iers to remain in the city over night.
And it must be remembered, too, that the homes of hundreds and
thousands of soldiers from Tennessee, Maryland, Kentucky, Mississippi,
and all from the Trans-Mississippi were in the hands of the enemy,
and the soldiers were forbidden the pleasure of returning home, unless
clandestinely. In that case they ran the risk of being shot by some
bushwhacker or "stay outs," who avoided the conscript officer on one
side and recruiting officer on the other. In these border States there
was a perpetual feud between these bushwhackers and the soldiers. It
was almost invariably the case that where these "lay outs" or "hide
outs" congregated, they sympathized with the North, otherwise they
would be in the ranks of the Confederacy. Then, again, Richmond
had been changed in a day from the capital of a commonwealth to
the capital of a nation. So it was always crowded and little or
no accommodation for the private soldier, and even if he could get
quarters at a hotel his depleted purse was in such condition that he
could not afford the expense. Nor was he willing to give a month's
wages for a night's lodging. A night's lodging cost five dollars for
supper, five for breakfast, and five for a bed, and if the soldiers
were any ways bibulously inclined and wished an "eye opener" in
the morning or a "night cap" at supper time, that was five dollars
additional for each drink. Under such circumstances the ladies
of South Carolina, by private contributions alone, rented the old
"Exchange Hotel" and furnished it from their own means or private
resources. They kept also a store room where they kept socks for
the soldiers, knit by the hands of the young ladies of the State;
blankets, shirts, and under clothing, from the cloth spun, woven,
and made up by the ladies at home and shipped to Richmond to Colonel
McMaster and a staff of the purest and best women of the land. Only
such work as washing and scrubbing was done by negro servants, all
the other was done by the ladies themselves. Too much praise cannot
be given to Colonel McMaster for his indefatigable exertions, his
tireless rounds of duty, to make the soldiers comfortable. The ladies
were never too tired, night nor day, to go to the aid of the hungry
and broken down soldiers. Hundreds and thousands were fed and lodged
without money and without price. Car loads of the little comforts and
necessities of life were shared out to the passing soldiers whenever
t