[
289]
Southern Historical Society Papers.
Vol.
IX. Richmond, Va., July and August, 1881.
Nos. 7 and 8.
The next day--Sunday--the army remained in the vicinity of
Richmond, and the day was occupied in paroling prisoners, burying the dead and taking care of the wounded.
In this the
Federals were given every facility, and treated with consideration and humanity.
The able and humane medical director of our army,
Dr. S. A. Smith, of
Louisiana, offered their surgeons an equal share in the hospitals and hospital stores.
In every respect, by officers and by privates, the prisoners were treated with greatest courtesy.
In the main they appreciated it, and conducted themselves very well.
But one instance, a piece of “sharp practice” occurred, worthy of notice, as illustrating the absurd and lying boastfulness of a large portion of the
Northern press in this war, and, at the same time, the low cunning which has made the name
Yankee, in a certain sense odious, and only another synonym for trickery and treachery the world over.
Early in the engagement at
Mount Zion,
Captain Freret, a young gentleman from New Orleans, attached to
General Smith's staff, succeeded in capturing, unaided, three privates, with loaded muskets in their hands, and
Lieutenant-Colonel Armstrong, of
Ohio.
