| From the Southern Confederacy (Atlanta,
Ga.) |
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| July 18, 1862 |
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| The Wounded Soldiers on the Cars |
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| Editors Southern Confederacy |
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| Having to spend the day in
your town, and feeling deeply impressed with the tokens of sympathy
bestowed all along the route, upon our soldiers who were wounded in
the late battles near Richmond, and who have just arrived en route
homeward, I am inclined to trouble you with an article -- if it be not
presuming too much. |
| Some two hundred wounded were
most sumptuously fed by the kind ladies of Wytheville, Va., on
Saturday last, and seven times did the ladies of Tennessee meet the
train and feed them -- at Greenville, Morristown, New Market, Mossy
Creek, Knoxville, Athens, and Cleveland {this
used the Virginia & Tennessee RR, the East Tennessee &
Virginia RR, the East Tennessee & Georgia RR and the Western &
Atlantic RR}. These acts of our fair ladies constitute a few of
their offerings of devotion at the shrine of patriotism and Southern
liberty, and hardened as our soldiers become from the exercises of
camp life, they quickly and gratefully appreciate the efforts of
gentle woman to soothe their pains and minister to their pains and
minister to their comfort. The ladies of all the places above named
may be assured that among all the incidents of those suffering
soldiers will narrate to loved ones at home, of their experiences for
the last twelve months, those connected with their trip through
Tennessee, will stir their hearts more deeply, and start the tear of
gratitude more quickly, than all the rest. And they may also be
assured those soldiers are not going home to retire upon their
laurels, and exhibit their battle scars ever after, as the only proof
of their devotion to our cause. They know that there is much of
valuable blood to avenge; a Zollicoffer and a Sidney Johnston. They
feel that the infamous Andy Johnson must meet a merited retribution,
and that they are to have a part in the contests which will decide the
deliverance of fair Tennessee from abolition rule and pollution. And
there is not one of them so craven hearted as to say he will fight no
more. Since our arrival in Georgia {lost in the
fold of the page} attention has been
shown our wounded that their wants required. On reaching your city
this morning, kind surgeons dressed their wounds, and ever-vigilant
ladies ministered to their comfort. It was grievous to many to find
that we missed the connection on the railroad, but they will be
strengthened by the day's quiet and comfort, for the balance of their
journey. There was only one point at which missing the connection was
altogether unnecessary -- that was at Bristol, Tennessee. Some one
told us the cars from Lynchburg had not made connection at Bristol for
several days. An extra train was, however, prepared for the wounded,
and the delay was but short. On asking the conductor, I was informed
he had telegraphed to Jonesboro' to provide for our wounded, but
arriving there, we found no preparation. A passenger on the train then
telegraphed to Greenville, and when the train reached that point the
abundance of food distributed by the ladies, caused the poor sufferers
almost to forget their disappointment at Jonesboro'. |
| There is one suggestion that
perhaps ought to be made to the ladies on the railroads. The wounded
may continue to come for several days, and it would be better for them
that they should not be so freely supplied with the fruits and berries
of our Southern country, as they are, in numbers of cases, made sick
by them. |
| And now, a soldier's wish for
the ladies who have been so kind: may heaven grant that the burdens
and sorrows of this unholy war may fall lightly upon their hearts and
homes. |
| S. D. Snodgrass |
| Chaplain 21st Mississippi Regiment |
| July 15, 1862 |
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