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Hickory Hill was one of the fine old homes to survive the Civil War although it lay on the path of heavy skirmishes. Twice it narrowly escaped the torch. The first time, a brisk encounter took place nearby, and a young neighbor was killed. His body was laid out in the gallery so the countryside could pass and do him honor. Late that night, the Yankees returned to destroy the house and seeing the boy, with candles burning at his head and his feet, silently went away. The second time Hickory Hill was spared was when federal troops left Baton Rouge and moved through the countryside burning barns, crops, lumber and stores and looting anything they could carry away. Records attribute the sparing of the old house to a Negro who had served the family for years but had gone to Baton Rouge to be the servant of a Yankee Colonel. It is told that the man, Jim Waddill, asked the Colonel to keep his soldiers away from Hickory Hill because "they are my white people and they have always been good to me." And so...
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Last Updated:
Wednesday, 17-Oct-2001 05:41:49 MDT
© 2000 Josephine Lindsay Bass E-Mail Address:
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