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Sweet and Maxwell, Limited
Barbara Fritchie, A Study
Barbara Fritchie, A Study
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IN December, 1862, a great-nephew of John Caspar Fritchie, returning to Washington after an extended bridal tour, went to Frederick to visit his relatives, and arrived just in time to attend Barbara Fritchie's funeral. The account of the funeral, published in the local Union paper, naturally stimulated the memories of the German residents, and Barbara's various exploits were related. The story of September 6th interested her nephew, and on returning to his Georgetown home he repeated it to a brother. This brother, a well-known real-estate agent in Washington, was on intimate terms with Mrs. Southworth the novelist. Mrs. Southworth was just recovering from a severe illness, and her friend told her the story as he heard it. The statement was informal. Nothing was known or said about Jackson's ordering his troops to fire. The troops fired; Barbara waved the flag which the firing threw down, reproaching the men for their disloyalty, and the stern voice of the general cried, "March on ! "
The vivid imagination of Mrs. South-worth saw the possibilities of this touching story, and she wrote her letter to Whittier. Whittier was fired by its noble suggestions; and ignorant of Frederick, of its local possibilities, of the constant irregular firing upon the flag which went on in its streets and neighborhood, gave his imagination full play. It was natural that he should think that the general who gave the order to "March on!" was at his post when the disturbance began. Hardly had the ballad been printed before the truth of the story began to be questioned in Mary land and Virginia ; and as the rumors of denial grew louder and louder, Miss Dix, from her post in the hospitals, wrote to the poet, reaffirming the facts.
The two parties misunderstood each other. What irritated the Southerners was the assertion that their favorite general ordered his men to fire on an aged woman. The Northerner, proud of the courageous Barbara, and indifferent to Jackson, supposed it was the woman's heroism that offended, and so nothing was established; and quite lately Whit-tier told a friend residing in Baltimore that he very much regretted the ballad, as he now doubted the story, and that it was the only thing he had ever written for the truth of which he could not vouch.
The vivid imagination of Mrs. South-worth saw the possibilities of this touching story, and she wrote her letter to Whittier. Whittier was fired by its noble suggestions; and ignorant of Frederick, of its local possibilities, of the constant irregular firing upon the flag which went on in its streets and neighborhood, gave his imagination full play. It was natural that he should think that the general who gave the order to "March on!" was at his post when the disturbance began. Hardly had the ballad been printed before the truth of the story began to be questioned in Mary land and Virginia ; and as the rumors of denial grew louder and louder, Miss Dix, from her post in the hospitals, wrote to the poet, reaffirming the facts.
The two parties misunderstood each other. What irritated the Southerners was the assertion that their favorite general ordered his men to fire on an aged woman. The Northerner, proud of the courageous Barbara, and indifferent to Jackson, supposed it was the woman's heroism that offended, and so nothing was established; and quite lately Whit-tier told a friend residing in Baltimore that he very much regretted the ballad, as he now doubted the story, and that it was the only thing he had ever written for the truth of which he could not vouch.
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