Richmond Press, Inc.                          Richmond, VA                          1938

Rock Battles of Old

Many years ago, in the late [1860] sixties and early seventies, Richmond was by no means as compact as it afterward became.  Its various neighborhoods were separated by wide open spaces and in many cases by ravines and rivulets.  These conditions led to the formation by the boys of gangs, or little nations, between which the most extreme hostility existed.

There was the Gamble's Hill cats (the term "Cats" being applied to the enemy and being the ultra expression of boy contempt), the Oregon Hill cats, the Sidney cats, the Harvietown cats, the Pie Hill cats, the Sheep Hill cats, the Brook Road cats, the Gully Nation cats, the Basin Bank cats, the First Street cats, the Second Street cats, the Fourth Street Horribles, the Fifth Street cats, the Shockoe Hill cats, the Butchertown cats, the Old Market cats, the Church Hill cats, the Union Hill cats, the Rocketts cats, the Clyde Row gang, the Hobo gang, the Lulu gang, and the Park Sparrows (Monroe Park).

In Manchester - the South Richmond of this day, forsooth! - there were also gangs, to-wit:

The Terrapin Hill cats, the Baconsville cats, the Coat Hill (Swansboro) cats, the Battery cats, the Diamond Hill cats, the Swampoodle cats, the Hull Street gang, the Decatur Street gang, the Oak Grove gang, the Marx's Field cats, and the Belle Isle gang.

Between these various tribes of cats the fiercest battles would take place - rock battles, they were called.  Perhaps, the boys who had seen as children the last years of the Confederate Army's battles, had a greater urge for war than may now burn in the boyish breast.  At all events, so delightfully fierce were those engagements that pistols and shot-guns were sometimes brought into play, while slings were frequently used.  The Butchertown cats, fighting under the handicap of having to storm precipitous hillsides, had evolved a sling, long and powerful, that would hurl half a brick.

On one occasion, the Oregon Hill cats had an acute cause for war against the Butchertown tribe and were ardent in the desire to engage them in battle.  But how to get to the valley of the Shockoe was a question that worried their Headquarters Staff.  If they should attempt to go down the Canal and by way of Main Street, to Seventeenth, there were the Basin Bank cats and the Old Market gang who might dispute the passage through their territories.  If they should attempt to go through Sidney and by the edge of Gullynation, to stroke from the rear, those nations would surely block their way and give them battle.  So they reasoned that the best route was through the territory of the Gamble's Hill cats.

A strict adherence to the laws of nations was decided upon.  A courier was dispatched under a flag of truce.  That is to say, a boy was sent up the slopes of Gamble's Hill when two men were seen to be going that way.  Under the cover of those unsuspecting travelers, the courier in safety approached the Gamble's Hill gang and delivered his message.  Permission was sought to pass through the neutral territory, the assurance being given that no harm was intended to them.  Upon these conditions, permission was granted.

Unopposed, the Oregon Hill army marched over the crest of Gamble's Hill and through the neutral territory.  When they arrived upon the crest of Shockoe Hill, the veteran warriors of that clan hailed them enthusiastically as friends and allies in their long and uninterrupted war with the traditional enemy, and the two armies proceeded to attack and defeat the Butchertown cats with great glory.

Then the Oregon Hill gang marched back, triumphant and in great glee.  They were accorded a respectful salute by the assembled Gamble's Hill gang, who permitted them to march across the top of the hill and down its graceful slopes.  But when the last boy had crossed the brook at the foot of the hill, the warcry of "Heel! Heel!" was raised and a shower of rocks sailed after them, as fair warning that all amicable relations were at an end.

And so ended the great battle of Butchertown.