WEITZEL ON THE ALERT.

547

It was while Richmond was in flames, on Monday morning, that National troops entered that city. General Godfrey Weitzel, as we have observed, was left on the north side of the James River, with a part of Ord's command, to hold the works there. He had with him Kautz's division of the Twenty-fourth Corps, and Ashborne's and Thomas's divisions of

the Twenty-fifth Corps. He had been in-
structed by Grant, to make all possible
show of numbers and strength. This had
been done, and Longstreet was deceived by
his antagonist's noisy demonstrations, for
four or five days. On Sunday evening, while
the Confederates were preparing to steal
away from Richmond, and their "Govern-
ment" had actually taken wing, his bands
gave out a great amount of music. It ceased
at midnight, and the occupants of camps
were all in repose, excepting the sentinels
and the commanding general and some of
his staff. He was watching, for he suspected
what was actually occurring; and when the
sound of the magazine explosion reached his
alert ear, he was quick to seek knowledge of
its meaning. Lieutenant Johnston Living-
ston De Peyster, one of his aids, ascended a
signal tower, near head-quarters, seventy
feet in height, and reported that he saw a
great light in the direction of Richmond, but
could not determine its meaning. Soon afterward, a Confederate picket was

SIGNAL TOWER,'

This is a picture of the Signal Tower at Point of Rocks, on the Appomattox River, from a drawing by the author, made in December, 1864. The one alluded to in the text, was similar in construction but not so high. That at Point of Rocks was 125 feet in height. It was built of pine timber, under the direction of General Weitzel. From its summit the writer saw the church-spires in both Petersburg and Richmond, and the senti nels along the Confederate lines, in front of Bermuda Hundred.

Signals and the signal corps have often been mentioned in this work, and illustrations of signal stations of various kinds have been given, the most common being trees used for the purpose. The value of the signal corps to the service during the civil war, has been hinted at; it can not be estimated. That value was most conspicuously illustrated during M'Clellan's campaign on the peninsula of Virginia; at Antietam and Fredericksburg; at Vicksburg, Port Hudson,

Fort Macon, and Mobile; during Sherman's march from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and his approach to the coast, and especially in connection with the attack at Allatoona Pass, mentioned on page 398. The system of signaling by night and by day, on land and on the water. in use during the Civil War, was the invention of Colonel Albert J. Myer, of the National Army, who was the chief of the signal

corps throughout the conflict.

PLATE I.

He has written, fully illustrated, and published a volume on the subject, entitled, A Manual of Signals, in which may be found a full description of the character and practical workings of the system. We may here consider only a few facts in relation to the system, by which the reader may have a general idea of its workings

It may properly be remarked, that it is so simple and flexible, that it may be used through the medium of sounds, forms, colors, and motions, all of which are regulated and understood by a Code.

548

METHODS OF SIGNALING.

captured, who could give no account of his regiment, excepting its number (Thirty-seventh Virginia Artillery), and the fact that it had disappeared.

The most common method of signaling during the war, was by the use of a waving flag by day, and a waving torch by night, which the figures in this note, copied from Colonel Myer's Manual, illustrate.

Plate I. illustrates the manner of using the flag-signal. The operator has a flag of any color or colors that may make it conspicuous at a distance. He places himself in position of Ready, or figure 1. The flag is held directly over the head of the flagman, the staff vertical. Suppose he is to make words or sentences, by a combination of Arabic numerals. To make the numeral "1," the flag is waved from the vertical position to the ground, to the right, and instantly brought to the first position, as indicated in figure 2, the arrows showing the direction of the motion. To make numeral "2," the flag is waved to the ground to the left, and instantly brought to the first position, as seen in figure 3. To make numeral "3," the flag is waved to the ground in front, and instantly brought to the first position, as seen in figure 4. We now have, by a combination of the three figures, in this simple operation by three elements, the number "123." There is a signal-code, which every operator carries with him, if he has not committed it all to memory, in which is given several hundred combinations of numerals, with the significance of each. As, for example, "123" may mean, a "mile to the right;""321 "may inean," the brigade has moved;" "1123" may mean," cavalry approaching by the turnpike;" and so on, in hundreds of combinations. Now, suppose a flagman is directed to signal to an officer, who is looking at the former from a

distance, through a telescope resting on the hilt of his sword, as seen in the above picture, or in any other position, the direction of certain troops, or of the range of a gun, "a mile to the right."

The flagman will make the motions already describ ed, and indicated in Plate I. If the officer to whom the message has been sent, is not very familiar with the Code, he will consult it and he will find that the numbers given by the flagman, "123," signify, "a mile to the right." The officer wishes to reply to the one with the distant flagman, "the brigade has moved;" he will direct his own flagman, seen standing near him, to make the numer

als "821," by first making the motion of figure 1, for "ready," then of figure 4 for "3," of figure 8 for "2," and of figure 2 for "1," making the number, "321."

The same principle is carried out in night-signaling, in the motions of a torch, instead of a flag, as seen in Plate II. The operator lights a stationary foot-torch, at which he stands firmly, it being the indication or "point

SURRENDER OF RICHMOND.

549

It was evident to General Shepley, who had prosecuted the inquiry, that the Confederates were leaving their capital.' Then a deserter came in, and said they were; and his story was confirmed by a negro, who drove into the Union lines, in a buggy, at four o'clock.

Weitzel would have advanced upon Richmond at once, but for the known fact, that the ground in front of the intricate Confederate works was thickly strewn with terra-torpedoes. He waited until broad daylight, when Draper's negro brigade was put in motion. They found the road as they approached Richmond, thickly strewn with abandoned munitions of war. Cannons were

left unharmed on the deserted works; and the place of every torpedo was marked by a little red flag. These indicators of their position had been placed there for the safety of the Confederates, and, in their hasty flight, they had forgotten to remove them.

General Weitzel's whole force moved toward Richmond, and at six o'clock, he and his staff, at the head of the Second Brigade of the Third Division of the Twenty-fourth Army Corps, commanded by General Ripley, were in the near suburbs of the town. At that time the shells in the burning arsenal were exploding, and these, with the roar and light of the flames, and the crashing of fall

ing walls, presented a scene grand and impressive beyond description. Major A. H. Stevens, of the Fourth Massachusetts, and Major E. Graves, of General Weitzel's staff, were sent, with a small squadron of cavalry, to demand of the mayor, Joseph Mayo, the surrender of the city. They were courteously

received, and the keys

of the public buildings were handed to them, at the City Hall, at seven o'clock. Then they placed two small cavalry guidons on the top of the State Capitol. At eight o'clock, General Weitzel and staff rode in, at the head of Ripley's brigade of negro troops, who had

April 8,

1865.

of reference," to the other operator, of the position of his correspondent. Then the torch is moved in the same way, right, left, and front. The waving torch is a large lamp, filled with turpentine, and wick'd. This is attached to a staff, the same length as that of the flag-staff, which is usually 12 feet. The foot-torch is made of a copper lamp, similarly equipped. Each torch has an extinguisher. At the end of each message, the waving torch is extinguished. With both the flag and the torch-signal, there are motions which indicate spaces between the combination of numbers. For example: When the flagman has made the motions for "123," he makes a space motion, and then goes on to "321," and so on.

A party in the field for signaling, need consist of only an officer, seeking or imparting information, a flag and torch man, and an orderly to hold their horses, as seen in the group on page 548. The orderly has charge of the supplies for the torches, the turpentine or camphene being carried in a large canteen, seen back of the saddle of the white horse, in the picture. The flagman's horse (the black one) is furnished with a case for carrying his staff in. The signal service was always a most perilous one, and required much courage and fortitude, for those engaged in it were obliged, frequently, to be in front of the army, and in the most exposed situations.

1 General George F. Shepley was now General Weitzel's chief of staff. Lieutenant De Peyster had been on his staff, and, when his chief was transferred to the military family of General Weitzel, that young officer became an aid of the commanding general.

550

2

THE REPOSSESSION OF THE CONFEDERATE CAPITAL.

the honor of first entering the late Confederate capital,' when Lieutenant De Peyster, ascended to the roof of the Virginia State-House, in which the Confederate "Congress" had so lately held its sessions, and, assisted by Captain Langdon, Weitzel's chief of artillery, hoisted over it the grand old flag of the Republic. In the senate chamber of that building, the office of head-quarters was established; and General Weitzel made the late and sumptuously-furnished residence of Jefferson Davis' his own dwelling-place, during his stay in Richmond. The city was placed under military rule. General Shepley was appointed Governor, and Lieutenant-Colonel Manning was made Provost-Marshal. The troops, meanwhile, had been set at work to extinguish the flames. then devouring the city, and by the greatest exertions they succeeded in doing so, but not until nearly one-third of the town was destroyed, and property valued at many million dollars had been annihilated."

Such was the way in which Richmond, which had been the head-quarters of the Conspirators for nearly four years, was "repossessed" by the Government. Among the spoils were full five hundred heavy guns, with which the works around Richmond and its vicinity had been armed. These, with five thousand small-arms, thirty locomotive engines, three hundred cars, and other property, were the spoils found there. Five thousand sick and wounded men, and one thousand effective ones, were made prisoners of war, and Libby prison was filled with Confederate captives, where lately Union men were languishing. Among these was the infamous Turner, the keeper of that jail, whose cruelty to Union prisoners, under the direction of General Winder, was unmerciful, as we shall hereafter observe.

Tidings of the fall of Richmond vent, with lightning-speed, over the land, and produced intense joy among the loyal people. Before the setting of the sun on that memorable third day of April, public demonstrations of delight and satisfaction were visible everywhere. In the National Capital,

1 These troops were received with demonstrations of great joy by the negro population.

2 The flag used on that occasion was a storm-flag, which General Shepley had brought from Norfolk. It had formerly belonged to the Twelfth Maine Volunteers, of which he had originally been colonel. It had floated over the St. Charles Hotel, in New Orleans, when General Butler made that house his head-quarters, Shepley had inade the remark, one day, in the hearing of young De Peyster, that it would do to float over Richmond, and that he hoped to see it there. His listening aid said: "May I be allowed to raise it for you?" "Yes," Shepley replied, "if you take it with you, and take care of it, you shall raise it in Richmond." When the troops were about to move for the city, De Peyster reminded the General of his promise. "Go to my tent," he said, "and get the flag, and carry it on your saddle; I will send you to raise it, if we get in." In this way young De Peyster won the distinguished honor of raising the first flag over the ruins of the fallen Confederacy. For this act, and his usual good conduct, the Governor of his native State of New York (Fenton) gave him the commission of lieutenant-colonel, by brevet. He was the son of Major-General J. Watts De Peyster, of Dutchess County, New York. He was only sixteen years of age, when, in 1862, he was active in raising a company for service in the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Regiment New York Volunteers, and at the date of the raising of the flag over the Virginia Capitol, he was between nineteen and twenty years of age.

3 See page 549, volume I.

4 General Weitzel issued an order announcing the occupation of the city by the National troops, and saying to the inhabitants of Richmond, "We come to restore to you the blessings of peace, prosperity and freedom, under the flag of the Union," and requesting them to "remain for the present quietly within their houses, and to avoid all public assemblages or meetings in the streets." Kindness and conciliation was freely offered, but it was met, on the part of the disloyal portion of the inhabitants, with foolish sullenness and impotent scorn. There were but two fire-engines in the city fit for use. The conflagration was checked by the soldiers, who pulled down buildings in the pathway of the fire, and so left it nothing to feed upon. "As I stood near the Capitol," said President Ewell, of William and Mary College, to the writer, "and saw the exertions of those troops, put forth as eagerly in subduing the flames, as if they were trying to save their own property-troops, who, only a few hours before, had a right, by the usages of war, to bombard and destroy the city-the scene impressed me as one of great moral sublimity. But for these efforts all Richmond would doubtless have become a heap of ruins."

• The Union prisoners had been removed and exchanged.

REJOICINGS AMONG THE LOYAL PEOPLE.

551

all the public offices were closed, and all business, among those who were in sympathy with the Government, was suspended.' In New York, the commercial metropolis of the nation, there was an immense spontaneous gathering of men in Wall Street, who listened to the thick-coming electrographs from the War Department, the voices of orators, and the sweet chimes of the bells of Trinity Church which looks down that great mart of moneychangers. The multitude lingered long. A deep religious feeling, born of joy and gratitude, because of the deliverance of the Republic from great peril, prevailed in that almost innumerous throng, and was remarkably manifested when thousands of voices broke out spontaneously in singing the Christian's Doxology, to the grand air of "Old Hundred." The emotion of the hour, in every loyal heart throughout the land, was expressed by Charles J. Lukens, of Philadelphia, who wrote, on the same day

Uphoist the Union pennon-uplift the Union jack-
Upraise the Union standard-keep not a banner back!
Fling out in silk or bunting, the ensign of the stars!
God grant it never more may know accurs'd intestine jars!

Hurrah for skill! Hurrah for will! Hurrah for dauntless hearts!
Mourn those who bled, praise those who led, against insidious arts!
A cheer for those who lived it out; a tear for those who died:
Richmond is ours! we thank the Lord, with heartfelt chastening pride!

I The loyal people of Washington City gathered in a great throng and called upon Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, for a speech. He addressed them, saying: "I am now about writing my foreign dispatches. What shall I tell the Emperor of China? I shall thank him, in your name, for never having permitted a piratical flag to enter the harbors of the empire. What shall I say to the Sultan of Turkey? I shall thank him for always having surrendered rebel insurgents who have taken refuge in his kingdom. What shall I say to the Emperor of the French? I shall say to him that he can go to Richmond to-morrow and get his tobacco, so long held under blockade there, provided the rebels have not used it up. To Lord John Russell I will say that British merchants will find the cotton exported from our ports, under treaty with the United States, cheaper than cotton obtained by running the blockade. As for Earl Russell himself, I need not tell him that this is a war for freedom and national independence, and the rights of human nature, and not a war for empire; and if Great Britain should only be just to the United States, Canada will remain undisturbed by us, so long as she prefers the authority of the noble Queen to voluntary incorporation in the United States. What shall I tell the King of Prussia? I will tell him that the Germans have been faithful to the standard of the Union, as his excellent Minister, Baron Gerolt, has been constant in his friendship to the United States, during his long residence in this country. To the Emperor of Austria, I shall say that he has proved himself a very wise man, for he told us in the beginning that he had no sympathy with rebellion anywhere."

In this pleasant way the Secretary showed the relations of foreign governments to our own, during the war, and presented the fact, in bold relief, that while Great Britain and France-Christian nations-were doing all they dare to assist the Conspirators in destroying the Republic, Pagan China and Mohammedan Turkey, led by principles of right and justice, were its abiding friends. Andrew Johnson, the Vice-President, was also called upon for a speech. With great vehemence, he said: "At the time that the traitors in the Senate of the United States plotted treason against the Government, and entered into a conspiracy more foul, more execrable, and more odious than that of Cataline against the Romans, I happened to be a member of that body, and, as to loyalty, stood solitary and alone among the Senators from the Southern States. I was then and there called upon to know what I would do with such traitors, and I want to report my reply here. I said, if we had Andrew Jackson, he would hang them as high as Haman. But as he is no more, and sleeps in his grave in his own beloved State, where traitors and treason have even insulted his tomb and the very earth that covers his remains, humble as I am, when you ask what I would do, my reply is, I would arrest them; I would try them; I would convict them, and I would hang them. Since the world began there has never been a rebellion of

such gigantic proportions, so infamous in character, so diabolical in motive, so entirely disregardful of the laws of civilized warfare. I am in favor of leniency: but, in my opinion, evil-doers should be punished. Treason is the highest crime known in the catalogue of crimes, and for him that is guilty of it—for him that is willing to lift his impious hand against the authority of the nation, I would say death is too easy a punishment. My notion is, that treason must be made odious; that traitors must be punished and impoverished; their social power must be broken; they must be made to feel the penalty of their crimes. Let us commence the work. We have put down these traitors in arms; let us put them down in law, in public judgment, and in the morals of the world."

So soon as Mr. Johnson was invested, by the death of Mr. Lincoln, with power to punish the offenders, he pardoned scores of the most conspicuous of them; and during his administration of the affairs of the nation, as President, he used his official and personal power to the utmost in efforts to place the Government under the control of those who had sought to destroy it.

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