Augusta College - White Columns Yearbook (Augusta, GA)

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I ARLY in 1844, a young lieutenant who had ' imbibed too freely of spiritous liquors and behaved in such a manner as to bring dis- credit to the uniform of the United States Army, was imprisoned in a dungeon under the Headquarters building. A letter was sent to Wash- ington, D.C. requesting disposition of the young man. Washington officials sent Lieutenant William Tecumseh Sherman, of the Corps of Artillery, on the delicate diplomatic mission to Augusta with orders to handle the situation for the good of the Army. Sherman came, captured the admiration of Augustans, was entertained extensively by them, and stayed six months. When he left, he took the young lieutenant with him. The first recorded ghost seems to have arrived soon after Sherman ' s departure. He was a young man whose uncle (the arsenal commander) had em- ployed him as a clerk at the unheard of salary of $2.00 per day. The young clerk had been on his new job but a short time when he was killed by a cowardly assassin and was buried in the Walker cemetery. Legend has it that the young man had hoped that the family would have deep apple pie for dinner. He was shot to death on his way home. His ghost prowled the commander ' s quarters, open- ing oven and food pantry doors in search of pie! Two other ghosts, a lady and a former soldier, moved in later and were still around not too long ago. Transportation was by horse and mule. Walton Way was laid with heavy planks from Fifteenth Street up to Summerville. It was called a toll turnpike, for the use of which the arsenal paid $76.00 a year. That was in 1849 when the arsenal hired slaves as hostlers at $1.00 a day. The superintendent of the guards was paid $1.25 a day. But as the restless days preceding the Civil War approached, even small things seemed of great moment, according to reports. For instance, much was made of the fact that the commanding officer ' s cookstove had worn out. After considerable cor- respondence, a new stove was bought and installed.