“As a general thing the citizens suffered little. Parties were sent out in all directions, and did an immense amount of damage. Our country friends suffered dreadfully. Corn, meat, flour, hay, horses, and negroes were in great demand.... I suppose the County has lost many hundred horses, and from 1500 to 2000 negroes. Some families lost almost everything they had, their household stuff being taken away or destroyed.... Hundreds of watches must have been carried out of the County. Poor Mrs. Harper (Farmington) not only lost in servants and horses, but had her house ransacked from garrett to cellar.... Her pictures were spared, her wines, of course, all taken.... I told my servants they had my full consent to go, ... but none of mine left.” (Quartered in his home, 713 Park Street, were Col. Battersby, 1st N. Y. Lincoln Cavalry, his Hungarian orderly, and a negro servant.) “He and his orderly appeared to be perfect gentlemen and conducted themselves in all respects as our guests.” He furnished guards for two neighbors. “Col. Battersby had a fine Newfoundland dog.... He returned to my house the day after his master left, and is now with me. I have written to Col. Battersby and sent my letter to Richmond to go by flag of truce.” Family tradition states that shortly after Appomattox the orderly came for the dog.
Col. Sheridan’s headquarters were successively No. 408 and No. 522 Park St. Major-General Wesley E. Merritt was quartered at 303 East High Street, and Major-General George A. Custer at The Farm—the beautiful house designed by Jefferson, now 1201 East Jefferson Street. It was at the time the home of Capt. Thomas L. Farish, C.S.A.
ESCAPE FROM GALLOWS
Capt. Farish was on Adjutant-General duty in South-side Virginia. He obtained leave to return to Albemarle for the protection of his family. He was captured in civilian dress and taken to the custody of Gen. Custer—in Farish’s own home. Receiving him, Custer said, “Capt. Farish, in these unusual circumstances, I don’t know whether it is my duty to ask you to take a seat or yours to ask me.” The civilian dress classed Farish as a spy, and Sheridan sentenced him to death by hanging. Workmen erected a scaffold beneath one of the giant white oaks on Farish’s lawn. Custer made persistent remonstrance, and in a discussion which lasted until midnight, obtained a change of sentence to parole. (See Farish’s narrative, Weekly Chronicle, Charlottesville, August 4, 1876—Alderman Library.)
MILITARY OCCUPATION
At the close of the war the country was under military government. The civil courts were closed, right of public assembly denied, and the usual further restrictions. Government headquarters were in Richmond, and Military Commissioners controlled the separate counties under direction from the central offices. This occupation continued for two years. Albemarle was fortunate in the character of the U. S. Army officers who filled this difficult role. On the first of these—Captain Linn Tidball—several anecdotes remain. He was strict with the populace, but also with his soldiers, and more than once disciplined them for “unnecessary harshness in the discharge of duty.” One small incident was as follows:
A group of soldiers stationed at the Farish house (now the old wing of the Monticello Hotel), for a while amused themselves hanging out a Union flag so that it impeded the sidewalk before the building. They would then force all passers-by to halt and salute. War feeling was still too high for this to be accepted; the populace boycotted that walk and passed in single file down the middle of the street, with eyes straight ahead. After a few days this came to the attention of the officer. The flag was removed and the men reproved, on the grounds that to use the flag for purposes of malice or sport was degrading to its honor.
Another story:
One regulation was that Confederate uniforms might not be worn in public. This worked much hardship on the newly-returned soldiers, who had no other clothing and no means of procuring any. A committee waited on the Commissioner and requested some modification. His order was that all military buttons and insignia be removed from the coats, and the grey could then be used until it could be replaced. Some time later a young mountaineer was brought before him. The youth, in Confederate uniform, had fought in the streets with Union soldiers. When these soldiers had testified, the officer asked for the young man’s statement. He said he had never heard of any regulations about his uniform. He was walking along and a soldier halted him and began to roughly cut off his buttons. “I thought he wanted them for his girl back home, and I knocked him down. Then them other fellows come up and they got me down.” The officer called for the severed buttons, gave them to the youth and said: “Take these home and give them to your girl. She may want to keep them. Have her sew plain buttons on your jacket, and in future, young man, don’t be so handy with your fists.”
Also, this officer showed exceptional confidence in the community. A distressing problem for the county was to provide for the returned men who lacked the essentials for resuming work and a normal life. A committee of three prominent men, headed by Col. Thomas Jefferson Randolph, grandson of Jefferson, visited the officer and asked permission to hold a public meeting for discussion of the situation. Col. Randolph stated that the committee would be personally responsible for the good conduct of the crowd, and would vouch for the propriety of all speeches. The officer not only gave his consent—he stated he would allow it to take place without guards. The meeting was held in the old Levy Opera House, now the Park View Apts., on the corner of Park and East High Streets. The contract was strictly observed on both sides.