At the Spotswood in April 1865
There’s no room at the inns of Richmond for transient Confederate soldiers. A newspaper thinks that situation could easily be corrected.
From the Richmond Daily Dispatch May 24, 1862:
Neglected soldiers.
–Attention has been frequently called to the fact, that inadequate preparations, if any at all, are made to provide for soldiers who are forced to remain over night in the city. It is painful to pass through the street at night, and see young men, many of them probably having luxurious homes in the South, stretched upon the hard sidewalk, utterly unable to find lodgings in the hotels or even a shelter to cover their heads. Last night, several members of Hampton’s Legion arrived in the city at a late hour, and were unable to proceed further without a pass from the Provost Marabel [Marshall?], which could not be obtained until morning. For several hours they went from house to house in search of a bed, but failed to find one, and were forced at last to wonder [wander?] through the weary hours of night, or else couch themselves upon the pavement. This is but one example of a thousand of daily occurrence. Every night one sees soldiers stretched out at every corner, while the stone front, and even the steps of the larger hotels are crowded with them. It seems strange that those who have so nobly volunteered to fight the battles of our country should be thus neglected, when proper barracks could be fired [fixed?] up at so little coat [cost?]. If any eight [sight?] will touch the heart of the [?] it is that which meets his eye in a mid-night walk down the Main street of our city.
The editors should check out a battlefield.
