richmond as a national capital
richmond, as seen from the hill, with the james river flowing by, its broad, level streets, full foliaged trees, and spacious homes, is a beautiful city. rich in historic association, never did it appear more attractive to southern eyes than when, arriving in the late autumn of ’1, we found our confederate government established there, and the air full of activity. to accommodate the influx of congressional and military folk, the houses of the patriotic residents were thrown open, until the capacity of every residence, hotel and lodging-house was tested to the fullest. by the time senator clay and i arrived, there was scarcely an extra bed to be had in the city, and though everywhere it was apparent that an unsettled feeling existed, there was nothing either indeterminate or volatile in the zeal with which the dense community was fired. as the new-comers, for the greater part, represented families which a season before had been conspicuous in washington, society was in the most buoyant of spirits. our courage was high, for our army had won glorious battles against remarkable odds, and, though gallant men had fallen, as occasion demanded them, new heroes sprang to meet it.
for a few months we revelled in canvas-backs and greenbacks, undisturbed by forewarnings of coming draw-backs. to furnish the tables of richmond nearly all the ducks in chesapeake bay fell victims. we feasted on oysters and terrapin of the finest, and unmeasured hospitality was the order of the day on every 169side. never had i looked upon so great an activity, whether military, political, or social. i had demurred when, as we were about to start for the capital, my maid packed an evening dress or two.
“we are going to war, emily,” i said; “we shall have no need for velvet or jewels. we are going to nurse the sick; not to dress and dance.” but emily’s ardour on my behalf led her to rebel.
“there’s bound to be somethin’ goin’ on, miss ‘ginie,’” she declared, “an’ i ain’t goin’ to let my mistis be outshined by mis’ —— an’ dem other ladies!” and, despite my protests, the gowns were duly packed. there were many occasions afterward when i blessed the thoughtfulness of my little gingerbread-tinted maid; for there were heroes to dine and to cheer in richmond, both civil and military, and sombre garments are a sorry garb in which to greet or brighten the thoughts of men tired with the strain of building or fighting for a government.
a sororal spirit actuated our women, and while our greatest entertainment missed some of the mere display which had marked the social events in the federal city, they were happier gatherings, for we were a people united in interest and in heart. some of the brightest memories i carry of that first session are of informal evenings where neighbours gathered sans cérémonie. i recall one such spent at the home of the mallorys, the occasion being a dinner given to brigadier general john h. morgan, who did the confederacy such gallant service, and was rewarded while in richmond by the hand of one of its prettiest daughters, miss reedy, who had been a favourite in washington society. a daughter of mr. reedy, m.c., from tennessee, she was the first girl of her day in washington to wear a curl upon her forehead, which coquettish item of coiffure was soon imitated by a hundred others.
170the family of mr. mallory was a model one, every member seeming to have his or her share in rounding out the general attractiveness. an informal meal taken with that family was an experience long to be remembered, for the little children took each his turn in asking the blessing, which was never omitted, and which was especially impressive in those days, in which the shadows of growing privations soon grew to be recognised if not openly discussed or admitted. our secretary of the navy, mr. mallory, was the merriest of hosts, with a wit as sudden and as brilliant as sheet-lightning, and a power of summing up, when he chose to exert it, both events and people, in the most amusing manner. a picture remains clearly in my mind of the evening devoted to general morgan. ruby mallory, then about thirteen years of age, recited for us holmes’s “the punch-bowl,” while our host, in hearty enjoyment of the verses,
“stirred the posset with his ladle,”
to the rhythm of his little daughter’s speech.
during our first winter in richmond my husband and i made our home with mrs. du val, near to the exchange hotel, a terrifically overcrowded hostelry at all confederate times, and within a short walk of the seddon home, now the executive mansion. it was a commodious and stately structure, in which our president, now domiciled, lived with an admirable disdain of display. statesmen passing through the halls on their way to the discussion of weighty things were likely to hear the ringing laughter of the care-free and happy davis children issuing from somewhere above stairs or the gardens. the circle at mrs. du val’s, our headquarters, as it came and went for three eventful years, comprised some of our former washington mess-mates, and others newly called into public service. among the favourites was general j. e. b. stuart, a rollicking fellow, who loved music, and 171himself could sing a most pleasing ballad. he was wont to dash up to the gate on his horse, his plumes waving, and he appearing to our hopeful eyes a veritable murat. he was a gallant soldier, what might be termed delightful company, and one of the most daring cavalry officers our service boasted. twice, with comparatively but a handful of men, he circled mcclellan’s big, unwieldly force as it lay massed, for months at a time, contemplating the possibility of closing in upon our capital. it may be said that upon his return to richmond after his first brilliant feat, general stuart was the idol of the hour. when the exigencies of the service brought him again and again to the capital, he entered heartily into its social relaxations. two years passed. he was conspicuous one night in charades, and the next they brought him in, dying from a ghastly wound received upon the battle-field.
i have said we were in gay spirits during that first session of the confederate congress; but this condition was resolved upon rather than the spontaneous expression of our real mood, though hope was strong and we were armed with a conviction of right upon our side, and with the assurance of the courage of our soldiers, which filled us with a fine feminine scorn of the mere might of our assailants. our editors, filled with patriotism and alert, kept us informed of the stirring events of the field and of the great victories which, until the loss of fort donelson and the fall of nashville, so often stood to our credit. scarcely a triumph, nevertheless, in which was not borne down some friend who was dear to us, so that all news of victory gained might be matched with the story of fearful loss. however, such was our loyalty to the cause, that the stimulus of our victories overbore the sorrow for our losses, sustaining our courage on every side. before that first session of congress adjourned, we had buried an army of brave men, among them generals 172zollicoffer and albert sidney johnston. our coast was closed by the blockading fleets of the federal government. we had lost new orleans, and the tennessee valley was slipping from us. huntsville, which lay directly in the path of the invading army, itself threatened, was now become a hospital for the wounded from abandoned nashville. by the early spring the news from our family was ominous of deeper disaster to our beloved town.
“the public stores have been sent on from nashville,” wrote mother, early in march of ’2, from huntsville, “and from four to ten thousand men are said to be here or expected.... yesterday the excitement was greater than i have known. men were seen walking or riding quickly, and martial music told the tale of danger.... there are said to be a thousand sick and wounded here. they have no bedding but a blanket, and are placed in houses through which the wind blows. rain spurts over the sick men’s couches, cooling their fever and making their blood congeal, so that death interposes for their relief! it is rumoured that the president will be here to-night. people were up (last night) till two o’clock, waiting to see him....”
“general pillow is at the hotel, but told dr. slaughter he would not bring mrs. pillow here, as general buell intends to make this place his headquarters!... i have no time to speculate on the future, but try to encourage others to have courage and faith, and not to discourage our soldiers by permitting their fears to be known; but to stimulate them by letting them see the firmness and calm trustfulness with which we commit more than our lives to their keeping!”
the news of huntsville’s danger was our private anxiety in richmond, where each senator and congressman carried the burden of apprehension for his own kin 173and family possessions well concealed; for at the capital the nation’s losses and gains loomed large and obscured the lesser ones of individuals. moreover, always before us was the stimulus of the presence of fearless men and the unceasing energy of our president.
i remember on one occasion seeing president davis passing down the street, beside him, on the left, general buckner; on the right, general breckenridge—three stalwart and gallant men as ever walked abreast; and as i watched them the thought came involuntarily, “can a cause fail with such men at the head?”
throughout the life of richmond as a capital, the streets were peopled with soldiers on their way to or from the several headquarters. there was an unintermitting beating of drums, too often muffled, and the singing of merry bugles. with the knowledge that we were in the city which, more than any other, invited and defied the attacks of the enemy, a sense of danger spurred our spirits. though the boom of guns was often not a distant sound, and the solemn carrying in of our wounded became increasingly frequent, few gave way to apprehensions or doubts; for, as i have said, there were heroes in richmond to cheer, and our women, putting away from their minds the remembrance of the wounds they had dressed in the morning visit to the hospitals, smiled and devised entertainments well calculated to lift the burden of responsibility, at least for the time being, from the minds and hearts of our leaders, legislative and military. among the most active hostesses were mrs. randolph, wife of one of the members of president davis’s cabinet, and mrs. ives, who put on some charming private theatricals in their parlours; there were the lees and harrimans; the ritchies and pegrams and welfords; the masons and warwicks, macfarlanes, seldens, leighs (near relatives, these, of patrick henry); besides the 174branders, west robinsons, walkers, scotts, coxes, cabells, semmes, ives, and other hostesses of renown and long pedigree, whose homes dispensed the friendliest hospitality.
“do you not remember?” wrote mrs. semmes, of new orleans, to whom i put some queries concerning an episode of that life in richmond, “do you not remember mrs. stannard, who had such a charming house and gave such delicious teas, alluring such men as soulé, commodore barrow, henry marshall, of louisiana, butler king, and last, though not least, our dear old vice-president stephens? she boasted that she never read a book, and yet all these distinguished gentlemen gathered around her board and ate those hot muffins and broiled chicken with gusto!”
these, and unnumbered other faces, rise before me as i recall the great amateur performance of “the rivals,” which made that first winter in richmond memorable and our hostess, mrs. ives, famous. in that performance constance cary, a beauty of the fairfax family, captured all hearts as the languishing lydia, among them that of our president’s secretary, colonel burton harrison, whose wife she afterward became.
recalling that interesting evening, mrs. harrison wrote very recently, “it seems an aeon since that time, but i have a very vivid recollection of the fun we had and of how prettily mrs. ives did everything, spite of grim-visaged war! how i wish i could do anything now with the same zest and rapture with which i put on lydia’s paduasoy and patches! brother clarence, then a very youthful midshipman, was the fag, and my hero, captain absolute, was mr. lee tucker, who has vanished, for me, into the mists of time! i have not heard his name in years!”
the fame of that entertainment, the excitement which the preparation for it caused, spread far beyond the picket 175lines, and we heard afterward that a daring officer of mcclellan’s army had planned to don the confederate uniform and cross the lines to take a peep at the much-talked-of performance. “there was a galaxy of talent and beauty in that fairest city of the south,” writes my friend, mrs. ives, recalling, in 1903, those scenes of the early sixties, “from which i was able to select a strong cast which pre-assured us a brilliant performance. miss cary was bewitching, her fair beauty accentuated by the rich costumes she donned for the occasion and which had been worn by her distinguished ancestors in the days of the old dominion’s glory! your sister-in-law, mrs. h. l. clay, was so fascinating as lucy that she captivated her husband anew, as he afterward told me; and then, besides, there was pretty miss herndon, who tortured her falkland into jealousy.”[24]
as that historic evening’s pleasures crown all other recollections of social life in the confederate capital, so soon to be in the eclipse of sorrow and undreamed-of privations, i cannot refrain from recording some incidents of it. those who took part in the performance (or their descendants) are now scattered in every state of the union, and it is only by the co?peration of some who remember, among them mrs. cora semmes ives, of alexandria, va., mrs. myra knox semmes, of new orleans, and mrs. burton harrison, of new york, that i am enabled to gather together again the names of the cast which charmed richmond’s three hundred during the first session of the c. s. a. congress. they were:
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sir anthony absolute mr. randolph, of richmond
captain absolute mr. lee tucker
sir lucius o’trigger (and he had an unapproachable brogue) robert w. brown, n. carolina
fag midshipman clarence cary
david mr. robinson, of richmond
lydia languish miss constance cary, virginia
julia miss herndon, virginia
lucy, maid to lydia mrs. hugh lawson clay, alabama
mrs. malaprop mrs. clement c. clay, alabama
harpist, mrs. semmes fitzgerald
pianist, miss robinson.
for this great occasion no efforts were spared in the rehearsing of our cast, nor in the preparation of our wardrobe. mrs. drew, being at that time engaged in playing a precarious engagement at the local theatre (the price of seats not exceeding seventy-five cents, as befitted the times), was invited to a private consultation and criticism of the parts, and it gives me some pleasure, even at this day, to remember her approval of my interpretation of the difficult r?le i had had the hardihood to assume. our sir lucius acquired for the occasion a brogue so rich that almost as much time (and trouble) were necessary to eradicate it from his speech in the weeks that followed as had been spent in attaining it.
the defection of one of the cast for the after-piece (bombastes furioso) caused our hostess to display a genuine ability for stage management. unacquainted with the part she was herself compelled to assume, mrs. ives resolved to bring her audience to a state of leniency for any possible shortcomings by dazzling them with the beauty of her apparel. a picture hat from paris had just run the blockade and arrived safely to the hands of little miss ruby mallory, for whom it had been destined. it was a leghorn, trimmed with azure velvet and plumes of the same shade. it was an especially appropriate headgear for a character given to dreaming “that all the pots 177and pans had turned to gold,” and an appeal made to the owner brought it swiftly into the possession of mrs. ives. her success was instantaneous. “i declare,” she said when the play was over, “nothing but that paris hat saved me from an attack of stage fright!”
the home of lieutenant ives on this occasion was crowded to its utmost capacity, the guests comprising president and mrs. davis, the cabinet and congressional members, together with prominent generals, numbering in all three hundred. the stage, erected under the supervision of our host, an expert engineer, was a wonderful demonstration of his ingenuity. placed at one end of the long colonial parlours, it commanded the eye of every visitor. the performance gave the utmost delight to our audience, and secretary mallory, who had seen “the rivals” (so he told me) in every large city of the united states, and on the boards at drury lane, declared it had never been given by a cast at once so brilliant and so able! be that as it may, the remembrance of that performance for forty years has remained as the most ambitious social event in the confederate states’ capital.
