In this imperfect history of the times of which I write, I cannot resist at this place to render a deserved tribute to the noble women of the South, more especially of South Carolina.  It was with difficulty that the soldiers going to the army from their homes after the expiration of their furloughs, or going to their homes when wounded or sick, procured a night’s lodging in Richmond, for it must be remembered that that city was already crowded with civilians, officers of the department, surgeons of the hospitals, and officials of every kind.  The hotels and private residences were always full.  Scarcely a private house of any pretentions whatever, that did not have some sick or wounded soldier partaking of the hospitalities of the citizens, who could better care for the patient than could be had in hospitals.  Then, again, the entire army had to pass through the city either going to or from home, and the railroad facilities and the crowded conditions of both freight and passenger cars rendered it almost obligatory on the soldiers 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