York Battery rode up to the door, and soon relieved us from our
unwelcome visitors. He had been here the evening before and
dispersed them, and returned again from Centreville with a
written protection from Maj. Gen. Smith which he told me to
read to any that disturbed us, which I did, and it had the effect
to turn some away — ^but those on Monday even said it was a
forgery — "they knew his handwriting."
In man's most daik extremity
Oft succour dawns from Heaven.
I never can forget the relief afforded. Should )rou ever meet
>^ Negro servants.
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SACK OF WALNEY 319
Capt. Cowan, return him my warmest thanks. I had not the
opportunity, as an alarm was raised, and he had to leave in haste.
If you should ever have an opportunity to do him a favour,! am
sure I need not ask you to exert yourself to the utmost.
We have an army again in our midst, but we have not su£Fered.
They have given us a guard.
Some hay that was left has been bought by Gen. Stol, and
s<nne others under his command. They have given us certificates
payable in Washington. When the way is open, don't you
think I mij^t ask Mr. Blagden (if he is in Washington) to aid
the person who took them down in getting them presented to the
right person?
Your father is no better, I don't think as well in some respects
as ynbcn you saw him. Our situation here is by no means pleas-
ant, but we might be worse off, and I really do not see where we
can go. I have sometimes thought Cousin Martha might take
us to board; it is more out of the way, and would be less lonesome
— ^I wish we could see you and consult together.
Your father asked for pen and ink this morning to write to
you, but he is not able to write; he told me to tell you he wished
you would come and see him. Emme intended to write, but
may not be able, having a bad headache.
If you wOl write immediately and enclose the letter to the
gentleman whose address I send,^' I hope I may get it.
Your box reached us in safety, many thanJcs from E[mme]
and myself for its contents.
Cousin Martha spent a day with us a short time since. P.
also made us a visit. Both were well and send love.
Your loving Mother,
C. Machen.
Miss Emn^dine Machen to A. W. Machen (at BdUmore).
Walney, Septembtf 27, 1862.
My dearest Brother:
I have a severe pain in my eye this morning and cannot write
much, but I could not let Mother's letter go without a line to
<* Doubtlen the Federal soldier mentioiied infra pp. 321, 322-3.
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320 THE CIVIL WAR
teD you how happy I am to have ooce more an <q>portuiiity of
talkmg with you, though only on paper. We have passed
through so much since, that it seems a vary long time to us since
any letters have passed betwe^i us. Mother has told you of
some trying scenes during those four days whidi will ever be
memorable in our history; but it would be difficult tor any one
to realize what we underwent unless he had been present to see
the mjanner and listen to the insulting language which added
tenfold to the injury of our despoliation. Our esicape from ibc
piUage of the frame house seems miraculous, and we can only
attribute it to the interposition of Heaven. I do not think any
of Father's books were taken except some on the pariour tables—
my personal loss was the greatest in the sacking of the stone
house — all my letters and p^>ers were rummaged over, and I
know not how many taken. I miss articles of at least $30 value,
several of them books which no money can replace, being gifts
from friends and premiums that I have had ever since I was a
little giri. You mever saw such a scene as that house presented.
Father's drawers were pulled out, the contents, and those of my
closet, scattered all over the floor of the parlour; and tq)6tairs
bore evidence to similar scenes of pillage and rummaging.
The last letters we received from you were the two wfaidi so
strongly urged our removal to Baltimore, and if there had been
time for it before what Aunt Jinny appropriately calk the batSi
of Wahiey, we should now have reproached ourselves for not acting
upon your suggestion, great as the undertaking seemed to be
to move father and our housdiold goods, ftc. It is not veiy
pleasant to live as we are now, but if we were certain of never
being any worse ofiF, we would be thankful, and not think of
going anywhere else; we know' not what day there may be
a change in the military which would dq>rive us of a guard, and
perhaps not replace it, and leave us exposed to a rq)etiti(m of
those terrible days. Our situation, once so secluded, seems fated
to be a military post and highway during the war.
I have been so much interrupted that I have been unable to
make a complete exammation of the books from Warrenton, but
I have ascertained enough to know that there are some 150 or
200 volumes missing— a number of broken sets of works which
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MRS. CAROLINE St AC HEN, AT ABOUT S4 YE \RS OF AGE
From a Photograph
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\ \<
' I. \,\\t.,, -il'.-.
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SACK OF WALNEY 321
Pa particularly valued— viz, G. Morreri, folio, 1 vol. gone; The-
saurus Stephani, do; Bailey Die. folio 4 of vol. one; 2 volumes of
De Thou; 2 volumes of Locke; 6 of Burke; P<^'s and Cowper's
and Wakefield's Homer, numbers of each missing; 6 volumes of
that handsome English Portrait Gallery, and many other broken
sets, besides a number of entire works, Mdtere, Clarendon, Dry-
den, Wordsworth, Pope, and others I cannot enumerate. But
we should be thankful to get back as many as we have. P. saw
Mr. Barten lately and he told him of several libraries placed in
Warrenton for safe^keeping which were entirely gone, as ours
would doubtless have been but for Mr. B.
Your box came to us just before the stoppage of communica-
tion with Alexandria, and I cannot tell you how acceptable the
contents were, as proofs of ybur kind love and thoughtfuhiess.
We like the dresses very much, and the bo<^ and candy were
grc^y enjoyed. Don't forget to give our love and thanks to
Mrs. G[ittings] for the patterns and her kind assistance about
the trinmiing. I must say goodbye. Do write immediately
or the soldier to whom this letter is to be enclosed may be ordered
away. He has the care of a hospital. Mother supplies him with
milk, and he kindly offered to $end a letter and have your reply
enclosed imder cover to him.
I suppose we cannot see you imtil more settled times. Would
that we could. May the Almighty bless and preserve you, prays
Your own,
E.
Both ladies modestly understate their own bravery in
withstanding the efforts of the soldiers to break into my
grandfather's chamber. My aunt often said, however, that
upon her mother's point-blank refusal to let the soldiers
ajpen the door, in front of which she stood, saying that her
ill and aged husband was within, they tauntingly replied
thet they knew well enough it was no sick gentleman but
some d — d rebel who was inside. They then pointed
their muskets at her and threatened to shoot her, or stab
her with their bayoopiet^ unless she yielded. She stood her
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322 THE CIVIL WAR
ground, however, and at this point was saved by the kind
intervention of Capt. Cowan, as described in her letter.
The good friend of the family, Mr. Thomas Blagden, of
Washington, writing a few weeks later, indicates dearly the
contemporary estimate of my grandmother's courage and
presence of mind:
Thomas Blagden to A. W. Machen.
Washington, October 20, 1S62.
.... I hope you have favourable intelligence from Wal-
ney. In a letter I had from Mrs. Blagden the other day, she
thus wrote about them:
"Words fail me to express my admiration of the heroism of
the Machen ladies, and my deep, heart-aching pity for them.
What a wonderful thing, that a woman should have been able
to protect her husband by her firmness and bravery, by resisting
those nine lawless ruffians who might have killed her! Truly
God did mercifully interpose for them.". . . .
For some days or weeks, Wabiey echoed with the tramp of
contending armies, but my grandparents and their daughter
never left or even tried to leave their homestead, and
through the kindness of the Federal soldier, as also mentioned
in a letter quoted above, succeeded in maintaining commimi-
cation with my father in Baltimore:
Miss Emmdine Machen to A. W. Machen (at Baltimore).
Walney, October 2, 1862.u
Tliunday ev'g.
My dear Brother:
Mother and I wrote to you nearly a week ago, the letter was
to be sent by a soldier, under cover to whom we hoped to have
received a reply ere this. He generally comes to the house twice
"The date is written "Sept. 2, 1861;" but "Sept" was corrected to "Oct"
by my father in his own handwriting, and 1861 is an equaUy obvious slip for
1862. In the confusion of war times, errors in dates were very commcHi,
perfai^ because there was so Uttle to distinguish o^e day from another in the
isolation and desolation of the farm. '
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IN MIDST OF BATTLES 323
a day, and after each disappointinent we console ourselves with
the anticipation that next time he will be the welcome bearer of
a letter from yaa. Ours, I trust, reached you safely by the mili-
tary mail. I knew how very anxious you would be to hear from
us when such large armies had been all around us — ^we have been
almost in the midst of battles. Indeed, a cavalry <jiarge was
made in our com field, and troops were drawn up in line of battle
in our North West fidd. The imcertainty whether cannon balls
and sheUs might not be foiling about us at any moment, added
not a little to our impleasant situation, eq^ieciaUy after the theft
of our horses and oxen left us entirely without the means of mov-
ing if the danger to life had seemed ever so imminent. The citi-
zens of Centreville were required to leave their houses, it was
general^ believed because the place was considered unsafe by the
Military.
But I gladly turn to pleasanter themes, ior in the midst of my
sentence I was interrupted by news of the arrival of Mr. Van
B.^ with a letterl I cannot teU you with what delight it was
welcomSMl. Mrs. Watt is going to Alexandria tomorrow and I
embrace the opportunity <rf writmg by her. We fed greatly in-
debted to Mr. V.^ for his kindness in procuring us the gteat treat
of communicating with you. If you will write again and direct
in the same manner, the letter will doubtless come to us safdy,
unless he should change his location. Please also write and direct
to Alexandria— persons from the neighbourhood can now go
there, and we might have an opportunity of recdving as well as
sending a letter; — by your directing a letter to Alexandria and
C[^treville] also, we should have a double chance of hearing
from you.
As to our condition, it has not changed since we wrote, except
that there is now a pidcet of fifteen men who stay under the large
wahiut and in the locust grove (when they are not in the kitchen,
on the stone steps, or in other places about the house). As you
may suppose, it is unpleasant to have our privacy thus brok^
in upon. Once, we would have been seriously annoyed by hav-
MHcniy A. Vaabrocklin, of Coin|»ny L, 9th New York Cavaliy. Pte>
tomably he was the soldier mentkiied at the beginning of the letter.
V Mr. Vanbrodlin, supra.
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324 THE CIVIL WAR
ing 80 many jabbering Dutchmai'* so close to us; but we judge of
everything by comparison, and compared with those memonbk
three days this is nothing. We still have the guard coiitiiiued.
to us — if the picket were disposed to be uncivil, the guard do not
allow them to be so, and we shall be very well able to endure this
part of our experiences of. the war. Why the picket could not
have been placed at the bam or somewhere in the lane, it would
puztle a poor civilian to say, but we are so grateful to the Mili-
tary Authorities for the protection a£forded us, this time, that
we very uncomplainingly submit.
Our larder was in a low state, but we have been rq>lenished in
some things, and h<^ to get some groceries throu^ Mrs. W.^
Do not be uneasy about us— Providence has thus far provided
daily bread, and we will trust on for the future. Our nearest
i^>proach to starvation point was during our siege— wt had but
little heart to eat, and did not anything more than to bake a
little bread, and we found it impossible to accomplish this excq>t
after night. One morning, some roUs that we were depending
upon greatly were stolen bom the fire, spider and alll Our nei^-
bours have been very kind in sending us vegetables — we should
dse have none. Fortunatdy, Mrs. Watt's gardm was not mdest-
ed, and she very kindly sends some from time to time. Mrs. Fair-
all the other day sent several different kinds and three dudcens.
Mrs. Watt's invalid mother died during the BuU Run battles,
and was buried in C[^treville] amid all the confusion d that time.
Moving now, even as far as Cousin Martha's^* seems difficult,
if not impossible. If tunes should change, you would probably
be able to come on and consult with us. I must confess that
our e]q>erience has made Mother and me fed very differently
about leaving here. You did not say ^riiat yoa thou^t of the
Gum Spring plan.
But I must say good night with abundant love from alL
Ever your own
E.
^*It Is noticeable that the Northern soldien who aunmitted the woist
acts of vandalism during our Civil War were Germans, as this passage tends to
indicate.
^^ Mrs. Watt, a tenant.
^ Miss Martha J. Lewis, of the Gum Spring, in Loudoun County.
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REMOVAL TO BALTIMORE 325
Tbat such tidings from his home would induce my father
to visit his parents at the earliest possible moment can read-
ily be understood. Accordingly, in the following month,
November, 1862, he succeeded, through the intervention of
Reverdy Johnson, in obtaining a pass entitling him to re-
pair to Wabiey, and bring his father, mother and sister to
Baltimore, together with their household effects, including
of course the beloved books saved so as by fire from
the theatre of war. About the middle of the month, the
removal was effected. They drove from Wabiey to Wash-
ington accompanied by several waggon-loads of personal
effects, including the books. All except my father stopped
en route at Argyle, the Blagden place near Washington, for
a week or more, while he was preparing a house in Baltimore
for their occupancy. By the first of December, the whole
family, with the exception of my unde James P. Machen,
who was in the Confederate Army, were comfortably es-
tablished in their new home in Baltimore on North Charles
Street a few doors south of Centre Street, in a building now
part of the St. James Apartments.
The sad condition of CentreviUe and the surrounding
country during the remainder of the War— a condition in
whidi, unhappily, it still continues— is suffidentiy attested
by a letter to Mr. Thomas Blagden, my grandfather's dear
friend, from a relative in the Uxiion Army who was stationed
near CentreviUe:
George Blagden tf Thomas Blagden {quoted in leUer from Thomas
Blagden ioA.W. Machen, dated July 25, 1863)
Near CentreviUe, Va., July, 1863.
I inquired about Walney the other day from an old negro.
He was more particularly posted on ''Mr. Jim Machen" as he
called him. ''Mr. Arthur/' he also knew of. I don't think he
was in the habit of visiting the ladies in the family.
I shall certamly visit Walney if it is possible. I shall have to
go probably with a guard, however, as the bushwhacker "goril-
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326 THE CIVIL WAR
las"^ render the roads hereabouts impassable for a solitary hoise-
man of the Union species
The general condition of the coimtry is very sad and dreary.
I do pray that this unnatural state oi things may speedily be
brougjht to a close. The town of Centreville may have lodced
gay once, but its iq>pearance now, to use an expression of J. Phil-
lips**® down-east servant is exceedingly "wunk" — ^the word carries
its own definition.
The separation from the son and brother^ and the illness of
the father, together with the anxieties incident to the War,
were the only drawbacks to the happiness of the household
in Baltimore during the next year. On January 24th, 1863,
my grandmother wrote to her son James, who was then in
the Confederate Army:
Mrs. Caroline Macken to /. P. Machen,
BaltiiiK»e, January 24» 1863.
We received yours of the 25th ult., with what pleasure I leave
you to imagine, as we had received no tidings for some months
previous - most thankful were we to hear that your health was
good.
It is now over two months since we left our country home.
Harrison (the blacksmith) we^ into the house the day we left —
we brought all the books, even the account books.
Your father's health is not any better than when you saw him
last. He bore the removal better than I expected, but he often
wishes to go back, says it is so "contracted" here
We have a very fine commodious house and are very happy here.
• • • I must stop or lose the chance of sending this poor scrawL
In the summer of 1863, although my grandfather's
strength was waning fast, my father yielded to the persua-
sions of his mother and sister and went to Cape May for a
» Dottbtien, MoBb/s Men.
** Explained by Mr. Thomas Blagden as "his cousin and one of his lieu-
tenantt."
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DEATH OF LEWIS H. MACHEN 327
vacation. While he was absent, his sister found one of the
all too rare opportunities of writing to her brother James:
Miss Bmmdine Machm to J. P. Macken {in the Confederate Army).
Baltfanoie."
Not the least painful drcumstances attending our separation
from you is the inability to communicate. We occasionally hear
of you — our last direct tidings, the last of May
Father has been a great invaUd since our arrival, and I am
grieved to say his ph3rsician gives no hope af any improvement.
. . . Arthur has been taking a little holiday jaimt for a week
or ten days. We thought he needed the change and urged his
going, but I am impatient now for his return, for both Mother
and I fear Father is seriously worse than when he left.
A few days later, my father was summoned to return at
once to Baltimore on account of an alarming change for the
worse in his father's health; but before he could reach home,
on the afternoon of August ilth, 1863, his father, Lewis H.
Machen, died. He is buried in Greenmoimt Cemetery,
Baltimore.
During the remainder of the War, the three surviving
members of the household lived as calm and imdisturbed
lives as were possible in those unsettled days. One anxiety
they had to endure was the draft. On the first occasion,
my father escaped by presenting a ^' certificate" prepared
for him for the purpose by Dr. Thomas H. Buckler, who,
perhaps as a Southern sympathizer, regarded as meritorious
any assistance he could render in avoiding the draft. But on
the next occasion, ^^)on presentation of the same certificate,
the physician in charge of the draft, biurst into a roar of
laughter, saying, '^Does Tom Buckler think I would be
fooled by thatt** However, my^ father was lucky, and was
never drawn. He refused to join any of the dubs or mutual
<^ Undated bat evidently written early in August, 1863.
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328 THE CIVIL WAR
associations for defraying the expeoscs of purchasing sob-
stitutes for any members who mij^t be drafted; for, as he
has told me, he preferred to have no part or parcel in the
prosecution of the War by the North unless under absolute
compulsion and for the purpose of relieving his person or
property &om duress.
The intensity of feeling in the society of the border dty of
Baltimore is shown by an incident which my father records
as occurring at Cape May in August, 1863, with reference to
Gen. Schenck, who had been in command at Baltimore and
had ordered the arrest of many prominent Marylanders:
Draft of Letter or Diary by A. W. Machen.
Cape May, August 3, 1863.
Gen. Schenck left this morning, his daughter remaining. Some
Uttle stir had been made in our Baltimore circle by a lady belong-
ing to it having manifested displeasure at the act of courtesy in
the gentleman who attended her in exchanging salutations with
him. He was quite well acquainted with General Schenck, who
also was walking with one of his daughters. The extreme view
d the lady was not shared by her friends. With the excq>tion
d this incident, a matter too trivial for observation but as a sign
of the times, politics, by common cbnsent, seems to be ignored,
everbody bemg resolved to enjoy all tilings — the sight of our
neighbour's enjoyment among others.
Throughout the War, my father's pecuniary resources
were strained to the utmost, notwithstanding his rapidly
growing law practice, by claims of Confederate prisoners
upon his sympathy and assistance. Relations, friends, ac-
quaintances, and even entire strangers — anybody from Vir-
ginia — seemed to feel that they could demand pecuniary
aid from him as a right. Rarely if ever did he reject these
appeals, however peremptory in form, although occasionally
he was obliged to explain his inability to do all that was
asked. For example, a Virginian, a mere acquaintance,
confined in Fort McHenry wrote to him as follows:
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DEMANDS OF PRISONERS 329
io A. W. Mackm
Fort McHeniy, November 3, 1863.
On the 7th of October m answer to yours of the dOth of Sq>-
tember, I addressed you a note, requesting you to deposit, for
my benefit, the sum of thirty dollars in the hands d Lieut. E. W.
Andrews, then Provost-Marshall at this post. Since then I have
heard nothing from you. Will you be kind enough to inform me
whether or not you have received my first note.
io A. W. Machen.
Fort McHeniy, November 10, 1863.
Yours of the 5th inst. inclosing the sum d thirty dollars has
been received, for which you will please accept my thanks. In
consequence of the lateness of its arrival, nearly the whole amount
has been consumed in the payment of my debts to my fellow
prisoners, and I must again ask of you the loan of a similar sum,
which you will inclose, as bef<»e, at your earliest opportunity.
To this rq)eated drafts my father replied with the follow*
ing patient and courteous refusal, three days later:
A. W. Mackm to-
Baltimore, November 13, 1863.
I am very scurry it is not in my power, now, to send you some
more money as you desire. My father and mother, you know,
necessarily had claims bef<»e all others. Their property, swept
bare in Gen. Pope's retreat, was made worse than unproductive;
and the family have had to look to mt lot everything. The ex-
penses <rf thdr removal, and of taking and furnishing a house,
maintaining them since, etc., have been very heavy.
But I am besides constantly called on to rend^ aid to relatives
and friends who by, reasob of captivity or other circumstances of
peculiar distress, reqmre such assistance. Persons having few or
no other sources of relief naturally ^pply to one whom they know
to be a Virginian by origin in preference to utter strangers. To
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330 THE CIVIL WAR
these ajqpeals I respond to the utmost of my ability. It occasions
me m<»e pain than I can express to seem ever in an jr degree m-
different to them. At this very time I have before me at kast
three other aiq>lications by or on bdialf of persons confined in
other military prisons, two of whom can urge some special daims.
I cheerfully do all I can, and if I Bppeen to come short, friends
win do me the justice to believe it is not owing to lack of wilL
The surrender at Appomattox brought with it a reunion
of the family, and the restoration of my unde to his home
at Walney. bnmediatdy upon the cessation of hostilities,
my grandmother embraced the opportimity of writing to
her son at Walney:
Mrs. Caroline Macken to J. P. Machen.
Baltimore, May 9, 1865.
My dear James:
I was delighted to get your letter yesterday. I wish we could
come down with Arthur to assist you in rioting up our loved
homestead, but that at present seems impracticable
I fear you will have to resort to primitive times, and like Franklin
live on com grud and eat with a pewter spoon— but let us thank
God that our lives have been spared and that we still have a
shdter from the weather
You will find your mother much changed — old age has come <m
nqndly in the last four years I wish you could see