VIRGINIA. 



one hundred white persons. In 1863 the num- 

 ber of cattle within the territory, free from the 

 occupation and incursions of the Federal army, 

 ^"as > which add 8 per cent., the 



usual difference between the actual and taxable 

 numbers, and there were 547,724 cattle within 

 Confederate control in the last-merit ione.! 

 which is one hundred and five head of cattle 

 to every one hundred white iuhahii 



The returns show an increase . : . h cop. 



and a loss of 156,970 hogs in the counties and 

 corporations under the rebels. 



At an election for State officers William 

 Smith was chosen as the successor of Gov. 

 John Letcher. 



An add: ;ed to the*sol<]iers of Vir- 



ginia by the Legislature in March, urging to 

 extreme sacrifices and efforts of bravery as cer- 

 tain to be followed with triumphant succ 



The desolation which followed the track of 

 the armies is very graphically described by one 

 who beheld them, as folio 



When we get to Hamilton Crossing the desolation 

 of war breaks upon you. A few trees remain upon 

 the hills near the side of the depot ; but there is not 

 a fence or an inhabited house all the way to Freder- 

 icksburg;. A few cattle may be seen grazing on the 

 rich plains, which bear now but crops of luxuriant 

 weeds. These cattle belong to the people of Freder- 

 icksburg, who club together and hire a poor old man 

 to attend them while grazing. 



There are no hands to work in the fenceless fields, 

 no signs of animated life about the deserted houses. 

 The drowsy crow of the cock, the neighing of horses, 

 the cawing of crows, and the laughter of children in 

 the yard, and the " wo-haw " of the plough-driver, are 

 no longer heard in the blasted region. "All is still as 

 death for miles and miles under the sweet autumnal 

 sun. 



Fredericksburg itself is torn by a hurricane. Much 

 of it has been burnt, and the tall chimneys standing 

 all alone tell a woeful tale of ruin. Part "of the town 

 is destroyed by fire caused by shell, and part by the 

 torch. All the lower and upper portions of the 

 town have been so shattered as to be uninhabitable ; 

 the stores have been gutted of their shelving and 

 counters to make dry places for the countless thou- 

 sands wounded at the Wilderness and Spottsylvania 

 to lie on. 



The churches have been repeatedly struck, and so 

 have most of the private dwellings. 'I counted thirty 

 holes in the fine mansion of Douglas Gordon, which 

 was nearly complete before the war broke out. A 

 shell has passed diagonally through the house in 

 which I stayed, and one had exploded in the parlor 

 over which" I slept. Looking out of my bedroom 

 window I saw naked chimneys and deserted homes 

 in every direction, 



I went to Marye's Hill, and saw the famous stone 

 fence which served as a rampart for our men. I 

 walked over the wide fields which the enemy had to 

 pass before they got within range of our rifles, and 

 stood under the tree which Cobb leaned against when 

 he was killed. This tree is just behind the house of 

 & Mr. Stephens a small frame building which must 

 have at least a thousand bullet holes through and 

 through it. 



The stone fence is at the bottom of a hill, and on 

 that hill is the fine old homestead of the Maryes, now 

 gone to wreck, with countless apertures made by 

 shot and shell, and open to all the winds that blow. 

 Ah, it was a sad thing to tread the deserted halls and 

 chambers of the old house, and hear only the echo 

 of your own footsteps. 



I went over into Stafford County, opposite Freder- 



VIIIHINi ' 





icksburg, and th : . w [\,i scene of deruta. 



tion neither fern -nves, 



houses deserted and b>. 

 enormous camp- 

 teen squarr tanU arc iu 

 danger of 1 



'I' 1 '; 1 ' -roniul pile in the extem 



buildings, and its terraced grounds and gardcus arc 

 in ker- 



Ruin reigns there also. The wall 



oms, and even the pilh: robes, 



are scrawled and bescribled with obscure names and 

 obscene phrases and pictures. Further back on high 

 hills, commanding the whole country, are the walls 

 of the Phillips ifouse. 



man. What a picture of ravaged beauty "is to ba 

 seen from the heights on which this house stands 1 



unty, naturally sterile 



and sparsely peopled, is now richer and more thicklr 

 settled than it has been since the colonial days, ft 

 is a debatable land, in which neither Confederate nor 

 Federal rule is acknowledged, and it is filled with de- 

 - who have grown rich by gathering and selling 

 the immense debris of Hooker's camps to Washing- 

 ton or to Richmond purchasers, as happened to be 

 most convenient ; for these lawless people care little 

 for either side. 



I saw in Fredericksburg, and at Hamilton Cross- 

 ing, great piles of old iron and fragments of tents, 

 blankets, and overcoats, which were just ready to be 

 sent to Richmond. A number of refugees have re- 

 turned to Fredericksburg, which contains now some 

 COO or 700 souls, principally women and old men. 



VIRGINIA, EAST. The Convention called 

 in 1863 to assemble at Alexandria on February 

 13th, 1864, to amend the Constitution of tho 

 State of Virginia, was duly held. The follow- 

 ing is a list of the members representing all tho 

 counties of Old Virginia under Federal control, 

 but not included in West Virginia : 



Alexandria Countv Walter L. Penn. 



Alexandria and Fairfax Counties S. Ferguson 

 Beach. 



Fairfax County John Hawxhurst. 



Norfolk City and County Dr. L. W. Webb and 

 W. W. N 



Portsmouth City, County, and Senatorial District 

 G. R. Boush, P. G. Thomas, and LeKoy G. Eclv. 



Loudoun County Dr. J. J. Heushaw, Jan: 

 Downey, and Lieut. E. R. Cover. 



York", Warwick, and Elizabeth Citv Counties and 

 City of Williamsburg, Charles City, J"atnes Citv, and 

 New Kent Counties T. S. Tennis and Robert Wood. 



Accomac County Dr. A. Watson and W. Dix. 



Northampton County Wm. P. Moore. 



An organization was effected and comm> 

 appointed, as usual with such assemLi 

 The Committee on Emancipation dul; 

 the following amendment to the Constitution of 

 the State of Virginia, as sections to be incor- 

 porated in that instrument : 



1. Slavery and involuntarv servitude, exec; I 

 crime, is hereby abolished and prohibited in the S 

 forever. 



urts of competent jurisdiction may appren- 

 tice minors of African descent, on like conditions 

 provided by the law apprenticing white children. 



3. The G'eneral Assembly shall make no law estab- 

 lishing slavery or recognizing property in human 



4. This ordinance to take effect and be enforced 

 from its passage. 



This was adopted, and > most 



important 1 nvention. 



A session of the Legislature was ht)d pr* 



