Among the crowd, side by side with the ladies resident in Richmond,
stood mothers, wives, sisters, from other Southern States, looking
eagerly for the well-known uniform worn by _their own_, proudly
pointing them out as they passed, even to utter strangers, sure of
warmest sympathy, following them with longing eyes until they were
lost to sight, hundreds, alas! _forever_.
Among the gayly-fluttering banners borne proudly aloft some were
ragged and torn by shot or shell. As each of these appeared men
shouted themselves hoarse, women drew shuddering sighs and grew
deathly pale, as if realizing for the first time the horrors of war
and the dangers their loved ones had passed.
For several days this excitement was kept up. All night heavy
artillery rumbled along Broad Street. At any hour of the night I could
see from my window shadowy figures of mounted men, could hear the
ceaseless tramp of cavalry horses. Every day the sun shone upon the
glittering bayonets and gay flags of swiftly-passing soldiery. The air
was flooded with music until the last strain died away, and the calm
which preceded a terrible storm of battle fell upon the city.
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