CROSSING THE ‘RUBICON’
In July 1994, during a visit to Manassas National Battlefield Park, the late historian Brian Pohanka shared with me an unpublished account of the epic fighting that had occurred upon those fields August 28-30, 1862—at the battle known across the South as Second Manassas and in the North as Second Bull Run. The account had been written by Private Alexander Hunter of the 17th Virginia Infantry, who served in Company A (the “Alexandria Riflemen”). Hunter later became known as the author of a 1905 “novel” Johnny Reb and Billy Yank, and would also write about his experiences during the 1862 Maryland Campaign for the Southern Historical Society Papers and the Baltimore Sun.
The fascinating material Pohanka shared led me to the Virginia Historical Society (VHS), where I found a fragmented, never-published 1866 manuscript titled “Four Years in the Ranks” that Hunter had penned under the nom de plume “Chasseur” (French for “hunter”). There were considerable differences between the material in “Four Years in the Ranks” and Johnny Reb and Billy Yank. Notably, some of the strong views Hunter expressed in 1866 seem to have abated by 1905 when his book came out. The last sentence in his manuscript provides one striking example of that: “To every Yankee I tender most cordially my undying HATE—now and ever after.”
Hunter served throughout the war, first with the 17th Virginia and then with the 4th Virginia Cavalry. Captured June 30, 1862, at Frayser’s Farm (Glendale) during the Seven Days, he was exchanged in time to fight at Second Manassas. After being captured at Sharpsburg, the self-proclaimed “High Private” would be exchanged again. His stint with the 4th Virginia Cavalry began in July 1863. Captured once more, he attempted to escape twice, succeeding on the second opportunity and returning to his regiment for the remainder of the war.
After the war, Hunter discovered that the Abingdon Plantation where he had grown up and which he had inherited had been confiscated by the U.S. Tax Commissioner’s Office in 1864 for unpaid taxes. The taxes were to be paid in-person, and because Hunter was a Confederate soldier that could not be done. He won his lands back after was decided by the Supreme Court in 1870. (Ironically, former Union Maj. Gen. James A. Garfield was a member of Hunter’s legal team.)
