We find it impossible to make room for all the many touching incidents which occurred in the burning of the town. The house of Mr. James Watson, an old and feeble man of over eighty, was entered, and because his wife earnestly remonstrated against the burning, they fired the room, hurled her into it and locked the door on the outside. Her daughters rescued her by bursting in the door before her clothing took fire. Mr. Jacob Wolfkill, a very old citizen, and prostrated by sickness so that he was utterly unable to be out of bed, plead in vain to be spared a horrible death in the flames of his own house; but they fired the building. Through the superhuman efforts of some friends he was carried away safely. Mrs. Lindsay, a very feeble lady of nearly eighty, fainted when they fired her house, and was left to be devoured in the flames: but fortunately a relative reached the house in time, and lifting her in a buggy, pulled her away while the flames were kissing each other over their heads on the street. Mrs. Kuss, wife of the jeweller on Main Street, lay dead; and although they were shown the dead body, they plied the torch and burned the house. Mrs. J. K. Shryock had Mrs. Kuss’s sick babe in her arms, and plead for the sake of the dead mother and sick child to spare that house, but it was unavailing. The body of Mrs. Kuss was hurriedly buried in the garden, and the work of destruction went on. When the flames drove Mrs. Shryock away with the child, she went to one of the men and presenting the babe, said, “Is this revenge sweet?” A tender chord was touched, and without speaking he burst into tears. He afterwards followed Mrs. Shryock, and asked whether he could do anything for her; but it was too late. The houses of Messrs. McLellan, Sharpe and Nixon, being located east of the Franklin Railroad, and out of the business part of the town, were not reached until the rest of the town was in flames, and the roads were streaming with homeless women and children. Mr. McLellan’s residence was the first one entered, and he was notified that the house must be burned. Mrs. McLellan immediately stepped to the door, and laying one hand on the rebel officer, and pointing with the other to the frantic fugitive women and children passing by, said to him: “Sir, is not your vengeance glutted? We have a home and can get another; but can you spare no homes for those poor, helpless people and their children? When you and I and all of us shall meet before the Great Judge, can you justify this act?” He made no reply, but ordered his command away, and that part of the town was saved. Mr. Holmes Crawford, an aged and most worthy citizen, was taken into an alley while his house was burning, and his pockets rifled. He was thus detained until it was impossible for him to get out by the street, and he had to take his feeble wife and sit in the rear of his lot until the buildings around him were burnt down. Father McCullom, Catholic priest of this place, was robbed of his watch. Colonel Stumbaugh was arrested near his home early in the morning, and, with a pistol presented to his head, ordered to procure some whiskey. He refused, for the very good reason that he had none and could get none. He was released, but afterwards re-arrested by another squad, the officer naming him, and was insulted in every possible way. He informed the officer that he had been in the service, and that if General Battles was present, they would not dare to insult him. When asked why, he answered, “I captured him at Shiloh, and treated him like a soldier.” A rebel Major present, who had been under Battles, upon inquiry, was satisfied that Colonel Stumbaugh’s statement was correct, ordered his prompt release, and withdrew the entire rebel force from that part of Second Street, and no buildings were burned. Mr. John Treher, of Loudon, was robbed by the rebels of $200 in gold and silver, and $100 in currency. Mr. D. R. Knight, an artist, started out to the residence of Mr. McClure when he saw Norland on fire, and on his way he was robbed of all his money by a squad of rebels. He reached the house in time to aid in getting the women away. Rebel officers had begged of him, before he started, to get the women out of town as fast as possible, as many rebel soldiers were intoxicated and they feared the worst consequences.
Colonel McClure’s beautiful residence, one mile from the centre of the town, was evidently marked out for destruction, for no other house between it and the burnt portion of the town was fired. The Colonel was known as a prominent man in National and State affairs, and, after the raid of General Jenkins and the succeeding invasion by General Lee’s army, he had spoken of Jenkins and his men in no complimentary terms in the paper of which Colonel McClure is chief editor. And although no house in the community was more coveted by rebel officers to be quartered in than his, and for the reason, doubtless, that every comfort and luxury could be had in it, and although Mrs. McClure had, with her well known generosity and kindness of heart, ministered to the necessities and comforts of the sick and wounded insurgents, which were left during General Lee’s invasion, for which she has since received the most touching acknowledgments from some of them—yet, his property was doomed, irrevocably doomed to be burnt. Captain Smith, son of Governor Smith of Virginia, with a squad of men, passing by all the intervening houses, entered the devoted mansion with the information to Mrs. McClure, then and for some time before an invalid, that the house must be burned by way of retaliation. Ten minutes were given her in which to leave the house, and in less than ten minutes the flames were doing their work of destruction, and Mrs. McClure and the other members of the family at home, started on foot, in the heat of one of the hottest days I have ever known, in order to escape the vengeance of the chivalry. Whilst the flames were progressing in the house as well as the large and well-filled barn, the Captain helped himself to Mrs. McClure’s gold watch, silver pitcher and other valuables. The gold watch and other articles were easily concealed, but the silver pitcher was rather unwieldy, and could not be secreted from profane eyes as he rode back through town from the scene of his triumph. He resolved, therefore, to give a public display of his generosity. He stopped at the house of the Rev. James Kennedy, and handed the pitcher to his wife, with the request, “Please deliver this to Mrs. Colonel McClure, with the compliments of Captain Smith.”
Humane Rebel Officers.
Fiendish and relentless as were McCausland and most of his command, there were notable exceptions, who bravely maintained the humanities of war in the midst of the infuriated freebooters who were plying the torch and securing plunder. Surgeon Abraham Budd was conversing with several citizens when the demand for tribute was made, and he assured all present that the rebel commander would not burn Chambersburg. In the midst of his assurances, the flames burst forth almost simultaneously in every part of the town. When he saw the fire break out, he wept like a child, and publicly denounced the atrocities of his commander. He took no part in it whatever, save to aid some unfortunate ones in escaping from the flames. Captain Baxter, formerly of Baltimore, peremptorily refused to participate in the burning, but aided many people to get some clothing and other articles out of the houses. He asked a citizen, as a special favor, to write to his friends in Baltimore and acquit him of the hellish work. Surgeon Richardson, another Baltimorean, gave his horse to a lady to get some articles out of the burning town, and publicly deplored the sad work of McCausland. When asked who his commanding officer was, he answered, “Madam, I am ashamed to say that General McCausland is my commander!” Captain Watts manfully saved all of Second street south of Queen, and with his command aided to arrest the flames. He said that he would lose his commission rather than burn out defenceless people; and other officers and a number of privates displayed every possible evidence of their humanity. After the rebels had left, the following note was received by Rev. S. J. Niccolls, Presbyterian pastor, written on an envelope with a pencil:
Rev. Mr. Niccolls:
Please write my father and give him my love. Tell him, too, as Mrs. Shoemaker will tell you, that I was most strenuously opposed to the burning of the town.
B. B. Blair,
Chaplain, and son of Thomas P. Blair, Shippensburg, Pa.
That there was a most formidable opposition to burning the town in McCausland’s command was manifested in various ways. In the morning before daylight, when McCausland was at Greenawalt’s, on the turnpike west of Chambersburg, a most boisterous council was held there, at which there were earnest protests made to McCausland against burning anything but public property. McCausland was greatly incensed at some of his officers, and threatened them with most summary vengeance if they refused to obey orders.[6] Many, however, did openly disobey, and went even so far as to give the utmost publicity to their disobedience.
The Order to Burn Chambersburg.
Captain Fitzhugh exhibited to J. W. Douglas, Esq., an attorney of this place, a written order, with the name of Jubal A. Early to it, directing that Chambersburg should be burned, in retaliation for the burning of six houses in Virginia by Hunter. The burning of Chambersburg was therefore by an order from one of the corps commanders of General Lee’s army, instead of the work of a guerrilla chief, thus placing the responsibility squarely upon the shoulders of General Lee. We have in support of this the statement of Rev. Mr. Edwards, Episcopal clergyman of Hagerstown, who was taken as a hostage after Chambersburg had been destroyed. He was brought to General Early’s headquarters at Williamsport, and there paroled to effect his exchange. General Early there informed him that he had directed Chambersburg to be burned, in retaliation for the destruction of property in Virginia by Grant, Meade, and Hunter, and that the account was now squared.