As we entered the Town of Rappahanook we noticed that the streets were deserted, and as twilight was gathering we wondered why there were no lights in the houses. As we drove down the principal street toward the river we came to an old Inn which was evidently the only house in the town occupied. We asked for lodgings, but were refused on the plea that the house was full. The innkeeper advised us to break into any of the houses and we would find everything necessary for our comfort. This my Father refused to countenance, so we crossed the river on ferry boats rowed or poled across. I knew not which as I was dead tired and fell asleep and was oblivious to my surroundings until we arrived on the other side. Here we found an empty house of which we took possession.
It was the latter part of April and rather chilly at night so we gathered some fagots and kindled a fire in the center of the room, and as there was no floor or roof we had no difficulty with the smoke. We were hungry and sleepy. We had a bag of hard tack with us which we found had grown very hard with age. One of the party had noticed fishermen on the shore and at his suggestion several of the party went out to interview them and came back with a fine large shad. This we roasted on the coals, but as we had no salt, our appetites did not respond in a manner that might be expected from hungry stomachs. The major part of us preferred hard tack soaked in water to a planked shad without salt. We sat on the floor with our backs against the wall, and slept as soundly if not as comfortably as we ever slept in our beds at home. When we arose in the morning we spent very little time on our toilet. We got up and shook ourselves and again resumed the journey.
The country through which we passed was beautiful. The fruit trees were in bloom and the trees along the roadside were in leaf. Birds were flitting here and there, and all nature seemed happy. Our journey to the Potomac was without incident. We arrived there and then found that we were very close to its mouth, and that it was very wide at that place. To get to the main body of water we would have to go a considerable distance through very shallow water. The owner of the team notified us that his contract ended here, and after many regrets that he could not be of further use to us, turned his face toward Richmond and left us to our own resources.
We found a farmer in the neighborhood who undertook for a consideration to find a party who would row us over the river. We stayed with this man for two or three days before he succeeded in finding a man who had the courage to run the risk of capture by Union gun boats which were constantly patrolling the river. We concluded to make the first trial on Sunday night. There were three boats, each manned by two Negro rowers who were supposed to know the channels. We started about eight o’clock. The sky was overcast with heavy clouds which betoken a storm, but we had overlapsed our time and we decided to risk it. The darkness became so dense that the rowers lost their way and ran us on a sand bank. Then it began to rain and we were in a miserable condition.
I sat in the bow of one of the boats and in looking around I saw to my left what I thought were the outlines of a house. I called the others attention to it and they agreed that it was, and by considerable exercise succeeded in getting the boats off the sand bank and turned them in the direction of the house. We landed on a muddy bank, climbing this as best we could in the darkness. We finally reached the house, it was at that time a fine old Virginia mansion surrounded by large oak trees, and had many acres of good land which showed evidence of having been well cultivated before the war; but to return to my story, we knocked at the door quite a while before we received any response. We had about made up our minds that it was empty and were thinking of forcing the door when a window in the second story was raised and an old man put his head out and demanded what we wanted.
One of our party told him that we were refugees and wished shelter for the night, that there were women and children, one of which was a babe and that we were all thoroughly wet, all of which he listened to and then told us we could not come into his house. Our spokesman replied that it was the first time he applied to a Virginian for hospitality and was refused. This seemed to cut the old man to the quick, for he immediately came down in his night clothes and bid us welcome. We soon had a fire of logs and stood around it until our clothes dried on us, for we had no changes, our manner of traveling would not permit us having any baggage.
We stayed here about three days and while here enjoyed ourselves as well as could be expected. There was one drawback to our pleasure. The trees and grass were full of wood ticks. These buried themselves in our flesh, and caused no little annoyance and some amusement. The amusement consisted in pulling them out, while with healthy boys it was not as absorbing as base ball it helped to draw our attention for the time from our miserable condition.
On the following Wednesday at dark we bid our host farewell after paying him liberally and turned our faces toward the Maryland shore. We had to row for about a mile through marshes. The water was quite deep at high tide and we experienced no trouble reaching the river. Our boatman told us that the river at this point was about ten miles wide. It was dark and we had no means of corroborating the statement, so I give it for what it is worth. I sat in the bow of the boat and could plainly see light from the Light House to my right. The wind was blowing briskly and the waves breaking against the bow of the boat would drench us thoroughly and kept some of the party continuously bailing out the waters.
The captain of the boats warned us to keep very quiet and would not allow us to speak above a whisper. We learned afterwards that he was a deserter from the Union Army and feared capture. I could see lights from vessels passing up and down, and was told that they were Federal gunboats. I never expected to live through that night. It was the roughest and most miserable one I have ever experienced, and I felt deeply thankful when the boats grounded in shallow water near the Maryland shore.
We were about half a mile from the shore and were carried there on the backs of the Negroes. A large tree had been uprooted and lay along the shore. In amongst the roots we crawled and made ourselves as comfortable as we could until daylight came at last and we found after climbing a steep bank that we were in an old field that was once a woods with stumps about three feet high, and as thick as they could possibly be. We finally worked our way through until we came to a road. We did not know what direction to take so we sat down and waited.
After waiting about one hour a country man came along in a wagon. He told us that we were about ten miles from Leonardtown and offered to take us there for a certain sum. We gladly accepted and women and children got in, the men walking along side, it was nearly noon when we reached Leonardtown. It was the first time I had seen Union soldiers who were not prisoners, and although our disreputable appearance was against us, they treated us very kindly, so much so that it made a very deep impression on me at the time, an impression that fifty years has not obliterated.
After resting there for a couple of days, we succeeded in hiring several teams to take us to Washington. there being no railroad from Leonardtown to Washington at that time, our trip through Maryland was not attended with the same privation that we experienced through Virginia. There were numerous small villages along the route where we could get plenty to eat and a place to sleep. We cut rather grotesque figures and caused no little merriment to the inhabitants as we passed along.
Our clothes were home made and the fit was anything but perfect. The caps we wore were made from canvas, the peaks from boot legs and varnished. Some of us wore clothes several sizes too small, some several sizes too large. The shoes we wore were English brogans from blockade runners. We wondered at the time why we attracted so much attention. In some places we were kissed, in other places cheered as we passed along, and it has been a question in my mind as to who were the honest ones. The ones who cheered or the ones who kissed us.
It was early in May and the journey through Maryland was a thing long to be remembered. The trees were in full leaf, and there was a riot of wild flowers along the roadside. The wood was full of birds and butterflies and we boys amused ourselves running ahead of the wagons chasing butterflies or plucking wild flowers. After sunset we could hear the whippoorwill’s peculiar note, and the bobwhites calling to one another.
There were many small towns and hamlets along the road where we got plenty to eat and good accommodations at night. One in particular I remember. It was called B Town. The landlord was not inquisitive. Did not seem to care where we came from or where we were going, but bent all his energies in trying to fill us youngsters for we seemed to be hollow down to our shoes. When we hesitated, the good man forced us to eat more and when we left his Inn, it was with many regrets.
When we approached to within about fifteen miles of Washington, we were overtaken by a gentleman riding horseback. There accompanied him a wagon driven by a Negro and in the wagon was an old Negro woman. The gentleman in conversation with my Father told him that his name was Mudd and that he was a physician and was taking the old woman to Washington to set her free. He said all his children had grown up and left him and he asked Father to give him my sister who was at that time four years old. He pleaded a long time for her but Father was firm in his refusal. We learned afterwards that our roadside acquaintance as none other than the party concerned in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
On arrival at Washington we took the train for Philadelphia, and here I must bring my reminiscences to a close as I do not think my subsequent life would be of any interest to your readers.
J.B. Douglas
I submitted these Recollections to the Lynchburg, Virginia Historical Society in 1979 and received a marvelous thank you and the assurance that this would be made part of their collection. I was thrilled to come upon this story while researching my family tree. Thanks to relatives that kept this wonderful story and passed it on to me.... It will be treasured Always! B.E. Douglas
Click here to VIEW or SIGN my Guest Book! I will respond to your guestbook entry within one week...
Note: You can mark your entry as private. Your comments and questions are appreciated!
Thank you for visiting my Webpage .. Please come back again!
The captain of the boats warned us to keep very quiet and would not allow us to speak above a whisper. We learned afterwards that he was a deserter from the Union Army and feared capture. I could see lights from vessels passing up and down, and was told that they were Federal gunboats. I never expected to live through that night. It was the roughest and most miserable one I have ever experienced, and I felt deeply thankful when the boats grounded in shallow water near the Maryland shore.
After waiting about one hour a country man came along in a wagon. He told us that we were about ten miles from Leonardtown and offered to take us there for a certain sum. We gladly accepted and women and children got in, the men walking along side, it was nearly noon when we reached Leonardtown. It was the first time I had seen Union soldiers who were not prisoners, and although our disreputable appearance was against us, they treated us very kindly, so much so that it made a very deep impression on me at the time, an impression that fifty years has not obliterated.
After resting there for a couple of days, we succeeded in hiring several teams to take us to Washington. there being no railroad from Leonardtown to Washington at that time, our trip through Maryland was not attended with the same privation that we experienced through Virginia. There were numerous small villages along the route where we could get plenty to eat and a place to sleep. We cut rather grotesque figures and caused no little merriment to the inhabitants as we passed along.
My page of links to interesting sites - check out my wallpaper!
Return to my home page
Click here to VIEW or SIGN my Guest Book!
