Archive Record
Images
Additional Images [5]
Metadata
Title |
Cockade City's Surrender by J. P. Williamson |
Dates of Creation |
June 17, 1894 |
Scope & Content |
The first four pages are newspaper strips that have been glued to scrap paper. The paper is from Bernard's old legal cases; the typing on the reverse is visible through the paper. At the bottom of the first page is a biography, written by Bernard, of Mr. Williamson. Inserted between the cut newspaper articles are photo images that are referred to within the text. Following the first four pages are four pages, titled "Addendum", that pertain to an entry within the newspaper article about a dead Confederate soldier. The next two pages are a duplicate of the newspaper article but in its original format. The last page is a small article that was on the reverse of the large newspaper article, and pertains to an appearance by Gen. John B. Gordon. J. Pinckney Williamson was born October 26, 1826, in Charlotte County, Virginia. After attending school, he worked at age 18 as a clerk in a country store. In 1843 he moved to Farmville, Virginia, where he began dealing in tobacco. In 1851 with the building of the South Side Railroad, Williamson moved to Petersburg and continued his business as a dealer in tobacco. In 1864 and in 1865 he was elected a member of the common council of Petersburg. In 1879 he was appointed mayor of the city by then-Governor Walker, under the enabling act. He held no other office. Williamson begins his reminiscence: - A few weeks before 25 March, 1865, he and his wife extended an invitation to Mrs. John B. Gordon, who always accompanied her husband, to stay within their household. On the evening of the 24th, General Gordon came into the house and requested two bolts of white cloth. The cloth was torn into strips that were to be given to the sharp-shooters and others who were to be in the advance of an attack on Fort Steadman. Tied around their arms the white cloth could be recognized in the darkness so they would not be mistaken for the enemy. The attack on the fort began well, but ended in failure. Interested in the results of the attack, Williamson passed by Jarratt's Hotel the next day (see photo image within first page). * *Jarratt's Hotel was originally a tavern, bought by John Jarratt in 1839. Some time after 1866 the name was changed to Albemarle. It was razed in 1902. Coming toward Williamson was a lone horseman accompanied by an orderly. The horseman was wounded and turned out to be Brig. Gen. Phillip Cook, one of General Gordon's officers. He was trying to get to the Georgia hospital across the river. Williamson persuaded him to come to his house for treatment. Cook was a hater of the Yankees, but would later be mollified by their assistance. After the failed attack on Fort Steadman, things were quiet in the city, but many thought that the days of the Confederacy were few. On Sunday, April 2, 1865, instead of church bells and worshippers in the streets, only smoke and flames issued from the warehouses. The burning of the tobacco in the warehouses had been contemplated well in advance as a contingency if the Federals were to occupy the city. So each warehouse was packed with combustible material. Many owners lost thousands of dollars and would have profited if the tobacco had been saved. The thunder of artillery and musketry was heard from the river to Fort Gregg (*Photo of Fort Gregg inserted). That evening, when General Gordon returned to the Williamson household, he informed his host that the Army of Northern Virginia would depart that night, leaving the city in the hands of the mayor and the city council. When Williamson asked where the Confederates were going, General Gordon told him that they would try to get to General Johnston then in North Carolina confronting Union General Sherman. Williamson suggested that the Campbell bridge be used to cross the Appomattox (river) as the Pocahontas was within range of the enemy's batteries. He also said he thought the Confederate army would probably surrender about Chesterfield C. H., but General Gordon mentioned that they could do better than that. That evening, members of his staff came, had supper, and all left. Gordon asked the Williamsons to look after his wife, his baby, and General Cook. At one o'clock the next morning, as a member of the city council, Williamson walked the silent streets to the residence of D'Arcy Paul, where the mayor had summoned a meeting. The meeting was to discuss the expected arrival of the Federals, as to what roads they could use to enter the city. The council found it prudent to split the members into squads and so send them to meet the Federals at each avenue of approach. Williamson and Alexander Donnan went to Wythe Street to meet those who came via that avenue. As they neared the bridge that crossed Lieutenant Run, they heard voices coming from the opposite hill. On approach these voices demanded to know who the two council members were. "Friends" was their reply. Williamson was waving a makeshift white flag. The approaching voices came from a sergeant and six men from an Indiana regiment. They were surprised to learn that Lee had left the city. Williamson thought these men were probably the first to enter and capture the city of Petersburg. As the union squad moved up the hill toward Jefferson Street, looking for Confederate stragglers, the two council members followed. Eventually arriving at Williamson's house he asked the small squad of men to wait while he informed the occupants that there would be no disturbance of any kind. The group then went up Washington Street as far as the Second Presbyterian Church. Here they encountered a dead Confederate lying in the church yard. # (there will be additional information concerning this dead soldier at the end of the summary). The squad then searched the hospital on the corner of High and Cross Streets, and found no one who could walk. Williamson then directed them to the courthouse, where these men had been ordered to meet others of their command. There, the figure of Madame Justice, atop the court house, was draped in the "Stars and Stripes", along with other flags that were displayed from all parts of the building. Here Williamson introduced himself to the officer in command and explained the situation concerning General Gordon's wife and General Cook. He then asked for and received a safety guard which consisted of the same small squad of men with whom he had already been associated all morning. He was placed in charge of these men and, after arriving at his residence, offered all a good breakfast. Hearing a noise from the direction of Halifax Street the sergeant ordered his squad to "fix bayonets". What he heard was General Birney's command of Negro troops marching down Market Street singing "John Brown's body lies a-moldering in the ground". The column halted, with some troops in front of Williamson's house. Birney took possession of the residence of T. T. Brooks, then vacant, intending to make it his headquarters. Sometime later, while looking across the street at his neighbor's front gate, Williamson observed Mr. John McGill leading a Negro soldier by the collar from his premises. The soldier had entered his house on the pretext of getting a drink of water. Williamson also would eject from his kitchen in like manner a Negro soldier who entered his house without authority. At nine o'clock that night General Grant and President Lincoln appeared on horseback on Market Street going to the house of Mr. Thomas Wallace (now Simon Seward's) ** (see photo insert) with a retinue of staff officers and couriers. They sat on Wallace's porch reading their maps. General Birney then moved his command westwardly up Washington Street. For several days these troops were replaced by others that all had fine equipment in striking contrast to what the Confederates had. In a short time peace and quiet reigned in the city. Sutlers from the Federal army opened stores and soon those people who had ready-money purchased their first piece of cheese or package of coffee. Those in need were also issued rations by the federal authorities, which prevented much suffering. Mrs Gordon and her son fared well while waiting for the return of General Gordon from Appomattox. General Cook received good medical attention, and was visited socially by the federal officers. He no longer spoke harshly of those "cussed Yankees, and soon returned home. # Addendum. In reference to the dead confederate soldier that Mr. Williamson mentioned seeing at the Second Presbyterian Church, a letter dated May 25, 1894, by Mr. William E. Morrison, states that the dead soldier was a member of the Washington Artillery. His body was left by his comrades who had no time to bury him after being ordered to leave with the retiring forces. They had written a placard and pinned it to his breast that stated - "F. E. Coyle, 3rd Co., Washington Artillery. Killed at the front on Sunday. Some kind friend will please bury this man". This dead soldier had his blanket rolled across his chest with his hands clasped across it. The Rev. Churchill J. Gibson resided on Washington Street opposite the church. The writer lived on Marshall Street but was occupying a house on Perry Street near the Rev. Gibson. The Rev. Gibson, having found the body of the dead Confederate, asked the writer for assistance in the burial. They then secured the assistance of William H. Tappey of Petersburg, and of a colored man, Jack Hill, a slave of Mrs. Julia E. Meade, and all began work digging a grave. By the time that the grave was dug, Federal troops began to pass the church. Rev. Gibson began the burial service of the Episcopal Church with the words - "For as much as it has pleased Almighty God, in his wise prudence to take out of this world the soul of our deceased brother". At this moment, the burial party lifted the body wrapped in its blanket - and waited for the words - "We, therefore commit his body to the ground -." Just then, a Federal soldier, a foreigner, came up to the fence and commented, "Putting Johnnie in an ice house? Eh?" Taking no notice, the Rev. Gibson continued with the words "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust". A Federal officer stepped up then and, probably ashamed of the comment made by the soldier, said -"A brave soldier, no doubt! Give him a soldier's burial, a blanket and a grave!" This was said as the body was lowered. The Rev. Gibson stopped the burial party from filling the grave and, taking the shovel, handed it to the Federal officer saying - "Yes! A brave soldier! Whom perhaps you killed! Would you not like to throw a few shovel fulls of earth upon him?" The officer with tears in his eyes exclaimed "My God! This brings war home to a man!" , and then turned and walked away. This was followed by another group of Federal soldiers marching past the church. The officer in command immediately noticed the burial party in the church yard. He halted his men and, facing them toward the burial party, gave the order - "Present arms", upon which his command gave military honors to the dead. It is the opinion of the writer that of all the Southern soldiers who fell in defence of the lost cause, none had a grander funeral. The body of F. E. Coyle, says Mrs James B. Jones (nee Nannie Jaynes) of Petersburg, Virginia, is buried with 13 other members of the battalion in the Washington Artillery square in Blanford Cemetery, having been removed from its grave in the Presbyterian Church cemetery in the winter of 1868-1869. The last image in this series is an announcement that states that Gen. John B. Gordon will lecture at the Academy of Music under the auspices of A. P. Hill Camp (United Confederate Veterans) for the benefit of the monument fund. It further states that the lecture must be heard to be appreciated, and that the lecture is a sensation. |
Year Range from |
1894 |
Creator |
Williamson, J. Pinckney |
Year Range to |
1894 |
Subjects |
Affliction African Americans Afro-Americans Artillery (Weaponry) Ashes Attack Attendants Audiences Auditors Batteries (Weaponry) Bayonets Blankets Blue Coats Body Breakfast Breast Bridges Burials Cheese Chests Church Church bells Churchyards Citizen Civil War Civil war battles Clerk Cloth Coffee Collars Colored (Negroes) Column, [military] Common council Companion Comrades Confederate Army Confederate officers Confederate soldiers Confederate veterans Conflagrations Cotton Courage Courier Court houses Dead persons Decorations Disasters Dust Earth Enemy Equipment Events Eyes Federal officers Federal troops Fence Flags Foreigners Forts & fortifications Fund raising Funds Funeral Grave Grave relocation Graveyards Greenbacks Guards Hand Handkerchiefs Hat Haversack Headquarters, Military Hills History Hogsheads Horseback Horseman Hospitals House Humor Information Interviews Intruder Kitchen Ladies Language Lectures Letters Lines (military) Lost cause Maps March, Military Matches Materials Mayors Member Money Muskets Negroes Neighbors Noises Occupations, Military Orders, military Picket line Porches Rations Recollection Refugees Regiments Reminiscences Residences Resins Retreats, Military Rifles Rivers Roads Sergeant Sharpshooters Shovels Silence Situation Slaves Smoke Soldiers Soul Spades Speech Squad Staff Steeples Store, Country Stragglers Streets Stripes Surgeons Surrenders Sutlers Tears Tobacco Tobacco industry Tobacco warehouse Troops Uniforms Voice Walls Water White flag Wind (weather) Wives Wood Worshippers Wounded Yankees |
Search Terms |
A. P. Hill Camp of Confederate Veterans Academy of Music Albermarle Hotel Appomattox Court House, Virginia Atlanta Georgia Atlanta Journal Blandford Cemetery Bollingbrook Street Campbell Bridge Centre warehouse Charlotte County, Virginia Chesterfield Court House Civil War Confederacy, the Confederate Army Confederate Veterans Courthouse Avenue Cross Street Dinwiddie County, Virginia Episcopal Church Ettrick Cotton Mills Farmer's Street Farmville, Virginia Fort Gregg, Virginia Fort Steadman Fort Stedman Georgia Halifax Road, Petersburg, Virginia Harding Street High Street Highland Terrace Indiana James River Jarrett's Hotel Jefferson Street Lieutenant Run Lombard Street, Petersburg, Virginia Marshall Street North Carolina Oak Street Perry Street Petersburg City Council Petersburg, Virginia Prince George County, Virginia Second Presbyterian Church South Market Street South Side Railroad St. Paul's Church (Petersburg, Virginia) Sycamore Street, Petersburg, Virginia Union Army Union Street War Between the States War Talks of Confederate Veterans Washington Artillery Washington Street West Hill warehouse Wythe Street |
People |
Bernard, Geo. S. Bernard, George S. Birney, [unknown] Brooks, T. T. Brown, John Cook, Phillip Coyle, Francis E. Donnan, Alexander Gibson, Churchill J. Gordon, John B. Grant, Ulysses S., General Hannon, [unknown] Hill, Jack Jaynes, Nannie Johnston, Joseph E. Jones, John B. Leavenworth, A. J. Lee, Robert Edward Lincoln, Abraham McGill, John Meade, Julia E. Morrison, W. E. Paul, D'Arcy Romaine, Victoria Seward, Simon Sherman, William T. Tappey, William H. Walker, Gov, Gilbert C. Wallace, Thomas Williamson J. Pinckney |
Event |
Civil War |
Collection |
George S. Bernard Collection |
Imagefile |
024\200975074.JPG |
Number of images |
11 |
Object Name |
Letter |
Object ID |
2009.75.074 |
Extent of Description |
11 pages, size 17" x 8" |