Page News & Courier
Heritage and Heraldry
Page County and the insult of two general orders
Article of September 3, 1998
Remember those old family stories that told of hiding the hams underneath the floorboards, keeping the jewelry hidden away, and other necessary means to prevent the dreaded "Yankee's" from taking private property? In one incident, one of my distant grandmothers ran out to her clothesline and beat back a Yankee with a broom to keep him from stealing one of her better quilts. I recall several stories such as these that need to be preserved in family histories whenever possible. While 1864 brought the majority of the trouble, along with the "burnings," it was as early as the summer of 1862 when the atrocities commenced in earnest.
In July 1862, while Valley soldiers prepared for their next encounter with the enemy, General John Pope, now in command of the Federal Army of Virginia, issued two highly aggravating general orders that would impact Page County, and in fact, all Virginia citizens. General Order Number 5 directed the men of the army to "subsist upon the country." After giving vouchers for seized provisions, there was the guarantee that reimbursement would come following the war. The down side to the order was that the person making the claim had to give sufficient testimony that they had been loyal citizens to the United States since the date of the voucher. Many vouchers, even those who later testified, were not granted cash reimbursement. Furthermore, General Order Number 5 opened the Valley wide to seizures of grain, meat and crops. Pope's soldiers took the order as a license to pillage and steal. Virginia had become free fare for the Federals.
General Order Number 11 promised equal despair for the citizens of Virginia. In it, Pope's instructions were to "take up all active sympathizers, and either hold them as prisoners or put them beyond our lines. Handle that class without gloves, and take their property for public use." Capturing sympathizers or disloyal citizens was not clearly defined and left the majority of the population fair game to the order. If the citizen had been disloyal, but was willing to take the oath of allegiance, the citizen could "remain at their homes and pursue in good faith their accustomed avocations." According to issues of the summer's New York Times (July 31 and August 4, 1862 issues), Page County was quickly effected as all male citizens of Luray were rounded up by General Franz Sigel's men and placed in the court house for a time. Though none of the Luray inhabitants were sent South, General Robert Milroy, headquartered in Sperryville, enforced the order with more zeal in Rappahannock County. When 150 persons were brought to his headquarter, eleven persons refused to take an oath of allegiance to the United States. They in turn were summarily taken from their homes and sent out of "Federal lines."
But before I send the county into another fit of rage over times past, remember too that there were the compassionate Federals as well; those that took no pleasure in "inconveniencing" their "Virginia hosts." Still abiding by the philosophies that McClellan tried to maintain in the Peninsula and Seven Days battles of that summer, there were several Federal soldiers that simply preferred to fight the battles and leave the civilians alone. While the General Orders played havoc on the citizenry, another distant grandmother of mine, with sons serving for the Confederacy, washed Yankee uniforms and was paid for her trouble in gold. Little did the Federals realize however, that the money would probably pay for items meant for her son's comfort in the field and a prolonged war.
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