Southern Stories

by Various

  HIDING PLACES IN WAR TIMES

  BY J. H. GORE

  For some years after the close of our Civil War, the attention of ourpeople was chiefly occupied with a study and recital of the mostprominent battles, the decisive events, and the acts of famous officers.But when these bolder features of the war panorama had been examined anddiscussed, more time was taken to look at some of the details, to callup the minor incidents, to bestow meed of praise upon privates, or torecord the littles that made up the much.

  The sacrifices of the women and children at home have been repeatedlyreferred to in general, but seldom do we see mention made of their dailyprivations, the petty but continual annoyances to which they weresubjected, and the struggle they made to sow and reap, as well as thedifficulties they met in saving the harvested crops.

  The hiding-places here described were all in _one_ house. This house wasin Virginia, near a town which changed hands, under fire, eighty-twotimes during the war--a town whose hotel register shows on the same pagethe names of officers of both armies, a town where there are two largecities of the fallen soldiers, each embellished by the saddest of allepitaphs--"To the unknown dead." Out from this battered town run anumber of turnpikes, and standing as close to one of these as a cityhouse stands to the street was the house referred to--the home of awidow, three small children, a single domestic, and, for part of thetime, an invalid cousin, whose ingenuity and skill fashioned the secretplaces, one of which was on several occasions his place of refuge.

  With fall came the "fattening time" for the hogs. They were then broughtin from the distant fields, where they had passed the summer, and put ina pen by the side of the road. And although within ten feet of thesoldiers as they marched by, they were never seen, for the pen wascompletely covered by the winter's wood-pile, except at the back, wherethere was a board fence through whose cracks the corn was thrown in.Whenever the passing advance-guard told us that an army was approaching,the hogs were hurriedly fed, so that the army might go by while theywere taking their after-dinner nap, and thus not reveal their presenceby an escaped grunt or squeal. Fortunately, the house was situated in anarrow valley, where the opportunities for bushwhacking were so greatthat the soldiers did not tarry long enough to search unsuspectedwood-piles. On one occasion we thought the hogs were doomed. A wagonbroke down near the house, and a soldier went to the wood-pile for apole to be used in mending the break. Luckily, he found a stick to hisliking without tearing the pile to pieces. This suggested that somenice, straight pieces be always left conveniently near for such anemergency, in case it should occur again.

  The house had a cellar with a door opening directly out upon the "bigroad," and never did a troop, large or small, pass by without countlesssoldiers seeking something eatable in this convenient cellar. It wasnever empty, but nothing was ever found. A partition had been run acrossabout three feet from the back wall, so near that even a closeinspection would not suggest a space back of it; and being without adoor, no one would think there was a room beyond. The only access tothis back cellar was through a trapdoor in the floor of the room above.This door was always kept covered by a carpet, and in case any dangerwas imminent, a lounge was put over this, and one of the boys, feigningillness, was there "put to bed." In this cellar apples, preserves,pickled pork, etc., were kept, and its existence was not known to anyone outside of the family.

  The two garrets of the house had false ends, with narrow spaces beyond,where winter clothing, flour, and corn were safely stored. The partitionin each was of weather-boarding, and nailed on from the inner side so asto appear like the true ends, and, being in blind gables, there was nosuspicion aroused by the absence of windows. The entrance to theselittle attics was through small doors that were a part of the partition,and, as usual in country houses, the clothesline stretched across theend from rafter to rafter held enough old carpets and useless stuff tosilence any question of secret doors. Several closets also were providedwith false backs, where the surplus linen of the household found a safehiding-place.

  In such an exposed place a company of scouts, or even a regiment, couldappear so unexpectedly that it was necessary to keep everything out ofsight. Even the provisions for the next meal had to be put away, orbefore the meal could be prepared a party of marauders might drop in andcarry off the entire supply. In the kitchen a wood-box of large sizestood by the stove. It had a false bottom. In the upper part was "wooddirt," a plentiful supply of chips, and so much stove-wood that theimpression would be conveyed that at least there was a good stock offuel always on hand. The box was made of tongued and grooved boards, andone of these in the front could be slipped out, thus forming a door.Into this box all the food and silverware were put. No little ingenuitywas needed in making this contrivance. The nails that were drawn out tolet this board slip back and forth left tell-tale nail-holes, but thesewere filled up with heads of nails, so that all the boards looked justalike. I remember once a soldier was sitting on this box while motherwas cooking for him what seemed to be the last slice of bacon in thehouse. She was so afraid that he would drum on the box with his heels,as boys frequently do, and find that the box was hollow, that shecontinually asked him to get up while she took a piece of wood for thefire. It was necessary to disturb him a number of times before he foundit advisable to take the proffered chair, and in the meantime a hotterfire had been made than the small piece of meat required.

  Of course it was advisable to have at least scraps of food lyingaround--their absence at any time would have aroused suspicion andstarted a search that might have disclosed all. The large loaves ofbread were put in an unused bed in the place of bolsters; money, whenthere was any on hand, was rolled up in a strip of cotton which was tiedas a string around a bunch of hoarhound that hung on a nail in thekitchen ceiling; the chickens were reared in a thicket some distancefrom the house, and, being fed there, seldom left it.

  Although this house was searched repeatedly, by day and by night, byregulars and by guerrillas, by soldiers of the North and of the South,the only loss sustained were a few eggs, and this loss was not serious,for the eggs were stale.