[for the Richmond Dispatch.]
Invitation to the
Invalid Officers and Soldiers of the
Confederate States, new in
Virginia.
The Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society, of the
Natural Bridge District, in the county of
Rockbridge, Virginia, cordially invite
all the invalid officers and soldiers of the
Confederate States, now anywhere in
Virginia — whether in hospital, camp, or elsewhere — whose comfort and health would be promoted by a visit to the mountains, to make our houses their homes during their convalescence and pleasure.
Proud of such guests — the heroic defenders of our common country — every door in the county swings wide open to welcome them; and we will only be too happy if we can succeed in making their stay among us as pleasant to them as we are sure it will be delightful to us — Our pure mountain air and water, and our shaded and quiet farm-houses, will, we trust, soon restore them to health, and enable them to gratify their patriotic aspirations by resuming the active duties of the camp and field.
We confess a little vanity mingles with our apparent hospitality, for we want to show our Southern friends our magnificent mountain scenery, in rich and varied picturesqueness, rivalling that of
Switzerland; the
Natural Bridge, that sublime master-piece of Nature's masonry; that noble institution, the Virginia Military Institute, the most imposing edifice in the
State; the bronze copy of
Houdon's
fae simile statue of
Washington; the venerable College of Washington, endowed by the
Father of his Country, and now nobly represented in the field by the Liberty Hall Volunteers--the flower of our youth; our decent churches and school houses; our fertile farms and snug dwellings; our green meadows and bending orchards; our cold springs and clear streams; and last, but not least, our sturdy, flaxen-haired boys, and our red-cheeked and bright-eyed mountain girls.
In our unsophisticated mountain homes, (where we affect neither French manners nor
French cuisine,) we can promise our honored guests nothing in the way of creature comforts but plain old
Virginia ham, tender beet and mutton, fat chicken, broiled and stewed, sweet and butter milk, fresh yellow butter, corn bread, light rolls, roasting ears, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, apples, peaches, melons, and other seasonable fruits and vegetables, with airy and quiet chambers, clean beds and fresh sheets, and an ample supply of pure, cold water, fresh from the gushing spring.
Unused to hardships, we trust our self-sacrificing soldiers will be content with our plain bill of fare, seasoned as it is with the heartiest of welcomes.
While our invitation is most cordially extended to
all our Southern friends, without distinction of rank, we confess we will be particularly glad to see any of those lion-hearted heroes who secured the independence and liberty of their country on the immortal field of
Manassas.
Come all and come now!
A comfortable packet leaves
Lynchburg on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, at 6 A. M., and arrives at Balcony Falls, 28 miles, in about seven hours. Gentlemen will be in waiting there to receive our guests.
Mrs. Dr. Watson, P. S. A. S.
Mrs. C. C.
Baldwin,
Sec'y.
Aug. 10, 1861.
Richmond Whig, Enquirer, and Examiner, and papers throughout the
State, are respectfully requested to copy.
The following gentlemen will please act as committees to receive guests:
At Balcony Falls.--
Col. Johns,
C. L. Locker,
C. C. Baldwin,
Jno. Echols, and
J. S. Baldwin.
At Greenlee's Ferry.--
Dr. Watson, F. T,
Anderson,
Wm. Paxton, and
Capt. Burks.
At Gilmore's Mitt.--
Capt. Jo. Gilmore,
F. Guggenheimer and
S. Crawford.
At Natural Bridge.--
Dr. Houston,
Thomas Wilson,
S. McClintic,
Jno. Luster,
Dr. Chandler,
Wm. Arnold,
Dr. Shields, and
Jas. Campbell.
At Lexington.--
Col. Reid,
Hugh Barclay,
Professor Campbell,
W. C. Lewis,
G. W. Johnson, and
James D. Davidson.
