From flag to flag

A WOMAN’S ADVENTURES AND EXPERIENCES IN THE SOUTH DURING THE WAR, IN MEXICO AND IN CUBA
BY ELIZA McHATTON-RIPLEY
“Faith! I ran when I saw others run.”—I Henry IV.
“See here, my friends and loving countrymen; This token serveth for a flag of truce Betwixt ourselves.”—I Henry IV.
NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1889
Copyright, 1888, By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
The years covered by this narrative were full of stirring interest. Civil war in the United States put the nation under arms from the St. Lawrence to the Rio Grande, and shattered the entire social and political fabric of the South. Mexico was conquered by the French, who, in time, were driven from the country, and the improbability of any European power obtaining a foothold there forever settled. A large portion of the Island of Cuba was for years under the control of the insurgents; and, not until a sea of blood and millions of treasure had been poured out, was a semblance of peace secured.
The minor part I bore in these exciting times has been a thrice-told tale at my fireside; and, believing the unfamiliar pictures of life, varied incidents, and historical facts worthy of record, I have written why, and how, we ran “from flag to flag.”
FROM FLAG TO FLAG.
A spacious mansion, with deep verandas supported by fluted columns, so closely following the architectural features of the historic Lee homestead on the Potomac as to give the name of “Arlington” to the plantation, was the home of my early married life.
The house faced a broad lawn, dotted here and there with live-oak and pecan trees. An avenue, over which the “pride-of-China” trees cast their shade, and beside which the Cherokee rose grew with great luxuriance, led to the river-bank, and commanded a magnificent view of the Mississippi for many miles above and below.
To this house, with all its attractive appointments, I came a bride, and from this home I took a hurried departure a decade later. Time has not dimmed the memory of those years; on the contrary, it has added to their radiant brightness.