A Virginia Girl in the Civil War, 1861-1865: being a record of the actual experiences of the wife of a Confederate officer — John Locke — John Shaqi
A Virginia Girl in the Civil War, 1861-1865: being a record of the actual experiences of the wife of a Confederate officer
John Locke · en
And I was so ashamed of myself for hurting his feelings that I made
amends in rather too warm terms, I am afraid, considering that he
didn’t know I was married and a privileged character.
“You are traveling in the wrong direction, _I_ think, Miss Duncan,” he
ventured to say after awhile. “You shouldn’t leave the North and go
south now.”
“Why?”
“I--I shouldn’t think you would receive the attention there just
now that is your due. You are young and fond of society, I imagine.
And--there are so few beaux in the South now--I shouldn’t think you
would like that.”
“Really?”
“I mean that I wish you would stay up North where it is pleasanter.
It’s so--uncomfortable down South. You are so young, you see, you
ought to have a chance to enjoy life a little. I--I wish you were up
here--and I could add a little to your happiness. I--I mean,” catching
a glance which warned him, “it is must be dull for you in the South--no
beaux--no nothing.”
“All the beaux are in the field,” I retorted, “where they ought to
be. I wouldn’t have a beau who wasn’t, and if I were a Northern girl
I wouldn’t have a man who didn’t wear a uniform--though, I think, it
ought to be gray.”
“I expect you have a sweetheart down South whom you expect to see when
you get home. That is why your heart has been so set on getting back.”
“If I had a sweetheart down South I couldn’t see him when I got back
home, for he would be in the field.”
“So, your sweetheart is a Southern soldier?” wistfully.
“I wouldn’t have a sweetheart who wasn’t a soldier--a Southern soldier.”
In the other side of my watch I had pasted a small picture of Dan in
uniform. I opened this side and held it out to my companion.
“That’s my sweetheart’s picture.”
He looked at it long and hard. “A good-looking fellow,” he said, “and I
have no doubt a gallant soldier. If I ever meet him in battle--he will
be safe from _my_ bullet.”
Behind our wagon all the way from Harper’s Ferry had come a party
equipped like ourselves. They were Jews, and, as we were informed,
were prisoners of the United States. They had an ambulance like ours, a
baggage wagon like ours, and a similar escort of five infantry perched
on trunks. Their escort who rode inside, however, was not so attractive
as ours. We felt and expressed much commiseration for them because they
were prisoners--“those poor Jews,” we called them.
We were all suffering the consequences of late and early hours, and
of the worry and excitement at Harper’s Ferry. I felt almost ill, and
when Miss Oglesby, whose home was in Winchester, invited us to spend a
week with her, we concluded that we would accept her hospitality until
better able to continue our journey.