From the Richmond Dispatch, Friday, 8/12/1871, p. 3, c. 2

[For the Dispatch.]
Visit to Hanover – Scenes by the Way – Crops – Candidates for the Senate and House of Delegates, &c.

RICHMOND, August 11, 1871.

Leaving our city on Monday last for a few days’ sojourn among Hanover friends, we write of some things seen and learned by the way. Passing by the famous battlefields of Gaines’s Mill and Cold Harbor, we observed in many places the earthworks of both armies levelled, and luxuriant crops growing where but lately stood the huge mass of red earth. Fields of sweet potatoes and watermelons were seen at almost every farm-house. We would presume that the farmers in this section find these crops more profitable than corn or wheat. A small but beautiful cottage stands near the roadside, enclosed by a large and handsome brick wall. Within this enclosure are buried the bones of many Federal soldiers. The superintendent of the grounds, residing in the cottage, keeps everything in nice order, and the spot is really an ornament. This place is not far from Cold Harbor.

Desirous to find out something of the political prospects in my native county, a word or two was exchanged with all persons with whom we met. We found no one disposed to doubt the success of the Conservative party.

VISITOR.

 

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