Letter from Frank to George, October 14, 1864

Dear Brother George,

Your letter of the 10th inst. came to hand on the 13th and last evening I received the journal. I mailed to father's address a "chronical" containing General Sherman's official report of the "Atlanta Campaign" and a very able document it is and well worth reading. From it one can form a faint idea of the immense amount of mental as well as physical power necessary to carry on such a campaign to a brilliant and victorious termination. Don't fail to read it, George. I have a proposition to make which I hope may meet with your approval. My news bag is completely exhausted, as flat as if an elephant had put his foot upon it. So I propose to give you a brief note of my visit to Alexandria some three weeks since.

To a stranger visiting Washington it is no easy matter for him to obtain a pass over the Potomac. First he must obtain a recommendation from some well known loyal citizen after which he proceeds to the pass office where he is required to give his name, object for desiring a pass and the length of time desired after which he is obligated to sign his name to the "Oath of Allegiance" which is printed upon the back of each pass. This routine I am not obligated to go through, for being an employee of the Govt and on duty in the department. I am allowed a standing pass thro' the Dept of Washington, which includes Alexandria.

So I started at once for the "Steamboat Landing" when there I jumped aboard of a government boat and was soon gliding thro' the waters of the Potomac. It is but a short run to Alexandria and one is there before he is aware of it. Here we have to show passes to the guard after which we are permitted to land and go where we please. Since the Port of Alexandria has been opened the city has presented a very lively and businesslike appearance. The day that I was there her port was crowded with shipping, some arriving and others leaving for Northern cities. Directing my footsteps towards King Street I soon came in view of the Marshal House noted as the place where the young Col. Ellsworth fell by the hand of the Rebel proprietors. The house although well patronized bears an old and dingy look. The flag-staff which, since Ellsworth so gallantly tore down the Rebel Rag - is generally bare, was this day supporting the "Stars and Stripes."

Passing along we soon came to the Mason Mansion. This fine old house is a fair type of the residence of a wealthy Virginian. A wide hall in the centre opens into various rooms, while the front entrance is approached by passing through a pleasant courtyard. At the rear of the house is a spacious area paved with marble in diamond-shaped blocks. There is looking out from this back ground a fine, large garden supplied with fruit trees of many different varieties, the whole surrounded by a very thick brick wall. At one corner of this garden is the Family Tomb in which sleeps old Judge Mason who died just before the ______ was sounded for War. I believe he was a near relative of the present Rebel emissary at England. Judge Mason's widow is living in obscurity at Point of Rocks. Thus we see that a once happy home has been rendered desolate and the old spots once so dear are left open to the prying gaze of curious strangers. Most bitterly has the punishment due the transgressors fallen upon many a proud and once lordly estate.

The Alexandria Slave Pen is now used as a guard-house, a place of confinement of refractory and drunken soldiers. Here human souls were once bartered for and sold; husbands were separated from their wives, brothers from sister. Oh! What a grand change has been wrought since 1860. Then a stranger could have seen the trader driving his troop of human souls, then he could have heard the tap of the harness as it fell from the grasp of the slave auctioneer. Then he might have heard the wailings of infant children torn from the embrace of the slave mothers. Now the black man can enjoy life unmolested. The slave mothers can sing to and caress her children with the assurance that they will not be stolen from her never to be returned.

George, I am not a "nigger lover," nor do I wish to see them intermingle with the white race. But I do want to see them free. The traitorous minions of Geo. B. McClellan and the framers of the Chicago Peace Platform tell us that the war has been a failure. Even if our armies had not been victorious the good which has been done towards ridding this nation of the blackest of sins amply compensates for the life and treasure which has been expended. I believe it, I feel it from the bottom of my heart, and rather than that we should make peace with the South and allow slavery to exist I would rather see the nation share a similar fate as befell Sodom of old. Traitors need not tell me that the "contrabands" [former slaves] cannot support themselves. It is a base falsehood. Alexandria is a real city of refuge. Hither flock crowds of negro refugees from the South, runaway slaves who wish to taste and see how good freedom is. There are over 7000 contrabands in Alexandria at present and of all this number not more than 20 are supported by the government. The others are supporting themselves by honest employment. This is an item for those who howl about the prodigious expense that contrabands are to the U.S. Gov't and Treasury. Have not the South depended upon these same contrabands for their support? And if they are able to support themselves and master it is very evident that they can feed themselves without the expensive masters encumbrance. I firmly believe if Pendleton, Wood or Seymour should dive down into the heart of hearts of the bottomless pit he would find a black man who would be ashamed to associate with him.

But here I am fretting myself into a passion about politics when I intended to tell you about Alexandria! Well leaving the slave pen and its many disagreeable associations we proceed through the city until we reach the highlands where we can see the noble Potomac winding its serpentine course through the valleys of the "Old Dominion" and I tell you 'tis a grand scene. We can see the Capitol looming up in the distance like some stern, majestic spectre watching over the safety of the Union. We can also see the chain of fortifications protecting the city of Washington with their huge, wide mouthed guns ever ready to pour forth death to the traitorous fiends who are trying to sever this land which was intended by the Almighty as the footstool of Liberty and, as sure as there is an all wide God, this land is destined to be one of unalloyed Liberty, to be as a model of the powers of the Old World that they may see the error of their ways and do likewise.

George - you have seen a "bone yard" - please allow me to politely inform you that you have not. I will allow that the "Old Bone Man" on the canal towards Thompson's is some on a "dead hoss" but there is a "Bone Yard" near Alexandria that would cause "Old Bony" of Lodi to blush with shame at the insignificance of his establishment. Until quite recently the government has been paying $500,000 per annum for having their dead horses and mules carted off to a point near Poolesville and buried. But now there is a firm who pay the gov't $500,000 for the privilege of taking these dead horses and mules from the "corrals" to their shop on the Potomac just below Alexandria. This firm employs five barges and a steam tug in the transportation of the bodies. The bodies are cut up and placed in vats and steamed for several hours. Upon opening the vats the water is found to be covered with oil. This is skimmed off and barrelled and sent away to be used for lubricating purposes and also in the manufacture of soap. The long hair is exported to Europe to be converted into hair cloth. The short hair is used for stuffing sofas; such as you love to sit on when you go to see your gal. What they do with the hides I cannot tell. The hoofs are used in the manufacture of glue and the bones are ground up very fine and sold to the farmers as a fertilizer. Thus we see that no part of the body is lost.

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