the side of the church, which gave the building the shape of a capital T,
and the second one was made a few years afterwards on the opposite side,
giving the building the form of a cross.

The first rector of the new church was Rev. Patrick Henry, uncle of the
great Virginia orator, Patrick Henry. Mr. Henry remained rector for a
short time, and was followed, in 1734, by Rev. James Marye, of Goochland
county, who was the great great grandfather of our late honored fellow
citizen, Gov. John L. Marye. Mr. Marye had charge of two churches within
the parish, one located on the Po river and the other at Fredericksburg.
His salary for the first year for the entire parish was discharged with
sixteen thousand pounds of "farm tobacco." St. George's church is noticed
more at length under the head of churches.


CATTLE AND MERCHANDISE FAIRS.

In the year 1738 a law was passed by the House of Burgesses authorizing
and directing that "fairs should be held in Fredericksburg twice a year
for the sale of cattle, provisions, goods, wares, and all kinds of
merchandise whatever." The act provided that all persons at such fairs,
going to or from them, were privileged from arrest and execution during
the fairs, and for two days before and two days after them, except for
capital offences, breaches of the peace, or for any controversies, suits
and quarrels that might arise during the time. These fairs were continued
from time to time, by various acts and amendments, until 1769, when the
right of holding them was made perpetual, they having proved a benefit to
both town and county. We have no record as to when they ceased to be held
and no citizen now living remembers to have attended one. They may have
been changed into agricultural fairs, which are mentioned elsewhere.


ANOTHER SURVEY OF THE TOWN.

In March, 1739, the trustees of the town found it necessary to have
another survey and plat of Fredericksburg made. This work was done by
William Waller, Surveyor of Spotsylvania county. By this new survey it
appears that the lots and buildings of the town had not only occupied the
original fifty acres, but had also encroached upon the lands of Henry
Willis and John Lewis; and, as this gave rise to controversies and
threatened law suits, the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Burgesses of
the General Assembly passed an act in May, 1742, which was declared to be
"for removing all doubts and controversies," and which declared that these
lands, belonging to the estate of Henry Willis and John Lewis, should be
held and taken to be part of Fredericksburg and vested in the trustees,
and purchasers claiming under them; provided, that the trustees should pay
to the executors of Henry Willis five pounds, and to John Lewis fifteen
pounds. The area of the town, as ascertained by this survey, was not quite
fifty-three acres.

The irregularity of the buildings having necessitated an enlargement of
the original fifty acres, the style of buildings must have caused serious
apprehensions of danger from fire, as we find that, in 1742, it was
represented to the General Assembly that the people were often in great
and imminent danger of having their houses and effects burned by reason of
the many wooden chimneys in the town, and, therefore, it was made unlawful
to build any wooden chimneys in the town thereafter, and unlawful, after
the expiration of three years, to use any wooden chimney already built;
and, in case the owners did not, within three years, pull down and destroy
these wooden chimneys, the sheriff was authorized to do so, at the expense
of the owners thereof.




CHAPTER IV

    _Encouraging Home Industries--Further Extension of the Town--Tobacco
    Inspectors--Modes of Punishment--Prosperity--Military Ardor--Under the
    United States._


In 1759 an act was passed by the General Assembly to encourage the "Arts
and Manufactures in the Colony," but wine and silk making seemed to have
predominated all others, wine having the decided preference as will
readily be seen. In the act it was set forth that five hundred pounds
should be paid as a premium to the person who should, in any one year,
within eight years from the date of its passage, make the best wine in
quantity not less than ten hogsheads, and one hundred pounds should be
paid to the person making the second best. It was provided that the money
for these premiums should be raised by the annual subscriptions of
public-spirited gentlemen who were willing to encourage the undertaking;
and it was further provided that, if the subscriptions would justify it, a
handsome premium should be given for silk making. It was also stipulated
that if there was an "overplus of money," after the premiums on wine and
silk making were provided for, it was to "be given for the encouragement
of such other articles as should appear to the committee most advantageous
to the colony." Among those who contributed the first year for this
purpose, who were then, or had been, citizens of Fredericksburg, were the
following gentlemen who subscribed two pounds each: Robert Carter,
Pressley Thornton, George Washington, James Mercer, William Bernard, David
Ker, Philip Rootes, Thomas Reade Rootes, Alexander Ross, John Champ.


FURTHER EXTENSION OF THE TOWN.

In 1763 an act was passed by the General Assembly extending the corporate
limits of the town, but to what extent we do not know, as we have been
unable to find the act or any of its provisions.


REGULATING TOBACCO INSPECTORS.

In 1764 the General Assembly passed an act for "Amending the Staple of
Tobacco and for Preventing Frauds in his Majesty's Customs." It was a very
lengthy bill, having seventy-seven sections, ten more than any other act
ever before passed by that body, and severe penalties were prescribed for
its violation. The bill was necessarily long and severe penalties were
prescribed because it had reference to the raising, curing, packing and
sale of tobacco, which was one of the principal products of Virginia, and
the duties and responsibilities of tobacco inspectors and their proper
management of tobacco warehouses. Besides tobacco being one of the
important crops raised in the colony, if not the most important one, large
quantities of it were shipped to the old country and sold for good prices.
In addition to this, tobacco was used in the colony as a substitute for
money, as all debts between private individuals, as well as those due the
colony, were paid in tobacco. The bill provided for public warehouses, for
the proper inspection of tobacco and for public inspectors, appointed by
the Governor and his Council, not less than two at each warehouse, who,
besides taking an oath of office, were placed under heavy bonds with
security, the penalty being five hundred pounds sterling for the faithful
performance of their duties. One of these public warehouses was located in
Fredericksburg, and may have been the old stone house on Water street,
just below the free bridge. The oath required to be taken by these public
inspectors was as follows:

    "You shall swear that you will diligently and carefully view and
    examine all tobacco brought to any public warehouse or warehouses
    where you are appointed to be inspector, and that not separately and
    apart from your fellow, but in his presence; and that you will not
    receive any tobacco that is not in your judgment sound, well
    conditioned, merchantable and clear of trash, nor receive, pass or
    stamp any tobacco, hogshead or cask of tobacco, prohibited by one act
    of Assembly, entitled an act for amending the sample of tobacco, and
    preventing frauds in his Majesty's customs; and that you will not
    change, alter or give out any tobacco, other than such hogsheads or
    casks for which the receipt to be taken was given; but that you will
    in all things well and faithfully discharge your duty in the office of
    inspector, according to the best of your skill and judgment and
    according to the directions of said act, without fear, favor,
    affection, malice or partiality. So help me God."

The receipts given by the inspectors of the public warehouse in
Fredericksburg, according to the provisions of the act, were to pass and
be current in the town and county of Spotsylvania for the payment of all
quit-rents, county and town levies and for officers' fees. As this
provision of law made them current for public dues, the public also
adopted them as currency and they were used for the payment of all
obligations. These receipts were protected by severe penalties against
counterfeiting and forgery, and each one represented so many hundred
pounds of tobacco deposited at the public warehouse.


MILITARY ARDOR OF THE TOWN.

Fredericksburg continued to grow in population and material prosperity,
and also improve in the intelligence and public spirit of its inhabitants,
until the year 1775, when the affairs between Great Britain and the
American Colonies were verging to a crisis. Her leading citizens were
among the very first in Virginia to adopt the principle that the American
Colonies ought not only to be exempt from taxation by the Mother Country,
but should be free and independent States. The battle of Lexington was
fought on the 19th day of April, 1775, and on the 20th, the following day,
Lord Dunmore secretly removed twenty barrels of gunpowder from the public
magazine in Williamsburg to the Magdalen Man-of-war, which anchored off
Yorktown. When the news of the battle of Lexington, and of the removal of
the powder, reached Fredericksburg, great excitement prevailed. Over six
hundred men armed themselves, from the town and surrounding country,
assembled at the Courthouse in town and offered their services to George
Washington, who was then in Williamsburg, to defend that city from Lord
Dunmore's threatened attack, and the country from his tyranny.

After assembling they dispatched delegates to Richmond and Williamsburg
to ascertain the condition of affairs and to what point they should report
for duty. In the meantime, those ardent patriots, George Washington,
Peyton Randolph and Edmund Pendleton, transmitted their advice to the
people of Fredericksburg, and especially those who had formed the military
organization, to abstain for the present from hostilities until a
congress, then called or soon to be called, should decide upon a general
plan of resistance.

On the receipt of this advice, these patriots held a council, consisting
of more than one hundred men, representing fourteen companies, who, by a
majority of one vote, decided to disperse for the present. They were
burning with indignation at the murderous attack made upon their brethren
of Lexington, Mass., by the armed soldiers of Great Britain, and the
unlawful arrests, and retention as prisoners, of some of the leading
citizens of Massachusetts by British military officers. And this feeling
of indignation was intensified when they saw that this outrage was
followed the next day by another perpetrated in their own colony and by
their own Governor; and when he threatened to return from Yorktown,
whither he had fled for safety, and attack Williamsburg with a man-of-war
they were convinced that the enemies of the Patriots, the British and
Tories, understood each other and were acting in concert. Yet, upon the
advice of those whose lead they were willing to follow, and whose commands
they were ready to obey, they agreed to disband for the present. Before
dispersing, however, they drafted an address, which was tantamount to a
declaration of independence, in which they firmly resolved to resist all
attempts against their rights and privileges, from whatever quarter they
might be assailed.

They went further than to just pass resolutions; they pledged themselves,
solemnly and firmly one to the other, to be in readiness, at a moment's
warning, to reassemble, and, by force of arms, to defend the laws,
liberties and the rights of this or any sister colony, from unjust and
wicked invasions. They then sent dispatches to patriots assembled in
Caroline, Berkeley, Frederick and Dunmore counties, thanking them for
their offer of service and acquainting them with the condition of public
affairs and their determination to be ready at a moment's notice to
respond to any call that might be made by the patriotic leaders, who were
then holding a council in Williamsburg. The resolutions and pledges were
read at the head of each company of patriots encamped at Fredericksburg,
and unanimously approved and adopted. The address concluded with the
impressive words, "God, save the liberties of America," which were a
substitute for the off-repeated words, "God, save the King."

These resolutions were passed twenty-one days before the celebrated
Mecklenburg resolutions in North Carolina were, and more than a year
before the Declaration of Independence by the American Congress, which
showed the intense patriotic fervor of the people of Fredericksburg at
that early period, many of whom bore a heroic part in the subsequent
struggle of the Seven Years' war that followed. Among the number assembled
with these lovers of liberty, and most prominent, were Gen. Geo. Weedon,
who served on Gen. Washington's staff, commanded with distinction a
division at the surrender of Yorktown, and afterwards for several terms
served as mayor of the town; Gen. Hugh Mercer, who rose to the rank of
Major-General and was killed at Princeton, New Jersey, on January 3, 1777,
and Gen. Gustavus B. Wallace, who served gallantly through the war,
attaining to the rank of Brigadier-General.


FREDERICKSBURG UNDER THE UNITED STATES.

The long tobacco act of the House of Burgesses was the last act passed by
that body that affected the commercial interest of the town or the
agricultural interest of the surrounding country that we have any
knowledge of. The Revolutionary war soon followed and our independence and
new government was the result. It is not considered necessary in this work
to attempt to give the part Fredericksburg bore in that struggle--the
generals she furnished to command the armies and navy of the country, the
line officers and soldiers she sent forth to meet and repel the invader,
the statesmen she gave to provide for the armies or to form the new
government and to guide it to a successful, permanent and solid
establishment. All of these things are told by the records and histories
of the State and country more accurately and in a more pleasing style than
we can narrate them. We therefore pass to the new order of things.


FREDERICKSBURG IN THE REPUBLIC.

The first act of the Legislature of Virginia in reference to
Fredericksburg, after the establishment of the young republic, was to
grant it a charter, which bill was passed in 1781. It provided for the
town a Mayor, Recorder, Board of Aldermen and a Common Council, and
required that all of them should be freeholders. They were made a body
politic by the name and designation of Mayor and Commonalty of the town of
Fredericksburg, and by that title were to have perpetual succession. The
Mayor, Recorder and the four Aldermen were _ex-officio_ Justices of the
Peace, and had power to hold a court of hustings once a month, and to
"hold pleas in all cases whatsoever originating within the limits" of the
town and to "low water mark on the northwest side of the Rappahannock
river and half a mile without and around the other limits of the said
town." They were given the sole authority and power of "licensing tavern
keepers and settling their rates," to appoint a sergeant with the powers
of sheriffs, a "constable and other necessary officers of court and
surveyors of the streets and highways." A surveyor of the streets was
appointed at the first hustings court held by the Mayor and his fellow
magistrates, but he was known as the "Geographer" of the town for more
than half a century, and was often so entered upon the court records.

In civil cases the hustings court was not to have jurisdiction where the
amount in controversy exceeded one thousand pounds of leaf tobacco, or its
value in money, unless both parties to the suit were citizens of the town
when the suit was instituted.

The corporate authorities were authorized to assess the inhabitants and
all property within the actual bounds of the town for all the charges of
repairing the streets, and other matters of municipal expense. They were
empowered to erect workhouses, houses of correction, prisons and other
public buildings, and to pass all necessary ordinances for the good
government of the town. They were to have two market days in each week,
and appoint a clerk of the market, "who shall have assize of bread, wine,
wood and other things," and perform all the duties of Clerk of the Market.
The market days were fixed by law on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It was
also provided in the charter that if any person elected to an office
failed or refused to serve, he was to be fined. The fines were regulated
as follows: "For a Mayor-elect, fifty pounds; for the Recorder, forty
pounds; for any Alderman, thirty pounds; for any Common Councilman,
twenty-five pounds; for the City Sergeant, one hundred pounds; for the
Constable, fifty pounds; for the Clerk of the Hustings Court and the Clerk
of the Market, each fifty pounds; the Surveyor of Streets or Roads, each
thirty pounds." These several fines were to be imposed by the hustings
court, and "to be levied by execution against the goods and chattles of
the offender."

The charter also provided that in case of "misconduct in the office of
Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen or Common Councilmen, or either of them, the
others, being seven at least, shall have power to remove the offenders,"
and in case the other officers were guilty of misconduct, the power
appointing them was clothed with the authority of revoking the
appointment. It was provided that if the office of Mayor should become
vacant, the Recorder was to succeed to the office, the oldest Alderman was
to become Recorder, and "so on according to priority."

It was further provided "that all the property, real and personal, now
held and possessed by the trustees of the said town of Fredericksburg, in
law or equity, or in trust, for the use and benefit of the inhabitants
thereof, and particularly the charity donation of Archibald McPherson,
deceased, now vested in the trustees of said town in trust, for the
education of poor children, shall be and the same are hereby transferred
and vested in the Mayor and Commonalty of said town, to and for the same
uses, intents and purposes as the trustees of the town now hold the same."

At the session of the Legislature in 1782 the charter of the town was
amended and the jurisdiction of the hustings court was extended one mile
without and around the former limits of the town on the south side of the
Rappahannock river, and made a court of record and as such was authorized
to receive probate of wills and deeds and grant administrations in as full
and ample manner as the county courts could or might do. But no will was
to be admitted to proof and no administration was to be granted unless
the parties were citizens and residents of the town at the time of their
death, and no deeds for conveyance of land were to be admitted to record
unless the lands conveyed lay within the limits of the corporation. The
court was empowered and authorized to appoint a person skilled in the law
to prosecute for the Commonwealth and pay him a reasonable salary for his
services, and when the Attorney for the Commonwealth was appointed for the
town, it was to be exempt from paying any part of the salary of the
Attorney for the Commonwealth of Spotsylvania county.

[Illustration: "Rising Sun Tavern," kept by Gen. Geo. Weedon prior to
1775; now the property of the A. P. of V. A. (See page 148)]

[Illustration: Mary Washington Monument, erected by the Women of America;
Wm. J. Crawford, architect. (See page 157)]


RAPID GROWTH OF THE TOWN.

On the petition of sixty-four of the leading citizens of the town,
property owners and tax payers, complaining that certain provisions and
requirements of the original charter of the town, granted in 1727, had not
been enforced by the Council and complied with by lot owners, the Common
Council, in 1782, passed an order which resulted in great benefit to the
town in the way of improving vacant lots, erecting buildings and
furnishing permanent homes for artisans, mechanics and laboring men. In
the memorial submitted to the Council, these property owners complained of
"being frequently subjected to the payment of many heavy Taxes and charges
for the general benefit and improvement of the said Town of which many
proprietors of unimproved Lotts pay no part, although their property is
thereby daily rendered more valuable; That the proprietors of said Lotts,
although wealthy, will neither build on them, nor sell to those who would,
unless for exorbitant prices, by means whereof Rents are high and many
useful tradesmen are prevented from residing in the said Town, to remedy
which your petitioners pray that you, as Guardians of the said
Corporation, will take into your consideration an Act of Assembly, passed
in the year of our Lord One thousand, seven hundred and twenty seven,
entitled an Act for erecting a Town in each of the counties of
Spotsylvania and King George[23] or so much of the said Act as may relate
to the said Town of Fredericksburg. A due execution of said Law, your
petitioners Conceive, will be productive of many real and very essential
advantages to the said corporation; by encouraging the peopling of it and
increasing its Trade and Navigation. Your petitioners do not wish that any
immediate advantage may be taken of failures or defaults already
heretofore suffered, by noncompliance with the above mentioned Act, but
that Public notice may be given to the proprietors of such unimproved
Lotts that a strict execution of the above mentioned Act of Assembly will
be observed with all such as shall, in future, fail to perform, fulfil and
comply with the rules and directions therein set forth."

In consideration of the complaints of these citizens and the wise
suggestions made in their communication, as well as the requirements of
the act referred to, the Council ordered "that notice be given to the
Proprietors of unimproved Lotts within this corporation, by advertisement
in the Public News Papers, that they immediately pay up the Taxes due on
said Lotts within this Town and that they be informed that they must build
on their unimproved Lotts, agreeable to the Act of Assembly, passed in One
thousand seven hundred and Twenty-seven, for establishing a Town in the
County of Spotsylvania, otherwise the Lotts will be sold agreeable to the
said Act."

In consequence of the enforcement of this order of the Common Council,
both the taxable values, and the inhabitants of the town, increased
rapidly. Instead of an empty treasury, as the town then had, and the
necessity it found itself under of appealing to the public for
subscriptions for money with which to repair and enlarge the church, to
repair the market house, the courthouse and jail, so they could be used,
the town soon had money for ordinary purposes, and also for repairing the
public buildings, many of which had been used during the war by the
soldiers of General Washington's army, leaving a good balance in the
treasury, after the work was done. Nor was that all; in 1791, under the
"Domestic Loan Act" of Congress, the town loaned to the general government
$3,500. This loan was evidenced by four certificates, issued by the "Loan
office" of the Government in Washington and are duly recorded in the
record book of the Common Council.


METHODS OF PUNISHMENT.

It may be interesting to note that in the olden times there were other
methods resorted to for punishing criminals besides fines, jails and
penitentiaries, which are not used in this day and time. The Common
Council, in 1785, passed a resolution ordering Sergeant John Richards to
"erect immediately a whipping post, stocks and ducking stool." The
whipping post was used mainly for the slaves who were guilty of small
infractions of the law, but for aggravated offences, the penalty was
"thirty-nine lashes on his bare back, well laid on," to which was added
"burning in the left hand, in the presence of the court." The whipping
post is said to have been used for habitual persistent absence from
church, but it was very seldom used for that purpose, and never in
Fredericksburg so far as we have discovered from the records.

The stocks were used to punish white persons for petty offences, such as
vagrancy, trespassing and similar infractions of the law. The stocks
consisted of a frame of timber, with holes in which the ankles and wrists
of the offenders were confined. The stocks were erected in the public
square and it is said the passers-by, and those who had gathered around
them, through curiosity, would taunt and jeer at the criminals thus
confined for punishment.

The ducking stool was used for punishing common scolds, refractory women
and dishonest tradesmen, especially brewers and bakers. The ducking stool
for Fredericksburg was erected on the bank of the Rappahannock river, at
the foot of Wolfe street, near where the old Stafford bridge spanned the
river. There are several of our old citizens now living who remember when
it was in use, and when it was dispensed with, nearly seventy years ago. A
"ducking" always brought together a large crowd, most of whom were rude
and disorderly, and jeers at and ridicule of the party "ducked" would rend
the air, while the sentence of the court was being carried out. It is said
that some of the "scolding women," as they would emerge from the water
would send forth volumes of abuse at the disorderly crowd, while the
officer waited for the next bath, and this was kept up until the order of
the court was fully executed. It seemed to be the wish of the authorities
that the whole population would turn out and witness these different modes
of punishment, with the hope that it would deter others from committing
similar offences.




CHAPTER V

    _The Lease of the Market-House Lots--The First Serious
    Fire--Fredericksburg an Important Center--An Act Concerning
    Elections--Half of the Town Destroyed by Fire--Fredericksburg an
    Important Postal Point--How the Mails were Carried--A Congressional
    Investigation--Amendatory Act of 1821--The Great Fire of 1822--The
    Trade of the Town--Contagious Diseases--The Town in 1841--Acts of
    Extension, 1851, 1852, 1858, 1861, &c._


In the year 1789 an enactment was passed by the Legislature empowering the
Mayor and Commonalty of the town of Fredericksburg to lease for three
lives, or twenty-one years, such unimproved parts of the market-house lots
as to them shall seem most proper, and apply the rents arising therefrom
for the benefit of the corporation. In the same year an act was passed
authorizing the Trustees of the Fredericksburg Academy to raise, by way of
lottery, the sum of four thousand pounds to defray the expenses of
erecting a building on the academy lands for the purpose of accommodating
the professors and the rapidly increasing number of students. We could not
learn the result of this latter scheme.


THE FIRST SERIOUS FIRE.

In 1799 the first serious fire the town ever had occurred. It took place
in the night time and quite a number of houses were destroyed. By many
persons it was supposed to have been the work of an incendiary, but others
believed that it was caused by a "wooden chimney or a stove pipe, run
through a window or through the side of a wooden house, without being
properly protected." The Council decided to meet both views, and offered
five hundred dollars for the arrest and conviction of the incendiary, and
issued an emphatic condemnation against wooden chimneys and stove pipes
projecting through windows or the sides of houses without having them
"fire proof." This nuisance was thereby abated.


FREDERICKSBURG AN IMPORTANT CENTER.

As early as 1796 Fredericksburg was an important commercial center, and
manufactories of various kinds were in operation. Iron works and mills
and other industries were successfully prosecuted, and the trade of
the town, in the general merchandise department, was in the hands of
public-spirited, energetic merchants; and it would no doubt surprise the
merchants of the present day to read the advertisements and note the
extent and variety of stocks of goods kept here at that period. The growth
and development of the trade was gradual and decided in all departments,
the leading article being tobacco, which up to and during the War of 1812
and 1814, was increased heavily and necessitated the employment of vessels
of great tonnage to carry it. And, though strange as it may appear to our
present population, in those days of prosperity in manufactories, farms
and workshops, and when nearly all merchandise and supplies reached our
town in said vessels, large three-masted ships were moored at our wharves;
and, until large cities sprang up along the coast, that diverted trade by
reason of railroad transportation, our leading merchants carried on a
direct trade with the West India Islands, as well as with many of the
European countries. Our wharves then were a scene of busy activity and the
river was crowded with vessels from all quarters of the country.


AN ACT CONCERNING ELECTIONS.

In 1806 an act of the Legislature was passed providing that on the next
annual election day for members of the "Common Hall of the Town," which
term was used to denote the Common Council, a Mayor and Recorder and eight
persons should be elected by ballot to act as Justices of the Peace for
the town, who should "continue in office during good behavior." Three of
these justices were empowered to hold a hustings court, except in cases of
the examination or trial of free persons or slaves charged with felonies,
in which case five of the eight justices were necessary to constitute the
court. This court had the same power and jurisdiction that the hustings
court had under the act of 1781, but the members were ineligible for the
Common Council and they had no power to lay a tax for the support of a
night watch.

At this election the voters were also to elect by ballot twelve persons as
members of the Common Council of the town, who were to continue in office
for one year and until their successors should be elected and qualified.
The powers of the Common Council should be the same as had been previously
conferred upon the Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen and Common Council of the
town "in Common Hall assembled." The Common Council, at their first
meeting, were to elect one of their number to the office of Mayor and
another to the office of Recorder. It was the duty of the Mayor to preside
over the deliberations of the body, and, in his absence, the Recorder was
to discharge that duty. The Mayor, or in his absence, the Recorder, or any
two members of the Council, could call a meeting of the body, but it
required seven members present to constitute a quorum. After the Council
assembled in the first meeting after the election of the members, and
elected the proper officers, the body then consisting of the Mayor,
Recorder and the other ten members elected as common councilmen,
constituted the "Common Hall" of the town, and all ordinances were adopted
by that body.


HALF OF THE TOWN DESTROYED BY FIRE.

In the year 1807 Fredericksburg was visited by a terrible conflagration
which destroyed nearly one-half of the town. It was in October of that
year, when the town was almost depopulated, the citizens, old and young,
having left their homes to attend and witness the horse racing just below
town, on "Willis's Field" farm. The fire broke out in the dwelling house
of Mr. Stannard, which was located on the lot where the residence of Mr.
George W. Shepherd now stands, on the north corner of Princess Ann and
Lewis streets. A high wind prevailed at the time, the house was
inflammable, the weather very dry, and in a short time the fire swept down
Main street, the flames leaping from house to house to Henderson's store,
on the south corner of Main and Amelia streets; thence down both sides of
Main to George street, destroying every building in its track except
Henderson's corner, which alone escaped destruction. The Bank of
Virginia, which stood on the spot where Shiloh Baptist church (old site)
now stands, on Water street, although more than a quarter of a mile from
where the fire originated, was the second house to take fire and was
entirely consumed. Mr. Stannard, at whose residence the fire started, was
lying a corpse in the house at the time of the fire, and his remains were
rescued from the flames with great difficulty.

Preparations to rebuild the burnt district were at once commenced, and
buildings of a more substantial character took the places of those
destroyed and prosperity again smiled upon the town. Yet strange to say
the square on the west side of Main street, from Lewis to Amelia, then in
the business part of the town, and now in the residential part, although
before the fire was lined with buildings, was without a building until
some five years ago. A tool chest, saved from destruction in this fire, by
the debris of the building falling upon it and covering it up, and which
escaped the destruction wrought in town by the Federal soldiers in
December, 1862, is now in the possession of Police Officer Charles A.
Gore. It was the property of his grandfather, Jacob Gore, who had been
working at Mr. Stannard's a few days before the fire occurred and left it
there temporarily.


FREDERICKSBURG AN IMPORTANT POSTAL POINT.

Fredericksburg, as early as 1820, was a very important point for mail
distribution, and the mail matter of not less than five States was
assorted here and sent on to its destination. About the breaking out of
the War of 1812 mail matter to Fredericksburg rapidly increased, and
continued to increase, for several years, which necessitated a change in
the method of transporting the mails from Washington, an increase of pay,
and finally scandalous reports were put in circulation which resulted in a
congressional investigation.

A paper on this investigation, prepared by Henry Castle, Esq., Auditor,
from the records in the Postoffice department, and kindly furnished us,
will prove interesting.

    "The year 1820 had arrived; James Monroe was President and Return J.
    Meiggs, Jr., of Ohio, was Postmaster General. There were then over
    three thousand post offices, and the revenues had increased to
    $1,000,000 per annum, a sum considerable in excess of the
    expenditures, a feature which seldom characterized the service after
    that date. It appears from the records that vague rumors of certain
    irregularities had been afloat throughout the country and in the
    'public prints' for some time, and that they finally assumed such a
    tangible shape that a resolution was introduced into the United States
    Congress providing for an investigation of the charges.

    "A committee of the House of Representatives, of which Hon. Elisha
    Phelps was chairman, proceeded in accordance with instructions of the
    House, in due form and great deliberation, to investigate the general
    conduct of the office under Postmaster General Meiggs, and especially
    the features which had been subjected to more immediate criticism. Mr.
    Meiggs's service, as Postmaster General, extended from March 17th
    1814, to June 26th 1823, a period of more than nine years. The gravest
    of the charges made against his administration were substantially as
    follows:

    "First. That he had introduced an irregular financial system which had
    led to serious losses of the public funds.

    "Second. That he had illegally and improperly increased the
    compensation of certain contractors for carrying the mail.

    "With slow formality and tedious reiteration of assurances of
    distinguished consideration, the solemn committee of the Honorable
    House of Representatives, and the Honorable Postmaster General,
    finally reached a point where questions were asked and answered and a
    tolerably clear understanding of what had really occurred may be
    gained. The statement of the Postmaster General, divested of all its
    superfluities and reduced to its simplest form, showed no dereliction
    in either case, but read at this late day gives an almost ludicrous
    insight into the diminutive transactions which then sufficed for this
    great, free and intelligent Republic.

    "Postmaster General Meiggs's answer to the second charge was perhaps
    even more interestingly significant as a revelation of the day of
    small things. He admitted that he had increased the compensation of
    contractors for carrying the mails, but justified his action on the
    ground of an imperious necessity.

    "The case as he explained it was this: His predecessor in office had
    about the year 1813, let a contract to certain parties for
    transporting mail from the Seat of Government at Washington to
    Fredericksburg, Virginia, a distance of seventy miles. This great mail
    route, which would now be termed a trunk line, carried substantially
    the mail for the five States of Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina,
    South Carolina and Georgia. The contract provided that these mails
    should be carried by stage coach in summer and, as the roads were
    impassable in winter, they were to be carried on horseback.

    "But," says the Postmaster General, "by the increased popular interest
    in the war of 1812, correspondence was greatly stimulated and the
    circulation of the public journals was enormously increased.
    Consequently, it was found impracticable to transport all this heavy
    mail for five States, on horseback from Washington to Fredericksburg;
    therefore contractors were authorized to place a sulky, or curricle
    service thereon and the remuneration was increased accordingly.

    "This explanation was apparently satisfactory to the Honorable
    Committee as it certainly appears very reasonable on its face, and
    will appeal to man's inherent sense of justice even in this exacting
    era. The final action of Congress is not contained in the records, but
    it was no doubt exculpatory since, as shown above, Postmaster General
    Meiggs, continued to discharge the duties in his high office for
    several years thereafter."


AMENDATORY ACT OF 1821.

Under the previous acts of the Legislature, extending the limits of the
town and providing for laying out streets, and the amendments thereto, it
was claimed that mistakes had occurred and irregularities had resulted
therefrom. In order to correct these mistakes, and provide for the better
government of the town, an amendatory act was passed by the Legislature in
the year 1821. In that act the Common Council was authorized and empowered
to elect the Mayor from their own number or from the body of the
citizens, and in case he was elected from the Council, thus creating a
vacancy in that body, it was to be filled by the Council. Under this act
the Mayor was eligible to reëlection from year to year as long as the
Council was pleased to elect him, was made custodian of the corporation
seal, and was to keep an office in the town where he should transact the
public business, and where the citizens could call upon him and present
any grievance or complaint they might have to make.

[Illustration: The St. George's Episcopal Church. (See page 203)]

[Illustration: The Presbyterian Memorial Chapel. (See page 208)]

When the hustings court was not in session the Mayor was to act as a
Justice of the Peace and superintend and control the police and night
watch. He was to qualify in ten days after his election, and was to
preside at the sittings of the hustings court; and in his absence the
Recorder, upon whom all the powers and authority of the Mayor were
conferred, was authorized to perform his duties. The Common Council had to
regulate and fix the salary of the Mayor, which could not be increased or
diminished during his term of office. The same act extended the
jurisdiction of the hustings court to high water mark on the Stafford side
of the Rappahannock river, and exempted the citizens of the town from the
assessment and payment of all taxes and levies to Spotsylvania county, to
which they were subject under the former laws.

By the provisions of the act of 1821 the Common Council was authorized to
assess and levy a tax on the inhabitants of, and property within, the town
for the purpose of repairing and keeping in order the streets and alleys
and for other purposes and charges as to them might seem right and proper,
and for the improvement, convenience and well being of the town. They were
authorized to provide a night watch for the protection of the town and for
the "better execution of this duty the power and authority, now exercised
by field officers of the militia concerning patrols, shall hereafter be
vested in and exercised by the said Mayor, Recorder and Common Council
over the militia of the said town," and the militia of the town were, by
the same act, exempted from patrol duty beyond the city limits.

In order to correct defects in laying out streets under the former acts,
by this act a Commission, consisting of John W. Green, John Mundell,
George Cox, Silas Wood and David Briggs, was appointed to survey and
locate the streets of the town according to existing laws and authentic
ancient surveys. This Commission was to locate the streets by metes and
bounds, making such alterations as its members might think expedient, with
the consent of the proprietors of lots effected by such alterations, but
not otherwise. It was also required to mark the boundaries of the streets
by stones or otherwise, which were to be designated on the map of the town
made by it. These Commissioners were to report their plan, with
explanatory notes, to the Common Council, and if approved by that body it
was to be taken as the authentic plan of the town.

But in making this survey of the streets it was especially provided that
if a house should be found, in whole or in part, in the street, it was not
to be considered a nuisance or an illegal obstruction of the street, but
if such building should perish, or in any manner be destroyed, it was not
to be rebuilt so as to encroach upon or obstruct the street.


THE GREAT FIRE OF 1822.

After the great conflagration of 1807, a regular and decided increase in
population is noted with a marked improvement in local trade. So things
progressed with no unusual or startling calamities to disturb the usual
serenity of a prosperous town--not bustling, but active--until the year
1822, when the quiet was disturbed by another serious conflagration. It
was not as disastrous as its predecessor was, but it was of such a
character as to cause great loss of property, and to retard, to a very
great extent, the general prosperity of the town. This fire originated at
the corner of Main and George streets, where Mr. Thomas N. Brent's dry
goods store now stands, and, curious enough, just where the great fire of
1807 was checked. It was then known as Wellford's corner, because Mr. C.
C. Wellford, for a great many years, kept store there. From that corner
the fire made its way down Main street totally destroying every building
on that side of the street from there to Hanover street, which square was
then known as the "Commercial Block," because of the large trade carried
on there.

With the energy and enterprise so characteristic of the citizens of the
town at that day, steps were at once taken to rebuild the burnt district.
Soon the street was almost blocked up with building material, laborers
were busily at work, clearing away the debris and preparing the
foundations for the new buildings. Carpenters and brick masons were in
great demand and large numbers flocked to the town from neighboring cities
and villages. That part of the town was soon a busy scene and the music of
the hammer, the saw and the trowel greeted the ear from early morning
until late in the afternoon. And there were soon erected, with an
occasional exception, the substantial block of brick buildings which now
stand as monuments to the good judgment and excellent workmanship of that
early day. The work of rebuilding was speedy and complete, and the
character of the new buildings was an improvement upon the old ones they
replaced. With the rebuilding of that portion of the town, and the
resumption of business by the burnt-out merchants, came an unusual degree
of prosperity, and for a long period the general peace and happiness of
the people were undisturbed.


THE TRADE OF THE TOWN.

At this time the trade of the town was chiefly of a local character,
except the products of the country extending even beyond the Blue Ridge
mountains, as from the early years of the town, were brought to market in
wagons, and it was no uncommon sight to see daily as many as fifty or
sixty four and six-horse teams here at one time from that part of the
country. The merchants were men of exalted character and fine business
capacity, and the amount of business transacted was, considering the times
and circumstances, simply enormous.


CONTAGIOUS DISEASES.

To the credit of the authorities of the town it can be truthfully said
that, in all the past, they have been very watchful of and solicitous for
the health of the people. At all times, upon reports, or even rumors, that
contagious or infectious diseases were prevailing in contiguous
communities, they were on the alert, taking every precaution to prevent
their introduction here, and it may be said to their credit that such
strict observance and enforcement of the laws of health, and temporary
quarantines at the proper time, have prevented all kinds of epidemics in
the past history of the town.

Before the first of the nineteenth century, in 1790, the people of the
town were very much excited about the small pox. It was raging in
Philadelphia as an epidemic, and the large trade carried on between the
two places, altogether by water, made it necessary that numerous vessels
should bear the merchandise. In order to prevent the small pox from
reaching this place a strict quarantine was established at the mouth of
Hazel Run, just below town, and a hospital was located at Sligo. Dr.
Brooke and Dr. Ker, two skillful physicians of the town, agreed to attend
the sick at the hospital without charge, whether sailors or citizens. The
wise precaution taken in establishing the quarantine prevented any case
from reaching the town, to the great relief of the citizens generally. In
1792 the same disease broke out in Baltimore and a quarantine was again
established at Hazel Run and a hospital at Sligo. The citizens were
greatly alarmed, fearing its introduction here either by land or water.
The greatest precautions were taken by the health officers, who were nobly
assisted by the town authorities, and the disease was kept out as it had
been two years before, not a single case having made its appearance in the
place.

In 1833, it is said by old citizens, a remarkable case of either fright or
disease occurred in Fredericksburg, which proved fatal. In that year
several parts of the United States were visited and scourged by the
Asiatic cholera. The country generally was in great terror, and
Fredericksburg came in for her share of excitement. In fact, she may have
been more alarmed than other places which were as far removed from the
seat of the scourge, because of a prediction that had previously been
made, and which made its impression on many people. Rev. Lorenzo Dow, an
able, but eccentric, itinerant Methodist minister, when on a visit to the
town the year previous to the scourge, it was reported had predicted the
appearance of cholera in Fredericksburg. Some people believed the disease
would come because Mr. Dow had predicted it, and the excitement ran high,
especially among those who believed the prophecy. A Mr. Shelton became
dreadfully alarmed and whether from fright or from actually contracting
the disease, died in the month of June and the cause of his death was
pronounced sporadic or accidental cholera. His was the only case then, and
to this day there has been no other, Fredericksburg having enjoyed
singular and perfect immunity from epidemics of all kinds.


THE TOWN IN THE YEAR 1841.

In describing the town in 1841, an intelligent visitor says
"Fredericksburg is regularly laid out and compactly built; many of its
buildings are brick. The principal public buildings are a courthouse,
clerk's office, a jail, a market-house, an orphan asylum, one Episcopal,
one Presbyterian, one Methodist, one Baptist and one Reform Baptist
church. The town also contains two banks and one male and one female
seminary of the higher class. It is supplied with water from the river[24]
by subterraneous pipes and is governed by a Mayor and Common Council. A
canal, extending from the town to Fox's mill, a point on the Rappahannock,
thirty-five miles above, has been commenced and partly completed.

"Fredericksburg enjoys considerable trade, chiefly in grain, flour,
tobacco, maize, etc., and considerable quantities of gold are exported.
Its exports have been computed at over four millions of dollars annually.
The falls of the Rappahannock, in the vicinity, afford good water power.
There were in 1840, by the United States statistics, seventy-three stores,
with a capital of $376,961; two tanneries, paints, drugs, etc., with a
capital of $37,000; one grist mill, two printing offices, four semi-weekly
newspapers; capital in manufactures, $141,200; five academies, with 256
students, and seven schools, with 156 scholars. The population in 1830,
whites, 1,797; slaves, 1,124; free blacks, 387--total, 3,308. The
population in 1840 was 3,974."

But the commercial prosperity of the town even in 1840 was not equal to
its advantages, but it steadily grew and prospered during the next decade.
The completion of a canal, extending from the town to a point on the
Rappahannock river, a distance of forty miles, railroad facilities and
river navigation by sail vessels and steamboats, greatly enlarged her
commercial advantages and increased her export trade, and the beginning of
the year 1850 found her enjoying a degree of material prosperity,
presaging a glorious commercial future. Commencing the year 1850 under
circumstances so encouraging, the next decade was expected to exceed in
all departments of trade the preceding one.

The failure to build a railroad through the section of country from which
the bulk of our trade was drawn, and the substitution therefor of a plank
road, with the building of the Orange and Alexandria railroad, now the
Western, and the advance of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad along the
upper line of the Shenandoah Valley, greatly injured the trade of
Fredericksburg by diverting from her a large amount of produce, which was
formerly brought to town in wagons, and while in 1860 the population had
somewhat increased, the general trade of the town was diminished.


THE CORPORATE LIMITS EXTENDED.

In the year 1851 the Legislature passed a bill extending the limits of the
town, in accordance with a plan made by Commissioners appointed by the
Common Council. That extension embraced the territory we now have within
the corporate limits except a portion of the Water Power Company, the
survey having been made by Mr. William Slaughter, City Surveyor, in 1850,
and reported to the Council by Joseph Sanford, John Minor and John
Pritchard, who were appointed a committee by the Council to "enquire into
the expediency of extending the limits of the said town." After making a
thorough examination, this committee reported back to the body that it was
both expedient and desirable that the extension should be made, which
report and recommendation were adopted. To carry out this action, the
Council appointed Hugh S. Scott, Wm. S. Barton, John James Chew, Joseph
Sanford and John Pritchard, and they were instructed and empowered as a
Commission, under the provisions of the act of the Legislature, to locate
and lay out such streets in the part of the town annexed by the provisions
of the bill, as they might think proper, and report back to the Council,
with a full plan of their work. But it was provided that none of the new
streets reported upon were to be opened unless the Council should decide
it necessary, and in that event, if the owners of the lots did not
relinquish their claims to the town, damages were to be paid by the
Council in such sums as should be ascertained by three disinterested
freeholders of Spotsylvania county, who should be appointed by the county
court of said county for that purpose. The Commission performed the duties
assigned them by the Council, and laid out the new portion of the town
into streets, giving a name to each, but many of them were never opened,
as they were not needed, and remain closed to this day.

The same act made it unnecessary for either the Mayor or Recorder of the
town to be present and preside over the hustings court, but made it lawful
for any three Justices of the Corporation to hold the court, except, as in
the former act, where parties were to be examined or tried for felonies it
required that five Justices should be present and preside. In consequence
of this provision the court would convene with five Justices when felony
cases were to be considered, and after they were disposed of, two of them
would be excused and the other three would continue the session until the
business of the court was completed. These Justices were appointed by the
Governor, on the recommendation of the hustings court, and were among the
best citizens and most successful businessmen of the town, and what they
lacked in a knowledge of the law, it is generally agreed they more than
made up in good common sense and unyielding integrity.

In the following year, 1852, the Legislature passed another amendment to
the charter of the town, extending its limits, but this amendment was only
made necessary to correct an error in the section of the act of the year
before, extending the corporate limits. The metes and bounds were left the
same as prescribed in the act of 1851.

In 1858 an act was passed by the Legislature enabling the Council to sell
real estate for delinquent taxes due the town. It authorized the
authorities to sell all real estate within the corporation returned
delinquent for the non-payment of taxes and interest, and to make such
regulations for affecting the sale and collecting the taxes as they might
deem expedient. In case the sale was not made and the taxes remained
unpaid, the taxes became a lien on the property and ten per centum was
charged thereon until they were paid. The act also provided that if the
taxes due on real estate were paid by the tenant, who was not the owner of
the property, the amount might be deducted from the rents of the same in
settlement with the owner. In cases where the property was owned by
non-residents, and was vacant or unimproved, and no levy could be made to
satisfy the taxes, the town was authorized to take summary proceedings
before any court in the State, on ten days' notice to the parties owning
the delinquent property.

In 1861 another act was passed by the Legislature, extending the corporate
limits of the town. This was done in order to bring certain property
within the limits of the town for the purpose of city taxation, according
to a previous agreement with the owners of the Fredericksburg Water Power.
That agreement was that all mills and manufactories, using the water of
that company for power, erected after the completion of the canal, should
be liable for, and should pay, city taxes. The extension by this act is
described as follows:

    "Beginning at a point Sixty-seven feet North 64-1/2 degrees east from
    the northeast cornerstone of the present boundary of said town; and
    running thence to the Rappahannock river twelve hundred and fifty feet
    to a stone; thence south 58-1/2 degrees west, four hundred and
    sixty-six feet to a stone; thence south 13-1/2 degrees west, three
    hundred and seventy feet to a stone; thence south 35-1/2 degrees east,
    six hundred and eight feet to a stone; thence south 38-3/4 degrees,
    two hundred and eighty-five feet to a stone; thence south 25-1/2
    degrees east, one hundred and forty-four feet to a stone in a line
    with the present corporation line; thence with said line north 64-1/2
    degrees east six hundred and eighty feet to the point of beginning,
    and particularly set out and described in a survey and plat made by
    Carter M. Braxton, dated the 23rd day of January, 1861, and deposited
    in the clerk's office of the corporation court of said town."




CHAPTER VI

    _The War Clouds Gathering--Fredericksburg in the Confederacy--Troops
    Raised and Equipped--The Surrender of the Town to the Federal
    Authorities--Arrested and Held as Hostages--Citizens Flee from their
    Homes--The Bombardment of the Town, &c._


Notwithstanding the fact that Fredericksburg had been growing for so many
years, and the further fact that she had enjoyed the prosperity which is
claimed for her, and of which we have written, the town had attained at
this time only to the moderate proportions of a population of about five
thousand inhabitants. But it was a delightful place, nevertheless, with a
salubrious climate, good water, charming society, picturesque surroundings
and cheapness of living, and had about it a quiet and chastened dignity of
age and respectability, both attractive and impressive. Such was
Fredericksburg when the storm-cloud of war burst upon her in 1861.


FREDERICKSBURG IN THE CONFEDERACY.

We shall not attempt in these pages to fully portray the scenes enacted in
the town, or narrate the part played by Fredericksburg in that terrible
war. A true portrayal and narration of them is beyond the power of the
tongue of the finished orator, the pen of the most gifted writer or the
brush of the most skilled artist. No one can know them save those who
endured them and were a part and parcel of them, and even they are unable
to describe them with all of their horrible, bloody and destructive
realities. It would take a pen almost inspired to truthfully describe the
fiery scenes, the devastation, the trials, the privations, the sufferings
of body and mind and the heroism of the inhabitants, who were then in
town, in the terrible ordeal through which they passed, and the fortitude
with which they stood the test.

A great change was now about to take place. The quiet of the staid and
sober town was about to be broken by the sound of the drum and the tramp
of armed men. The activity of commerce had ceased, a spirit of patriotism
prevailed; and this patriotism was not demonstrative only, it was deep and
real, and was afterwards sealed by the best blood of the town.


TROOPS RAISED AND EQUIPPED.

There was never any doubt as to the part the citizens of Fredericksburg
would take in the war. It is true the town was always conservative and
loyal to the government; it had sent a Union man to the State Convention,
which was to consider and pass upon the question of union or disunion; he
had received almost a two-thirds vote of the qualified voters of the town,
but all this was done with a strong hope that the political differences of
the two great sections of the country--North and South--could and would be
settled without a separation. When it was ascertained that such a
settlement could not be had, and when that assurance was followed by a
call on the States from President Lincoln for seventy-five thousand troops
to coerce the seceded Southern States back into the Union and that
Virginia was expected to furnish her quota of that number, the sentiment
of the entire population changed, and the most ardent Union men, with few
exceptions, became strong sympathizers of the Southern movement and were
ready to take up arms in defence of the South. The Constitutional
Convention, that up to that time was supposed to be against the adoption
of the ordinance of secession, rapidly changed front, and when the
ordinance was submitted to a vote it was passed by a large majority, the
delegate from Fredericksburg, Hon. John L. Marye, Sr., voting for its
adoption.

The two volunteer militia companies, which had been in existence in town
for many years, became the nucleus around which was formed the Thirtieth
Regiment of Virginia Volunteers. This regiment, commanded successively by
Colonel Milton Cary, Colonel Archibald Harrison and Colonel Robert S.
Chew, immediately entered upon active duty and performed good service
throughout the war. The Fredericksburg artillery, under Captain Carter M.
Braxton, was organized at the beginning of the war, and under its gallant
commanders, Captain Carter M. Braxton, Captain Edward Marye and Captain
John G. Pollock, greatly distinguished itself.

[Illustration: HON. MONTGOMERY SLAUGHTER, "The War Mayor" of
Fredericksburg. (See page 74)]

It is claimed that this company fired the first shot at the battle of
Fredericksburg and was honored with a like distinction at Gettysburg; and
yet a greater honor awaited this heroic band than either of these or the
two combined, which each member and his descendants will ever cherish with
pride. Its members claim to have fired the last gun at Appomattox on the
9th of April, 1865, the day on which General Robert E. Lee surrendered the
Army of Northern Virginia to General U. S. Grant, where and when the Star
of the Southern Confederacy went down, never, never more to rise. All
honor to such brave and heroic men! The following is a correct list of the
members of the Fredericksburg artillery at the time of the surrender,
furnished by a member of the company, most of whom are now living:

Captain John G. Pollock, Lieutenant A. W. Johnson, Lieutenant Clinton
Southworth, Sergeant Henry G. Chesley, Sergeant L. T. Bunnell, Sergeant
James Taylor, Sergeant Charles B. Fleet, Gunner M. C. Hall, Gunner Samuel
H. Thorburn, Picket Sergeant J. L. Marye, Jr., H. P. Martin, Quarter
Master Sergeant; Gunner J. R. Ferneyhough, Gunner P. V. D. Conway, Gunner
W. F. Gordon, Gunner R. W. McGuire, Harrison Southworth, Guidon; Privates
W. A. Anthony, John Scott Berry, John J. Berrey, Wm. E. Bradley, J. A.
Bowler, Oscar Berry, James E. Berrey, Wm. Bowler, Robert C. Beale, J. H.
Butzner, Henry Berry, C. B. Cason, L. P. Carter, Walter Carter, W. M.
Chewning, J. S. Cannon, W. S. Chartters, Jacob Crowder, G. W. Clarke, J.
H. Clarke, S. H. Crockford, A. P. Carneal, Charles Donahoe, James Donahoe,
W. B. Dickinson, Elijah E. Fines, R. C. Fitzhugh, M. A. Ferneyhough, Duff
Green (of Brooke), J. T. Goolrick, R. C. Grymes, J. R. Gouldman, Landon
Gallahan, Henry Gallahan, John M. Garrett, James W. Hogans, George F.
Harrison, George M. Harrison, John E. Harrison, Robert Haislip, Matthew
Hudson, John S. Johnson, W. Stanfield Jones, J. Chester Jones, C. W.
Jenkins, John T. Knight, David Corbin Ker, Hubbard M. Long, Charles Lyell,
Alfred J. Marye, J. W. McWhirt, J. A. Marye, A. Stewart Marye, J. W.
Mitchell, Frank A. Maddox, Thomas E. Maddex, Charles W. Manley, John
McKay, W. Nelson Marye, George Oakes, M. B. Pollock, George B. Pearson,
Joseph S. Payne, Harvey W. Proctor, Anthony Patton, John T. Roberts, Henry
Robinson, W. T. Robinson, John D. Smith,[25] R. B. Semple, Warner L.
Sisson, Lawrence Sanford, Charles H. Scott, John Sullivan, Peter Sullivan,
H. Cabell Tabb, A. Byrd Waller, H. H. Wallace, Arthur Wallace, George
Willis.

Many of the young men at the first opportunity entered the various
branches of the service--the cavalry, infantry, navy, marine, and other
positions necessary and honorable--where they served their country well
and faithfully, and in many cases with distinguished ability. So rapid
were these enlistments, that in less than twelve months the town was
almost stripped of her youths and arms-bearing men, and of her former
population--those remaining at home were the older men, the women and a
few colored people.


THE SURRENDER OF THE TOWN TO THE FEDERAL AUTHORITIES.

_Gen. McDowell's Forces Arrive._

On the 19th of April, 1862, the town first fell into the hands of the
Federal Army. On that day a meeting of the Common Council was held, and a
committee, consisting of Mayor Slaughter, Wm. A. Little, Esq., Thomas B.
Barton, Esq., Dr. J. Gordon Wallace, Rev. William F. Broaddus, D. D., and
Gov. John L. Marye, Jr., three members on the part of the Common Council
and three representing the citizens, was appointed to confer with the
commanding officer of the United States forces, relative to the surrender
of the town. They were instructed to inform him that inasmuch as the
forces of the Confederate States had evacuated the town no resistance
would be made to its occupation by the United States troops, and to ask
such protection for persons and property as was consistent with the rules
of civilized warfare. They were also instructed to inform the Commanding
General "that the population of this town have been in the past, and are
now, in conviction and sentiment, loyal to the existing government of the
State of Virginia and Confederate States." This was an honest and frank
statement, made by the Common Council of the threatened town to the
Commanding General of the invading army, and there can be no doubt that
this honest acknowledgment won the friendship and respect of the
commandant of the post and saved much property from destruction and many
of the inhabitants from indignities on the part of the garrison.

The United States forces took possession of the Stafford hills, which
commanded the town, on the 19th day of April. The destruction of the
bridges connecting the town with the Stafford shore delayed the actual
presence of the troops in town for several days, and it was not until the
morning of the 27th that General Marsena R. Patrick established his
headquarters and took provost command of the town. Unlike many of the
subordinate commanders Gen. Patrick was considered a generous man and a
kind, humane officer, and many of the citizens who were at their homes,
while he was here in command, unite in bearing testimony, that under his
government military rule in Fredericksburg was kindly exercised and the
people were not oppressed, and not a few of them conceived a sincere
respect for his character, and to this day his acts of kindness and
thoughtful consideration are gratefully referred to by them.

This state of things continued until after the disastrous result to
General George B. McClellan's army in the Seven Days' battles around
Richmond. After those engagements General McClellan was superseded in the
command of the Army of the Potomac by General John Pope. General Pope was
from the Western Army, and upon taking command of the army in Virginia
issued a high-sounding, pompous order in which he belittled the valor of
the Confederate soldiers of the west, asserting he had "only seen the
backs of the enemy," and his purpose in coming to this army was to lead it
to victory and success. In that order he declared that he did not want to
hear such phrases as "taking strong positions and holding them," "lines of
retreat" and "bases of supplies," which he was told was common in the
army. He declared that the glory of the soldier was in pushing the enemy
and studying the lines of his retreat, which he then proposed to do.

He announced his purpose to subsist the invading army by enforced supplies
from his enemies, and, in order to prepare the world and give it some idea
of his rapid movements and brilliant feats, issued orders from
"headquarters in the saddle." This unique order, full as it was of
boastings of what he had done and what he proposed to do, failed to
frighten the Confederate commanders, as General Pope, no doubt, thought it
would do. On the contrary, without loss of time they concentrated their
forces, gave him battle and the Federal commander was ingloriously driven
from the field, with great loss of men, arms and supplies. And so in less
than sixty days from the time he took command of the army he was relieved
by General McClellan, whom he superseded, having lost every engagement
fought during the time. His advance through the counties of Fauquier and
Culpeper to Fredericksburg, when he took command of the army, caused great
consternation because of his unreasonable and cruel exactions. Many
private citizens, who had never entered the Confederate service, were
arrested upon their refusal to take the oath of allegiance to the United
States government, and were ruthlessly dragged from their homes and
confined in Northern prisons.


GEN. POPE TAKES POSSESSION OF THE TOWN--HELD AS HOSTAGES.

Finally the power of this pompous commander reached Fredericksburg, and
many of her citizens shared the fate of the unfortunate citizens of
Fauquier and Culpeper counties. By General Pope's order nineteen of our
most prominent and highly esteemed citizens were arrested and sent to
Washington, where they were incarcerated in Old Capitol prison. These men
were arrested in retaliation for the arrest of two Union men by the
Confederate authorities--Major Charles Williams, of Fredericksburg, and
Mr. Wardwell, of Richmond--and confined in prison at Richmond. Major
Williams was a native of Fredericksburg and died here several years after
the war, and Mr. Wardwell, we are informed was a northern man and was
appointed superintendent of the penitentiary when Virginia was made
"Military District No. 1, with headquarters at Richmond."

These nineteen gentlemen were arrested in August, 1862, and confined in
Old Capitol prison until the latter part of the following September, a
period of about six weeks. It will be seen from the list of the names that
they were the leading citizens of the town, exempt from military service
by reason, either of age or official position, and were the natural
guardians of the helpless women and children who were then in town. The
list is as follows:[26] Rev. Wm. F. Broaddus, D. D., James McGuire,
Charles C. Wellford, Thomas F. Knox, Beverley T. Gill, James H. Bradley,
Thomas B. Barton, Benjamin Temple, Lewis Wrenn, Michael Ames, John
Coakley, John H. Roberts, John J. Berrey, Dr. James Cooke, John F. Scott,
Montgomery Slaughter, George H. C. Rowe, Wm. H. Norton, Abraham Cox.

The _Christian Banner_, then published in Fredericksburg by Rev. James W.
Hunnicutt, of the Free Will Baptist denomination, himself a strong Union
man, and who would not have written complimentary of these gentlemen
beyond their respective merits, published the following short sketches of
the "Fredericksburg prisoners":

Thomas B. Barton is the oldest lawyer at the Fredericksburg bar and
Attorney for the Commonwealth. He was originally an Old Line Whig and a
member of the congregation of the Episcopal church.

Thomas F. Knox was a large wheat speculator and flower manufacturer, an
Old Line Whig and a prominent member of the Episcopal church.

Beverley T. Gill was, for a number of years, a large merchant tailor, but
for several years past had retired into private life. Was an Old Line Whig
and a prominent member of the Presbyterian church.

Charles C. Wellford was an extensive dry goods merchant, the oldest in
town, than whom none stood higher. Was an Old Line Whig and an elder in
the Presbyterian church.

James McGuire was one of the oldest merchants in Fredericksburg, an Old
Line Whig, a prominent member of the Presbyterian church and a most
excellent man.

James H. Bradley was a grocery merchant, an Old Line Whig and a deacon in
the Baptist church.

Rev. William F. Broaddus, D. D., was the pastor of the Baptist church in
Fredericksburg and an Old Line Whig. He conducted a female school in
addition to his pastoral work.[27]

Montgomery Slaughter, Mayor of Fredericksburg, was a large wheat
speculator and flour manufacturer, was an Old Line Whig and a member of
the Episcopal church.

George H. C. Rowe was a talented jurist, a Democrat and a Douglas elector
during the late presidential election and a member of the Baptist church.

John Coakley was for many years a merchant, but for several years past had
retired from business, and, at the time of his arrest, was Superintendent
of the Fredericksburg Aquaduct Company. He was an Old Line Whig and a very
prominent member of the Episcopal church.

Benjamin Temple was a wealthy farmer, an Old Line Whig and, we believe, a
member of no church, but a most excellent man.

Dr. James Cooke was a druggist, owning the largest establishment, perhaps
south of the Potomac river; was an Old Line Whig and a prominent member of
the Episcopal church.

John F. Scott was proprietor of the large Fredericksburg foundry and
carried on an extensive business up to the time the Union troops took
possession of Fredericksburg, was an Old Line Whig and a prominent member
of the Episcopal church.

John H. Roberts lived off his income, was an old Line Whig and, we
believe, was a member of no church.

Michael Ames was a blacksmith, an Old Line Whig and a member of no church.

John J. Berrey, formerly engaged in a large produce business, but at the
time of his arrest connected with a hardware store, was an Old Line Whig
and a member of no church.

Abraham Cox was a tailor, a Breckinridge Democrat and a Southern
Methodist.

William H. Norton was a house carpenter, an Old Line Whig and a member of
the Baptist church.

Lewis Wrenn, no particular business, an Old Line Whig and a member of the
Baptist church.

After these gentlemen had been in prison some four weeks they procured a
parole and permission to send Dr. Broaddus to Richmond to effect the
release of Major Williams and Mr. Wardwell, that he and his friends might
be liberated and permitted to return to their homes. Armed with a parole
and passports. Dr. Broaddus proceeded to Richmond, where he called upon
Judge Beverley R. Wellford, Jr., formally of Fredericksburg, who went with
him to see Mr. Randolph, Secretary of War. After hearing the case Mr.
Randolph ordered the release of the two prisoners, and Dr. Broaddus
returned to Washington with great joy, supposing that he and his fellow
prisoners would be at once set at liberty. But not so. The Federal
authorities changed their requirements and demanded also the release of
two gentlemen by the name of Turner, who resided in Fairfax county, and
were then held in a Confederate prison.

It took nearly two weeks to effect the release of these Turners, and when
it was done the certificate of release, signed by General Winder, the
Commandant of the post at Richmond, was rejected by the Federal
authorities as evidence of the release of the prisoners, and the personal
presence of the Turners was demanded in Washington before the release of
the Fredericksburg party. This took time, but it was finally accomplished,
and the Fredericksburgers were permitted to leave their prison pen and
again "breathe the air of freedom." They were sent down the Potomac river
on a steamer to Marlborough Point, from which landing they walked to town
to greet their families and friends. There was great rejoicing on their
return, and the whole population turned out to meet them and give them a
cordial welcome. Of that party of nineteen not one of them is living
to-day. The "last one to cross the river" was Mr. Abraham Cox, who died
December 28, 1898, eighty-six years of age.

But the unkindness of the military authorities and their harsh treatment
of our citizens, by the order of General Pope, did not cease with the
arrest and incarceration of the nineteen gentlemen above mentioned. Among
other things, the Federal Provost Marshal of Fredericksburg was charged
with too much leniency to the citizens and was removed; Col. Scriver was
falsely charged with furnishing the destitute with food, and was ordered
to stop it at once, if he had done so, and not to repeat it, and the
stores and places of business were closed, it was said, to prevent the
citizens from obtaining supplies. General Pope's plan seems to have been,
as he declared, to subsist his army as much as possible on the country and
to starve the old men and women into submission to his demands. In this,
however, he was not sustained by the Washington authorities, and
especially by President Lincoln.

This condition of things in Fredericksburg continued only for a short
time. The campaign, inaugurated by General Pope, which resulted in the
Second Battle of Manassas and so disastrously to the Federal army, was
speedily followed by the advance of the Confederate army into Maryland,
the capture of Harper's Ferry, with General Nelson A. Miles's whole force
of eleven thousand prisoners and immense military supplies, by General
Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson, aided by General Wm. Barksdale, on the
Maryland Heights, and General John B. Floyd, on the Loudoun Heights, and
the fierce and bloody, but undecided, struggle between General Lee and
General McClellan at Sharpsburg.

In consequence of the results of these events the Federal authorities
found it necessary to recall from the line of the Rappahannock, which they
were unable to hold, the forces then occupying the same, and therefore on
the 21st day of August, 1862, Fredericksburg was evacuated by the Federal
forces, and thus for a brief time the town was relieved from the presence
and rule of the enemy until the following November, when Gen. Burnside
moved against the town.


EVACUATION SCENES.

The scenes incident to the evacuation of Fredericksburg are well
remembered to the present day by those who were present and witnessed
them. They are indelibly impressed upon their minds and can never be
forgotten, and are often related with great interest. In describing this
stirring event and the reoccupation of the town in the Fall of 1862, we
use the eyes of citizens, who were present and witnessed the scenes
described and the words of another, who wrote of them years
afterwards.[28] Crowds at the corners of the streets indicated that some
unusual excitement prevailed, and clouds of smoke rose from the
encampments on the Stafford side of the river. Everything indicated an
immediate departure. The guards were drawn up in line; the horses and
wagons packed at headquarters; cavalry officers rode up and down, giving
orders; company after company of pickets were led into town from
different roads and joined the regiment at the City Hall; ambulances, with
the sick, moved slowly through the streets; the provost marshal and his
adjutant rode by, and, in a few minutes, the command was given to march,
and the infantry and cavalry marched down to the bridges, each one moving
by different streets. This march was quietly made. There was no music, no
drum, no voice, but the command of the officers' forward, march!

The ladies, standing in groups along the streets, found it difficult to
repress their exultation. Glad to be relieved of the presence of the
enemy, and to be freed from the restraints of their power; glad to be once
more within Southern lines, and to be brought into communication with
their own dear people; but the great gladness was that the evacuation of
Fredericksburg showed that the enemy had been defeated on the upper line
and could no longer hold the line of the Rappahannock river. And this gave
them strong hope that Virginia might yet be free from the armies of the
invader.

Several severe explosions followed the blowing up of the two bridges, and,
as the bright flames seized upon and leaped along the sides and floors of
the bridges, the whole horizon was illuminated. The burning continued all
night. A guard was at once organized by the citizens, for the protection
of the town against any stragglers or unruly persons who might chance to
be prowling about.

With the departure of the Federal troops came now the desire on the part
of the citizens of town and country to meet and greet each other, and also
a longing to welcome the appearance of the Confederates, a sight which had
so long been denied them. In this, to their great delight, they were soon
to realize their wish, for on the 2nd day of September about two hundred
people came into town from the surrounding country, and general
congratulations ensued. On the evening of that day a small force of
Confederate cavalry rode into town and were received with shouts of joy.
The ladies lined the streets, waving their handkerchiefs and loudly
uttering their welcome.

On the morning of the 4th of September the soldiers in camp at Hazel Run
were treated to breakfast by the ladies, and greatly enjoyed the hot
rolls, beefsteak and hot coffee, after their long abstinence from such
delicacies, and probably from rations of any sort. After a brief season of
comparative quiet, disturbed only by the general interest felt in the
operations of our armies, the condition of the country generally, and the
liability to the reoccupation of the town at any time, Fredericksburg was
again the subject and recipient of war's horrors in their most appalling
form.

[Illustration: "Chancellorsville Tavern," Gen. Hooker's Headquarters
during the battle there in 1863. Burnt during that battle, May 3rd. (See
page 95)]

[Illustration: "The Sunken Road," along which the "stone wall" stood,
forming breastworks for the Confederates in 1862 and 1863. (See page 91)]


GENERAL BURNSIDE'S OCCUPATION OF FREDERICKSBURG.

_The Preliminaries to the Great Battle._

On Sunday morning, the 10th of November, 1862, a company of Federal
cavalry, commanded by Captain Ulric Dahlgren crossed the Rappahannock
river, above Falmouth, and charged rapidly down Main street, with drawn
sabres. A small force of Confederate cavalry (Colonel John Critcher's
battalion), was quartered in town, who, recovering from the disorder into
which they were thrown by the sudden and unexpected appearance of the
enemy, quickly rallied, and, aided by citizens and Captain Simpson's
company, of Colonel W. B. Ball's command, attacked the raiders, pursued
and drove them across the river, inflicting upon them a slight loss in men
and horses. The Federal army then began to move down from Fauquier,
Culpeper and Prince William counties, through Stafford county, to occupy
Fredericksburg.

To Colonel Wm. A. Ball, an experienced officer, who had greatly
distinguished himself at the battle of Leesburg, and in other encounters,
was entrusted by General Lee the duty of holding the town, and in
retarding the approach of the enemy, if possible, with the promise of
speedy reinforcements. The divisions of Gen. Lafayette McLaws and General
Robert Ransom, of General Longstreet's corps, with General Wm. H. F. Lee's
brigade of cavalry and a battery of artillery, were marched hurriedly to
this point, and the whole of General Lee's army prepared to follow.

On Sunday, November 16th, Colonel Ball's scouts announced the approach of
the enemy on three roads--the Warrenton, Stafford Courthouse and the
Poplar. He telegraphed to General Gustavus W. Smith, in Richmond, for
reinforcements. General Smith promptly sent him a battalion of four
companies, under Major Finney, from the Forty-second Mississippi. With his
small force, which scarcely exceeded five hundred men, the gallant Colonel
proposed to engage the enemy, if he sought to cross the Rappahannock near
Fredericksburg. Colonel Ball placed his infantry in the mill-race and mill
opposite Falmouth, stationed his cavalry in the upper part of
Fredericksburg and planted Captain John W. Lewis's battery of four guns
and eighty men on the plateau around the old Fitzgerald residence, at
Little Falls, half a mile above the town.

At 10 o'clock on Monday, the 18th, the Southern scouts were driven across
the river by the enemy's cavalry, and several hours thereafter a Federal
corps, of twelve thousand strong, appeared on the Stafford Heights,
opposite Fredericksburg, and planted their field-batteries, consisting of
more than twenty guns. Capt. Lewis's men maintained their ground and
replied to the rapid firing of the enemy. The distance was short--less
than half a mile. The firing of the men was accurate, yet the Confederate
fire was kept up, and the Federals, uncertain as to the force opposing
them, made no attempt to cross the river.

Colonel Ball, with five hundred men, maintained his front, in the face of
the twelve thousand Federals, encouraged by General Lee, who telegraphed
him, "Hold your position if you can. Reinforcements are hurrying to you."
On Tuesday, the 18th, the enemy's force was largely increased. General
Burnside's whole force was pouring down to the Stafford hills. They were
waiting for pontoon bridges, and did not cross the river.

Meanwhile Gen. Lee's army was rushing down the roads from Culpeper and
Orange counties to occupy the crest of hills around Fredericksburg.
Wednesday, at daybreak, General Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry arrived. The next
morning General McLaws, with his own division and that of General
Ransom's, was in position, and on the 20th the Commander-in-Chief was at
hand to direct the movements of the remainder of General Longstreet's
command and General Jackson's corps, which rapidly followed him.

On Tuesday, the 20th of November, by request of General Lee, Montgomery
Slaughter, Mayor of Fredericksburg, accompanied by the Recorder, William
A. Little, Esq., and by Mr. Douglas H. Gordon, a member of her Council,
held an interview with the Confederate Commander-in-Chief. It was held at
Snowden, the residence of the late John L. Stansbury, about a mile above
town. On Friday, the 21st, General E. V. Sumner, of the Federal Army, sent
over a flag of trace, with a written message to the Mayor and Common
Council of Fredericksburg. General Patrick, the bearer of the message, was
met by Colonel Wm. A. Ball at "French John's" wharf, at the foot of Hawke
street. General Sumner's letter, to the town authorities was as follows:

    "GENTLEMEN:--Under cover of the houses of your town, shots have been
    fired upon the troops of my command. Your mills and factories are
    furnishing provisions and material for clothing for armed bodies in
    rebellion against the Government of the United States. Your railroads
    and other means of transportation are removing supplies to the depots
    of such troops. This condition of things must terminate; and by
    direction of Major-General Burnside, commanding this army, I
    accordingly demand the surrender of the city into my hands, as the
    representative of the Government of the United States, at or before
    five o'clock this afternoon (5 o'clock P. M. to-day). Failing an
    affirmative reply to this demand by the time indicated, sixteen (16
    hours) hours will be permitted to elapse for the removal from the city
    of women and children, the sick, wounded and aged; which period having
    elapsed, I shall proceed to shell the town.

    "Upon obtaining possession of the town every necessary means will be
    taken to preserve order and secure the protective operation of the
    laws and policy of the United States Government."

Colonel Ball simply stated to General Patrick that before delivering the
letter to the civil authorities it must be referred to his commanding
military officer. But neither he nor the Mayor gave any intimation of the
actual presence of General Lee, with a large part of his army, on the
heights in rear of the town. General Patrick was obliged to remain in the
log house from ten o'clock in the morning to seven in the afternoon, on
the 21st. Meanwhile Colonel Ball, through the proper channels forwarded
the letter to General Lee. At twenty minutes before five o'clock in the
afternoon the letter was received at his office by the Mayor, through
General J. E. B. Stuart, who communicated in full General Lee's decision.
With the aid of his advisers, Mayor Slaughter prepared a written reply,
bearing date, "Mayor's Office, Fredericksburg, November 21st, 1862." This
reply was to the effect that the communication of General Sumner had not
reached the Mayor in time to furnish a reply by 5 o'clock P. M., as
requested; that it had been sent to him after passing (by General
Patrick's consent) through the hands of the commanding officer of the
Confederate States forces near the town; that as to the shots complained
of in the northern suburbs of the town, they were the acts of the
Confederate military force holding the town; that the Mayor was authorized
to say that the several subjects of complaint would not recur; that the
Confederate troops would not occupy the town, and neither would they
permit the Federal troops to do so. Mayor Slaughter, attended by Dr. Wm.
S. Scott and Samuel S. Howison, Esq., repaired to the place of meeting,
and, at about seven o'clock in the evening, delivered the reply to General
Patrick.

In view of the threatened shelling of the town, General Lee advised the
inhabitants to remove from it as rapidly as possible. The bombardment was
not opened the next morning, but it became apparent that the enemy would
cross, and the town would be exposed, not only to their fire, but to the
most terrible desolations of war. The humane and considerate Chief of the
Confederate army urged the women and children to leave the town, and
furnished wagons, ambulances and every facility in his power for their
aid.


THE INHABITANTS LEAVE THEIR HOMES.

Then followed a scene, illustrating both the horrors of war and the
virtues to which it sometimes gives birth. The people of Fredericksburg,
almost _en masse_, left their homes rather than yield to the enemy. Trains
of cars departed, full of refugees. Upon the last the enemy opened a fire
of shells; they afterwards explained that it was a mistake. Wagons and
vehicles of every kind left the town filled with women and little
children, with the few articles of apparel and necessity that could be
removed. Many were seen on foot along the roads leading into the country.
Winter had commenced, and snow had fallen. Many were compelled to take
refuge in cabins, barns and tents, scattered through the woods and fields.
They were dependent for food on the exertions of their friends and the
humane efforts of the Southern army.

A few families remained in Fredericksburg, determined to brave the horrors
of war as long as possible. The hardships and privations, incurred by
these people, who surrendered their homes and property to destruction
rather than remain with them and fall into the hands of the enemies of
their country, excited the sympathy and won the admiration of the South. A
movement to aid them commenced in Richmond. A committee of relief and
treasurer was appointed, and funds were liberally contributed throughout
the South, and the soldiers in the field, of their small rations and pay,
contributed generously, both in food and money. The contributions of the
people and army continued until more than ninety thousand dollars had been
received and disbursed by the committee in Richmond and nearly an equal,
if not greater, sum was distributed by Mayor Slaughter.

A number of skirmishes of an unimportant character were soon followed by
the grand movement of the enemy. On the night of December the 10th the
armies prepared for action. Two hundred and fifty thousand armed men, like
crouched lions ready to spring upon their adversary, were ready for the
bloody conflict. It was the most restless, anxious night ever passed by
the citizens of Fredericksburg. It was the night of terror! The dread of
to-morrow hung like a pall over the devoted city, and everybody was
hurriedly preparing for the awful destruction that was at hand and could
not be averted. The threatened bombardment had long been delayed, and many
citizens had returned from their flight. From one end of the town to the
other, all during that sleepless night, could be seen in nearly every home
dim lights, where busy hands with heavy hearts were preparing for the
flight at the sound of the first gun. What to attempt to carry, and what
to leave to be destroyed by the enemy, was the perplexing question, and
so in the anxiety of the refugees to take with them sufficient food,
clothing and bedding to prevent suffering from cold and hunger, they
overtaxed their strength and had to abandon many things on the roadside.


THE BOMBARDMENT OF THE TOWN.

Having received his pontoon bridges, General Burnside prepared to throw
his grand army across the river. At two o'clock on the morning of
Thursday, December the 11th, his troops were put in motion and two signal
guns from the Confederate side, at five o'clock,[29] sounded a note of
warning to the people and the army. General Burnside commenced throwing
three pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock river. One was to span the
river at French John's wharf, at the foot of Hawke street, one at Scott's
Ferry, at the lower end of Water street, and one at Deep Run, about two
and a half miles below town. General Wm. Barksdale's brigade, consisting
of the Thirteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Twenty-first Mississippi
regiments, held the town.

"General Barksdale kept his men quiet and concealed until the bridges were
so far advanced that the working parties were in easy range, when he
opened fire with such effect that the bridges were abandoned at once. Nine
separate and desperate attempts were made to complete the bridges under
fire of their sharpshooters and guns on the opposite bank, but every
attempt being attended with such severe loss from the Confederates, posted
in rifle-pits, in the cellars of the houses along the banks, and behind
whatever offered concealment, that the enemy abandoned their attempts and
opened a terrific fire from their numerous batteries concentrated along
the hills just above the river. The fire was so severe that the men could
not use their rifles, and, the different places occupied by them becoming
untenable, the troops were withdrawn from the river bank back to Caroline
street at 4:30 P. M. The enemy then crossed in boats, and, completing
their bridges, passed over in force and advanced into the town. The
Seventeenth Mississippi and ten sharpshooters from Colonel J. W. Carter's
regiment (the 13th) and three companies of the Eighteenth regiment,
Lieutenant Colonel Luse, under Lieutenant William Ratliff, were all the
troops that were actually engaged in defending the crossings in front of
the city."[30]

The other regiments and parts of regiments were held in reserve, and were
not brought into action until the enemy had crossed the river. At the
first dawn of light on the morning of December the 11th the Federal
artillery commenced its work of destruction. From the heights above the
town of Falmouth, north of Fredericksburg, to the Washington farm below,
on every available place artillery was stationed, bearing upon the town.
About one hundred and seventy-five of the grim monsters, ready to "belch
forth death and destruction," were placed in position the day before, well
manned, and only waiting for the signal to send forth their deadly
messengers of shot and shell.

At the hour appointed the signal was given, and the thunder of artillery,
the lightning from bursting shells in the air, the crashing of solid shot
through the houses, the roar of musketry on both sides of the river, the
shrieks of frightened women and children, the bustle and confusion that
followed, may be imagined, but can never be described. From early morning
until four o'clock in the afternoon, with only half an hour's cessation
between one and two o'clock, this deluge of shot and shell was poured upon
the streets and houses of the town. The few inhabitants who remained in
the town fled to their cellars and sought to save their lives from the
storm which was beating their homes to pieces. Many houses were burned
with all or most of their contents, the result of hot shot, it was
claimed, thrown from the enemy's guns on the Lacy farm, just opposite the
town. Among the houses that were burned were the residence of Mr. Reuben
T. Thom, in which was located the post-office; the Bank of Virginia, where
the Opera-house now stands, and several other private residences on Main
street. And yet the worst was still to come.




CHAPTER VII

    _The great battle--The town sacked by soldiers--A wonderful display of
    humanity--The Federals recross the river--A great revival of
    religion--The battle of Chancellorsville--The Wilderness
    campaign--Citizens arrested--A statement by the Council--The citizens
    and Federal soldiers release, &c._


To those who had a proper idea of the sacrifices made, the sufferings
endured and the privations experienced by the inhabitants of
Fredericksburg, up to this period, whether that idea was formed from
observation, from reading the narratives or from their rehearsals by those
who experienced them, it might appear that their cup of sorrow was full
even to overflowing, and from further troubles and trials they might be
exempted. But not so. Probably the worst was yet to come; but they firmly
believed that the same patriotic devotion to the cause they had espoused,
and the same fidelity to principle which enabled them to "bear the
spoiling of their goods" with composure in the past, would sustain them in
any additional trials and sacrifices they might have to endure in the
future. Patriotic, self sacrificing and confiding in the right, they were
prepared for the worst, and the worst came.

On taking possession of Fredericksburg the Federal soldiers abandoned
themselves to pillage and destruction. They entered the stores and
dwellings, forcing their way where force was necessary, rifling them of
all that they wanted of their contents and destroying those things that
they could not remove. China and glassware were broken up and scattered
promiscuously; silverware was carried away, books and family pictures were
mutilated and destroyed; furniture was cut up or broken up and converted
into fire-wood, beds, bedclothing and wearing apparel were destroyed or
carried off, and the residences were left despoiled of their contents. In
the three days they occupied the town they made the destruction complete.
But it is a gratification, even to those who suffered by this occupation,
to know that the commanders were not to blame for the sacking of the town.
It was the work, so it is asserted, of stragglers and camp followers--the
most detestable and destructive scabs of an army.

On Friday, the 12th of December, the Union army was drawn up in line of
battle, prepared to advance. Not less than sixty thousand men were on the
south bank of the river, with more than a hundred pieces of artillery.
Near the mouth of Deep Run there were probably as many more ready for the
final charge. The Confederate army was confronting them in a line
extending from Fall Hill to Hamilton's Crossing, between six and seven
miles in length. At one o'clock the heavy batteries on each side opened,
and for an hour kept up a brilliant duel of shell and round shot. On the
morning of Saturday, the 13th of December, a dense fog hung over the river
and the adjoining fields. Under its cover the Federal army advanced. By
eight o'clock it was in position and the dreadful conflict began.

Line after line of battle advanced on the Confederate position, at the
stone wall at the foot of Marye's Heights, to be repulsed with great
slaughter. This was kept up without cessation, charge after charge, as
rapidly as they could reform the men, from eight o'clock in the morning
until four o'clock in the afternoon, when one desperate charge, with
troops _en masse_, was made all along the line in front of the stone wall,
accompanied by the most terrific fire of artillery. In this last and
grandest effort, the men, marching to death and destruction through an
open field, got within twenty-five yards of the stone wall,
notwithstanding the deadly aim of the Confederate infantry behind it and
the destructive fire of the artillery on the heights above, so skillfully
arranged by General E. P. Alexander.

It was a sublime spectacle, and the gallantry of both officers and men won
the admiration of the commanders on both sides, Lieutenant-General
Longstreet, on the Confederate side, declaring that such gallant conduct
deserved success. But success was not to be theirs. The gallant charges of
the Federals were met with that undaunted coolness and courage so
characteristic of the Confederate soldier, and a disastrous Federal defeat
was the result. The fighting was the most desperate that had been
witnessed up to that time, and the Union loss was very great, being
nearly fifty per cent. of the numbers engaged. The battle-field was
covered with the dead, wounded and dying, and it is related by those
behind the stone wall that all during the night the most piteous groans
and cries, for water of the wounded could be heard, but no relief could be
afforded, although the Confederates deeply sympathized with them.[31] Thus
ended the battle of Fredericksburg, fought, it is claimed, against the
judgment and advice of every corps commander in the army who refused to
renew the attack next day, although it was the desire of Gen. Burnside to
do so.


THE FEDERALS RECROSS THE RIVER.

On Monday night, December the 15th, General Burnside withdrew his army
across the river and removed his pontoons. The citizens returned to their
houses, to find them stripped of everything that was left in them. What
could not be carried away was broken up and destroyed. Private residences,
orphan asylums, church buildings and lodges of benevolent and charitable
institutions, all fared alike. Not only were the residences of the
refugees deprived of everything left in them, but the returning citizens
were without money and food. They were in a destitute condition, and,
between the two great armies, with no prospect of relief, unless it
came from friends in the way of a contribution. It was at this critical
period that the appeal, made but a few days before, brought to them relief
in the way of money and supplies. The contributions in money amounted to
$164,169.45, and the provisions were ample to relieve the present needs.
Thus the wants of the destitute of the town were supplied and untold
suffering prevented.

[Illustration: Gen. Hugh Mercer's Monument on Washington avenue. (See page
162)]

[Illustration: Old Stone House near Free Bridge. Supposed to have been a
tobacco warehouse before the Revolutionary War. (See page 47)]


A GREAT REVIVAL OF RELIGION.

From the first of January to the second day of June, 1862, General
Barksdale's brigade, that had guarded the banks of the river from the
arrival of the Confederate army at this point to the great battle of the
13th of December, was quartered in town for picket and provost guard duty.
About the first of April, 1863, one of the most remarkable and successful
religious revivals took place here that was known to that generation. The
dangers and hardships of war were to yield for a time for the comforts of
religion. The services were commenced in the Presbyterian church by Rev.
Wm. B. Owens, Dr. J. A. Hackett, Rev. E. McDaniel and Rev. W. T. West,
chaplains in the brigade, aided by Rev. John L. Pettigrew, then a private
soldier in Company A, Thirteenth Mississippi regiment, but afterwards
appointed to a chaplaincy in a North Carolina regiment. Mr. Owens, a
Methodist minister, had charge of the services, and for some reason the
meetings were transferred from the Presbyterian church to the Southern
Methodist church, then standing on the corner of Charles and George
streets, where Mr. P. V. D. Conway's residence now stands.

The interest in the meetings deepened, their influence spread to the
adjoining camps,[32] and the congregations became so large that they could
not find standing room in the building. To accommodate these
rapidly-increasing crowds, Rev. A. M. Randolph, then rector, tendered the
use of St. George's church, which was gladly accepted, and the services
were conducted there until the close of the meeting, in the latter part of
May. Before the close, this revival attracted the attention of the leading
ministers of nearly all denominations, many of whom came to the assistance
of Mr. Owens and his co-workers. Among those who were at times present,
preached and rendered valuable assistance, were Rev. J. C. Stiles, D. D.,
Rev. Wm. J. Hoge, D. D., Rev. James D. Coulling, Rev. James A. Duncan, D.
D., Rev. J. Lansing Burrows, D. D., Rev. Alfred E. Dickinson, D. D., and
Rev. W. H. Carroll. During the meeting more than five hundred soldiers,
most of whom belonged to Barksdale's brigade, were converted and united
with churches of the various Christian denominations.

Of this wonderful religious awakening, Rev. Dr. Wm. J. Hoge wrote to the
_Southern Presbyterian_ as follows: "We found our soldiers at
Fredericksburg all alive with animation. A rich blessing had been poured
upon the labors of Brother Owens, Methodist chaplain in Barksdale's
brigade. The Rev. Dr. Burrows, of the Baptist church, Richmond, had just
arrived, expecting to labor with him some days. As I was to stay but one
night, Dr. Burrows insisted on my preaching. So we had a Presbyterian
sermon, introduced by Baptist services, under the direction of a Methodist
chaplain, in an Episcopal church! Was not that a beautiful solution of the
vexed problem of Christian union?"

Mr. Owens, who worked so faithfully in the great meeting at
Fredericksburg, endeared himself to all who had the pleasure of attending
the services. On his return to his Mississippi home, at the close of the
war, he at once entered upon his work as a travelling minister, and was
drowned while attempting to cross a swollen stream on horseback,
endeavoring to reach one of his preaching stations.


GENERAL JOHN SEDGWICK TAKES THE TOWN.

_Chancellorsville campaign._

In the Spring of 1863, as soon as the roads began to dry off, the armies
were put in readiness to move, preparatory to another great battle.
General Joseph Hooker, known as "Fighting Joe Hooker," had succeeded
General Ambrose E. Burnside in the command of the Army of the Potomac,
which he claimed was the finest army on the planet. His desire was to
reach Richmond, which his predecessors, General McDowell, General
McClellan, General Pope and General Burnside, had failed to do.
Accordingly, about the last of April, detaching General John Sedgwick,
with twenty-two thousand men, to threaten General Lee's rear at
Fredericksburg, he crossed his army at the several fords of the
Rappahannock river above town and concentrated it at Chancellorsville. His
plan seems to have been to turn General Lee's right flank with the forces
under General Sedgwick, double back his left flank with the corps under
General Howard, and then, with the forces of General Crouch and General
Meade, make a bold and desperate dash against the center, crush it and
capture the entire army of his adversary. This accomplished, Richmond
would be an easy prey.

But while General Hooker was moving to execute his plans, General Lee had
the Army of Northern Virginia in motion, and when General Hooker reached
Chancellorsville he found to his great astonishment, the Confederate army
in his front and prepared to dispute his advance. Skirmishers were thrown
out by both armies and soon the engagement of May the 2nd and 3rd
commenced. On the morning of the 2nd General Stonewall Jackson commenced
his famous flank movement that has been the study and wonder of military
men of this and other countries, which resulted in a great disaster to the
Federal army and a great calamity to the Southern cause. General Hooker
was badly defeated and driven in haste from the field, but General Jackson
lay mortally wounded. Of that attack and result we use in substance the
language of General Lee in his official report of the Battle of
Chancellorsville.[33] After a long and fatiguing march, General Jackson's
leading division, under General Rodes, reached old turnpike, about three
miles in the rear of Chancellorsville, at four in the afternoon. As the
different divisions arrived they were formed at right angles with the
road--Rodes in front, Trible's division, under Brigadier-General R. E.
Colston, in the second, and General A. P. Hill's in the third line.

At six o'clock the advance was ordered. The enemy were taken by surprise
and fled after a brief resistance. General Rodes's men pushed forward with
great vigor and enthusiasm, followed closely by the second and third
lines. Position after position was carried, the guns captured, and every
effort of the enemy to rally defeated by the impetuous rush of our troops.
In the ardor of pursuit through the thick and tangled woods, the first and
second lines at last became mingled and moved on together as one. The
enemy made a stand at a line of breastworks across the road at the house
of Melzi Chancellor, but the troops of Rodes and Colston dashed over the
entrenchments together and the flight and pursuit were resumed and
continued until our advance was arrested by the abatis in front of the
line of works near the central position at Chancellorsville.

It was now dark, and General Jackson ordered the third line, under General
Hill, to advance to the front and relieve the troops of Rodes and Colston,
who were completely blended, and in such disorder, from their rapid
advance through intricate woods and over broken ground, that it was
necessary to reform them. As General Hill's men moved forward, General
Jackson, with his staff and escort, returning from the extreme front, met
his skirmishers advancing, and in the obscurity of the night were taken
for the enemy and fired upon. Captain J. K. Boswell, chief engineer of the
corps and several others were killed and a number wounded. General Jackson
himself received a severe injury and was borne from the field. He was
taken to the Chandler house, at Guiney's station, in Caroline county,
where, notwithstanding everything possible was done for him that loving
hearts could do or medical skill could suggest, he died on the 9th of May.
Amid the sorrow and tears of the Southern people he was laid to rest at
his home in Lexington, Virginia.

General Jubal A. Early had been left at Fredericksburg to watch General
Sedgwick, and had been instructed, in the event of the enemy withdrawing
from his front and moving up the river, to join the main body of the army.
This order was repeated on the 2nd, but by some mistake General Early was
directed to move unconditionally. Leaving Hays's brigade and one regiment
of Barksdale's at Fredericksburg, he moved with the rest of his command
towards Chancellorsville. As soon as his withdrawal was perceived the
enemy began to advance, and General Early returned to his original
position.

The line to be defended by Barksdale's brigade extended from the
Rappahannock, above Fredericksburg, to the rear of Howison's house, a
distance of more than two miles. The artillery was posted along the
heights in rear of the town.

Before dawn on the morning of the 3rd General Barksdale reported to
General Early that the enemy had occupied Fredericksburg in large force
and had bridged the Rappahannock river. Hays's brigade was sent to his
support, and placed on his extreme left, with the exception of one
regiment, stationed on the right of his line behind the Howison house.
Seven companies of the Twenty-first Mississippi regiment were posted by
General Barksdale between the Marye house and the Plank road, the
Eighteenth and the three other companies of the Twenty-first occupied the
Telegraph road, behind the stone wall, at the foot of Marye's Hill, the
two remaining regiments of the brigade being farther to the right on the
hills near Howison's house. The enemy made a demonstration against the
extreme right, which was easily repulsed by General Early. Soon afterward
a column moved from Fredericksburg along the river bank as if to gain the
heights on the extreme left, which commanded those immediately in rear of
the town. This attempt was foiled by General Hays and the arrival of
General Wilcox from Banks's Ford, who deployed a few skirmishers on the
hill near Dr. Taylor's house and opened on the enemy with a section of
artillery. Very soon the enemy advanced in large force against Marye's
Heights and the hills to the right and left. Two assaults were gallantly
repulsed by Barksdale's men and the artillery. After the second, a flag of
truce, it was claimed, was sent from the town to obtain permission to
provide for the wounded, which was granted.

At the end of the truce three heavy lines advanced and renewed the attack.
They were bravely repulsed on the right and left, but the small force at
the foot of Marye's Hill, overpowered by more than ten times their
numbers, was captured after a heroic resistance, and the Heights carried.
Eight pieces of artillery were taken on Marye's and the adjacent heights.
The remainder of Barksdale's brigade, together with that of General Hays,
and the artillery on the right, retired down the Telegraph road. The
success of the enemy enabled him to threaten Gen. Lee's communications by
moving down the telegraph road, or gain his rear at Chancellorsville by
the Plank road. He at first advanced on the Telegraph road, but was
checked by General Early, who had halted the brigades of Barksdale and
Hays with the artillery, about two miles from Marye's Hill, and reënforced
them with three regiments of General John B. Gordon's brigade. The enemy
then began to advance up the Plank road, his progress being gallantly
disputed by the brigade of General Cadmus M. Wilcox, who had moved from
Banks's Ford as rapidly as possible to the assistance of General
Barksdale, but arrived too late to take part in the action. General Wilcox
fell back slowly until he reached Salem church, on the Plank road, about
four miles from Fredericksburg.

Information of the state of affairs in our rear having reached
Chancellorsville, General McLaws, with his three brigades and one of
General Anderson's, was ordered to reinforce General Wilcox. He arrived at
Salem church early in the afternoon, where he found General Wilcox in line
of battle, with a large force of the enemy--consisting, as was reported,
of one army corps and part of another, under Major-General Sedgwick--in
his front. The brigades of General Kershaw and General Wofford were placed
on the right of General Wilcox and those of Semmes and Mahone on the left.
The enemy's artillery played vigorously upon our position for some time,
when his infantry advanced in three strong lines, the attack being
directed mainly against General Wilcox, but partially involving the
brigades on his left.

The assault was met with the utmost firmness, and after a fierce struggle
the first line was repulsed with great slaughter. The second then came
forward, but immediately broke under the close and deadly fire which it
encountered, and the whole mass fled in confusion to the rear. They were
pursued by the brigades of General Wilcox and General Semmes, in the
direction of Banks's Ford, where the enemy crossed to the Stafford side of
the river.

The next morning General Early advanced along the Telegraph road and
recaptured Marye's Heights and the adjacent hills without difficulty.
General Barksdale's brigade entered the town, to find the enemy gone, with
the exception of some stragglers who had secreted themselves in cellars
and elsewhere about town. These were captured and sent to the r

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