handed him a telegram. Noiselessly,
and with no show of emotion, Mr. Davis left the church, followed by a
member of his staff. A moment after another quietly said a few words to
the minister; and then the quick apprehensions of the congregation were
aroused. Like an electric shock they felt the truth, even before Dr.
Hoge stopped the services and informed them that Richmond would be
evacuated that night; and counseled they had best go home and prepare
to meet the dreadful to-morrow. The news spread like wildfire. Grant
had struck that Sunday morning--had forced the lines, and General Lee
was evacuating Petersburg!

The day of wrath had come.

Hastily the few remaining necessaries of the several departments were
packed, and sent toward Danville, either by railroad or wagon. Ordnance
supplies, that could not be moved, were rolled into the canal;
commissary stores were thrown open, and their hoarded contents
distributed to the eager crowds. And strange crowds they were. Fragile,
delicate women staggered under the heavy loads they bore to suffering
children at home; the pale wife clutched hungrily at the huge ham, or
the bag of coffee, for the wounded hero, pining at home for such a
delicacy. Children were there with outstretched hands, crying for what
they could carry; and hoary-headed men tugged wearily at the barrels of
pork, flour, or sugar they strove to roll before their weak arms.

Later in the evening, as the excitement increased, fierce crowds of
skulking men, and coarse, half-drunken women, gathered before the
stores. Half-starved and desperate, they swore and fought among
themselves over the spoils they seized. Orders had been given to
destroy the whisky at once; but, either from lingering tenderness, or
from the hurry of the movement, they were only partially obeyed.

Now the uncontrolled swarms of men and women--especially the wharf rats
at Rockett's where the navy storehouses were--seized the liquor and
became more and more maddened by it. In some places where the barrels
were stove, the whisky ran in the gutters ankle deep; and here
half-drunken women, and children even, fought, to dip up the coveted
fluid in tin pans, buckets, or any vessel available.

Meanwhile, preparation went on rapidly; the President and Cabinet left
for the South--General Breckinridge, Secretary of War, alone remaining
to direct the details of evacuation. Everything was ready for the few
remaining troops to withdraw, leaving the