University of Virginia Library

7. Chapter Seventh

The Military

When I reached Charlottesville March 2d – 66
I found a small guard of soldiers stationed there
under command of Major Head. I think these
troops belonged to some Pennsylvania regiment
but do not remember which one. The Majors
Headquarters were in the Delevan where we had our
first home, and the soldiers barracks were at first
in the long building where we had our schools, but
they were soon removed to the good-sized structure
connected to the rear of the Delevan by a
square platform: so we who were occupants of
the house lived a kind of semi-military life.
As our work took us to our schoolrooms frequently
in the evening we became quite accustomed
to the challenge of the sentinel on our return
"Who goes there?" "Friends." "Advance friends
and be recognized." after which ceremony
we could pass into the building and up to
our rooms. The presence of Mrs. Head

whose mother and sister visited her separately
during the spring, gave us a little pleasant
Society. Major Head was a good disciplinarian
and as a rule the soldiers were orderly, but
occasionally some one would be guilty of some
misconduct — usually it would be a case of
too much strong drink — and be put under guard.
Such cases usually came under our notice as the
guard would have to bring his prisoner to the common
pump to wash his face and hands. One morning
when I rang my bell, a very young soldier under
guard at the pump, evidently under the impression
that he was a school boy, walked quietly in and took
his seat with the boys in spite of the protestations of
his guard who was too much taken by surprise at
his unexpected movement to stop him before he got
in and seated himself. It was quite evident that
he was under a drunken delusion, and it took
considerable energetic coaxing on the part of his
guard to get him away. Judging from his looks
he had not been long out of school.

Occasionally some of the soldiers would
indulge in a little sport at the expense of the

colored boys, and frighten them by chasing
them around the building when they were sure
the Yankee teachers were not where they could
see them. But we always knew about it for
some of the boys were sure to complain to us
that the "Yankees have been running us."
All soldiers who wore a blue uniform were "Yankees"
to them, whether they came from Maine or Oregon.
We rarely heard them spoken of as soldiers. In fact
I think the white people always gave them this
title — to them a most opprobrious term.

But whatever may have been the faults of these
soldiers, we were treated with the utmost courtesy
by them. Wherever we met them they silently
raised their caps, or put up a hand in military
salute. There were only two or three whose names
we learned out of the crowd of seventy or eighty
stationed there — the Majors orderly and one or
two others but they all knew us and gave us
the same courteous recognition as they tendered
Mrs. Head, the Majors wife.

Our pupils used to bring us the greatest
profusion of the most beautiful flowers — so

many that they actually constituted "an
embarrassment of riches." I had so many one
day that I left them in the school-room until
one of my girls could get a basket to bring them
over to me. When she came she said the soldiers
at the barracks in the rear of the house tried to coax
her to let them have some. "Please give me just
one white flower." But she sternly refused. "They
are all for Miss C" she told them. I told her
I thought I might spare a few out of half a bushel,
so I filled two or three vases and sent the rest down
to them. If there was a sick soldier in the hospital
we shared our flowers with him, and we often
furnished the soldiers with enough to decorate
the graves of the Union dead who rested in
the University burying ground a half mile away.
After the soldiers were gone we used to make
little pilgrimages to the place with our own
offering of flowers until the bodies were
removed to the national cemetary at Culpepper.

In the latter part of May of '66 we were
told that orders had come for the troops to be
removed from Charlottesville. The colored people

were very much alarmed, and we felt that
our position there would scarcely be secure
without their protection, so with the
approval of Maj. Head and the other
teachers Miss Gardner went to Washington
to appeal to the authorities there to allow the
soldiers to remain awhile longer. They
gave her request respectful consideration,
but their final conclusion was that a guard was
no longer necessary there, and on the morning
of the 8th of June, a special train stood on the
track about two rods in the rear of our home
and we sat at the windows and watched the
soldiers file on board. When all was ready
for a start Miss G. said "We ought not let them
go without a sign that we notice their departure"
so we waved our handkerchiefs as the train
moved off. Instantly the soldiers wavedswung their
caps in return, and gave us three cheers. So
ended my small experience of military
life. We heard of many threats to break up
our school after the soldiers left. I find in
my diary of that date this significant
item "They threaten to burn us out." but
we went on with our work as if we had no
thought of trouble, and it proved the wisest
course, for the trouble did not come.