ning hundreds of acres of land often were as destitute as the
poorest negro. The majority of those having money to invest had bought
Confederate securities as a patriotic duty, and in this way much of
the specie had been drawn from the County.

Nearly all the grist-mills and manufacturing establishments had been
destroyed, mill-dams cut, ponds drained, and railroad depots, bridges,
and trestles burned. All farm animals near the track of the armies had
been carried away or killed by the soldiers, or seized after the
occupation by the troops. Horses, mules, cows, and other domestic
animals had almost disappeared except in the secluded districts. Many
farmers had to plough with oxen. Farm buildings had been dismantled or
burned, houses ruined, fences destroyed, corn, meat, and other food
products taken.

In the larger towns, where something had been saved from the wreck of
war, the looting by Federal soldiers was shameful. Pianos, curios,
pictures, curtains, and other household effects were shipped North by
the Federal officers during the early days of the occupation. Gold and
silver plate and jewelry were confiscated by the "bummers" who were
with every command. Abuses of this kind became so flagrant that the
Northern papers condemned the conduct of the soldiers, and several
ministers, among them Henry Ward Beecher, rebuked the practice from
the pulpit.

The best soldiers of the Federal army had demanded their discharge as
soon as fighting was over, and had immediately left for their homes.
Those who remained in the service in the State were, with few
exceptions, very disorderly and kept the people in terror by their
robberies and outrages.

Land was almost worthless, many of the owners having no capital, farm
animals, or implements. Labor was disorganized, and its scant product
often stolen by roving negroes and other marauders. The planters often
found themselves amid a wilderness of land without laborers.

From this general gloom and despair the young people soon partially
recovered, and among them there was much social gayety of a quiet
sort. For four years the young men and young women had seen little of
each other, and there had been comparatively few marriages. Now that
they were together again, these nuptials soon became more common than
conditions seem to have warranted.

This revival of spirits did not extend to the older people, who were
long recovering from the shock of grief, and strain of war, much th