Monday, July 7, 2008

Diary of Betty Herndon Maury - August 4, 1862

[Monday] August 4th [1862]

Children take much more notice of grown persons conversation than we suppose they do. Nannie Belle and Sally Woolfolk were playing ladies the other day. Sally dressed herself up in the babies musquito net for a shawl and came to call upon Nannie Belle.

Sally – “Good morning, ma’am, how are you to day?”

N.B. – “I don’t feel very well. All my niggers have run away and left me.”

I heard Nannie Belle say to Sally a few days ago, “Upon my word an' honour Sir there are no letters and papers in this trunk atall." She remembered what I had said to the Yankee officer on our way out of Fredericksburg.

Since Gen’ Pope’s wicked order Mr. Randolph – our secretary of war – has issued a retaliatory order that all commissioned officers of Pope’s army that are taken prisoner shall not be treated as prisoners of war, but put in irons and held as hostages for our citizens that have been arrested in Fredericksburg and the neighboring counties.

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