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Title: A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital
Author: John Beauchamp Jones
Release Date: January 26, 2010 [EBook #31087]
Language: English
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A
REBEL WAR CLERK'S
DIARY
AT THE
CONFEDERATE STATES CAPITAL.
BY
J. B. JONES,
CLERK IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES GOVERNMENT;
AUTHOR OF "WILD WESTERN SCENES," ETC. ETC.
VOLS. I and II.
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
1866.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
PREFACE.
This Diary was written with the knowledge of the President and the
Secretary of War. I informed them of it by note. They did not deprecate
criticism on their official conduct; for they allowed me still to
execute the functions of a very important position in the Government
until the end of its career.
My discriminating friends will understand why I accepted the poor title
of a clerkship, after having declined the _Chargéship_ to Naples,
tendered by Mr. Calhoun during the administration of President Polk.
J. B. J.
ONANCOCK, Accomac Co., Va.,
_March_, 1866.
CONTENTS.
VOLUME I.
CHAPTER I.
My flight from the North and escape into Virginia.--
Revolutionary scene at Richmond.--The Union Convention
passes the Ordinance of Secession.--Great excitement
prevails in the South. 13
CHAPTER II.
Depart for Montgomery.--Interview with President Davis.--
My position in the Government.--Government removed to
Richmond.--My family. 30
CHAPTER III.
Troops pour into Richmond.--Beginning of hostilities.--
Gen. Lee made a full general.--Major-Gen. Polk.--A battle
expected at Manassas. 47
CHAPTER IV.
My family in North Carolina.--Volunteers daily rejected.--
Gen. Winder appears upon the stage.--Toombs commissioned.--
Hunter Secretary of State.--Duel prevented.--Col. B.
Secretary for a few hours.--Gen. Garnett killed.--Battle of
Manassas.--Great excitement.--Col. Bartow. 57
CHAPTER V.
My son Custis appointed clerk in the War Department.--N. Y.
Herald contains a pretty correct army list of the C. S.--
Appearance of the "Plug Uglies."--President's rupture with
Beauregard.--President sick.--Alien enemies ordered away.--
Brief interview with the President.--"Immediate."--Large
numbers of cavalry offering.--Great preparations in the
North. 69
CHAPTER VI.
Four hundred thousand troops to be raised.--Want of arms.--
Yankees offer to sell them to us.--Walker resigns.--
Benjamin succeeds.--Col. J. A. Washington killed.--Assigned,
temporarily, to the head of the passport office. 77
CHAPTER VII.
An order for the publication of the names of alien
enemies.--Some excitement.--Efforts to secure property.--
G. A. Myers, lawyer, actively engaged.--Gen. Price gains a
victory in Missouri.--Billy Wilson's cut-throats cut to
pieces at Fort Pickens.--A female spy arrives from
Washington.--Great success at Leesburg or Ball's Bluff. 82
CHAPTER VIII.
Quarrel between Gen. Beauregard and Mr. Benjamin.--Great
naval preparations in the North.--The loss of Port Royal,
S. C., takes some prestige.--The affair at Belmont does not
compensate for it.--The enemy kills an old hare.--Missouri
secedes.--Mason and Slidell captured.--French Consul and the
actresses.--The lieutenant in disguise.--Eastern Shore of
Virginia invaded.--Messrs. Breckinridge and Marshall in
Richmond. 89
CHAPTER IX.
Gen. Lee ordered South.--Gen. Stuart ambuscaded at
Drainsville.--W. H. B. Custis returns to the Eastern
Shore.--Winder's detectives.--Kentucky secedes.--Judge
Perkins's resolution.--Dibble goes North.--Waiting for
Great Britain to do something.--Mr. Ely, the Yankee M. C. 96
CHAPTER X.
Seward gives up Mason and Slidell.--Great preparations of
the enemy.--Gen. Jackson betrayed.--Mr. Memminger's
blunders.--Exaggerated reports of our troops in Kentucky
and Tennessee. 103
CHAPTER XI.
Fall of Fort Henry.--Of Fort Donelson.--Lugubrious
Inauguration of the President in the Permanent
Government.--Loss of Roanoke Island. 108
CHAPTER XII.
Nashville evacuated.--Martial law.--Passports.--Com.
Buchanan's naval engagement.--Gen. Winder's blunders.--Mr.
Benjamin Secretary of State.--Lee commander-in-chief.--Mr.
G. W. Randolph Secretary of War. 112
CHAPTER XIII.
Gen. Beauregard succeeds Gen. Sydney Johnston.--Dibble, the
traitor.--Enemy at Fredericksburg.--They say we will be
subdued by the 15th of June.--Lee rapidly concentrating at
Richmond.--Webster, the spy, hung. 118
CHAPTER XIV.
Disloyalists entrapped.--Norfolk abandoned.--Merrimac blown
up.--Army falling back.--Mrs. Davis leaves Richmond.--
Preparing to burn the tobacco.--Secretary of War trembles
for Richmond.--Richmond to be defended.--The tobacco.--
Winking and blinking.--Johnston's great battle.--Wounded
himself.--The wounded.--The hospitals. 122
CHAPTER XV.
Huger fails again.--A wounded boy.--The killed and
wounded.--Lee assumes command.--Lee prepares to attack
McClellan.--Beauregard watches the gold.--Our generals
scattered.--Hasty letter from Gen. Lee.--Opening of grand
battle.--First day, 26th June.--Second, etc.--Lee's
consummate skill.--Every day for a week it rages.--Streets
crowded with Blue Jackets.--McClellan retires. 131
CHAPTER XVI.
Terrific fighting.--Anxiety to visit the battle-field.--
Lee prepares for other battles.--Hope for the Union
extinct.--Gen. Lee brings forward conscripts.--Gen. Cobb
appointed to arrange exchange of prisoners.--Mr. Ould as
agent.--Pope, the braggart, comes upon the stage.--Meets a
braggart's fate.--The war transferred to Northern Virginia. 140
CHAPTER XVII.
Vicksburg shelled.--Lee looks toward Washington.--Much
manoeuvring in Orange County.--A brigade of the enemy
annihilated.--McClellan flies to Washington.--Cretans.--Lee
has a mighty army.--Missouri risings.--Pope's coat and
papers captured.--Cut up at Manassas.--Clothing captured of
the enemy. 147
CHAPTER XVIII.
Lee announces a victory.--Crosses the Potomac.--Battle of
Sharpsburg.--McClellan pauses at the Potomac.--Lee moves
mysteriously.--The campaign a doubtful one in its material
results.--Horrible scene near Washington.--Conscription
enlarged.--Heavy loss at Sharpsburg.--10,000 in the
hospitals here. 151
CHAPTER XIX.
McClellan has crossed the Potomac.--Another battle
anticipated.--I am assured here that Lee had but 40,000 men
engaged at Sharpsburg.--He has more now, as he is defending
Virginia.--Radicals of the North want McClellan removed.--
Our President has never taken the field.--Lee makes
demonstrations against McClellan.--A Jew store robbed last
night.--We have 40,000 prisoners excess over the enemy.--
My family arrived from Raleigh.--My wife's substitute for
coffee.--Foul passports.--My friend Brooks dines and wines
with members of Congress.--The Herald and Tribune tempt us
to return to the Union.--Lee writes, no immediate advance
of McClellan.--Still a rumor of Bragg's victory in
Kentucky.--Enemy getting large reinforcements.--Diabolical
order of Governor Baylor.--Secretary's estimate of
conscripts and all others, 500,000.--Bragg retreating from
Kentucky.--Bickering between Bragg and Beauregard.--Lee
wants Confederate notes made a legal tender.--There will be
no second Washington. 160
CHAPTER XX.
Gen. Lee in Richmond: beard white.--First proposition to
trade cotton to the enemy.--Secretary in favor of it.--All
the letters come through my hands again.--Lee falling
back.--5000 negroes at work on the fortifications.--Active
operations looked for.--Beauregard advises non-combatants to
leave the city.--Semmes's operations.--Making a nation.--
Salt works lost in Virginia.---Barefooted soldiers.--
Intrigues of Butler in New Orleans.--Northern army advancing
everywhere.--Breach between the President and Secretary of
War.--President's servant arrested for robbing the
Treasury.--Gen. J. E. Johnston in town.--Secretary has
resigned.--Hon. J. A. Seddon appointed Secretary of War.--
The enemy marching on Fredericksburg.--Lee writes that he
will be ready for them.--Kentuckians will not be hog
drivers.--Women and children flying from the vicinity of
Fredericksburg.--Fears for Wilmington.--No beggars.--Quiet
on the Rappahannock.--M. Paul, French Consul, saved the
French tobacco.--Gen. Johnston goes West.--President gives
Gov. Pettit full authority to trade cotton to France. 179
CHAPTER XXI.
The great crisis at hand.--The rage for speculation raises
its head.--Great battle of Fredericksburg.--The States
called on for supplies.--Randolph resigns as
brigadier-general.--South Carolina honor.--Loss at
Fredericksburg.--Great contracts.--Lee's ammunition
bad.--Small-pox here. 199
CHAPTER XXII.
Lee in winter quarters.--Bragg's victory in the
Southwest.--The President at Mobile.--Enemy withdraw from
Vicksburg.--Bragg retreats as usual.--Bureau of
Conscription.--High rents.--Flour contracts in Congress.--
Efforts to escape conscription.--Ships coming in freely.--
Sneers at negro troops.--Hopes of French intervention.--
Gen. Rains blows himself up.--Davis would be the last to
give up.--Gov. Vance protests against Col. August's
appointment as commandant of conscripts.--Financial
difficulties in the United States. 228
CHAPTER XXIII.
Proposed fixture of prices.--Depreciation in the North.--
Gen. Hooker in command of the U. S. forces.--Lee thinks
Charleston will be attacked.--Congress does nothing.--
Some fears for Vicksburg.--Pemberton commands.--Wise
dashes into Williamsburg.--Rats take food from my
daughter's hand.--Lee wants the meat sent from Georgia
to Virginia, where the fighting will be.--Gen. Winder
uneasy about my Diary.--Gen. Johnston asks to be relieved
in the West. 252
CHAPTER XXIV.
Removed into Clay Street.--Gen. Toombs resigned.--Lincoln
dictator.--He can call 3,000,000 of men.--President is
sick.--His office is not a bed of roses.--Col. Gorgas sends
in his oath of allegiance.--Confederate gold $5 for $1.--
Explosion of a laboratory.--Bad weather everywhere.--
Fighting on the Mississippi River.--Conflict of views in
the Conscription Bureau.--Confederate States currency $10
for $1.--Snow a foot deep, but melting.--We have no negro
regiments in our service.--Only 6000 conscripts from East
Tennessee.--How seven were paroled by one.--This is to be
the crisis campaign.--Lee announces the campaign open. 265
CHAPTER XXV.
Symptoms of bread riots.--Lee forming depots of provisions
near the Rappahannock.--Beauregard ready to defend
Charleston.--He has rebuffed the enemy severely.--French and
British advancing money on cotton.--The Yankees can beat us
in bargaining.--Gen. Lee anxious for new supplies.--The
President appeals to the people to raise food for man and
beast.--Federal and Confederate troops serenading each other
on the Rappahannock.--Cobbler's wages $3000 per annum.--
Wrangling in the Indian country.--Only 700 conscripts per
month from Virginia.--Longstreet at Suffolk.--The
President's well eye said to be failing.--A
"reconnoissance!"--We are planting much grain.--Picking up
pins.--Beautiful season.--Gen. Johnston in Tennessee.--
Longstreet's successes in that State.--Lee complains that
his army is not fed.--We fear for Vicksburg now.--Enemy
giving up plunder in Mississippi.--Beauregard is busy at
Charleston.--Gen. Marshall, of Kentucky, fails to get
stock and hogs.--Gen. Lee calls for Longstreet's corps.--
The enemy demonstrating on the Rappahannock. 284
CHAPTER XXVI.
Lee snuffs a battle in the breeze.--Hooker's army supposed
to be 100,000 men.--Lee's perhaps 55,000 efficient.--I am
planting potatoes.--Part of Longstreet's army gone up.--
Enemy makes a raid.--Great victory at Chancellorville.--
Hot weather.--Our poor wounded coming in streams, in
ambulances and on foot.--Hooker has lost the game.--
Message from the enemy.--They ask of Lee permission to bury
their dead.--Granted, of course.--Hooker fortifying.--Food
getting scarce again.--Gen. Lee's thanks to the army.--
Crowds of prisoners coming in.--Lieut.-Gen. Jackson dead.--
Hooker's raiders "hooked" a great many horses.--Enemy
demand 500,000 more men.--Beauregard complains that so many
of his troops are taken to Mississippi.--Enemy at Jackson,
Miss.--Strawberries.--R. Tyler.--My cherries are coming on
finely.--Ewell and Hill appointed lieutenant-generals.--
President seems to doubt Beauregard's veracity.--Hon.
D. M. Lewis cuts his wheat to-morrow, May 28th.--Johnston
says our troops are in fine spirits around Vicksburg.--
Grant thunders on.--Plan of servile insurrection. 303
CHAPTER XXVII.
Vicksburg refuses to surrender to Grant.--Spiritualism at
the White House.--Lee is pushing a little northward.--It is
said Grant has lost 40,000 men.--He is still pounding
Vicksburg.--Petty military organizations.--Mr. Randolph
busy.--Foolish passport rules.--Great battle imminent, but
speculation may defeat both sides.--Early's victory.--We
have only supplies of corn from day to day.--Chambersburg
struck.--Col. Whiting complains of blockade-running at
Wilmington.--False alarm.--Grant still before Vicksburg. 338
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Enemy threatening Richmond.--The city is safe.--Battle of
Gettysburg.--Great excitement.--Yankees in great trouble.--
Alas! Vicksburg has fallen.--President is sick.--Grant
marching against Johnston at Jackson.--Fighting at that
place.--Yankees repulsed at Charleston.--Lee and Meade
facing each other.--Pemberton surrenders his whole army.--
Fall of Port Hudson.--Second class conscripts called for.--
Lee has got back across the Potomac.--Lincoln getting
fresh troops.--Lee writes that he cannot be responsible if
the soldiers fail for want of food.--Rumors of Grant coming
East.--Pemberton in bad odor.--Hon. W. L. Yancey is dead. 366
VOLUME II.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Some desertion.--Lee falling back.--Men still foolishly look
for foreign aid.--Speculators swarming.--God helps me
to-day.--Conscripts.--Memminger shipping gold to Europe.--
Our women and children making straw bonnets.--Attack on
Charleston.--Robert Tyler as a financier.--Enemy throw large
shells into Charleston, five and a half miles.--Diabolical
scheme.--Gen. Lee has returned to the army. 3
CHAPTER XXX.
Situation at Wilmington.--Situation at Charleston.--Lincoln
thinks there is hope of our submission.--Market prices.--
Ammunition turned over to the enemy at Vicksburg.--Attack
on Sumter.--Stringent conscription order.--Disaffection in
North Carolina.--Victory announced by Gen. Bragg.--Peril of
Gen. Rosecrans.--Surrender of Cumberland Gap.--Rosecrans
fortifying Chattanooga.--Mr. Seward on flag of truce boat.--
Burnside evacuating East Tennessee.--The trans-Mississippi
army.--Meade sending troops to Rosecrans.--Pemberton in
Richmond.--A suggestion concerning perishable tithes. 30
CHAPTER XXXI.
Suffering of our wounded at Gettysburg.--Prisoners from the
battle of Chickamauga.--Charleston.--Policy in the
Southwest.--From Gen. Bragg.--Letter from President Davis.--
Religious revival.--Departure of the President for the
Southwest.--About General Bragg.--Movement of mechanics and
non-producers.--About "French" tobacco.--The markets.--
Outrage in Missouri.--Speculations of government agents.--
From Gen. Lee.--Judge Hastings's scheme.--Visit to our
prisons.--Letter from Gen. Kirby Smith.--President Davis
at Selma.--Gen. Winder's passports.--The markets.--
Campbellites and Methodists.--From Gen. Lee.--From the
Southwest. 57
CHAPTER XXXII.
Letters from various sections.--The President and Gen.
Bragg.--State of the markets.--Causes of the President's
tour.--Gen. Duff Green.--Return of the President.--Loss of
Hoke's and Haye's brigades.--Letter from Gen. Howell
Cobb.--Dispatch from Gen. Lee.--State of the markets.--
Letter from A. Moseley.--Mrs. Todd in Richmond.--
Vice-President Stephens on furloughs.--About Gen. Bragg and
the battle of Lookout Mountain. 85
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Assembling of Congress.--President's message.--The
markets.--No hope for the Confederate currency.--Averill's
raid.--Letter from Gov. Vance.--Christmas.--Persons having
furnished substitutes still liable to military duty. 110
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Hospitalities of the city to Gen. Morgan.--Call for a
Dictator.--Letter from Gen. Lee.--Letters from Gov.
Vance.--Accusation against Gen. Winder.--Treatment of
Confederate prisoners (from the _Chicago Times_).--
Change of Federal policy.--Efforts to remove Col.
Northrop.--Breach between the President and Congress.--
Destitution of our prisoners.--Appeal of Gen. Lee to the
army.--New Conscription Act.--Letter from Gen. Cobb. 122
CHAPTER XXXV.
Gen. Lovell applies for a command.--Auspicious opening of
1864.--Mr. Wright's resolutions.--Rumored approach of Gen.
Butler.--Letter from Gov. Brown.--Letter from Gen. Lee.--
Dispatches from Gen. Beauregard.--President Davis's
negroes.--Controversy between Gen. Winder and Mr. Ould.--
Robbery of Mr. Lewis Hayman.--Promotion of Gen. Bragg,
and the _Examiner_ thereon.--Scarcity of provisions
in the army.--Congress and the President. 140
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Attempt to capture Richmond.--Governor Vance and Judge
Pearson.--Preparations to blow up the "Libby" prisoners.--
Letter from General Lee.--Proposal to execute Dahlgren's
raiders.--General Butler on the Eastern Shore.--Colonel
Dahlgren's body.--Destitution of the army.--Strength of
the Southwestern army.--Destitution of my family.--Protest
from South Carolina.--Difficulty with P. Milmo & Co.--Hon.
J. W. Wall. 162
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Return of Mr. Ould and Capt. Hatch from Fortress Monroe.--
Quarrel between Mr. Memminger and Mr. Seddon.--Famine.--A
victory in Louisiana.--Vice-President Stephens's speech.--
Victory of Gen. Forrest.--Capture of Plymouth, N. C.--Gen.
Lee's bill of fare. 179
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Dispatch from Gen. J. E. Johnston.--Dispatch from Gen.
Lee.--Mr. Saulsbury's resolution in the U. S. Senate.--
Progress of the enemy.--Rumored preparations for the
flight of the President.--Wrangling of high officials.--
Position of the armies. 196
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Beauregard's plan.--The battle.--Defeat near Staunton.--
Fight at Petersburg.--Decision about Marylanders.--
Beauregard in disgrace.--Dispatch from Gen. J. E. Johnston. 223
CHAPTER XL.
Gen. Lee's dispatch announcing Gen. Hampton's victory.--Cost
of a cup of coffee.--From Gens. Johnston and S. D. Lee.--
Gen. Early in Maryland.--Rumored capture of Baltimore.--
Letter from Gen. Lee.--Dispatch from Gen. Hood.--Status of
the local troops. 241
CHAPTER XLI.
From the Northern papers.--Letter from J. Thompson,
Canada.--From Mr. McRae, our foreign agent.--Dispatch from
Major-Gen. Maury.--"General Order No. 65."--Battle of
Reams's Station. 258
CHAPTER XLII.
The Federal Presidency.--The Chicago Convention.--Fall of
Atlanta.--Bureau of Conscription.--From Gen. Hood.--
Vice-President Stephens on the situation.--Letter from
Mrs. Mendenhall.--Dispatch from Gen. Lee.--Defeat of Gen.
Early.--From Gov. Vance.--From Gov. Brown, of Georgia.--
Gen. Lee's indorsement of Col. Moseby.--Hon. Mr. Foote.--
Attack on Fort Gilmer.--Indiscriminate arrest of civilians. 275
CHAPTER XLIII.
Attempt to retake Fort Harrison.--A false alarm.--Dispatches
from Gen. Lee.--Impressments.--Gen. Butler's generosity.--
Matters in and about the city.--Beverly Tucker's contract
with a New York firm for supplies. 297
CHAPTER XLIV.
Proclamation for a day of public worship.--Gov. Allen, of
Louisiana.--Letter from Gen. Beauregard.--Departure for
Europe.--Congress assembles.--Quarrel between Gens. Kemper
and Preston.--Gen. Forrest doing wonders.--Tennessee.--Gen.
Johnston on his Georgia campaign.--John Mitchel and Senator
Foote.--Progress of Sherman.--From Gov. Brown, of
Georgia.--Capture of Gen. Pryor. 320
CHAPTER XLV.
Desertions.--Bragg and Kilpatrick.--Rents.--Gen. Winder's
management of prisoners.--Rumored disasters in
Tennessee.--Prices.--Progress of Sherman.--Around
Richmond.--Capture of Fort McAlister.--Rumored death of the
President.--Yankee line of spies.--From Wilmington and
Charleston.--Evacuation of Savannah. 343
CHAPTER XLVI.
Waning confidence in the President.--Blockade-running.--From
the South.--Beauregard on Sherman.--The expeditions against
Wilmington.--Return of Mr. Pollard.--The Blairs in
Richmond.--Arrest of Hon. H. S. Foote.--Fall of Fort
Fisher.--Views of Gen. Cobb.--Dismal.--Casualties of the
war.--Peace commissioners for Washington. 371
CHAPTER XLVII.
Gen. Lee appointed General-in-Chief.--Progress of
Sherman.--The markets.--Letter from Gen. Butler.--Return of
the peace commissioners.--The situation.--From Gen. Lee.--
Use of negroes as soldiers.--Patriotism of the women.--
Pardon of deserters.--The passport system.--Oh for peace!--
Gen. Lee on negro soldiers.--Conventions in Georgia and
Mississippi. 405
CHAPTER XLVIII.
From the North.--Rumored defeat of Gen. Early.--Panic among
officials.--Moving the archives.--Lincoln's inaugural.--
Victory in North Carolina.--Rumored treaty with France.--
Sheridan's movements.--Letter from Lord John Russell.--
Sherman's progress.--Desperate condition of the
government.--Disagreement between the President and
Congress.--Development of Grant's combination.--Assault at
Hare's Hill.--Departure of Mrs. President Davis. 436
CHAPTER XLIX.
Rumors of battles.--Excitement in the churches.--The South
Side Road captured by the enemy.--Evacuation of
Richmond.--Surrender of Gen. Lee.--Occupation of Richmond by
Federal forces.--Address to the people of Virginia by J. A.
Campbell and others.--Assassination of President Lincoln. 464
A REBEL WAR CLERK'S DIARY.
CHAPTER I.
My flight from the North and escape into Virginia.--Revolutionary scene at
Richmond.--The Union Convention passes the Ordinance of Secession.--
Great excitement prevails in the South.
APRIL 8TH, 1861. BURLINGTON, NEW JERSEY.--The expedition sails to-day
from New York. Its purpose is to reduce Fort Moultrie, Charleston
harbor, and relieve Fort Sumter, invested by the Confederate forces.
Southern born, and editor of the _Southern Monitor_, there seems to be
no alternative but to depart immediately. For years the _Southern
Monitor_, Philadelphia, whose motto was "The Union as it was, the
Constitution as it is," has foreseen and foretold the resistance of the
Southern States, in the event of the success of a sectional party
inimical to the institution of African slavery, upon which the welfare
and existence of the Southern people seem to depend. And I must depart
immediately; for I well know that the first gun fired at Fort Sumter
will be the signal for an outburst of ungovernable fury, and I should be
seized and thrown into prison.
I must leave my family--my property--everything. My family cannot go
with me--but they may follow. The storm will not break in its fury for a
month or so. Only the most obnoxious persons, deemed dangerous, will be
molested immediately.
8 O'CLOCK P.M.--My wife and children have been busy packing my trunk,
and making other preparations for my departure. They are cheerful. They
deem the rupture of the States a _fait accompli_, but reck not of the
horrors of war. They have contrived to pack up, with other things, my
fine old portrait of Calhoun, by Jarvis. But I must leave my papers, the
accumulation of twenty-five years, comprising thousands of letters from
predestined rebels. My wife opposes my suggestion that they be burned.
Among them are some of the veto messages of President Tyler, and many
letters from him, Governor Wise, etc. With the latter I had a
correspondence in 1856, showing that this blow would probably have been
struck then, if Fremont had been elected.
APRIL 9TH.--My adieus over, I set out in the broad light of day. When
the cars arrived at Camden, I proceeded, with the rest of the _through_
passengers, in the boat to the navy yard, without going ashore in the
city. The passengers were strangers to me. Many could be easily
recognized as Southern men; but quite as many were going only as far as
Washington, for their reward. They were bold denouncers of the
rebellion; the others were silent, thoughtful, but in earnest.
The first thing which attracted my attention, as the cars left the
Delaware depot, was a sign-board on my left, inscribed in large letters,
"UNION CEMETERY." My gaze attracted the notice of others. A mocking
_bon-mot_ was uttered by a Yankee wit, which was followed by laughter.
For many hours I was plunged in the deepest abstraction, and spoke not a
word until we were entering the depot at Washington, just as the veil of
night was falling over the scene.
Then I was aroused by the announcement of a conductor that, failing to
have my trunk rechecked at Baltimore, it had been left in that city!
Determined not to lose it, I took the return train to Baltimore, and put
up at Barnum's Hotel. Here I met with Mr. Abell, publisher of the
Baltimore _Sun_, an old acquaintance. Somewhat contrary to my
expectations, knowing him to be a native of the North, I found him an
ardent secessionist. So enthusiastic was he in the cause, that he
denounced both Maryland and Virginia for their hesitancy in following
the example of the Cotton States; and he invited me to furnish his paper
with correspondence from Montgomery, or any places in the South where I
might be a sojourner.
APRIL 10TH.--Making an early start this morning, I once more arrived at
Washington City. I saw no evidences of a military force in the city, and
supposed the little army to be encamped at the west end of the Avenue,
guarding the Executive Mansion.
We took an omnibus without delay and proceeded to the steamer. As soon
as we left the shore, I fancied I saw many of the passengers breathing
easier and more deeply. Certainly there was more vivacity, since we were
relieved of the presence of Republicans. And at the breakfast table
there was a freer flow of speech, and a very decided manifestation of
secession proclivities.
Among the passengers was Major Holmes, who had just resigned his
commission in the U. S. army. He had been ordered to proceed with the
expedition against Charleston; but declined the honor of fighting
against his native land. The major is a little deaf, but has an
intellectual face, the predominant expression indicating the discretion
and prudence so necessary for success in a large field of operations. In
reply to a question concerning the military qualities of Beauregard and
Bragg, he said they were the flower of the young officers of the U. S.
army. The first had great genius, and was perhaps the most dashing and
brilliant officer in the country; the other, more sedate, nevertheless
possessed military capacities of a very high order. President Davis, in
his opinion, had made most excellent selections in the appointment of
his first generals. The major, however, was very sad at the prospect
before us; and regarded the tenders of pecuniary aid to the U. S. by the
Wall Street capitalists as ominous of a desperate, if not a prolonged
struggle. At this time the major's own State, North Carolina, like
Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Missouri, yet remains in
the Union.
We were delayed several hours at Aquia Creek, awaiting the arrival of
the cars, which were detained in consequence of a great storm and flood
that had occurred the night before.
APRIL 10TH AND 11TH.--These two days were mainly lost by delays, the
floods having swept away many bridges, which had not yet been repaired.
As we approached Richmond, it was observed that the people were more and
more excited, and seemed to be pretty nearly unanimous for the immediate
secession of the State. Everywhere the Convention then in session was
denounced with bitterness, for its adherence to the Union; and Gov.
Letcher was almost universally execrated for the chocks he had thrown
under the car of secession and Southern independence. I heard very many
who had voted for him, regret that they had ever supported the clique of
politicians who managed to secure his nomination. And now I learned
that a People's Spontaneous Convention would assemble in Richmond on the
16th of the month, when, if the other body persisted in its opposition
to the popular will, the most startling revolutionary measures would be
adopted, involving, perhaps, arrests and executions. Several of the
members of this body with whom I conversed bore arms upon their persons.
APRIL 12TH.--To-day I beheld the first secession flag that had met my
vision. It was at Polecat Station, Caroline County, and it was greeted
with enthusiasm by all but the two or three Yankees in the train. One of
these, named Tupps, had been questioned so closely, and his presence and
nativity had become so well known, that he became alarmed for his
safety, although no one menaced him. He could not sit still a moment,
nor keep silence. He had been speculating in North Carolina the year
before, and left some property there, which, of course, he must save, if
needs be, at the risk of his life. But _he_ cared nothing for slavery,
and would never bear arms against the South, if she saw fit to "set up
Government business for herself." He rather guessed war was a
speculation that wouldn't pay. His volubility increased with his
perturbation, and then he drank excessively and sang Dixie. When we
reached Richmond, he was beastly drunk.
Arrived at the Exchange Hotel, Richmond. A storm rages above, and below
in the minds of men; but the commotion of the elements above attracts
less attention than the tempest of excitement agitating the human
breast. The news-boys are rushing in all directions with extras
announcing the bombardment of Fort Sumter! This is the irrevocable blow!
Every reflecting mind here should know that the only alternatives now
are successful revolution or abject subjugation. But they do not lack
for the want of information of the state of public sentiment in the
North. It is in vain that the laggards are assured by persons just from
the North, that the Republican leaders now composing the cabinet at
Washington were prepared to hail the event at Charleston as the most
auspicious that could have happened for the accomplishment of their
designs; and that their purpose is the extinction of slavery, at least
in the border States; the confiscation of the estates of rebels to
reimburse the Federal Government for the expenses of the war which had
been deliberately resolved on; and to gratify the cupidity of the
"Wide-Awakes," and to give employment to foreign mercenaries.
But it is not doubtful which course the current of feeling is rapidly
taking. Even in this hitherto Union city, secession demonstrations are
prevalent; and the very men who two days ago upheld Gov. Letcher in his
_conservatism_, are now stricken dumb amid the popular clamor for
immediate action. I am now resolved to remain in Richmond for a season.
After tea I called upon Gov. Wise, who occupied lodgings at the same
hotel. He was worn out, and prostrated by a distressing cough which
threatened pneumonia. But ever and anon his eagle eye assumed its wonted
brilliancy. He was surrounded by a number of his devoted friends, who
listened with rapt attention to his surpassing eloquence. A test
question, indicative of the purpose of the Convention to adjourn without
action, had that day been carried by a decided majority. The governor
once rose from his recumbent position on the sofa and said, whatever the
majority of Union men in the Convention might do, or leave undone,
Virginia must array herself on one side or the other. She must fight
either Lincoln or Davis. If the latter, he would renounce her, and
tender his sword and his life to the Southern Confederacy. And although
it was apparent that his _physique_ was reduced, as he said, to a mere
"bag of bones," yet it was evident that his spirit yet struggled with
all its native fire and animation.
Soon after President Tyler came in. I had not seen him for several
years, and was surprised to find him, under the weight of so many years,
unchanged in activity and energy of body and mind. He was quite as
ardent in his advocacy of prompt State action as Wise. Having recently
abandoned the presidency of the Peace Congress at Washington, in despair
of obtaining concessions or guarantees of safety from the rampant powers
then in the ascendency, he nevertheless believed, as did a majority of
the statesmen of the South, that, even then, in the event of the
secession of all the Southern States, presenting thus a united front, no
war of great magnitude would ensue. I know better, from my residence in
the North, and from the confessions of the Republicans with whom I have
been thrown in contact; but I will not dissent voluntarily from the
opinions of such statesmen. I can only, when my opinion is desired,
intimate my conviction that a great war of the sections might have been
averted, if the South had made an adequate _coup d'état_ before the
inauguration of Lincoln, and while the Democratic party everywhere was
yet writhing under the sting and mortification of defeat. _Then_ the arm
of the Republican party would have been paralyzed, for the attitude of
the Democratic party would at least have been a menacing one; but _now_,
the Government has been suffered to fall into the possession of the
enemy, the sword and the purse have been seized, and it is _too late_ to
dream of peace--in or out of the Union. Submission will be dishonor.
Secession can only be death, which is preferable.
Gov. Wise, smiling, rose again and walked to a corner of the room where
I had noticed a bright musket with a sword-bayonet attached. He took it
up and criticised the sword as inferior to the _knife_. Our men would
require long drilling to become expert with the former, like the French
Zouaves; but they instinctively knew how to wield the bowie-knife. The
conversation turning upon the probable deficiency of a supply of
improved arms in the South, if a great war should ensue, the governor
said, with one of his inevitable expressions of feeling, that it was not
the improved _arm_, but the improved _man_, which would win the day. Let
brave men advance with flint locks and old-fashioned bayonets, on the
popinjays of the Northern cities--advance on, and on, under the fire,
reckless of the slain, and he would answer for it with his life, that
the Yankees would break and run. But, in the event of the Convention
adjourning without decisive action, he apprehended the first conflict
would be with _Virginians_--the Union men of Virginia. He evidently
despaired, under repeated defeats, of seeing an ordinance of secession
passed immediately, and would have preferred "resistance" to
"secession."
APRIL 13TH.--After breakfast I accompanied Gov. Wise to his room. He
advised me to remain a few days before proceeding elsewhere. He still
doubted, however, whether Virginia would move before autumn. He said
there was a majority of 500 Union men then in the city. But the _other_
Convention, to meet on the 16th, might do something. He recommended me
to a friend of his who distributed the tickets, who gave me a card of
admission.
APRIL 14TH.--Wrote all day for several journals.
APRIL 15TH.--Great demonstrations made throughout the day, and hundreds
of secession flags are flying in all parts of the city. At night, while
sitting with Captain O. Jennings Wise in the editorial room of the
_Enquirer_, I learned from the Northern exchange papers, which still
came to hand, that my office in Philadelphia, "_The Southern Monitor_,"
had been sacked by the mob. It was said ten thousand had visited my
office, displaying a rope with which to hang me. Finding their victim
had escaped, they vented their fury in sacking the place. I have not
ascertained the extent of the injury done; but if they injured the
building, it belonged to H. B., a rich Republican. They tore down the
signs (it was a corner house east of the Exchange), and split them up,
putting the splinters in their hats, and wearing them as trophies. They
next visited the mansion of Gen. P., who had made his fortune dealing in
cotton, and had been a bold Northern champion of Southern rights. But
the general flinched on this trying occasion. He displayed the stars and
stripes, and pledged "the boys" to lead them in battle against the
secessionists.
During the evening, a procession with banners and torch-lights came up
the street and paused before the _Enquirer_ office. They called for
Captain Wise, and I accompanied him to the iron balcony, where he made
them a soul-stirring speech. At its conclusion, he seized me by the arm
and introduced me to the crowd. He informed them of the recent
proceedings in Philadelphia, etc., and then ceased speaking, leaving me
to tell my own story to the listening multitude. That was not my fault;
I had never attempted to make a public speech in my life; and I felt
that I was in a predicament. Wise knew it, and enjoyed my embarrassment.
I contrived, however, to say to the people that the time for speaking
had gone by, and there was no time left for listening. They proceeded up
the street, growing like a snow-ball as they rolled onward. At every
corner there were cheers uttered for Davis, and groans for Lincoln.
Upon returning to my boarding-house (the hotel being found too
expensive), kept by Mrs. Samuels, and her sister, Miss Long, I found the
ladies making secession flags. Indeed, the ladies everywhere seem imbued
with the spirit of patriotism, and never fail to exert their influence
in behalf of Southern independence.
APRIL 15TH.--To-day the secession fires assumed a whiter heat. In the
Convention the Union men no longer utter denunciations against the
disunionists. They merely resort to pretexts and quibbles to stave off
the inevitable ordinance. They had sent a deputation to Washington to
make a final appeal to Seward and Lincoln to vouchsafe them such
guarantees as would enable them to keep Virginia to her moorings. But in
vain. They could not obtain even a promise of concession. And now the
Union members as they walk the streets, and even Gov. Letcher himself,
hear the indignant mutterings of the impassioned storm which threatens
every hour to sweep them from existence. Business is generally
suspended, and men run together in great crowds to listen to the news
from the North, where it is said many outrages are committed on Southern
men and those who sympathize with them. Many arrests are made, and the
victims thrown into Fort Lafayette. These crowds are addressed by the
most inflamed members of the Convention, and never did I hear more
hearty responses from the people.
APRIL 16TH.--This day the Spontaneous People's Convention met and
organized in Metropolitan Hall. The door-keeper stood with a drawn sword
in his hand. But the scene was orderly. The assembly was full, nearly
every county being represented, and the members were the representatives
of the most ancient and respectable families in the State. David
Chalmers, of Halifax County, I believe, was the President, and
Willoughby Newton, a life-long Whig, among the Vice-Presidents. P. H.
Aylett, a grandson of Patrick Henry, was the first speaker. And his
eloquence indicated that the spirit of his ancestor survived in him. But
he was for moderation and delay, still hoping that the other Convention
would yield to the pressure of public sentiment, and place the State in
the attitude now manifestly desired by an overwhelming majority of the
people. He was answered by the gallant Capt. Wise, who thrilled every
breast with his intrepid bearing and electric bursts of oratory. He
advocated action, without reference to the other Convention, as the best
means of bringing the Unionists to their senses. And the so-called
Demosthenean Seddon, and G. W. Randolph (grandson of Thomas Jefferson),
Lieut.-Gov. Montague, James Lyons, Judge Robertson, etc., were there.
Never, never did I hear more exalted and effective bursts of oratory.
And it was apparent that messages were constantly received from the
other Convention. What they were, I did not learn at the moment; but it
was evident that the Unionists were shaking in their shoes, and they
certainly begged one--just one--day's delay, which was accorded them.
The People's Convention agreed to adjourn till 10 o'clock A.M. the next
day. But before we separated a commotion was observed on the stage, and
the next moment a Mr. P., from Gov. Wise's old district, rushed forward
and announced that he had just arrived from Norfolk, where, under
instructions, and _with the acquiescence of Gov. Letcher_, he had
succeeded in blocking the channel of the river; and this would either
secure to us, or render useless to the United States, certain ships of
the navy, stores, armament, etc., of the value of millions of dollars.
This announcement was received with the wildest shouts of joy. Young men
threw up their hats, and old men buttoned their coats and clapped their
hands most vigorously. It was next hinted by some one who seemed to know
something of the matter, that before another day elapsed, Harper's Ferry
would fall into the hands of the secessionists.
At night the enthusiasm increases in intensity, and no further
opposition is to be apprehended from the influence of Tim Rives,
Baldwin, Clemens, etc. etc. It was quite apparent, indeed, that if an
ordinance of secession were passed by the new Convention, its validity
would be recognized and acted upon by the majority of the people. But
this would be a complication of the civil war, now the decree of fate.
Perhaps the occurrence which has attracted most attention is the raising
of the Southern flag on the capitol. It was hailed with the most
deafening shouts of applause. But at a quiet hour of the night, the
governor had it taken down, for the Convention had not yet passed the
ordinance of secession. Yet the stars and stripes did not float in its
stead; it was replaced by the flag of Virginia.
APRIL 17TH.--This was a memorable day. When we assembled at Metropolitan
Hall, it could be easily perceived that we were on the threshold of
momentous events. All other subjects, except that of a new political
organization of the State, seemed to be momentarily delayed, as if
awaiting action elsewhere. And this plan of political organization
filled me with alarm, for I apprehended it would result in a new
conflict between the old parties--Whig and Democrat. The ingenious
discussion of this subject was probably a device of the Unionists, two
or three of them having obtained seats in the Revolutionary Convention.
I knew the ineradicable instincts of Virginia politicians, and their
inveterate habit of public speaking, and knew there were well-grounded
fears that we should be launched and lost in an illimitable sea of
argument, when the business was Revolution, and death to the coming
invader. Besides, I saw no hope of unanimity if the old party
distinctions and designations were not submerged forever.
These fears, however, were groundless. The Union had received its
_blessure mortelle_, and no power this side of the Potomac could save
it. During a pause in the proceedings, one of the leading members arose
and announced that he had information that the vote was about being
taken in the other Convention on the ordinance of secession. "Very
well!" cried another member, "we will give them another chance to save
themselves. But it is the last!" This was concurred in by a vast
majority. Not long after, Lieut.-Gov. Montague came in and announced the
passage of the ordinance by the other Convention! This was succeeded by
a moment too thrilling for utterance, but was followed by tears of
gladness and rapturous applause. Soon after, President Tyler and Gov.
Wise were conducted arm-in-arm, and bare-headed, down the center aisle
amid a din of cheers, while every member rose to his feet. They were led
to the platform, and called upon to address the Convention. The
venerable ex-President of the United States first rose responsive to the
call, but remarked that the exhaustion incident to his recent incessant
labors, and the nature of his emotions at such a momentous crisis,
superadded to the feebleness of age, rendered him physically unable to
utter what he felt and thought on such an occasion. Nevertheless, he
seemed to acquire supernatural strength as he proceeded, and he spoke
most effectively for the space of fifteen minutes. He gave a brief
history of all the struggles of our race for freedom, from _Magna
Charta_ to the present day; and he concluded with a solemn declaration
that at no period of our history were we engaged in a more just and holy
effort for the maintenance of liberty and independence than at the
present moment. The career of the dominant party at the North was but a
series of aggressions, which fully warranted the steps we were taking
for resistance and eternal separation; and if we performed our whole
duty as Christians and patriots, the same benign Providence which
favored the cause of our forefathers in the Revolution of 1776, would
again crown our efforts with similar success. He said he might not
survive to witness the consummation of the work begun that day; but
generations yet unborn would bless those who had the high privilege of
being participators in it.
He was succeeded by Gov. Wise, who, for a quarter of an hour,
electrified the assembly by a burst of eloquence, perhaps never
surpassed by mortal orator. During his pauses a silence reigned, pending
which the slightest breathing could be distinctly heard, while every eye
was bathed in tears. At times the vast assembly rose involuntarily to
their feet, and every emotion and expression of feature seemed
responsive to his own. During his speech he alluded to the reports of
the press that the oppressors of the North had probably seized one of
his children sojourning in their midst. "But," said he, "if they suppose
hostages of my own heart's blood will stay my hand in a contest for the
maintenance of sacred rights, they are mistaken. Affection for kindred,
property, and life itself sink into insignificance in comparison with
the overwhelming importance of public duty in such a crisis as this." He
lamented the blindness which had prevented Virginia from seizing
Washington before the Republican hordes got possession of it--but, said
he, we must do our best under the circumstances. It was now Independence
or Death--although he had preferred fighting in the Union--and when the
mind was made up to die rather than fail, success was certain. For
himself, he was eager to meet the ordeal, and he doubted not every
Southern heart pulsated in unison with his own.
Hon. J. M. Mason, and many other of Virginia's distinguished sons were
called upon, and delivered patriotic speeches. And finally, _Gov.
Letcher_ appeared upon the stage. He was loudly cheered by the very men
who, two days before, would gladly have witnessed his execution. The
governor spoke very briefly, merely declaring his concurrence in the
important step that had been taken, and his honest purpose, under the
circumstances, to discharge his whole duty as Executive of the State, in
conformity to the will of the people and the provisions of the
Constitution.
Before the _sine die_ adjournment, it was suggested that inasmuch as the
ordinance had been passed in secret session, and it was desirable that
the enemy should not know it before certain preparations could be made
to avert sudden injury on the border, etc., that the fact should not be
divulged at present.
APRIL 18TH.--In spite of every precaution, it is currently whispered in
the streets to-day that Virginia has seceded from the Union; and that
the act is to be submitted to the people for ratification a month hence.
This is perhaps a blunder. If the Southern States are to adhere to the
old distinct sovereignty doctrine, God help them one and all to achieve
their independence of the United States. Many are inclined to think the
safest plan would be to obliterate State lines, and merge them all into
an indivisible nation or empire, else there may be incessant conflicts
between the different sovereignties themselves, and between them and the
General Government. I doubt our ability to maintain the old cumbrous,
complicated, and expensive form of government. A national executive and
Congress will be sufficiently burdensome to the people without the
additional expense of governors, lieutenant-governors, a dozen
secretaries of State, as many legislatures, etc. etc. It is true, State
rights gave the States the right to secede. But what is in a name?
Secession by any other name would smell as sweet. For my part, I like
the name of Revolution, or even Rebellion, better, for they are
sanctified by the example of Washington and his compeers. And
separations of communities are like the separations of bees when they
cannot live in peace in the same hive. The time had come apparently for
us to set up for ourselves, and we should have done it if there had been
no such thing as State sovereignty. It is true, the Constitution adopted
at Montgomery virtually acknowledges the right of any State to secede
from the Confederacy; but that was necessary in vindication of the
action of its fathers. That Constitution, and the _permanent_ one to
succeed it, will, perhaps, never do. They too much resemble the
governmental organization of the Yankees, to whom we have bid adieu
forever in disgust.
APRIL 19TH.--Dispatches from Montgomery indicate that President Davis is
as firm a States right man as any other, perfectly content to bear the
burdens of government six years, and hence I apprehend he will not budge
in the business of guarding Virginia until after the ratification of the
secession ordinance. Thus a month's precious time will be lost; and the
scene of conflict, instead of being in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia,
will be in Virginia. From the ardor of the volunteers already beginning
to pour into the city, I believe 25,000 men could be collected and armed
in a week, and in another they might sweep the whole Abolition concern
beyond the Susquehanna, and afterward easily keep them there. But this
will not be attempted, nor permitted, by the Convention, so recently
composed mostly of Union men.
To-night we have rumors of a collision in Baltimore. A regiment of
Northern troops has been assailed by the mob. No good can come of mob
assaults in a great revolution.
Wrote my wife to make preparations with all expedition to escape into
Virginia. Women and children will not be molested for some weeks yet;
but I see they have begun to ransack their baggage. Mrs. Semple,
daughter of President Tyler, I am informed, had her plate taken from her
in an attempt to get it away from New York.
APRIL 20TH.--The news has been confirmed. It was a brickbat "Plug Ugly"
fight--the result of animal, and not intellectual or patriotic
instincts. Baltimore has better men for the strife than bar-room
champions. The absence of dignity in this assault will be productive of
evil rather than good. Maryland is probably lost--for her fetters will
be riveted before the secession of Virginia will be communicated by the
senseless form of ratification a month hence. Woe, woe to the
politicians of Virginia who have wrought this delay! It is now
understood that the very day before the ordinance was passed, the
members were gravely splitting hairs over proposed amendments to the
Federal Constitution!
Guns are being fired on Capitol Hill in commemoration of secession, and
the Confederate flag now floats unmolested from the summit of the
capitol. I think they had better save the powder, etc.
At night. We have a gay illumination. This too is wrong. We had better
save the candles.
APRIL 21ST.--Received several letters to-day which had been delayed in
their transmission, and were doubtless opened on the way. One was from
my wife, informing me of the illness of Custis, my eldest son, and of
the equivocal conduct of some of the neighbors. The Rev. Mr. D., son of
the late B----p, raised the flag of the Union on his church.
The telegraphic wires are still in operation.
APRIL 22D.--Early a few mornings since, I called on Gov. Wise, and
informed him that Lincoln had called out 70,000 men. He opened his eyes
very widely and said, emphatically, "I don't believe it." The greatest
statesmen of the South have no conception of the real purposes of the
men now in power in the United States. They cannot be made to believe
that the Government at Washington are going to wage war immediately. But
when I placed the President's proclamation in his hand, he read it with
deep emotion, and uttered a fierce "Hah!" Nevertheless, when I told him
that these 70,000 were designed to be merely the videttes and outposts
of an army of 700,000, he was quite incredulous. He had not witnessed
the Wide-Awake gatherings the preceding fall, as I had done, and
listened to the pledges they made to subjugate the South, free the
negroes, and hang Gov. Wise. I next told him they would blockade our
ports, and endeavor to cut off our supplies. To this he uttered a most
positive negative. He said it would be contrary to the laws of nations,
as had been decided often in the Courts of Admiralty, and would be
moreover a violation of the Constitution. Of course I admitted all this;
but maintained that such was the intention of the Washington Cabinet.
Laws and Courts and Constitutions would not be impediments in the way of
Yankees resolved upon our subjugation. Presuming upon their superior
numbers, and under the pretext of saving the Union and annihilating
slavery, they would invade us like the army-worm, which enters the green
fields in countless numbers. The real object was to enjoy our soil and
climate by means of confiscation. He poohed me into silence with an
indignant frown. He had no idea that the Yankees would _dare_ to enter
upon such enterprises in the face of an enlightened world. But I know
them better. And it will be found that they will learn how to fight, and
will not be afraid to fight.
APRIL 23D.--Several prominent citizens telegraphed President Davis
to-day to hasten to Virginia with as many troops as he can catch up,
assuring him that his army will grow like a snow-ball as it progresses.
I have no doubt it would. I think it would swell to 50,000 before
reaching Washington, and that the people on the route would supply the
quartermaster's stores, and improvise an adequate commissariat. I
believe he could drive the Abolitionists out of Washington even yet, if
he would make a bold dash, and that there would be a universal uprising
in all the border States this side of the Susquehanna. But he does not
respond. Virginia was too late moving, and North Carolina, Tennessee,
Arkansas, Kentucky, and Missouri have not seceded yet--though all of
them will soon follow Virginia. Besides, the vote on the ratification in
this State is to take place a month hence. It would be an infringement
of State rights, and would be construed as an _invasion of Virginia_!
Could the Union men in the Convention, after being forced to pass the
ordinance, have dealt a more fatal blow to their country? But that is
not all. The governor is appointing his Union partisans to military
positions. Nevertheless, as time rolls on, and eternal separation is
pronounced by the events that must be developed, they may prove true to
the best interests of their native land.
Every hour there are fresh arrivals of organized companies from the
country, tendering their services to the governor; and nearly all the
young men in the city are drilling. The cadets of the Military Institute
are rendering good service now, and Professor Jackson is truly a
benefactor. I hope he will take the field himself; and if he does, I
predict for him a successful career.
APRIL 24TH.--Martial music is heard everywhere, day and night, and all
the trappings and paraphernalia of war's decorations are in great
demand. The ladies are sewing everywhere, even in the churches. But the
gay uniforms we see to-day will change their hue before the advent of
another year. All history shows that fighting is not only the most
perilous pursuit in the world, but the _hardest_ and the roughest work
one can engage in. And many a young man bred in luxury, will be killed
by exposure in the night air, lying on the damp ground, before meeting
the enemy. But the same thing may be said of the Northmen. And the
arbitrament of war, and war's desolation, is a foregone conclusion. How
much better it would have been if the North had permitted the South to
depart in peace! With political separation, there might still have
remained commercial union. But they would not.
APRIL 25TH.--Ex-President Tyler and Vice-President Stephens are
negotiating a treaty which is to ally Virginia to the Confederate
States.
APRIL 26TH.--To-day I recognize Northern merchants and Jews in the
streets, busy in collecting the debts due them. The Convention has
thrown some impediments in the way; but I hear on every hand that
Southern merchants, in the absence of legal obligations, recognize the
demands of honor, and are sending money North, even if it be used
against us. This will not last long.
APRIL 27TH.--We have had a terrible alarm. The tocsin was sounded in the
public square, and thousands have been running hither and thither to
know its meaning. Dispatches have been posted about the city, purporting
to have been received by the governor, with the startling information
that the U. S. war steamer Pawnee is coming up the James River for the
purpose of shelling the city!
All the soldiery, numbering some thousands, are marching down to
Rocketts, and forming in line of battle on the heights commanding the
approaches. The howitzers are there, frowning defiance; and two long
French bronze guns are slowly passing through Main Street in the same
direction. One of them has just broken down, and lies abandoned in front
of the Post-Office. Even civilians, by hundreds, are hurrying with
shot-guns and pistols to the scene of action, and field officers are
galloping through the streets. Although much apprehension is apparent on
many faces, it is but just to say that the population generally are
resolved to make a determined defense. There is no fear of personal
danger; it is only the destruction of property that is dreaded. But, in
my opinion, the Pawnee is about as likely to attempt the navigation of
the River Styx, as to run up this river within shelling distance of the
city.
I walked down to the lower bridge, without even taking a pocket-pistol,
and saw the troops drawn up in line of battle awaiting the enemy. Toward
evening the howitzers engaged in some unprofitable practice, shelling
the trees on the opposite side.
It was a false alarm, if not something worse. I fear it is an invention
of the enemy to divert us from the generally conceived policy of
attacking Washington, and rousing up Maryland in the rear of Lincoln.
Met with, and was introduced to, Gov. Letcher, in the evening, at the
_Enquirer_ office. He was revising one of his many proclamations; and is
now undoubtedly as zealous an advocate of secession as any man. He said
he would be ready to fight in _three or four days_; and that he would
soon have arrangements completed to blockade the Potomac by means of
formidable batteries.
APRIL 28TH.--Saw Judge Scarburg, who has resigned his seat in the Court
of Claims at Washington. I believe he brought his family, and abandoned
his furniture, etc. Also Dr. Garnett, who left most of his effects in
the hands of the enemy. He was a marked man, being the son-in-law of
Gov. Wise.
Many clerks are passing through the city on their way to Montgomery,
where they are sure to find employment. Lucky men, some of them! They
have eaten Lincoln bread for more than a month, and most of them would
have been turned out of office if there had been no secession. And I
observe among them some who have left their wives behind _to take care
of their homes_.
APRIL 29TH.--I wrote to my agent on the Eastern Shore to send me the
last year's rent due on the farm. But I learn that the cruisers in the
bay are intercepting the communications, and I fear remittances will be
impracticable. I hope my family are ready by this to leave Burlington.
Women and children have not yet been interfered with. What if they
should be compelled to abandon our property there? Mrs. Semple had her
plate seized at New York.
At fifty-one, I can hardly follow the pursuit of arms; but I will write
and preserve a DIARY of the revolution. I never held or sought office in
my life; but now President Tyler and Gov. Wise say I will find
employment at Montgomery. The latter will prepare a letter to President
Davis, and the former says he will draw up a paper in my behalf, and
take it through the Convention himself for signatures. I shall be
sufficiently credentialed, at all events--provided old partisan
considerations are banished from the new confederacy. To make my DIARY
full and complete as possible, is now my business. And,
"When the hurly-burly's done,
When the battle's lost and won,"
if the South wins it, I shall be content to retire to my farm, provided
it falls on the Southern side of the line, and enjoy sweet repose "under
my own vine and fig-tree."
APRIL 30TH.--Gen. Kearney has been brought here, having been taken on
his way to Washington from Missouri. He manifested surprise at his
captivity, and says that he is no enemy; being, I believe, Southern
born. I learn it is the purpose of the governor to release him. And this
may be a blunder. I fear about as much from ill-timed Southern
magnanimity as from Northern malignity.
The Pawnee "scare" turned out just as I thought it would. She merely
turned her nose up the river, and then put about and steamed away again.
It may do good, however, if it stimulates the authorities to due
preparation against future assaults from that quarter.
CHAPTER II.
Depart for Montgomery.--Interview with President Davis.--My position in
the Government.--Government removed to Richmond.--My family.
MAY 1ST.--Troops are coming in from all directions, cavalry and
infantry; but I learn that none scarcely are accepted by the State. This
is great political economy, with a vengeance! How is Gov. Letcher to be
ready to fight in a few days? Oh, perhaps he thinks the army will
spontaneously spring into existence, march without transportation, and
fight without rations or pay! But the Convention has passed an act
authorizing the enlistment of a regular army of 12,000 men. If I am not
mistaken, Virginia will have to put in the field ten times that number,
and the confederacy will have to maintain 500,000 in Virginia, or lose
the border States. And if the border States be subjugated, Mr. Seward
probably would grant a respite to the rest _for a season_.
But by the terms of the (Tyler and Stephens) treaty, the Confederate
States will reimburse Virginia for all her expenses; and therefore I see
no good reason why this State, of all others, being the most exposed,
should not muster into service every well-armed company that presents
itself. There are arms enough for 25,000 men now, and that number, if it
be too late to take Washington, might at all events hold this side of
the Potomac, and keep the Yankees off the soil of Virginia.
MAY 2D.--There are vague rumors of lawless outrages committed on
Southern men in Philadelphia and New York; but they are not well
authenticated, and I do not believe them. The Yankees are not yet ready
for retaliation. They know that game wouldn't pay. No--they desire time
to get their money out of the South; and they would be perfectly willing
that trade should go on, even during the war, for they would be the
greatest gainers by the information derived from spies and emissaries. I
see, too, their papers have extravagant accounts of imprisonments and
summary executions here. Not a man has yet been molested. It is true, we
have taken Norfolk, without a battle; but the enemy did all the burning
and sinking.
MAY 3D.--No letters from my wife. Probably she has taken the children to
the Eastern Shore. Her farm is there, and she has many friends in the
county. On that narrow peninsula it is hardly to be supposed the Yankees
will send any troops. With the broad Atlantic on one side and the
Chesapeake Bay on the other, it is to be presumed there will be no
military demonstration by the inhabitants, for they could neither escape
nor receive reinforcements from the mainland. In the war of the first
Revolution, and the subsequent one with Great Britain, this peninsula
escaped the ravages of the enemy, although the people were as loyal to
the government of the United States as any; but the Yankees are more
enterprising than the British, and may have an eye to "truck farms" in
that fruitful region.
MAY 4TH.--Met Wm. H. B. Custis, Esq., to-day in the square, and had a
long conversation with him. He has made up his mind to sign the
ordinance. He thinks secession might have been averted with honor, if
our politicians at Washington had not been ambitious to figure as
leaders in a new revolution. Custis was always a Democrat, and supported
Douglas on the ground that he was the regular nominee. He said his negro
property a month before was worth, perhaps, fifty thousand dollars; now
his slaves would not bring probably more than five thousand; and that
would be the fate of many slaveowners in Virginia.
MAY 5TH.--President Tyler has placed in my hands a memorial to President
Davis, signed by himself and many of the members of the Convention,
asking appropriate civil employment for me in the new government. I
shall be content to obtain the necessary position to make a full and
authentic Diary of the transactions of the government. I could not hope
for any commission as a civil officer, since the leaders who have
secured possession of the government know very well that, as editor, I
never advocated the pretensions of any of them for the Presidency of the
United States. Some of them I fear are unfit for the positions they
occupy. But the cause in which we are embarked will require, to be
successful, the efforts of every man. Those capable of performing
military duty, must perform it; and those physically incapable of
wielding the bayonet and the sword, must wield the pen. It is no time to
stand on ceremony or antecedents. The post of duty is the post of honor.
In the mighty winnowing we must go through, the wheat will be separated
from the chaff. And many a true man who this day stands forth as a
private, will end as a general. And the efficient subordinate in the
departments may be likewise exalted if he deserves it, provided the
people have rule in the new confederacy. If we are to have a monarchy
for the sake of economy and stability, I shall submit to it in
preference to the domination of the Northern radicals.
MAY 6TH.--To-day a Yankee was caught in the street questioning some
negroes as to which side they would fight on, slavery or freedom. He was
merely rebuked and ordered out of the country. Another instance of
Southern magnanimity! It will only embolden the insidious enemy.
MAY 7TH.--Col. R. E. Lee, lately of the United States army, has been
appointed major-general, and commander-in-chief of the army in Virginia.
He is the son of "Light Horse Harry" of the Revolution. The North can
boast no such historic names as we, in its army. Gov. Wise is sick at
home, in Princess Ann County, but has sent me a strong letter to
President Davis. I fear the governor will not survive many months.
MAY 8TH.--The Convention has appointed five members of Congress to go to
Montgomery: Messrs. Hunter, Rives, Brockenborough, Staples, and ----. I
have not yet seen Mr. Hunter; he has made no speeches, but no doubt he
has done all in his power to secure the passage of the ordinance, in his
quiet but effective way. To-day President Tyler remarked that the
politicians in the Convention had appointed a majority of the members
from the old opposition party. The President would certainly have been
appointed, if it had not been understood he did not desire it.
Debilitated from a protracted participation in the exciting scenes of
the Convention, he could not bear the fatigue of so long a journey at
this season of the year.
MAY 9TH.--The _Examiner_ still fires shot and shell at Gov. Letcher and
the dominant majority in the Convention, on account of recent
appointments. It is furious over the selection of Mr. Baldwin, recently
a leading Union man, for inspector-general; and seems to apprehend bad
results from thrusting Union men forward in the coming struggle. The
_Enquirer_ is moderate, and kind to Gov. Letcher, whose nomination and
subsequent course were so long the theme of bitter denunciation. It is
politic. The _Whig_ now goes into the secession movement with all its
might. Mr. Mosely has resumed the helm; and he was, I believe, a
secessionist many years ago. The _Dispatch_, not long since neutral and
conservative, throws all its powers, with its large circulation, into
the cause. So we have perfect unanimity in the press. _Per contra_, the
New York _Herald_ has turned about and leap-frogged over the head of the
_Tribune_ into the front ranks of the Republicans. No doubt, when we win
the day, the _Herald_ will leap back again.
MAY 10TH.--The ladies are postponing all engagements until their lovers
have fought the Yankees. Their influence is great. Day after day they go
in crowds to the Fair ground where the 1st S. C. Vols. are encamped,
showering upon them their smiles, and all the delicacies the city
affords. They wine them and cake them--and they deserve it. They are
just from taking Fort Sumter, and have won historic distinction. I was
introduced to several of the privates by their captain, who told me they
were worth from $100,000 to half a million dollars each. The _Tribune_
thought all these men would want to be captains! But that is not the
only hallucination the North labors under, judging from present
appearances; by closing our ports it is thought we can be subdued by the
want of accustomed luxuries. These rich young men were dressed in coarse
gray homespun! We have the best horsemen and the best marksmen in the
world, and these are the qualities that will tell before the end of the
war. We fight for existence--the enemy for Union and the freedom of the
slave. Well, let the Yankees see if this "new thing" will pay.
MAY 11TH.--Robert Tyler has arrived, after wonderful risks and
difficulties. When I left Mr. Tyler in the North, the people were
talking about electing him their representative in Congress. They
tempted him every way, by threats and by promises, to make them a speech
under the folds of the "star spangled banner" erected near his house.
But in vain. No doubt they would have elected him to Congress, and
perhaps have made him a general, if he had fallen down and worshiped
their Republican idol, and fought against his father.
MAY 12TH.--To-day I set out for Montgomery. The weather was bright and
pleasant. It is Sunday. In the cars are many passengers going to tender
their services, and all imbued with the same inflexible purpose. The
corn in the fields of Virginia is just becoming visible; and the trees
are beginning to disclose their foliage.
MAY 13TH.--We traveled all night, and reached Wilmington, N. C., early
in the morning. There I saw a Northern steamer which had been seized in
retaliation for some of the seizures of the New Yorkers. And there was a
considerable amount of ordnance and shot and shell on the bank of the
river. The people everywhere on the road are for irremediable, eternal
separation. Never were men more unanimous. And North Carolina has passed
the ordinance, I understand, without a dissenting voice. Better still,
it is not to be left to a useless vote of the people. The work is
finished, and the State is out of the Union without contingency or
qualification. I saw one man, though, at Goldsborough, who looked very
much like a Yankee, and his enthusiasm seemed more simulated than real;
and some of his words were equivocal. His name was Dibble.
To-day I saw rice and cotton growing, the latter only an inch or so
high. The pine woods in some places have a desolate appearance; and
whole forests are dead. I thought it was caused by the scarifications
for turpentine; but was told by an intelligent traveler that the
devastation was produced by an insect or worm that cut the inner bark.
The first part of South Carolina we touched was not inviting. Swamps,
with cane, and cypress knees, and occasionally a plunging aligator met
the vision. Here, I thought the Yankees, if they should carry the war
into the far south, would fare worse than Napoleon's army of invasion in
Russia.
But railroads seldom run through the fairest and richest portions of the
country. They must take the route where there is the least grading. We
soon emerged, however, from the marshy district, and then beheld the
vast cotton-fields, now mostly planted in corn. A good idea. And the
grain crops look well. The corn, in one day, seems to have grown ten
inches.
In the afternoon we were whisked into Georgia, and the face of the
country, as well as the color of the soil, reminded me of some parts of
France between Dieppe and Rouen. No doubt the grape could be profitably
cultivated here. The corn seems to have grown a _foot_ since morning.
MAY 14TH.--The weather is very warm. Day before yesterday the wheat was
only six or eight inches high. To-day it is two or three feet in height,
headed, and almost ripe for the scythe.
At every station [where I can write a little] we see crowds of men, and
women, and boys; and during our pauses some of the passengers, often
clergymen, and not unfrequently Northern born, address them in
soul-stirring strains of patriotic eloquence. If Uncle Abe don't find
subjugation of this country, and of such a people as this, is truly a
"big job" on his hands, I am much mistaken.
Passed the Stone Mountain at 11 o'clock A.M. It appears at a distance
like a vast artificial formation, resembling the pictures of the
pyramids.
Arrived at Montgomery 10 o'clock P.M., and put up at the Montgomery
House. The mosquitoes bled me all night. Mosquitoes in the middle of
May! And as they never cease to bite till killed by the frost, the pest
here is perennial.
MAY 15TH.--From my window at the top of the house, I see corn in silk
and tassel. Three days ago the corn I saw was not three inches high. And
blackberries are in season. Strawberries and peas are gone.
This city is mostly situated in a bottom on the Alabama River.
Being fatigued I did not visit the departments to-day, but employed
myself in securing lodgings at a boarding-house. Here I met, the first
time, with my friend Dr. W. T. Sawyer, of Hollow Square, Alabama. A
skillful surgeon and Christian gentleman, his mission on earth seems to
be one of pure beneficence. He had known me before we met, it appears;
and I must say he did me many kind offices.
In the afternoon I walked to the capitol, a fine structure with massive
columns, on a beautiful elevation, where I delivered several letters to
the Virginia delegation in Congress. They were exceedingly kind to me,
and proffered their services very freely.
MAY 16TH.--Met John Tyler, Jr., to-day, who, with his native cordiality,
proffered his services with zeal and earnestness. He introduced me at
once to Hon. L. P. Walker, Secretary of War, and insisted upon
presenting me to the President the next day. Major Tyler had recently
been commissioned in the army, but is now detailed to assist the
Secretary of War in his correspondence. The major is favorably known in
the South as the author of several Southern essays of much power that
have been published in a Review, signed "Python."
The principal hotel is the Exchange, as in Richmond; the entrance to the
bar, reading-room, etc. is by a flight of stairs from the street to the
second story, with stores underneath. Here there is an incessant influx
of strangers coming from all directions on business with the new
government. But the prevalent belief is that the government itself will
soon travel to Richmond. The buildings here will be insufficient in
magnitude for the transaction of the rapidly increasing business.
MAY 17TH.--Was introduced to the President to-day. He was overwhelmed
with papers, and retained a number in his left hand, probably of more
importance than the rest. He received me with urbanity, and while he
read the papers I had given him, as I had never seen him before, I
endeavored to scrutinize his features, as one would naturally do, for
the purpose of forming a vague estimate of the character and
capabilities of the man destined to perform the leading part in a
revolution which must occupy a large space in the world's history. His
stature is tall, nearly six feet; his frame is very slight and seemingly
frail; but when he throws back his shoulders he is as straight as an
Indian chief. The features of his face are distinctly marked with
character; and no one gazing at his profile would doubt for a moment
that he beheld more than an ordinary man. His face is handsome, and his
thin lip often basks a pleasant smile. There is nothing sinister or
repulsive in his manners or appearance; and if there are no special
indications of great grasp of intellectual power on his forehead and on
his sharply defined nose and chin, neither is there any evidence of
weakness, or that he could be easily moved from any settled purpose. I
think he has a clear perception of matters demanding his cognizance, and
a nice discrimination of details. As a politician he attaches the utmost
importance to _consistency_--and here I differ with him. I think that to
be consistent as a politician, is to change with the circumstances of
the case. When Calhoun and Webster first met in Congress, the first
advocated a protective tariff and the last opposed it. This was told me
by Mr. Webster himself, in 1842, when he was Secretary of State; and it
was confirmed by Mr. Calhoun in 1844, then Secretary of State himself.
Statesmen are the physicians of the public weal; and what doctor
hesitates to vary his remedies with the new phases of disease?
When the President had completed the reading of my papers, and during
the perusal I observed him make several emphatic nods, he asked me what
I wanted. I told him I wanted employment with my pen, perhaps only
temporary employment. I thought the correspondence of the Secretary of
War would increase in volume, and another assistant besides Major Tyler
would be required in his office. He smiled and shook his head, saying
that such work would be only temporary indeed; which I construed to mean
that even _he_ did not then suppose the war was to assume colossal
proportions.
MAY 18TH.--To-day I had another interview with the President. He advised
me to see the Secretary of the Treasury without delay; but the Treasury
would not answer so well for my Diary.
MAY 19TH.--The Secretary of War sent for me this morning, and said he
required more assistance in his correspondence, then increasing daily;
but the act of Congress limiting salaries would prevent him from
offering me an adequate compensation. He could only name some ten or
twelve hundred dollars. I told him my great desire was employment, and
facilities to preserve interesting facts for future publication. I was
installed at once, with Major Tyler, in the Secretary's own office. It
was my duty to open and read the letters, noting briefly their contents
on the back. The Secretary would then indicate in pencil marks the
answers to be written, which the major and I prepared. These were signed
by the Secretary, copied in another room, and mailed. I was happy in the
discharge of these duties, and worked assiduously day and night.
MAY 20TH.--Mr. Walker, the Secretary of War, is some forty-seven or
eight years of age, tall, thin, and a little bent; not by age, but by
study and bad health. He was a successful lawyer, and having never been
in governmental employment, is fast working himself down. He has not yet
learned how to avoid unnecessary labor; being a man of the finest
sensibilities, and exacting with the utmost nicety all due deference to
the dignity of his official position. He stands somewhat on ceremony
with his brother officials, and accords and exacts the etiquette natural
to a sensitive gentleman who has never been broken on the wheel of
office. I predict for him a short career. The only hope for his
continuance in office is unconditional submission to the President, who,
being once Secretary of War of the United States, is familiar with all
the wheels of the department. But soon, if I err not, the President will
be too much absorbed in the fluctuations of momentous campaigns, to give
much of his attention to any one of the departments. Nevertheless Mr.
Walker, if he be an apt scholar, may learn much before that day; and
Congress may simplify his duties by enacting a uniform mode of filling
the offices in the field. The applications now give the greatest
trouble; and the disappointed class give rise to many vexations.
MAY 21ST.--Being in the same room with the Secretary, and seen by all
his visitors, I am necessarily making many new acquaintances; and quite
a number recognize me by my books which they have read. Among this class
is Mr. Benjamin, the Minister of Justice, who, to-day, informed me that
he and Senator Bayard had been interested, at Washington, in my "Story
of Disunion." Mr. Benjamin is of course a Jew, of French lineage, born I
believe in Louisiana, a lawyer and politician. His age may be sixty, and
yet one might suppose him to be less than forty. His hair and eyes are
black, his forehead capacious, his face round and as intellectual as one
of that shape can be; and Mr. B. is certainly a man of intellect,
education, and extensive reading, combined with natural abilities of a
tolerably high order. Upon his lip there seems to bask an eternal smile;
but if it be studied, it is not a smile--yet it bears no unpleasing
aspect.
MAY 22D.--To-day I had, in our office, a specimen of Mr. Memminger's
oratory. He was pleading for an installment of the claims of South
Carolina on the Confederacy; and Mr. Walker, always hesitating, argued
the other side, merely for delay. Both are fine speakers, with most
distinct enunciation and musical voices. The demand was audited and
paid, amounting, I believe, to several hundred thousand dollars.
And I heard and saw Mr. Toombs to-day, the Secretary of State. He is a
portly gentleman, but with the pale face of the student and the marks of
a deep thinker. To gaze at him in repose, the casual spectator would
suppose, from his neglect of dress, that he was a planter in moderate
circumstances, and of course not gifted with extraordinary powers of
intellect; but let him open his mouth, and the delusion vanishes. At the
time alluded to he was surrounded by the rest of the cabinet, in our
office, and the topic was the policy of the war. He was for taking the
initiative, and carrying the war into the enemy's country. And as he
warmed with the subject, the _man_ seemed to vanish, and the _genius_
alone was visible. He was most emphatic in the advocacy of his policy,
and bold almost to rashness in his denunciations of the merely defensive
idea. He was opposed to all delays, as fraught with danger; the enemy
were in the field, and their purposes were pronounced. Why wait to see
what they meant to do? If we did that, they would not only invade us,
but get a permanent foothold on our soil. We must invade or be invaded;
and he was for making the war as terrible as possible from the
beginning. It was to be no child's play; and nothing could be gained by
reliance upon the blunders and forbearance of the Yankees. News had been
received of the occupation of Alexandria and Arlington Heights, in
Virginia; and if we permitted them to build fortifications there, we
should not be able to expel them. He denounced with bitterness the
neglect of the authorities in Virginia. The enemy should not have been
permitted to cross the Potomac. During the month which had elapsed since
the passage of the ordinance in Virginia, nothing had been done, nothing
attempted. It was true, the vote on ratification had not been taken; and
although that fact might shield the provisional government from
responsibility, yet the delay to act was fraught with danger and perhaps
irreparable injury. Virginia alone could have raised and thrown across
the Potomac 25,000 men, and driven the Yankees beyond the Susquehanna.
But she, to avoid responsibility, had been telegraphing Davis to come to
the rescue; and if he (Toombs) had been in Davis's place, he would have
taken the responsibility.
The Secretary of War well knew how to parry these thrusts; he was not
responsible. He was as ultra a man as any; and all he could do was to
organize and arm the troops authorized by Congress. Some thirty odd
thousand were mustered in already; and at least five thousand volunteers
were offering daily. Mr. Toombs said five hundred thousand volunteers
ought to be accepted and for the war. We wanted no six or twelve months'
men. To this the Secretary replied that the Executive could not
transcend the limits prescribed by Congress.
These little discussions were of frequent occurrence; and it soon became
apparent that the Secretary of War was destined to be the most important
man among the cabinet ministers. His position afforded the best prospect
of future distinction--always provided he should be equal to the
position, and his administration attended with success. I felt convinced
that Toombs would not be long chafing in the cabinet, but that he would
seize the first opportunity to repair to the field.
MAY 23D.--To-day the President took the cars for Pensacola, where it had
been said everything was in readiness for an assault on Fort Pickens.
Military men said it could be taken, and Toombs, I think, said it ought
to be taken. It would cost, perhaps, a thousand lives; but is it not the
business of war to consume human life? Napoleon counted men as so much
powder to be consumed; and he consumed millions in his career of
conquest. But still he conquered, which he could not have done without
the consumption of life. And is it not better to consume life rapidly,
and attain results quickly, than to await events, when all history shows
that a protracted war, of immobile armies, always engulfs more men in
the grave from camp fevers than usually fall in battle during the most
active operations in the field?
To-day I saw Col. Bartow, who has the bearing and eye of a gallant
officer. He was attended by a young man named Lamar, of fine open
countenance, whom he desired to have as his aid; but the regulations
forbid any one acting in that capacity who was not a lieutenant; and
Lamar not being old enough to have a commission, he said he would attend
the colonel as a volunteer aid till he attained the prescribed age. I
saw Ben McCulloch, also--an unassuming but elastic and brave man. He
will make his mark. Also Capt. McIntosh, who goes to the West. I think I
saw him in 1846, in Paris, at the table of Mr. King, our Minister; but
I had no opportunity to ask him. He is all enthusiasm, and will rise
with honor or fall with glory. And here I beheld for the first time Wade
Hampton, resolved to abandon all the comforts of his great wealth, and
encounter the privations of the tented field in behalf of his menaced
country.
Arkansas and Tennessee, as I predicted, have followed the example of
Virginia and North Carolina; and I see evidence daily in the mass of
correspondence, that Missouri and Kentucky will follow in good time.
MAY 24TH.--Congress passed, in secret session, a resolution to remove
the seat of government to Richmond; but I learn it has been vetoed by
the President. There is a strong feeling against going thither among
some of the secessionists in the Cotton States. Those who do not think
there will be a great deal of fighting, have apprehensions that the
border States, so tardy in the secession movement, will strive to
monopolize the best positions and patronage of the new government.
Indeed, if it were quite certain that there is to be no war for
existence--as if a nation could be free without itself striking the blow
for freedom--I think there would be a party--among the politicians, not
the people--opposed to confederating with the border slave States.
Some of his fellow-members tell many jokes on Mr. Hunter. They say every
time he passes the marble-yards going up to the capitol, and surveys the
tomb-stones, he groans in agony, and predicts that he will get sick and
die here. If this be true, I predict that he will get the seat of
government moved to Richmond, a more congenial climate. He has a way of
moving large bodies, which has rarely failed him; and some of his
friends at the hotels, already begin to hint that he is the proper man
to be the first President of the _permanent_ government. I think he will
be President some day. He would be a safe one. But this whisper at the
hotel has produced no little commotion. Some propose making him
Secretary of War, as a sure means of killing him off. I know a better
way than that, but I wouldn't suggest it for the world. I like him very
much.
To-day the Secretary placed in my hands for examination and report, a
very long document, written by a deposed or resigned Roman priest. He
urged a plan to avert the horrors of war. He had been to see Lincoln,
Gov. Letcher, etc., and finally obtained an interview on "important
business" with President Davis. The President, not having leisure even
to listen to his exordium, requested him to make his communication
briefly in writing. And this was _it_--about twenty pages of foolscap.
It consisted chiefly of evidences of the exceeding wickedness of war,
and suggestions that if both belligerents would _only forbear to take up
arms_, the peace might be preserved, and God would mediate between them.
Of course I could only indorse on the back "demented." But the old man
hung round the department for a week afterward, and then departed, I
know not whither. I forget his name, but his paper is in the archives of
the government. I have always differed with the preachers in politics
and war, except the Southern preachers who are now in arms against the
invader. I think war is one of the providences of God, and certainly no
book chronicles so much fighting as the Bible. It may be to the human
race what pruning is to vegetation, a necessary process for the general
benefit.
MAY 25TH.--There is to be no fight--no assault on Pickens. But we are
beginning to send troops forward in the right direction--to Virginia.
Virginia herself ought to have kept the invader from her soil. Was she
reluctant to break the peace? And is it nothing to have her soil
polluted by the martial tramp of the Yankees at Alexandria and Arlington
Heights? But the wrath of the Southern chivalry will some day burst
forth on the ensanguined plain, and then let the presumptuous foemen of
the North beware of the fiery ordeal they have invoked. The men I see
daily keeping time to the music of revolution are fighting men, men who
will conquer or die, and who prefer death to subjugation. But the Yankee
has no such motive to fight for, no thought of serious wounds and death.
He can go back to his own country; our men have no other country to go
to.
MAY 26TH.--Was called on by the Episcopal minister to-day, Dr. Sawyer
having informed him that I was a member of the church--the doctor being
one also. He is an enthusiastic young man, and though a native of the
North, seems to sympathize with us very heartily. He prays for the
President of the Confederate States. The President himself attends very
regularly, and some intimate that he intends to become a candidate for
membership. I have not learned whether he has been baptized. Gen.
Cooper, the first on our list of generals in the regular army, is a
member of the church. The general was, I think, adjutant-general at
Washington. He is Northern born. Major Gorgas is likewise a native of
the North. He is Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance. The
Quartermaster-General, Major Myers, is said to be a Jew; while the
Commissary-General is almost a Jesuit, so zealous is he in the advocacy
of the Pope.
Mr. Mallory, the Secretary of the Navy, I have seen but once; but I have
heard him soundly abused for not accepting some propositions and plans
from Mobile and elsewhere, to build iron-clad steam rams to sink the
enemy's navy. Some say Mr. M. is an Irishman born. He was in the United
States Senate, and embraced secession with the rest of the
"conspirators" at Washington.
I saw the Vice-President to-day. I first saw Mr. Stephens at Washington
in 1843. I was behind him as he sat in the House of Representatives, and
thought him a boy, for he was sitting beside large members. But when I
got in front of him, it was apparent he was a man--every inch a man.
There is some excitement in official circles here against Mr. Browne,
the Assistant Secretary of State, on the ground that he interfered in
behalf of a Mr. Hurlbut, a Northern man (probably arrested), a writer in
the English Reviews against slavery in the South, and a correspondent
for the New York Tribune. Mr. B. is an Englishman, who came from
Washington on the invitation of Mr. Toombs, and through his influence
was appointed Assistant Secretary of State, and the Southern gorge rises
at it. I doubt whether he will be molested.
I saw Major Tochman to-day, also a foreigner. He is authorized to enlist
a regiment or two of Polanders in New Orleans, where I am told there are
none.
And there are several Northern men here wanting to be generals. This
does not look much like Southern homogeneity. God save us, if we are not
to save ourselves!
How hot it is! But I like hot weather better than cold, and would soon
become accustomed to this climate. This morning Mr. Hunter really seemed
distressed; but he has four inches on his ribs, and I not the eighth of
an inch.
Since writing the foregoing, I have seen Mr. Hunter again, and although
there is no diminution of heat, he is quite cheerful: Congress has again
passed the resolution to remove the seat of government to Richmond, and
it is said the President will not veto it this time. The President
himself came into our office to-day and sat some time conversing with
Secretary Walker. He did not appear vexed at the determination of
Congress, which he must have been apprised of.
MAY 26TH.--The President is sick to-day--having a chill, I believe.
Adjutant-General Cooper was in, comparing notes with the Secretary as to
the number of regiments in the field. The Secretary has a most
astonishing memory, and could easily number the forces without referring
to his notes. The amount is not large, it is true; but, from the
eagerness to volunteer, I believe if we had the arms there might soon be
organized an army of three or four hundred thousand men. And yet it
would seem that no one dreams of armies of such magnitude. Wait till we
sleep a little longer! A great many separate companies are accepted; all
indeed that offer for three years or the war, provided they have
arms--even double-barreled shot-guns and hunting rifles. What a deal of
annoyance and labor it will be to organize these into battalions,
regiments, brigades, and divisions! And then comes the appointment of
staff and field officers. This will be labor for the President. But he
works incessantly, sick or well.
We have an agent in Europe purchasing arms. This was well thought on.
And Capt. Huse is thought to be a good selection. It will be impossible
for Lincoln to keep all our ports hermetically sealed. Hitherto
improvident, it is to be hoped the South will now go to work upon her
own resources. We have plunged into the sea of revolution, and must,
unaided, sink or swim. The Yankees say they are going to subdue us in
six months. What fools!
I tasted green corn to-day, and, although very fond of it, I touched it
lightly, because it seemed so much out of season. The country around is
beautiful, and the birds are singing as merrily as if we were about to
enter upon a perennial Sabbath-day, instead of a desolating war. But the
gunpowder will be used to destroy the destroyer, man, and why should not
the birds sing? The china-trees are beautiful, and abundant about the
dwellings.
MAY 27TH.--We leave Montgomery day after to-morrow. The President goes
to-day--but quietly--no one, not connected with the Government, to have
information of the fact until his arrival in Richmond. It is understood
that the Minister of Justice (Attorney-General) accompanies him. There
are a great number of spies and emissaries in the country--sufficient,
if it were known when the train would pass, to throw it off the track.
This precaution is taken by the friends of the President.
The day is pretty much occupied in the packing of boxes. It is
astonishing how vast a volume of papers accumulates in a short space of
time--but when we consider the number of applications for office, the
wonder ceases.
MAY 28TH.--Little or no business was done this day. The Secretary
announced that no more communications would be considered by him in
Montgomery. He placed in my charge a great many unopened letters, and a
special list of candidates for office, with annotations. These I packed
in my trunk.
As I was to precede the Secretary, and having some knowledge of the
capacity of the public buildings in Richmond, I was charged with the
duty of securing, if possible, suitable offices for the Department of
War. I made hasty preparations for departure.
Before starting, something prompted me to call once more at the
post-office, where, to my surprise and delight, I found a letter from my
wife. She was in Richmond, with all the children, _Tabby_ and the
parrot. She had left Burlington about the same time I had left Richmond.
At Havre-de-Grace, on the Susquehanna, which they crossed in the night,
my youngest daughter was compelled with difficulty to stride over the
sleeping bodies of Yankee soldiers. She writes that she deposited, very
carefully, our plate in the bank! The idea that all might have been
brought off if she had only known it, is the source of her wretchedness.
She writes that she had been materially assisted by Mr. Grubb and his
lady, prompted by personal friendship, by humanity, and by those
generous instincts of the true nobility of heart imparted by the
Creator. Mr. G. is true to the Constitution and the Government under
which he lives--and would doubtless never consent to a rupture of the
Union under any circumstances. He has a son in the army against us. And
Col. Wall, another personal friend, boldly shook hands with my family at
parting, while the Wide-Awake file leaders stood scowling by. I hope he
may not suffer for his temerity.
These things occupied my thoughts during a sleepless night in the cars.
My abode in New Jersey had been a pleasant one. I had a fine yard and
garden, and many agreeable neighbors. I loved my garden, and cultivated
my own grapes, pears, peaches, apples, raspberries, currants, and
strawberries. I had fruits and vegetables in the greatest profusion. And
the thrushes and other migratory birds had come to know me well, and
sang me to sleep at night, and awakened me with their strains in the
morning. They built their nests near the windows, for the house was
embowered in trees, and half covered with ivy. Even my cats, for every
living thing was a pet to some one of the family,--when I think of them
now, wandering about unprotected, give rise to painful emotions. But
even my youngest child was willing to make any sacrifice for the sake of
her country. The South is our only home--we have been only temporary
sojourners elsewhere.
MAY 29TH AND 30TH.--The remainder of the journey was without interest,
until we arrived at Wythville, Va., where it was discovered Gen. Floyd
was in the cars. He was called out and made a speech in vindication of
his conduct at Washington, as Secretary of War, wherein he had caused
the transfer of arms, etc., from the North to the South. He was then
organizing a brigade for the field, having been commissioned a
brigadier-general by the President.
MAY 31ST.--I arrived in Richmond about 1 o'clock P.M. The meeting with
my family was a joyful scene. All were well.
I lost no time in securing rooms for the department in the new
custom-house. Mr. Giles had been employed in this business by the
Congressional Committee, and I found him every way accommodating. I
succeeded without difficulty in convincing him that the War Department
was the most important one, and hence entitled to the first choice of
rooms. I therefore selected the entire suites on both sides of the hall
on the lower floor. The Treasury, the Executive office, Cabinet chamber,
and Departments of Justice and the Navy were located on the floor above.
This arrangement, however, was understood to be but a temporary one;
Mechanics Hall was leased for future purposes; and I was consulted on
the plan of converting it into suites of offices.
CHAPTER III.
Troops pour into Richmond.--Beginning of hostilities.--Gen. Lee made a
full general.--Major-Gen. Polk.--A battle expected at Manassas.
JUNE 1ST.--In the absence of the Secretary, I arranged the furniture as
well as I could, and took possession of the five offices I had selected.
But no business, of course, could be done before his arrival. Yet an
immense mass of business was accumulating--letters by the hundreds were
demanding attention.
And I soon found, as the other Secretaries came in, that some
dissatisfaction was likely to grow out of the appropriation by the
Secretary of War of the best offices. Mr. Toombs said the "war office"
might do in any ordinary building; but that the Treasury should
appropriately occupy the custom-house, which was fireproof. For his own
department, he said he should be satisfied with a room or two anywhere.
But my arrangement was not countermanded by the President, to whom I
referred all objectors. His decision was to be final--and he did not
decide against it. I had given him excellent quarters; and I knew he was
in the habit of having frequent interviews both with the Secretary of
War and the Adjutant-General, and this would be inconvenient if they
were in different buildings.
JUNE 2D.--My wife had a little gold among her straightened finances; and
having occasion to purchase some article of dress, she obtained seven
and a half per cent. premium. The goods began to go up in price, as
paper money fell in value. At Montgomery I bought a pair of fine French
boots for $10 in gold--but packed my old ones in the top of my trunk. I
was under the necessity, likewise, of buying a linen coat, which cost
only $3.50. What will be the price of such commodities a year hence if
the blockade continues? It is fearful to contemplate! And yet it ought
to be considered. Boarding is rising rapidly, and so are the
blood-thirsty insects at the Carleton House.
JUNE 3D.--The Secretary arrived to-day, sick; and was accompanied by
Major Tyler, himself unwell. And troops are beginning to arrive in
considerable numbers. The precincts of the city will soon be a series of
encampments. The regiments are drilled here, and these mostly forwarded
to Manassas, where a battle must soon occur, if the enemy, now in
overwhelming numbers, should advance. The Northern papers say the Yankee
army will celebrate the 4th of July in Richmond. _Nous verrons._ But no
doubt hostilities have commenced. We have accounts of frightful
massacres in Missouri, by German mercenaries. Hampton has been occupied
by the enemy, a detachment having been sent from Fortress Monroe for
that purpose. They also hold Newport News on the Peninsula. There are
rumors of a fight at Philippi. One Col. Potterfield was _surprised_. If
this be so, there is no excuse for him. I think the President will make
short work of incompetent commanders. Now a blunder is worse than a
crime.
JUNE 4TH.--The Secretary is still sick. Having nothing better to do, and
seeing that eight-tenths of the letters received are merely applications
for commissions in the regular army--an organization without men--and
none being granted from civil life, I employed myself writing certain
articles for the press, hoping by this means to relieve the Secretary of
the useless and painful labor of dictating negative replies to
numberless communications. This had the sanction of both the President
and the Secretary, and produced, in some measure, the desired relief.
JUNE 5TH.--There are rumors of a fight down at Pig's Point to-day; and
it is said our battery has torn the farthingale of the Harriet Lane
pretty extensively. The cannon was heard by persons not many miles east
of the city. These are the mutterings of the storm. It will burst some
of these days.
JUNE 6TH.--We have hard work at the War Department, and some confusion
owing to the loss of a box of papers in transitu from Montgomery. I am
not a betting man, but I would wager a trifle that the contents of the
box are in the hands of some correspondent of the New York _Herald_ or
_Tribune_. Our careless people think that valor alone will win the day.
The Yankees desire, above all things, _information_ of our condition and
movements, of which they will take advantage. We must learn by
dear-bought experience.
JUNE 7TH.--We have a Chief of the Bureau of War, a special favorite, it
is said, of Mr. Davis. I went into the Secretary's room (I now occupy
one adjoining), and found a portly gentleman in a white vest sitting
alone. The Secretary was out, and had not instructed the new officer
what to do. He introduced himself to me, and admitted that the Secretary
had not assigned him to duty. I saw at a glance how the land lay. It was
Col. A. T. Bledsoe, lately of the University of Virginia; and he had
been appointed by the President, _not_ upon the recommendation of the
Secretary. Here was a muss not larger than a mustard-seed; but it might
_grow_, for I knew well how sensitive was the nature of the Secretary;
and he had not been consulted. And so I took it upon myself to be
cicerone to the stranger. He was very grateful,--for a long time. Col. B.
had graduated at West Point in the same class with the President and
Bishop Polk, and subsequently, after following various pursuits, being
once, I believe, a preacher, became settled as a teacher of mathematics
at the University of Virginia. The colonel stayed near me, aiding in the
work of answering letters; but after sitting an hour, and groaning
repeatedly when gazing at the mass of papers constantly accumulating
before us, he said he believed he would take a number of them to his
lodging and answer them there. I saw nothing more of him during the day.
And once or twice, when the Secretary came in, he looked around for him,
but said nothing. Finally I informed him what I had done; and, without
signifying an assent, he merely remarked that there was no room in his
office for him.
JUNE 8TH.--This morning Col. Bledsoe came in with his letters, some
fifty in number, looking haggard and worn. It was, indeed, a vast
number. But with one of his humorous smiles, he said they were short. He
asked me to look over them, and I found them mainly appropriate
responses to the letters marked for answer, and pretty closely in
accordance with the Secretary's dictation. In one or two instances,
however, he had been unable to decipher the Secretary's most difficult
chirography--for he had no idea of punctuation. In these instances he
had wholly misconceived the meaning, and the replies were exactly the
reverse of what they were intended to be. These he tore up, and wrote
others before submitting any to the Secretary.
I had only written some thirty letters; but mine were longer--longer
than there was any necessity for. I told the colonel that the Secretary
had a partiality for "full" letters, especially when addressing any of
his friends; and that Major Tyler, who had returned, and was then
sitting with the Secretary, rarely dismissed one from his pen under less
than three pages. The colonel smiled, and said when there was nothing
further to say, it was economy to say nothing. He then carried his
letters into the Secretary's office, clearing his throat according to
custom on passing a door. I trembled for him; for I knew Mr. Walker had
an aversion to signing his name to letters of merely two or three lines.
He returned again immediately, saying the Secretary was busy. He left
the letters, however.
Presently Major Tyler came out of the Secretary's room with several
voluminous letters in his own handwriting, duly signed. The major
greeted the colonel most cordially; and in truth his manners of a
gentleman are so innate that I believe it would be utterly impossible
for him to be clownish or rude in his address, if he were to make a
serious effort to be so.
The major soon left us and re-entered the Secretary's office; but
returned immediately bearing the colonel's fifty letters, which he
placed before him and then retired. The very first one the colonel's eye
rested upon, brought the color to his face. Every line in it had been
effaced, and quite a different answer substituted in pencil marks
between the lines! "I wrote that," said the colonel, "according to his
own dictation." And as every letter carried in its fold the one to which
it was a reply, he exhibited the Secretary's words in pencil marks. The
colonel was right. The Secretary had omitted the little word "not"; and
hence the colonel had written to the Georgian: "Your company of cavalry
is accepted." The Secretary refused almost uniformly to accept cavalry,
and particularly Georgia cavalry. I took blame to myself for not
discovering this blunder previously. But the colonel, with his rapid
pen, soon wrote another answer. About one-half the letters had to be
written over again; and the colonel, smiling, and groaning, and
perspiring so extravagantly that he threw off his coat, and occupied
himself several hours in preparing the answers in accordance with the
Secretary's corrections. And when they were done, Mr. S. S. Scott, who
was to copy them in the letter-book, complimented the colonel on their
brevity. In response to this, the colonel said, unfortunately, he wished
he, Scott, were the secretary. Scott abused every one who wrote a long
letter.
JUNE 9TH.--To-day the Secretary refused to sign the colonel's letters,
telling him to sign them himself--"by order of the Secretary of War."
JUNE 10TH.--Yesterday the colonel did not take so many letters to
answer; and to-day he looked about him for other duties more congenial
to his nature.
JUNE 11TH.--It is coming in earnest! The supposed thunder, heard down
the river yesterday, turns out to have been artillery. A fight has
occurred at Bethel, and blood--Yankee blood--has flowed pretty freely.
Magruder was assailed by some five thousand Yankees at Bethel, on the
Peninsula. His force was about nine hundred; but he was behind
intrenchments. We lost but one man killed and five wounded. The enemy's
loss is several hundred. That road to Richmond is a hard one to travel!
But I learn there is a panic about Williamsburg. Several young men from
that vicinity have shouldered their _pens_ and are applying for
clerkships in the departments. But most of the men of proper age in the
literary institutions are volunteering in defense of their native land.
JUNE 12TH.--Gen. Lee has been or is to be created a full general in the
Confederate army, and will be assigned to duty here. He is third on the
list, Sydney Johnston being second. From all I can see and infer, we
shall make no attempt this year to invade the enemy's country. Our
policy is to be defensive, and it will be severely criticised, for a
vast majority of our people are for "carrying the war into Africa"
without a moment's delay. The sequel will show which is right, the
government or the people. At all events, the government will rule.
JUNE 13TH.--Only one of the Williamsburg volunteers came into the
department proper; and he will make his way, for he is a flatterer. He
told me he had read my "Wild Western Scenes" twice, and never was so
much entertained by any other book. He went to work with hearty
good-will.
JUNE 14TH.--Col. Bledsoe has given up writing almost entirely, but he
groans as much as ever. He is like a fish out of water, and unfit for
office.
JUNE 15TH.--Another clerk has been appointed; a sedate one, by the name
of Shepherd, and a former pupil of the colonel's.
I received several hints that the Chief of the Bureau was not at all a
favorite with the Secretary, who considered him utterly unfit for the
position; and that it could hardly be _good policy_ for me to be on
terms of such intimacy with him. Policy! A word I never appreciated, a
thing I never knew. All I know is that Col. Bledsoe has been appointed
by the President to fill an important position; and the same power
appoints the secretaries, and can unmake them. Under these circumstances
I find him permitted to sit for hours and days in the department with no
one to inform him of the condition of the business or to facilitate him
in the performance of his official duties. Not for any partiality in his
behalf, or prejudice against the Secretary, I step forward and endeavor
to discharge my own duty. I strive to serve the cause, whatsoever may be
the consequences to my personal interests.
JUNE 16TH.--To-day, receiving dispatches from General Floyd, in Western
Virginia, that ten thousand Yankees were advancing through Fayette
County, and might intercept railroad communication between Richmond and
Chattanooga--the Secretary got me to send a telegraphic dispatch to his
family to repair hither without delay, for _military_ reasons. About
this time the Secretary's health gave way again, and Major Tyler had
another fit of indisposition totally disqualifying him for business.
Hence I have nearly all the correspondence of the department on my
hands, since Col. Bledsoe has ceased to write.
JUNE 17TH.--To-day there was a rumor in the streets that Harper's Ferry
had been evacuated by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, and, for the first time,
I heard murmurs against the government. So far, perhaps, no Executive
had ever such cordial and unanimous support of the people as President
Davis. I knew the motive of the evacuation, and prepared a short
editorial for one of the papers, suggesting good reasons for the
retrograde movement; and instancing the fact that when Napoleon's
capital was surrounded and taken, he had nearly 200,000 men in garrison
in the countries he had conquered, which would have been ample for the
defense of France. This I carried to the Secretary at his lodgings, and
he was so well pleased with it he wanted me to accompany him to the
lodgings of the President, in the same hotel, and show it to him. This
I declined, alleging it might be too late for the press. He laughed at
my diffidence, and disinclination on such occasions to approach the
President. I told him my desire was to serve the _cause_, and not
myself. I suppose he was incredulous.
JUNE 18TH.--The city is content at the evacuation. The people have
unbounded confidence in the wisdom of the administration, and the
ability of our generals. Beauregard is the especial favorite. The
soldiers, now arming daily, are eager for the fray; and it is understood
a great battle must come off before many weeks; as it is the
determination of the enemy to advance from the vicinity of Washington,
where they are rapidly concentrating. But our people must curb their
impatience. And yet we dare not make known the condition of the
army,--the awful fact which may be stated here--and will not be known
until after-years,--that we have not enough ammunition at Manassas to
fight a battle. _There are not percussion caps enough in our army for a
serious skirmish._ It will be obviated in a few weeks; and until then I
pray there may be no battle. But if the enemy advance, our brave men
will give them the cold steel. We _must_ win the first battle at all
hazards, and at any cost; and, after that,--how long after?--we must win
the last!
JUNE 19TH.--Yesterday I saw Colonel Bartow, still accompanied by young
Lamar, his aid. I wish all our officers were inspired by the same zeal
and determination that they are. And are they not?
JUNE 20TH.--Gov. Wise has been appointed brigadier-general, of a
subsequent date to General Floyd's commission. He goes to the West,
where laurels grow; but I think it will be difficult to win them by any
one acting in a subordinate capacity, and especially by generals
appointed from civil life. They are the aversion of the West Pointers at
the heads of bureaus.
JUNE 21ST.--A large, well-proportioned gentleman with florid complexion
and intellectual face, who has been whispering with Col. Bledsoe several
times during the last week, attracted my attention to-day. And when he
retired, Colonel B. informed me it was Bishop Polk, a classmate of his
and the President's at West Point. He had just been appointed a
_major_-general, and assigned to duty in the West, where he would rank
Gen. Pillow, who was exceedingly unpopular in Adjutant-Gen. Cooper's
office. I presume this arose solely from mistrust of his military
abilities; for he had certainly manifested much enthusiasm in the cause,
and was constantly urging the propriety of aggressive movements with his
command. All his purposed advances were countermanded. The policy of the
government is to be economical of the men. We have but a limited, the
enemy an inexhaustible number.
JUNE 22D.--The Convention has appointed ten additional members to the
Provisional Congress--President Tyler among them. It will be observed
that my Diary goes on, including every day. Fighting for our homes and
holy altars, there is no intermission on Sunday. It is true, Mr.
Memminger came in the other day with a proposition to cease from labor
on Sunday, but our Secretary made war on it. The President, however,
goes to church very regularly--St. Paul's.
On last Sunday the President surprised me. It was before church time,
and I was working alone. No one else was in the large room, and the
Secretary himself had gone home, quite ill. I thought I heard some one
approaching lightly from behind, but wrote on without looking up; even
when he had been standing some time at the back of my chair. At length I
turned my head, and beheld the President not three feet from me. He
smiled, and said he was looking for a certain letter referred by him to
the Secretary. I asked the name of the writer, which he told me. I said
I had a distinct recollection of it, and had taken it into the Secretary
with other papers that morning. But the Secretary was gone. We then
proceeded into the Secretary's office in search of it. The Secretary's
habit was to take the papers from his table, and after marking on them
with his pencil the disposition he wished made of them, he threw them
helter-skelter into a large arm-chair. This chair now contained half a
bushel; and the President and I set to work in quest of the letter. We
removed them one by one; and as we progressed, he said with an impatient
smile, "it is always sure to be the last one." And so it was. Having
found it, he departed immediately; and soon after I saw him on his way
to church.
JUNE 23D.--Every day as soon as the first press of business is over, the
Secretary comes out of his office and taps me on the shoulder, and
invites me to ride with him in quest of a house. We go to those offered
for rent; but he cannot be suited.
JUNE 24TH.--To-day I was startled by the announcement from Col. Bledsoe
that he would resign soon, and that it was his purpose to ask the
President to appoint _me_ chief of the bureau in his place. I said I
preferred a less conspicuous position--and less labor--but thanked him.
He said he had no influence with the Secretary--an incontrovertible
fact; and that he thought he should return to the University. While we
were speaking, the President's messenger came in with a note to the
colonel; I did not learn the purport of it, but it put the colonel in a
good humor. He showed me the two first words: "Dear Bledsoe." He said
nothing more about resigning.
I must get more lucrative employment, or find something for my son to
do. The boarding of my family, alone, comes to more than my salary; and
the cost of everything is increasing.
JUNE 25TH.--More accounts of battles and massacres in Missouri and
Kansas. I never thought the Yankees would be permitted to ascend the
Missouri River. What has become of the marksmen and deer hunters of
Missouri? There has been also a fight at Leesburg, and one near Romney,
Va. Blood has been shed in all of them. These are the pattering drops
that must inevitably be succeeded by a torrent of blood!
JUNE 26TH.--The President revised one of my articles for the press
to-day, suggesting some slight modifications, which, perhaps, improved
it. It was not a political article; but designed exclusively to advance
the cause by inciting the people of Virginia and elsewhere to volunteer
_for the war_. Such volunteers are accepted, and ordered into active
service at once; whereas six and twelve months' men, unless they furnish
their own arms, are not accepted.
It is certain the United States intend to raise a grand army, to serve
for three years or the war. Short enlistments constituted the bane of
Washington's army; and this fact is reiterated a thousand times in his
extant letters.
There are a great many applications for clerkships in the departments by
teachers who have not _followed_ their _pupils_ to the army. Army and
naval officers, coming over at this late day, are commissioned in our
service. In regard to this matter, the President is supposed to know
best.
JUNE 27TH.--We have, I think, some 40,000 pretty well armed men in
Virginia, sent hither from other States. Virginia has--I know not how
many; but she should have at least 40,000 in the field. This will enable
us to cope with the Federal army of 70,000 volunteers, and the regular
forces they may hurl against us. But so far as this department is aware,
Virginia has not yet _two_ regiments in the service for three years, or
the war. And here the war will be sure to rage till the end!
JUNE 28TH.--We have a flaming comet in the sky. It comes unannounced,
and takes a northwestern course. I dreamed last night that I saw a great
black ball moving in the heavens, and it obscured the moon. The stars
were in motion, visibly, and for a time afforded the only light. Then a
brilliant halo illuminated the zenith like the quick-shooting
irradiations of the aurora borealis. And men ran in different
directions, uttering cries of agony. These cries, I remember distinctly,
came from _men_. As I gazed upon the fading and dissolving moon, I
thought of the war brought upon us, and the end of the United States
Government. My family were near, all of them, and none seemed alarmed or
distressed. I experienced no perturbation; but I awoke. I felt curious
to prolong the vision, but sleep had fled. I was gratified, however, to
be conscious of the fact that in this illusory view of the end of all
things sublunary, I endured no pangs of remorse or misgivings of the new
existence it seemed we were about to enter upon.
JUNE 29TH.--I cannot support my family here, on the salary I receive
from the government; and so they leave me in a few days to accept the
tendered hospitality of Dr. Custis, of Newbern, N. C., my wife's cousin.
JUNE 30TH.--My family engaged packing trunks. They leave immediately.
CHAPTER IV.
My family in North Carolina.--Volunteers daily rejected.--Gen. Winder
appears upon the stage.--Toombs commissioned.--Hunter Secretary of
State.--Duel prevented.--Col B. Secretary for a few hours.--Gen.
Garnett killed.--Battle of Manassas.--Great excitement.--Col. Bartow.
JULY 1ST.--My family are gone. We have moved the department to
Mechanics' Hall, which will be known hereafter as the War Department. In
an evil hour, I selected a room to write my letters in, quite remote
from the Secretary's office. I thought Mr. Walker resented this. He had
likewise been piqued at the effect produced by an article I had written
on the subject of the difficulty of getting arms from Georgia with the
volunteers from that State. One of the spunky Governor's organs had
replied with acerbity, not only defending the Governor, but striking at
the Secretary himself, to whom the authorship was ascribed. My article
had been read and approved by the Secretary before its insertion;
nevertheless he now regretted it had been written--not that there was
anything improper in it, but that it should have been couched in words
that suggested the idea to the Southern editor that the Secretary might
be its author. I resolved to meddle with edged tools no more; for I
remembered that Gil Blas had done the same thing for the Duke of Lerma.
Hereafter I shall study Gil Blas for the express purpose of being his
antithesis. But I shall never rise until the day of doom brings us all
to our feet again.
JULY 2D.--There has been some brilliant fighting by several brothers
named Ashby, who led a mounted company near Romney. One of the brothers,
Richard, was slain. Turner Ashby put half a dozen Yankees _hors du
combat_ with his own arm. He will make a name. We have accounts of an
extraordinary exploit of Col. Thomas, of Maryland. Disguised as a French
lady, he took passage on the steamer St. Nicholas at Baltimore en route
for Washington. During the voyage he threw off his disguise, and in
company with his accomplices, seized the steamer. Coming down the Bay,
he captured three prizes, and took the whole fleet into Fredericksburg
in triumph. Lieut. Minor, C. S. N., participated in this achievement.
Gen. Patterson, who conciliated the mob in Philadelphia, which had
intended to hang me, seems to be true to his pledge to fight the
Southern people. He is now advancing into Virginia at the head of a
brigade.
JULY 3D.--The Secretary said to me to-day that he desired my young
friend, the classical teacher, to assist me in writing letters. I told
him I needed assistance, and Mr. Jacques was qualified. Major Tyler's
ill health keeps him absent half the time. There was abundance of work
for both of us. Mr. J. is an agreeable companion, and omitted no
opportunity to oblige me. But he trenches on the major's manor, and can
write as long letters as any one. I would never write them, unless the
subject-matter demanded it; and so, all the answers marked "full" by the
Secretary, when the sum and substance is to be merely an affirmative or
a negative, will fall to my co-laborer's share.
JULY 4TH.--These simple things provoked some remarks from the young
gentlemen in the department, and gave rise to predictions that he would
soon supplant us all in the affections of the Secretary. And he is
nimble of foot too, and enters the Secretary's room twice to Col. B.'s
or Major T.'s once. I go not thither unless sent for; for in a cause
like this, personal advancement, when it involves catering to the
caprices of functionaries dressed in a little brief authority, should be
spurned with contempt. But Col. Bledsoe is shocked, and renews his
threats of resignation. Major Tyler is eager to abandon the pen for the
sword; but Congress has not acted on his nomination; and the West
Pointers, many of them indebted to his father for their present
positions, are inimical to his confirmation.
JULY 5TH.--We have news of a fight at Gainesville between Gen. Patterson
and Col. Jackson; the latter, being opposed by overwhelming numbers,
fell back after punishing the Philadelphia general so severely that he
will not be likely to have any more stomach for fighting during the
remainder of the campaign.
JULY 6TH.--Col. Bledsoe complains that the Secretary still has quite as
little intercourse with him, personal and official, as possible. The
consequence is that the Chief of the Bureau is drawing a fine salary
and performing no service. Still, it is not without the sweat of his
brow, and many groans.
JULY 7TH.--Major Tyler's health has improved, but I do not perceive a
resumption of his old intimate relations with the Secretary. Yet he is
doing the heavy epistolary work, being a lawyer; and the correspondence
sometimes embracing diverse legal points. My intimacy with the colonel
continues. It seems he would do anything in the world for me. He has put
Mr. Shepherd to issuing passports to the camps, etc.--the form being
dictated by the Secretary. These are the first passports issued by the
government. I suggested that they should be granted by and in the name
of the Chief of the Bureau of War--and a few were so issued--but the
Secretary arrested the proceeding. The Secretary was right, probably, in
this matter.
The President is appointing generals enough, one would suppose. I hope
we shall have men for them. From five to ten thousand volunteers are
daily offered--but not two thousand are accepted. Some have no arms; and
others propose to serve only for six or twelve months. Infantry will not
fight with hunting rifles or shot-guns; and the department will not
accept mounted men, on account of the expense of transportation, etc.
Oh, that I had power but for a week! There should then be accepted fifty
regiments of cavalry. These are the troops for quick marches, surprises,
and captures. And our people, even down to the little boys, are expert
riders. If it were to be a short war--or if it were to be a war of
invasion on our part--it might be good policy, economically, to
discourage cavalry organizations. But we shall want all our men; and
many a man would fight in the saddle who could not or would not march in
the infantry. And mounted men are content to use the double-barreled
shot-gun--one barrel for ball, the other for buck-shot and close
quarters.
JULY 8TH.--There is a stout gray-haired old man here from Maryland
applying to be made a general. It is Major J. H. Winder, a graduate of
West Point, I believe; and I think he will be successful. He is the son,
I believe, of the Gen. Winder whose command in the last war with England
unfortunately permitted the City of Washington to fall into the hands of
the enemy. I have almost a superstitious faith in _lucky_ generals, and
a corresponding prejudice against unlucky ones, and their progeny. But
I cannot suppose the President will order this general into the field.
He may take the prisoners into his custody--and do other jobs as a sort
of head of military police; and this is what I learn he proposes. And
the French Prince, Polignac, has been made a colonel; and a great nephew
of Kosciusko has been commissioned a lieutenant in the regular army.
Well, Washington had his Lafayette--and I like the nativity of these
officers better than that of the Northern men, still applying for
commissions.
JULY 9TH.--Mr. Toombs is to be a brigadier-general. That is what I
looked for. The two brothers Cobb are to be colonels; and Orr is to have
a regiment.
Mr. Hunter succeeds Toombs in the State Department--and that disposes of
him, if he will stay there. It is to be an obscure place; and if he were
indolent, without ambition, it would be the very place for him. Wise is
done for. He has had several fights, always drawing blood; but when he
gets ready to make a great fight, he is ordered back for fear of his
"rashness." Exacting obedience in his own subordinates, of course he
will obey the orders of Adjt.-Gen. Cooper. In this manner I apprehend
that the three giants of Virginia, Wise, Hunter, and Floyd, will be
neutralized and dwarfed at the behest of West Point. Napoleon's marshals
were privates once--ours--but perhaps West Point may be killed off in
the end, since they rush in so eagerly at the beginning of the war.
JULY 10TH.--There are indications of military operations on a large
scale on the Potomac. We have intelligence that McDowell is making
preparations to advance against our forces at Manassas. Gen. Johnston is
expected to be there in time; and for that purpose is manoeuvring Gen.
Patterson out of the way. Our men have _caps_ now--and will be found in
readiness. They have short-commons under the Commissary Department; but
even with empty stomachs, they can beat the Yankees at the ordeal of
dying. Fighting is a sport our men always have an appetite for.
JULY 11TH.--The colonel tried his hand to-day at dictating answers to
certain letters. Together we pitched upon the proper replies, which,
after being marked with his pencil, I elaborated with the pen. These
were first approved by the Secretary, then signed by the Chief of the
Bureau, and copied by Mr. Scott.
To-day the colonel essayed a flight with his own plumage. I followed his
dictation substantially in the answers. But the moment the Secretary's
eyes rested upon them, they were promptly _reversed_. The Secretary
himself, suspecting how it was, indeed he saw the colonel's pencil
marks, brought them to me, while a humorous smile played upon his
usually not very expressive lip. When the colonel came in, and beheld
what had been done, he groaned, and requested me to write the proper
answers. From that day he ceased to have anything more to do with the
correspondence than to sign his name to the letters I prepared for him.
He remarked to-day that if he was to have nothing to do, he would do
nothing.
JULY 12TH.--The colonel's temper is as variable as an April day--now all
smiles and sunshine, but by-and-by a cloud takes all away. He becomes
impatient with a long-winded story, told by some business applicant--and
_storms_ whenever any one asks him if the Secretary is in.
To-day, for the first time, I detected a smile on the lip of Col. Myers,
the Quartermaster-General, as he passed through the office. A moment
after, Gen. Walker, of Georgia, came in, and addressed the colonel thus:
"Is the Secretary in?"
_Col._ (_with a stare_). I don't know.
_Gen. W._ (returning the stare). Could you not ascertain for me? I have
important business with him; and am here by appointment.
_Col. B._ You can ascertain for yourself. I am not his door-keeper.
There is his door.
_Gen. W._ (after a moment's reflection). I asked you a civil question in
a courteous manner, and have not deserved this harshness, and will not
submit to it.
_Col. B._ It is not courteous to presume I am acting in the capacity of
a messenger or door-keeper.
Just then the Secretary appeared at the door, having heard the loud
language, and Gen. W. immediately entered his office.
Afterward the colonel fumed and fretted like an angry volcano. He
disliked Col. Myers, and believed he had sent the general in under
prompting to annoy him about the Secretary, whom he (Myers) really
hated.
JULY 13TH.--The Secretary made peace yesterday between the general and
the colonel, or a duel might have transpired.
To-day the colonel carried into the Secretary a number of applications
for commissions as surgeons. Among the applicants were some of the
colonel's friends. He returned soon after in a rage, slamming the door
after him, and then throwing down the papers violently on the floor. He
picked them up the next moment, however, and sitting down beside me,
became instantaneously as gentle as a dove. He said the men of science
were thrust aside to give way to quacks; but, laughing, he remarked that
the quacks would do well enough for the wounded ----. _Our_ men would
have too much sense to submit to their malpractice.
JULY 14TH.--The Secretary is sick again. He has been recommended by his
physician to spend some days in the country; and to-morrow he will leave
with his family. What will be the consequence?
JULY 15TH.--Early this morning, Major Tyler was seated in the
Secretary's chair, prepared to receive the visitors. This, I suppose,
was of course in pursuance of the Secretary's request; and accordingly
the door-keeper ushered in the people. But not long after Col. Bledsoe
arrived, and exhibited to me an order from the President for him to act
as Secretary of War _pro tem_. The colonel was in high spirits, and full
dress; and seemed in no measure piqued at Major Tyler for occupying the
Secretary's chair. The Secretary must have been aware that the colonel
was to _act_ during his absence--but, probably, supposed it proper that
the major, from his suavity of manners, was best qualified for the
reception of the visitors. He had been longer in the department, and was
more familiar with the routine of business. Yet the colonel was not
satisfied; and accordingly requested me to intimate the fact to Major
Tyler, of which, it seemed, he had no previous information, that the
President had appointed Col. Bledsoe to act as Secretary of War during
the absence of Mr. Walker. The major retired from the office
immediately, relinquishing his post with grace.
JULY 16TH.--The Secretary was back again this evening. He could not
procure comfortable quarters in the country. He seemed vexed, but from
what cause, I did not learn. The colonel, however, had _rushed the
appointments_. He was determined to be _quick_, because Mr. W. was known
to be slow and hesitating.
JULY 17TH.--The news is not so good to-day. Gen. Garnett's small command
has been defeated by the superior numbers of Gen. McClellan. But the
general himself was killed, fighting in the rear of his retreating men.
His example will not be without its effect. Our generals will resolve
never to survive a defeat. This will embolden the enemy to attack us at
Manassas, where their suddenly acquired confidence will be snuffed out,
or I am mistaken.
JULY 18TH.--The major is sick again, and Jacques is away; therefore I
have too much work, and the colonel groans for me. He is proud of the
appointments he made with such rapidity, and has been complimented. And
in truth there is no reason why the thousands of applications should not
be acted on promptly; and there are many against delay. A large army
must be organized immediately, and it will be necessary to appoint
thousands of field and staff officers--unless all the governors are
permitted to do as Gov. Brown desires to do. The Secretary is in better
health, and quite condescending. My work pleases him; and I shouldn't be
astonished if he resented the sudden absence of Mr. Jacques. But he
should consider that Mr. J. is only an amateur clerk getting no pay,
rich, and independent of the government.
JULY 19TH.--We had fighting yesterday in earnest, at Bull Run! Several
brigades were engaged, and the enemy were repulsed with the loss of
several hundred left dead and wounded on the field. That _was_ fighting,
and we shall soon have more of it.
Brig.-Gen. Holmes, my friend and fellow-fugitive, now stationed near
Fredericksburg, has been ordered by Gen. Beauregard to be ready to march
at an hour's notice. And Col. Northrop's chin and nose have become
suddenly sharper. He is to send up fighting rations for three days, and
discerns the approach of sanguinary events.
Mr. Hunter calls every evening, just as the dusky shades of eve descend,
to inquire if we have any news.
JULY 20TH.--The Secretary works too much--or rather does not economize
his labor. He procrastinates final action; and hence his work, never
being disposed of, is always increasing in volume. _Why_ does he
procrastinate? Can it be that his hesitation is caused by the advice of
the President, in his great solicitude to make the best appointments? We
have talent enough in the South to officer millions of men. Mr. Walker
is a man of capacity, and has a most extraordinary recollection of
details. But I fear his nerves are too finely strung for the official
treadmill. I heard him say yesterday, with a sigh, that no _gentleman_
can be fit for office. Well, Mr. Walker _is_ a gentleman by education
and instincts; and is fastidiously tenacious of what is due a gentleman.
Will his official life be a long one? I know one thing--there are
several aspiring dignitaries waiting impatiently for his shoes. But
those who expect to reach the Presidency by a successful administration
of any of the departments, or by the bestowal of patronage, are laboring
under an egregious error. None but generals will get the Imperial purple
for the next twenty years--if indeed the prematurely made "_permanent_"
government should be permanent.
JULY 21ST.--The President left the city this morning for Manassas, and
we look for a battle immediately. I have always thought he would avail
himself of his prerogative as commander-in-chief, and direct in person
the most important operations in the field; and, indeed, I have always
supposed he was selected to be the Chief of the Confederacy, mainly with
a view to this object, as it was generally believed he possessed
military genius of a high order. In revolutions like the present, the
chief executive occupies a most perilous and precarious position, if he
be not a military chieftain, and present on every battle-field of great
magnitude. I have faith in President Davis, and believe he will gain
great glory in this first mighty conflict.
Early in the evening Secretary Walker returned from tea in great
excitement. He strode to and fro in the room where we were sitting,
d----g his office. He said a great battle was then going on, and he
wished himself present participating in its perils. Again he denounced
the office he filled--and seemed, for a time, almost frantic with
anxiety. He said all young men ought to be in the field, and this was
understood by those present, who had merely shouldered their pens.
Before long the hall of the department was filled with people eager to
hear the news; and as successive dispatches were received, the
excitement increased. All the cabinet were in our office; and Hon.
Howell Cobb, President of Congress, making deductions from the
dispatches, announced his belief that it was a drawn battle. This moved
the wrath of Col. Bledsoe, and he denounced Cobb. Mr. Hunter did nothing
but listen. It was night, now. Finally, Mr. Benjamin, who had gone to
the Spottswood Hotel, where Mrs. Davis resided, returned with news that
stopped every detracting tongue. Mrs. D. had just got a dispatch from
the President announcing a dearly-bought but glorious victory. Some of
the editors of the papers being present, and applying to me for a copy
of the dispatch, Mr. Benjamin said he could repeat it from memory, which
he did, and I wrote it down for the press. Then joy ruled the hour! The
city seemed lifted up, and every one appeared to walk on air. Mr.
Hunter's face grew shorter; Mr. Reagan's eyes subsided into their
natural size; and Mr. Benjamin's glowed something like Daniel Webster's
after taking a pint of brandy. The men in place felt that now they held
their offices for life, as the _permanent_ government would soon be
ratified by the people, and that the Rubicon had been passed in earnest.
We had gained a great victory; and no doubt existed that it would be
followed up the next day. If so, the Federal city would inevitably fall
into our hands; and this would soon be followed by the expulsion of the
enemy from Southern soil. All men seemed to think that the tide of war
would roll from that day northward into the enemy's country, until we
should win a glorious peace.
JULY 22D.--Both Col. B. and I were in a passion this morning upon
finding that the papers had published a dispatch from their own agent at
Manassas, stating that the President did not arrive upon the field until
the victory was won; and therefore did not participate in the battle at
all. From the President's own dispatch, and other circumstances, we had
conceived the idea that he was not only present, but had directed the
principal operations in the field. The colonel intimated that another
paper ought to be established in Richmond, that would do justice to the
President; and it was conjectured by some that a scheme was on foot to
elect some other man to the Presidency of the permanent government in
the autumn. Nevertheless, we learned soon after that the abused
correspondent had been pretty nearly correct in his statement. The
battle had been won, and the enemy were flying from the field before the
President appeared upon it. It had been won by Beauregard, who,
however, was materially assisted by his superior in command, Gen. Joseph
E. Johnston. Gen. J. remained in the rear, and brought up the
reinforcements which gained the day. Beauregard is, to-day, the most
popular general in the service. Besides some 500 prisoners, the enemy,
it is said, had 4500 killed and wounded. The casualties would have been
much greater, if the enemy had not broken and fled. We lost some 2000
men, killed and wounded.
The President returned to-day and made a speech at the Spottswood Hotel,
wherein he uttered the famous words: "Never be haughty to the humble, or
humble to the haughty." And he said that no doubt the Confederate flag
then floated over Fairfax C. H., and would soon be raised at Alexandria,
etc. etc. Never heard I more hearty cheering. Every one believed our
banners would wave in the streets of Washington in a few days; that the
enemy would be expelled from the District and from Maryland, and that a
peace would be consummated on the banks of the Susquehanna or the
Schuylkill. The President had pledged himself, on one occasion, to carry
the war into the enemy's country, if they would not let us go in peace.
Now, in that belief, the people were well pleased with their President.
JULY 23D.--Jacques is back and as busy as a bee; and, in truth, there is
work enough for all.
JULY 24TH.--Yesterday we received a letter from Col. Bartow, written
just before the battle (in which he fell, his letter being received
after the announcement of his death), urging the appointment of his
gallant young friend Lamar to a lieutenancy. I noted these facts on the
back of his letter, with the Secretary's approbation, and also that the
request had been granted, and placed the letter, perhaps the last he
ever wrote, in the archives for preservation.
JULY 25TH.--Bartow's body has arrived, and lies in state at the Capitol.
Among the chief mourners was his young friend Barton, who loved him as a
son loves his father. From Lamar I learned some interesting particulars
of the battle. He said when Bartow's horse was killed, he, Lamar, was
sent to another part of the field for another, and also to order up
certain regiments, Bartow then being in command of a brigade. Lamar
galloped through a hot cross-fire to the regiments and delivered the
order, but got no horse. He galloped back, however, through the
terrible fire, with the intention of giving his own horse to Bartow, if
none other could be had. On his return he encountered Col. Jones, of the
4th Alabama, wounded, his arms being around the necks of two friends,
who were endeavoring to support him in a standing attitude. One of these
called to Lamar, and asked for his horse, hoping that Col. Jones might
be able to ride (his thigh-bone was terribly shattered), and thus get
off the field. Lamar paused, and promised as soon as he could report to
Bartow he would return with that or another horse. Col. Jones thanked
him kindly, but cautioned him against any neglect of Bartow's orders,
saying he probably could not ride. Lamar promised to return immediately;
and putting spurs to his noble steed, started off in a gallop. He had
not gone fifty yards before his horse fell, throwing him over his head.
He saw that the noble animal had been pierced by as many as eight balls,
from a single volley. He paused a moment and turned away, when the poor
horse endeavored to rise and follow, but could not. He returned and
patted the groaning and tearful steed on his neck; and, while doing
this, _five more_ balls struck him, and he died instantly. Lamar then
proceeded on foot through a storm of bullets, and, untouched, rejoined
Bartow in time to witness his fall.
Our prisons are filled with Yankees, and Brig.-Gen. Winder has
employment. There is a great pressure for passports to visit the
battle-field. At my suggestion, all physicians taking amputating
instruments, and relatives of the wounded and slain, have been permitted
by the Secretary to go thither.
JULY 26TH.--Many amusing scenes occur daily between the Chief of the
Bureau and applicants for passports. Those not included specially in the
Secretary's instructions, are referred to the Chief of the Bureau; and
Col. Bledsoe cannot bear importunity. Sometimes he becomes so very
boisterous that the poor applicants are frightened out of the office.
JULY 27TH.--A large number of new arrivals are announced from the North.
Clerks resigned at Washington, and embryo heroes having military
educations, are presenting themselves daily, and applying for positions
here. They represent the panic in the North as awful, and ours is
decidedly the winning side. These gentry somehow succeed in getting
appointments.
Our army _does not advance_. It is said both Beauregard and Johnston are
anxious to cross the Potomac; but what is _said_ is not always true. The
capabilities of our army to cross the Potomac are not known; and the
policy of doing so if it were practicable, is to be determined by the
responsible authority. Of one thing I am convinced: the North, so far
from desisting from the execution of its settled purpose, even under
this disagreeable reverse, will be stimulated to renewed preparations on
a scale of greater magnitude than ever.
JULY 28TH.--We have taken two prisoners in civilian's dress, Harris and
----, on the field, who came over from Washington in quest of the
remains of Col. Cameron, brother of the Yankee Secretary of War. They
claim a release on the ground that they are non-combatants, but admit
they were sent to the field by the Yankee Secretary. Mr. Benjamin came
to the department last night with a message for Secretary Walker, on the
subject. The Secretary being absent, he left it with me to deliver. It
was that the prisoners were not to be liberated without the concurrence
of the President. There was no danger of Secretary Walker releasing
them; for I had heard him say the authorities might have obtained the
remains, if they had sent a flag of truce. Disdaining to condescend thus
far toward a recognition of us as belligerents, they abandoned their
dead and wounded; and he, Walker, would see the prisoners, thus
surreptitiously sent on the field, in a very hot place before he would
sign an order for their release. I was gratified to see Mr. Benjamin so
zealous in the matter.
JULY 29TH.--To-day quite a number of our wounded men on crutches, and
with arms in splints, made their appearance in the streets, and created
a sensation. A year hence, and we shall be accustomed to such
spectacles.
JULY 30TH.--Nothing of importance to-day.
JULY 31ST.--Nothing worthy of note.
CHAPTER V.
My son Custis appointed clerk in the War Department.--N. Y. Herald
contains a pretty correct army list of the C. S.--Appearance of "Plug
Uglies."--President's rupture with Beauregard.--President sick.--
Alien enemies ordered away.--Brief interview with the President.--
"Immediate."--Large numbers of cavalry offering.--Great preparations
in the North.
AUGUST 1ST.--Col. Bledsoe again threatens to resign, and again declares
he will get the President to appoint me to his place. It would not suit
me.
AUGUST 2D.--After some brilliant and successful fights, we have a
dispatch to-day stating that Gen. Wise has fallen back in Western
Virginia, obeying peremptory orders.
AUGUST 3D.--Conversed with some Yankees to-day who are to be released
to-morrow. It appears that when young Lamar lost his horse on the plains
of Manassas, the 4th Alabama Regiment had to fall back a few hundred
yards, and it was impossible to bear Col. Jones, wounded, from the
field, as he was large and unwieldy. When the enemy came up, some half
dozen of their men volunteered to convey him to a house in the vicinity.
They were permitted to do this, and to remain with him as a guard. Soon
after our line advanced, and with such impetuosity as to sweep
everything before it. Col. Jones was rescued, and his guard made
prisoners. But, for their attention to him, he asked their release,
which was granted. They say their curiosity to see a battle-field has
been gratified, and they shall be contented to remain at home in safety
hereafter. They regarded us as rebels, and believed us divided among
ourselves. If this should be true, the rebellion would yet be crushed;
but if we were unanimous and continued to fight as we did at Manassas,
it would be revolution, and our independence must some day be
acknowledged by the United States. But, they say, a great many Northern
men remain to be gratified as they had been; and the war will be a
terrible one before they can be convinced that a reduction of the
rebellion is not a practicable thing.
AUGUST 4TH.--To-day Mr. Walker inquired where my son Custis was. I told
him he was with his mother at Newbern, N. C. He authorized me to
telegraph him to return, and he should be appointed to a clerkship.
AUGUST 5TH.--Col. Bledsoe has a job directly from the President: which
is to adapt the volume of U. S. Army Regulations to the service of the
Confederate States. It is only to strike out U. S. and insert C. S., and
yet the colonel groans over it.
AUGUST 6TH.--Custis arrived and entered upon the discharge of his
duties.
AUGUST 7TH.--Saw Col. Pendleton to-day, but it was not the first time. I
have seen him in the pulpit, and heard him preach good sermons. He is an
Episcopal minister. He it was that plowed such destruction through the
ranks of the invaders at Manassas. At first the battery did no
execution; perceiving this, he sighted the guns himself and fixed the
range. Then exclaiming, "Fire, boys! and may God have mercy on their
guilty souls!" he beheld the lanes made through the regiments of the
enemy. Since then he has been made a colonel, and will some day be a
general; for he was a fellow-cadet at West Point with the President and
Bishop Polk.
A tremendous excitement! The New York _Herald_ has been received,
containing a pretty accurate list of our military forces in the
different camps of the Confederate States, with names and grades of the
general officers. The Secretary told me that if he had required such a
list, a more correct one could not have been furnished him. Who is the
traitor? Is he in the Adjutant-General's office? Many suppose so; and
some accuse Gen. Cooper, simply because he is a Northern man by birth.
But the same information might be supplied by the Quartermaster's or
Commissary-General's office; and perhaps by the Ordnance Bureau; for all
these must necessarily be in communication with the different
organizations in the field. Congress was about to order an
investigation; but it is understood the department suggested that the
matter could be best searched into by the Executive. For my part, I have
no doubt there are many Federal spies in the departments. Too many
clerks were imported from Washington. And yet I doubt if any one in a
subordinate position, without assistance from higher authority, could
have prepared the list published in the _Herald_.
AUGUST 8TH.--For some time past (but since the battle at Manassas) quite
a number of Northern and Baltimore policemen have made their appearance
in Richmond. Some of these, if not indeed all of them, have been
employed by Gen. Winder. These men, by their own confessions, have been
heretofore in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, merely petty
larceny detectives, dwelling in bar-rooms, ten-pin alleys, and such
places. How can they detect political offenders, when they are too
ignorant to comprehend what constitutes a political offense? They are
illiterate men, of low instincts and desperate characters. But their low
cunning will serve them here among unsuspecting men. They will, if
necessary, give information to the enemy themselves, for the purpose of
convincing the authorities that a detective police is indispensable; and
it is probable a number of them will be, all the time, on the pay-rolls
of Lincoln.
AUGUST 9TH.--Gen. Magruder commands on the Peninsula. President Tyler
had a villa near Hampton, which the Yankees despoiled in a barbarous
manner. They cut his carpets, defaced the pictures, broke the statues,
and made kindling wood of the piano, sofas, etc.
AUGUST 10TH.--Mr. Benjamin is a frequent visitor at the department, and
is very sociable: some intimations have been thrown out that he aspires
to become, some day, Secretary of War. Mr. Benjamin, unquestionably,
will have great influence with the President, for he has studied his
character most carefully. He will be familiar not only with his "likes,"
but especially with his "dislikes." It is said the means used by Mr.
Blair to hold Gen. Jackson, consisted not so much in a facility of
attaching strong men to him as his friends, but in aiming fatal blows at
the great leaders who had incurred the enmity of the President. Thus
Calhoun was incessantly pursued.
AUGUST 11TH.--There is a whisper that something like a rupture has
occurred between the President and Gen. Beauregard; and I am amazed to
learn that Mr. Benjamin is inimical to Gen. B. I know nothing of the
foundation for the report; but it is said that Beauregard was eager to
pass with his army into Maryland, immediately after the battle, and was
prevented. It is now quite apparent, from developments, that a small
force would have sufficed to take Washington, a few days or weeks after
the battle. But was Beauregard aware of the fact, before the opportunity
ceased to exist? It is too late now!
AUGUST 12TH.--There is trouble with Mr. Tochman, who was authorized to
raise a regiment or so of foreigners in Louisiana. These troops were
called (by whom?) the Polish Brigade, though, perhaps, not one hundred
Polanders were on the muster-rolls; Major Tochman being styled _General_
Tochman by "everybody," he has intimated to the President his
expectation of being commissioned a brigadier. The President, on his
part, has promptly and emphatically, as is sometimes _his_ wont,
declared his purpose to give him no such commission. He never, for a
moment, thought of making him more than a colonel. To this the major
demurs, and furnishes a voluminous correspondence to prove that his
claims for the position of brigadier-general had been recognized by the
Secretary of War.
AUGUST 13TH.--The President sent to the department an interesting letter
from Mr. Zollicoffer, in Tennessee, relating to the exposed condition of
the country, and its capacities for defense.
AUGUST 14TH.--Zollicoffer has been appointed a brigadier-general; and
although not a military man by education, I think he will make a good
officer.
AUGUST 15TH.--No clew yet to the spies in office who furnish the
Northern press with information. The matter will pass uninvestigated.
Such is our indifference to everything but desperate fighting. The enemy
will make good use of this species of information.
AUGUST 16TH.--The President is sick, and goes to the country. I did not
know until to-day that he is blind of an eye. I think an operation was
performed once in Washington.
AUGUST 17TH.--Some apprehension is felt concerning the President's
health. If he were to die, what would be the consequences? I should
stand by the Vice-President, of course, because "it is so nominated in
the bond," and because I think he would make as efficient an Executive
as any other man in the Confederacy. But others think differently; and
there might be trouble.
The President has issued a proclamation, in pursuance of the act of
Congress passed on the 8th instant, commanding all alien enemies to
leave in forty days; and the Secretary of War has indicated Nashville as
the place of exit. This produces but little excitement, except among the
Jews, some of whom are converting their effects into gold and departing.
Col. Bledsoe's ankles are much too weak for his weighty body, but he can
shuffle along quite briskly when in pursuit of a refractory clerk; and
when he catches him, if he resists, the colonel is sure to leave him.
AUGUST 18TH.--Nothing worthy of note.
AUGUST 19TH.--The Secretary has gone to Orange C. H., to see Col. Jones,
of the 4th Alabama, wounded at Manassas, and now in a dying condition.
Meeting with Mr. Benjamin this morning, near the Secretary's door, I
asked him if he did not think some one should act as Secretary during
Mr. Walker's absence. He replied quickly, and with interest, in the
affirmative. There was much pressing business every hour; and it was
uncertain when the Secretary would return. I asked him if he would not
speak to the President on the subject. He assented; but, hesitating a
moment, said he thought it would be better for me to see him. I reminded
him of my uniform reluctance to approach the Chief Executive, and he
smiled. He then urged me to go to the presidential mansion, and in his,
Mr. B.'s name, request the President to appoint a Secretary _ad
interim_. I did so, for the President was in the city that day, and fast
recovering from his recent attack of ague.
Arrived at the mansion in Clay Street, I asked the servant if I could
see the President. He did not know me, and asked my name, saying the
President had not yet left his chamber. I wrote my business on a card
with a pencil, not omitting to use the name of Mr. Benjamin, and sent it
up. A moment after the President came down, shook hands with me, and, in
his quick and rather pettish manner, said "send me the order." I retired
immediately, and finding Mr. Benjamin still in the hall of the
department, informed him of my success. Then, in conformity with his
suggestion, I repaired to Adjutant-General Cooper, who wrote the order
that A. T. Bledsoe discharge the duties of Secretary of War during the
absence of Mr. Walker. This I sent by a messenger to the President, who
signed it.
Then I informed Col. Bledsoe of what had been done, and he proceeded
without delay to the Secretary's office. It was not long before I
perceived the part Mr. Benjamin and I had acted was likely to breed a
storm; for several of the employees, supposed to be in the confidence of
Mr. Walker, designated the proceeding as an "outrage;" and some went so
far as to intimate that Mr. Benjamin's motive was to have some of his
partisans appointed to lucrative places in the army during the absence
of the Secretary. I know not how that was; but I am sure I had no
thought but for the public service. The Secretary _ad in._ made but few
appointments this time, and performed the functions quietly and with all
the dignity of which he was capable.
AUGUST 20TH.--Secretary Walker returned last night, having heard of the
death of Col. Jones before reaching his destination. I doubt whether the
Secretary would have thought a second time of what had been done in his
absence, if some of his friends had not fixed his attention upon it. He
shut himself up pretty closely, and none of us could see or hear whether
he was angry. But calling me into his room in the afternoon to write a
dispatch which he dictated, I saw, lying on his table, an envelope
directed in his own hand to the President. Hints had been circulated by
some that it was his purpose to resign. Could this communication be his
resignation? It was placed so conspicuously before me where I sat that
it was impossible not to see it. It was marked, too, "_immediate_."
AUGUST 21ST.--Called in again by the Secretary to-day, I find the
ominous communication to the President still there, although marked
"_immediate_." And there are no indications of Mr. Walker's quitting
office that I can see.
AUGUST 22D.--"_Immediate_" is still there; but the Secretary has not yet
been to the council board, though yesterday was cabinet day. Yet the
President sends Capt. Josselyn regularly with the papers referred to the
Secretary. These are always given to me, and after they are "briefed,"
delivered to the Secretary. Among these I see some pretty _sharp_ pencil
marks. Among the rest, the whole batch of Tochman papers being returned
unread, with the injunction that "when papers of such volume are sent to
him for perusal, it is the business of the Secretary to see that a brief
abstract of their contents accompany them."
AUGUST 23D.--No arms yet of any amount from Europe; though our agent
writes that he has a number of manufactories at work. The U. S. agent
has engaged the rest. All the world seems to be in the market buying
arms. Mr. Dayton, U. S. Minister in Paris, has bought 30,000 flint-locks
in France; and our agent wants authority to buy some too. He says the
French statisticians allege that no greater mortality in battle occurs
from the use of the percussion and the rifled musket than from the old
smooth-bore flint-lock musket. This may be owing to the fact that a
shorter range is sought with the latter.
AUGUST 24TH.--We are resting on our oars after the victory at Manassas,
while the enemy is drilling and equipping 500,000 or 600,000 men. I hope
we may not soon be floating down stream! We know the enemy is, besides,
building iron-clad steamers--and yet we are not even erecting casemate
batteries! We are losing precious time, and, perhaps, the government is
saving money!
AUGUST 25TH.---I believe the Secretary will resign; but "_immediate_"
still lies on his table.
News of a battle near Springfield, Mo. McCulloch and Price defeat the
Federals, killing and wounding thousands. Gen. Lyon killed.
AUGUST 26TH.--What a number of cavalry companies are daily tendered in
the letters received at this department. Almost invariably they are
refused; and really it is painful to me to write these letters. This
government must be aware, from the statistics of the census, that the
South has quite as many horses as the North, and twice as many good
riders. But for infantry, the North can put three men in the field to
our one. Ten thousand mounted men, on the border of the enemy's country,
would be equal to 30,000 of the enemy's infantry; not in combat; but
that number would be required to watch and guard against the inroads of
10,000 cavalry. It seems to me that we are declining the only proper
means of equalizing the war. But it is my duty to obey, and not to
deliberate.
AUGUST 27TH.--We have news of a fight at Hawk's Nest, Western Virginia.
Wise whipped the Yankees there quite handsomely.
AUGUST 28TH.--Beauregard offers battle again on the plains of Manassas;
but it is declined by the enemy, who retire behind their
fortifications. Our banners are advanced to Munson's Hill, in sight of
Washington. The Northern President and his cabinet may see our army,
with good glasses, from the roof of the White House. It is said they
sleep in their boots; and that some of them leave the city every night,
for fear of being captured before morning.
Generals Johnston, Wise, and Floyd are sending here, daily, the Union
traitors they discover to be in communication with the enemy. We have a
Yankee member of Congress, Ely, taken at Manassas; he rode out to
witness the sport of killing rebels as terriers kill rats, but was
caught in the trap himself. He says his people were badly whipped; and
he hopes they will give up the job of subjugation as a speculation that
won't pay. Most of the prisoners speak thus while in confinement.
AUGUST 29TH.--We have intelligence from the North that immense
preparations are being made for our destruction; and some of our people
begin to say, that inasmuch as we did not follow up the victory at
Manassas, it was worse than a barren one, having only _exasperated_ the
enemy, and stimulated the Abolitionists to renewed efforts. I suppose
these critics would have us forbear to injure the invader, for fear of
maddening him. _They_ are making this war; _we_ must make it _terrible_.
With them war is a _new thing_, and they will not cease from it till the
novelty wears off, and all their fighting men are sated with blood and
bullets. It must run its course, like the measles. We must both bleed
them and deplete their pockets.
AUGUST 30TH.--Gen. Floyd has had a fight in the West, and defeated an
Ohio regiment. I trust they were of the Puritan stock, and not the
descendants of Virginians.
AUGUST 31ST.--We have bad news to-day. My wife and children are the
bearers of it. They returned to the city with the tidings that all the
women and children were ordered to leave Newbern. The enemy have
attacked and taken Fort Hatteras, making many prisoners, and threaten
Newbern next. This is the second time my family have been compelled to
fly. But they are well.
CHAPTER VI.
Four hundred thousand troops to be raised.--Want of arms.--Yankees offer
to sell them to us.--Walker resigns.--Benjamin succeeds.--Col. J. A.
Washington killed.--Assigned, temporarily, to the head of the
passport office.
SEPTEMBER 1ST.--The press and congressional critics are opening their
batteries on the Secretary of War, for _incompetency_. He is not to
blame. A month ago, Capt. Lee, son of the general, and a good engineer,
was sent to the coast of North Carolina to inspect the defenses. His
report was well executed; and the recommendations therein attended to
with all possible expedition. It is now asserted that the garrison was
deficient in ammunition. This was not the case. The position was simply
not tenable under the fire of the U. S. ships of war.
SEPTEMBER 2D.--I voluntarily hunted up Capt. Lee's report, and prepared
an article for the press based on its statements.
SEPTEMBER 3D.--My article on the defenses of North Carolina seems to
have silenced the censures of the cavilers.
SEPTEMBER 4TH.--J. R. Anderson, proprietor of the iron-works here, has
been appointed brigadier-general by the President. He, too, was a West
Pointer; but does not look like a military genius. He is assigned to
duty on the coast of North Carolina.
SEPTEMBER 5TH.--Our Congress has authorized the raising and organizing
of four hundred regiments. The Yankee Congress, 500,000 men. The enemy
will get theirs first; and it is said that between 600,000 and 700,000,
for three years or the war, have already been accepted by the U. S.
Government. Their papers boast that nearly a million volunteers were
tendered. This means mischief. How many will rush forward a year hence
to volunteer their services on the plains of the South? Full many
ensanguined plains will greet the horrific vision before this time next
year; and many a venal wretch coming to possess our land, will occupy
till the day of final doom a tract of six feet by two in some desolate
and unfrequented swamp. The toad will croak his requiem, and the viper
will coil beneath the thistle growing over his head.
SEPTEMBER 6TH.--We are not increasing our forces as rapidly as might be
desired, for the want of arms. We had some 150,000 stand of small arms,
at the beginning of the war, taken from the arsenals; and the States
owned probably 100,000 more. Half of these were flint-locks, which are
being altered. None have been imported yet. Occasionally a letter
reaches the department from Nashville, offering improved arms at a high
price, _for gold_. These are Yankees. I am instructed by the Secretary
to say they will be paid for in gold on delivery to an agent in
Nashville. The number likely to be obtained in this manner, however,
must be small; for the Yankee Government is exercising much vigilance.
Is not this a fair specimen of Yankee cupidity and character? The New
England manufacturers are furnishing us, with whom they are at war, with
arms to fight with, provided we agree to pay them a higher price than is
offered by their own Government! The philosophical conclusion is, that
this war will end when it ceases to be a pecuniary speculation.
SEPTEMBER 7TH.--The Jews are at work. Having no nationality, all wars
are harvests for them. It has been so from the day of their dispersion.
Now they are scouring the country in all directions, buying all the
goods they can find in the distant cities, and even from the country
stores. These they will _keep_, until the process of consumption shall
raise a greedy demand for all descriptions of merchandise.
Col. Bledsoe _has resigned_, but says nothing now about getting me
appointed in his place. That matter rests with the President, and I
shall not be an applicant.
SEPTEMBER 8TH.--Major Tyler has been appointed _acting_ Chief of the
Bureau of War.
SEPTEMBER 9TH.--Matters in _statu quo_, and Major Tyler still acting
chief of the bureau.
SEPTEMBER 10TH.--Col. Bledsoe is back again! He says the President
refuses to accept his resignation; and tells me in confidence, not to be
revealed for a few days, that Mr. Walker has tendered his resignation,
_and that it will be accepted_.
SEPTEMBER 11TH.--The colonel enjoys a joke. He whispered me to-day, as
he beheld Major Tyler doing the honors of his office, that I might just
hint at the possibility of his resumption soon of the functions of chief
of the bureau. But he said he wanted a few days holiday.
SEPTEMBER 12TH.--Gen. Pillow has advanced, and occupied Columbus, Ky. He
was ordered, by telegraph, to abandon the town and return to his former
position. Then the order was countermanded, and he remains. The
authorities have learned that the enemy occupies Paducah.
SEPTEMBER 13TH.--The Secretary, after writing and tendering his
resignation, appointed my young friend Jaques a special clerk with $2000
salary. This was allowed by a recent act.
SEPTEMBER 14TH.--Some of Mr. Walker's clerks must know that he intends
giving up the seals of office soon, for they are engaged day and night,
and all night, _copying_ the entire letter-book, which is itself but a
copy of the letters I and others have written, with Mr. Walker's name
appended to them. Long may they be a monument of his epistolary
administrative ability, and profound statesmanship!
SEPTEMBER 15TH.--And, just as I expected, Mr. Benjamin is to be Mr.
Walker's successor. Col. Bledsoe is back again; and it devolved on me to
inform Major Tyler that the _old_ chief of the bureau was now the _new_
chief. Of course he resigned the seals of office with the grace and
courtesy of which he is so capable. And then he informed me (in
confidence) that the Secretary had resigned, and would be appointed a
brigadier-general in the army of the Southwest; and that he would
accompany him as his adjutant-general.
SEPTEMBER 16TH.--Mr. Benjamin's hitherto perennial smile faded almost
away as he realized the fact that he was now the most important member
of the cabinet. He well knew how arduous the duties were; but then he
was robust in health, and capable of any amount of labor.
It seems, after all, that Mr. Benjamin is only _acting_ Secretary of
War, until the President can fix upon another. Can that be the reason
his smile has faded almost away? But the President will appoint him. Mr.
Benjamin will please him; he knows how to do it.
SEPTEMBER 17TH.--A man from Washington came into my office to-day,
saying he had important information from Washington. I went into the
Secretary's room, and found Mr. Benjamin surrounded by a large circle of
visitors, all standing hat in hand, and quite silent. I asked him if he
would see the gentleman from Washington. He said he "_didn't know who to
see_." This produced a smile. He seemed to be standing there waiting for
someone to speak, and they seemed to be waiting an invitation from him
to speak. I withdrew from the embarrassing scene, remarking that my
gentleman would call some other time. Meanwhile I wrote down the
information, and sent it to the President.
SEPTEMBER 18TH.--Gen. Floyd has been attacked at Gauley, by greatly
superior numbers. But he was intrenched, and slew hundreds of the enemy
before he retreated, which was effected without loss.
SEPTEMBER 19TH.--We hear of several splendid dashes of cavalry near
Manassas, under Col. Stuart; and Wise's cavalry in the West are doing
good service.
SEPTEMBER 20TH.--Col. J. A. Washington has been killed in a skirmish. He
inherited Mount Vernon. This reminds me that Edward Everett is urging on
the war against us. The universal education, so much boasted of in New
England, like their religion, is merely a humbug, or worse than a
humbug, the fruitful source of crime. I shall doubt hereafter whether
superior intelligence is promotive of superior virtue. The serpent is
wiser than the dove, but never so harmless. Ignorance is bliss in
comparison with Yankee wisdom.
SEPTEMBER 21ST.--The Secretary has authorized me to sign passports "for
the Secretary of War." My son attends to his letters. I have now an
opportunity of _seeing_ more. I have authority to order transportation
for the parents of soldiers, and for goods and provisions taken to the
camps.
SEPTEMBER 22D.--Harris and Magraw, who were taken on the field of
Manassas, looking for the remains of Col. Cameron, have been liberated
by Gen. Winder, on the order of the acting Secretary of War. This is
startling; for Mr. Benjamin was the most decided man, at the time of
their capture, against their liberation. _Per contra_, a Mr. G., a rich
New York merchant, and Mr. R., a wealthy railroad contractor, whom I
feared would break through the meshes of the law, with the large sums
realized by them here, have been arrested by the Secretary's order, on
the ground that they have no right to transfer the sinews of war to the
North, to be used against us.
SEPTEMBER 23D.--Thousands of dollars worth of clothing and provisions,
voluntary and patriotic contributions to the army, are arriving daily.
SEPTEMBER 24TH.--The time is up for the departure of alien enemies. This
is the last day, according to the President's proclamation. We have had
no success lately, and never can have success, while the enemy know all
our plans and dispositions. Keep them in total ignorance of our
condition and movements, and they will no more invade us than they would
explore a vast cave, in which thousands of rattlesnakes can be heard,
without lights. Their spies and emissaries here are so many
torch-bearers for them.
SEPTEMBER 25TH.--Mr. Benjamin and Gen. Winder, after granting a special
interview to Messrs. G. and R., have concluded to let them depart for
Pennsylvania and New York! Nor is this all. _I have an order from Mr.
Benjamin to give passports_, until further orders, _to leave the country
to all persons who avow themselves alien enemies, whether in person or
by letter_, provided they take no wealth with them. This may be a fatal
policy, or it may be a _trap_.
SEPTEMBER 26TH.--Had a conversation with the Secretary to-day, on the
policy of sending Union men out of the Confederacy. I told him we had
15,000 sick in the hospitals at Manassas, and this intelligence might
embolden the enemy to advance, capture the hospitals, and make our sick
men prisoners. He said such prisoners would be a burden to them, and a
relief to us. I remarked that they would count as prisoners in making
exchanges; and to abandon them in that manner, would have a discouraging
effect on our troops. He said that sending unfriendly persons out of the
country was in conformity with the spirit of the act of Congress, and
recommended me to reperuse it and make explanations to the people, who
were becoming clamorous for some restriction on the egress of spies.
SEPTEMBER 27TH.--To-day I prepared a leading editorial article for the
_Enquirer_, taking ground directly opposite to that advocated by Mr.
Benjamin. It was written with the law before me, which gave no warrant,
as I could perceive, for the assumption of the Secretary.
SEPTEMBER 28TH.--I sent the paper containing my article to J. R. Davis,
Esq., nephew of the President, avowing its authorship, and requesting
him to ask the President's attention to the subject.
SEPTEMBER 29TH.--To-day Mr. Benjamin issued several passports himself,
and sent several others to me with peremptory orders for granting them.
SEPTEMBER 30TH.--A pretty general jail delivery is now taking place.
Gen. Winder, acting I suppose, of course, under the instructions of the
Secretary of War--and Mr. Benjamin is now Secretary indeed--is
discharging from the prisons the disloyal prisoners sent hither during
the last month by Gens. Johnston, Floyd, and Wise. Not only liberating
them, but giving them transportation to their homes, mostly within the
enemy's lines. Surely if the enemy reciprocates such magnanimous
courtesy, the war will be merely child's play, and we shall be spared
the usual horrors of civil war. We shall see how the Yankees will
appreciate this kindness.
CHAPTER VII.
An order for the publication of the names of alien enemies.--Some
excitement.--Efforts to secure property.--G. A. Myers, lawyer,
actively engaged.--Gen. Price gains a victory in Missouri.--Billy
Wilson's cut-throats cut to pieces at Fort Pickens.--A female spy
arrives from Washington.--Great success at Leesburg or Ball's Bluff.
OCTOBER 1ST.--I find that only a few hundred alien enemies departed from
the country under the President's proclamation, allowing them forty
days, from the 16th of August, to make their arrangements; but under the
recent order of Mr. Benjamin, if I may judge from the daily
applications, there will be a large emigration. The persons now going
belong to a different class of people: half of them avowing themselves
friendly to our cause, and desiring egress through our lines on the
Potomac, or in the West, to avoid being published as alien enemies going
under flag of truce _via_ Norfolk and Fortress Monroe. Many of them
declare a purpose to return.
OCTOBER 2D.--A day or two ago Col. Bledsoe, who visits me now very
seldom, sent an order by Mr. Brooks for me to furnish a list of the
names of alien enemies for publication. This was complied with
cheerfully; and these publications have produced some excitement in the
community.
OCTOBER 3D.--The President not having taken any steps in the matter, I
have no alternative but to execute the order of the Secretary.
OCTOBER 4TH.--Sundry applications were made to-day to leave the country
under flag of truce, _provided I would not permit the names to be
published_. The reason for this request is that these persons have
connections here who might be _compromised_. I refused compliance. In
one or two instances they intimated that they would not have their names
published for _thousands of dollars_. My response to this was such as to
cause them to withdraw their applications.
OCTOBER 5TH.--To-day several Southern-born gentlemen, who have lived
long in the North, and have their fortunes and families there, applied
for passports. They came hither to save the investments of their parents
in Northern securities, by having them transferred to their children.
This seems legitimate, and some of the parties are old and valued
friends of mine. I know their sympathies are with their native land. Yet
why are they so late in coming? I know not. It is for me to send them
out of the country, for such is the order of the Secretary of War. The
loyalty of the connections of these gentlemen is vouched for in a note
(on file) written by Mr. Hunter, Secretary of State. Their names must be
published as alien enemies. They will take no part in the war.
OCTOBER 6TH.--Nothing of importance.
OCTOBER 7TH.--Nothing of note.
OCTOBER 8TH.--Mr. Gustavus Myers, a lawyer of this city, seems to take
an active interest in behalf of parties largely engaged in business at
Baltimore. And he has influence with the Secretary, for he generally
carries his points over my head. The parties he engineers beyond our
lines may possibly do us no harm; but I learn they certainly do
themselves much _good_ by their successful speculations. And do they not
take gold and other property to the North, and thereby defeat the
object of the sequestration act? The means thus abstracted from the
South will certainly be taxed by the North to make war on us.
OCTOBER 9TH.--Contributions of clothing, provisions, etc. are coming in
large quantities; sometimes to the amount of $20,000 in a single day.
Never was there such a patriotic _people_ as ours! Their blood and their
wealth are laid upon the altar of their country with enthusiasm.
I must say here that the South Carolinians are the _gentlest_ people I
ever met with. They accede to every requisition with cheerfulness; and
never have I known an instance where any one of them has used subterfuge
to evade a rule, however hard it might bear upon them. They are the soul
of honor, truth, and patriotism.
OCTOBER 10TH.--A victory--but not in the East. I expect none here while
there is such a stream of travel flowing Northward. It was in Missouri,
at Lexington. Gen. Price has captured the town and made several thousand
prisoners, whom he dismissed on parole.
OCTOBER 11TH.--And Wise has had bloody fighting with Rosecrans in
Western Virginia. He can beat the enemy at fighting; but they beat him
at manoeuvring, with the use of the guides Gen. Winder has sent them
from our prisons here.
OCTOBER 12TH.--Col. Wright has had a race with the Yankees on the North
Carolina coast. They fled to their works before his single regiment with
such precipitation as to leave many of their arms and men behind. We
lost but one man: and he was fat, broke his wind, and died in the
pursuit.
OCTOBER 13TH.--Another little success, but not in this vicinity. Gen.
Anderson, of South Carolina, in the night crossed to Santa Rosa Island
and cut up Billy Wilson's regiment of New York cut-throats and thieves;
under the very guns of Fort Pickens.
OCTOBER 14TH.--Kissing goes by favor! Col. M----r, of Maryland, whose
published letter of objuration of the United States Government attracted
much attention some time since, is under the ban. He came hither and
tendered his services to this government, but failed to get the
employment applied for, though his application was urged by Mr. Hunter,
the Secretary of State, who is his relative. After remaining here for a
long time, vainly hoping our army would cross the Potomac and deliver
his native State, and finding his finances diminishing, he sought
permission of the Secretary to return temporarily to his family in
Maryland, expecting to get them away and to save some portion of his
effects. His fidelity was vouched for in strong language by Mr. Hunter,
and yet the application has been refused! I infer from this that Mr.
Benjamin is omnipotent in the cabinet, and that Mr. Hunter cannot remain
long in it.
OCTOBER 15TH.--I have been requested by Gen. Winder to-day to refuse a
passport to Col. M----r to leave the city in any direction. So the
colonel is within bounds! I learn that he differed with Gen. Winder
(both from Maryland) in politics. But if he was a Whig, so was Mr.
Benjamin. Again, I hear that Col. M. had some difficulty with Col.
Northrop, Commissary-General, and challenged him. This is a horse of
another color. Col. N. is one of the special favorites of the President.
OCTOBER 16TH.--Col. M. applied to me to-day for a passport to Maryland,
bringing a strong letter from Mr. Hunter, and also a note from Col.
Bledsoe, Chief of the Bureau of War. He seemed thunderstruck when I
informed him that Gen. Winder had obtained an order from the Secretary
of War to detain him. A few moments after Gen. Winder came with a couple
of his detectives (all from Baltimore) and arrested him. Subsequently he
was released on parole of honor, not to leave the city without Gen.
Winder's permission. I apprehend bad consequences from this proceeding.
It may prevent other high-toned Marylanders from espousing our side of
this contest.
OCTOBER 17TH.--Hurlbut has been released from prison. Mr. Hunter has a
letter (intercepted) from Raymond, editor of the New York _Times_,
addressed to him since the battle of Manassas.
OCTOBER 18TH.--I cannot perceive that our army increases much in
strength, particularly in Virginia. The enemy have now over 660,000 in
the field in various places, and seem to be preparing for a simultaneous
advance.
It is said _millions_ of securities, the property of the enemy, are
transferred to the United States. It is even intimated that the men
engaged in this business have the protection of men in high positions
_on both sides_. Can it be possible that _we_ have men in power who are
capable of taking bribes from the enemy? If so, God help the country!
OCTOBER 19TH.--Col. Ashby with 600 men routed a force of 1000 Yankees,
the other day, near Harper's Ferry. That is the cavalry again! The spies
here cannot inform the enemy of the movements of our mounted men, which
are always made with celerity.
OCTOBER 20TH.--A lady, just from Washington, after striving in vain to
procure an interview with the Secretary of War, left with me the
programme of the enemy's contemplated movements. She was present with
the family of Gen. Dix at a party, and heard their purposes disclosed.
They meditate an advance immediately, with 200,000 men. The head of
Banks's column is to cross near Leesburg; and when over, a movement upon
our flank is intended from the vicinity of Arlington Heights. This is
truly a formidable enterprise, if true. We have not 70,000 effective men
in Northern Virginia. The lady is in earnest--and remains here.
I wrote down the above information and sent it to the President; and
understood that dispatches were transmitted immediately to Gen.
Johnston, by telegraph.
The lady likewise spoke of a contemplated movement by sea with
gun-boats, to be commanded by Burnside, Butler, etc.
In the evening I met Mr. Hunter, and told him the substance of the
information brought by the lady. He seemed much interested, for he knows
the calm we have been enjoying bodes no good; and he apprehends that
evil will grow out of the order of the Secretary of War, permitting all
who choose to call themselves alien enemies to leave the Confederacy.
While we were speaking (in the street) Mr. Benjamin came up, and told me
he had seen the letter I sent to the President. He said, moreover, that
he did not doubt the enemy intended to advance as set forth in the
programme.
OCTOBER 21ST.--The enemy's papers represent that we have some 80,000 men
in Kentucky, and this lulls us from vigilance and effort in Virginia.
The Secretary of War knows very well that we have not 30,000 there, and
that we are not likely to have more. We supposed Kentucky would rise.
The enemy knows this fact as well as we do; nevertheless, it has been
his practice from the beginning to exaggerate our numbers. It lulls us
into fancied security.
OCTOBER 22D.--We have news of a victory at Leesburg. It appears that the
head of one of the enemy's columns, 8000 strong, attempted a passage of
the Potomac yesterday, at that point pursuant to the programme furnished
by the lady from Washington. That point had been selected by the enemy
because the spies had reported that there were only three Confederate
regiments there. But crossing a river in boats in the face of a few
Southern regiments, is no easy matter. And this being the _People's
War_, although Gen. Evans, in command, had received orders to fall back
if the enemy came in force, our troops decided for themselves to fight
before retreating. Therefore, when seven or eight regiments of Yankees
landed on this side of the river, two or three of our regiments advanced
and fired into them with terrible effect. Then they charged; and ere
long such a panic was produced, that the enemy rushed in disorder into
the river, crowding their boats so much that several went to the bottom,
carrying down hundreds. The result was that the head of the serpent
received a tremendous bruising, and the whole body recoiled from the
scene of disaster. We had only some 1500 men engaged, and yet captured
1600 muskets; and the enemy's loss, in killed, wounded, and prisoners,
amounted to 2000 men. This battle was fought, in some respects, by the
privates alone--much of the time without orders, and often without
officers.
OCTOBER 23D.--The President is highly delighted at the result of the
battle of Leesburg; and yet some of the red-tape West Point gentry are
indignant at Gen. Evans for not obeying orders, and falling back. There
is some talk of a court-martial; for it is maintained that no commander,
according to strict military rules, should have offered battle against
such superior numbers. They may disgrace Gen. Evans; but I trust our
_soldiers_ will repeat the experiment on every similar occasion.
OCTOBER 24TH.--We made a narrow escape; at least, we have a respite. If
the Yankee army had advanced with its 200,000 men, they would not have
encountered more than 70,000 fighting Confederate soldiers between the
Potomac and Richmond. It was our soldiers (neither the officers nor the
government) that saved us; and they fought contrary to rule, and even in
opposition to orders. Of course our officers at Leesburg did their duty
manfully; nevertheless, the soldiers had determined to fight, officers
or no officers.
But as the man in the play said, "it will suffice." The Yankees are a
calculating people: and if 1500 Mississippians and Virginians at
Leesburg were too many for 8000 Yankees, what could 200,000 Yankees do
against 70,000 Southern soldiers? It made them pause, and give up the
idea of taking Richmond this year. But the enemy will fight better every
successive year; and this should not be lost sight of. They, too, are
Anglo-Saxons.
OCTOBER 25TH.--Gen. Price, of Missouri, is too popular, and there is a
determination on the part of the West Pointers to "kill him off." I fear
he will gain no more victories.
OCTOBER 26TH.--Immense amounts of patriotic contributions, in clothing
and provisions, are daily registered.
OCTOBER 27TH.--Still the Jews are going out of the country and returning
at pleasure. They deplete the Confederacy of coin, and sell their goods
at 500 per cent. profit. They pay no duty; and Mr. Memminger has lost
hundreds of thousands of dollars in this way.
The press everywhere is thundering against the insane policy of
permitting all who avow themselves enemies to return to the North; and I
think Mr. B. is beginning to wince under it. I tremble when I reflect
that those who made the present government, and the one to succeed it,
did not represent one-third of the people composing the inhabitants of
the Confederate States.
OCTOBER 28TH.--The most gigantic naval preparations have been made by
the enemy; and they must strike many blows on the coast this fall and
winter. They are building great numbers of gun-boats, some of them
iron-clad, both for the coast and for the Western rivers. If they get
possession of the Mississippi River, it will be a sad day for the
Confederacy. And what are we doing? We have many difficulties to contend
against; and there is a deficiency in artisans and material.
Nevertheless, the government is constructing a monster at Norfolk, and
several similar floating batteries in the West. But we neglect to
construct casemated batteries! Our fortifications, without them, must
fall before the iron ships of the enemy. The battle of Manassas has
given us a long exemption from the fatigues and horrors of war; but this
calm will be succeeded by a storm.
OCTOBER 29TH.--The election to take place during the ensuing month
creates no excitement. There will be less than a moiety of the whole
vote cast; and Davis and Stephens will be elected without opposition. No
disasters have occurred yet to affect the popularity of any of the great
politicians; and it seems no risks will be run. The battle of Manassas
made everybody popular--and especially Gen. Beauregard. If he were a
candidate, I am pretty certain he would be elected.
OCTOBER 30TH.--I understand a dreadful quarrel is brewing between Mr.
Benjamin and Gen. Beauregard. Gen. B. being the only individual ever
hinted at as an opponent of Mr. Davis for the Presidency, the Secretary
of War fights him on vantage-ground, and likewise commends himself to
the President. Van Buren was a good politician in his day, and so is Mr.
Benjamin in _his_ way. I hope these dissensions may expend themselves
without injury to the country.
OCTOBER 31ST.--Mr. Benjamin, it is understood, will be a candidate for a
seat in the C. S. Senate. And I have learned from several members of the
Louisiana legislature that he will be defeated. They charge him with
hob-nobbing too much with Northern friends; and say that he still
retains membership in several clubs in New York and Boston.
CHAPTER VIII.
Quarrel between Gen. Beauregard and Mr. Benjamin.--Great Naval
preparations in the North.--The loss of Port Royal, S. C., takes some
prestige.--The affair at Belmont does not compensate for it.--The
enemy kills an old hare.--Missouri secedes.--Mason and Slidell
captured.--French Consul and the actresses.--The lieutenant in
disguise.--Eastern Shore of Virginia invaded.--Messrs. Breckinridge
and Marshall in Richmond.
NOVEMBER 1ST.--There is an outcry against the appointment of two
major-generals, recommended, perhaps, by Mr. Benjamin, Gustavus W. Smith
and Gen. Lovell, both recently from New York. They came over since the
battle of Manassas. Mr. Benjamin is perfectly indifferent to the
criticisms and censures of the people and the press. He knows his own
ground; and since he is sustained by the President, we must suppose he
knows his own footing in the government. If defeated in the legislature,
he may have a six years' tenure in the cabinet.
NOVEMBER 2D.--It has culminated. Mr. Benjamin's quarrel with Beauregard
is openly avowed. Mr. Benjamin spoke to me about it to-day, and
convinced me at the time that Gen. B. was really in the wrong. He said
the general had sent in his report of the battle of Manassas, in which
he stated that he had submitted a plan to the department for the
invasion of Maryland; and no such plan having been received, as Mr. B.
says, and the matter being foreign to the business in hand, the
department had seen proper to withhold the report from publication. But
this did not concern him, Mr. B., because he was not the Secretary of
War when the alleged plan had been sent to Richmond. But his difference
with the general grew out of an attempt of the latter to organize troops
and confer commands without the sanction of the department. He had
rebuked the general, he said; and then the general had appealed to the
President, who sustained the Secretary. Mr. B. said that Gen. B. had
ascertained who was _strongest_ with the President.
NOVEMBER 3D.--From this day forth, I hope Mr. Benjamin and I will be of
better accord. I have an official order, directed by him and written by
Col. Bledsoe, to the effect that no more alien enemies are to have
passports. On the contrary, when any one avows himself an alien enemy,
and applies for permission to leave the country, Gen. Winder is to take
him in charge.
NOVEMBER 4TH.--Several were arrested yesterday. Still I doubt whether we
are dealing fairly, even with enemies. They have been _encouraged_ to
come into and go out of the country by the facilities afforded them; and
now, without any sort of notification whatever, they are to be arrested
when they present themselves. I hate all traps and stratagems for the
purpose of stimulating one to commit a wrong; and hence this business,
although it seems to afford employment, if not delight, to Gen. Winder
and his Baltimore detectives, is rather distasteful to me. And when I
reflect upon it, I cannot imagine how Mr. Benjamin may adjust the matter
with his conscience. It will soon cure itself, however; a few arrests
will alarm them all.
NOVEMBER 5TH.--To my amazement, a man came to me to-day for a passport
to Norfolk, saying he had one from the Secretary to pass by flag of
truce to Fortress Monroe, etc. He wished me to give him one to show at
the cars, not desiring to exhibit the other, as it might subject him to
annoying looks and remarks.
NOVEMBER 6TH.--All accounts from the North indicate that great
preparations are being made to crush us on the coast this winter. I see
no corresponding preparations on our side.
NOVEMBER 7TH.--We hear of the resignation of Gen. Scott, as
Commander-in-Chief of the U. S. forces.
NOVEMBER 8TH.--There are many applications for passports to leave the
country. I have declared my purpose to sign no more for the Secretary
without his official order. But he is signing them himself, as I find
out by the parties desiring the usual passports from me to leave the
city. They, like guilty men, dislike to exhibit their permits to leave
the country at the depots. And the Northern press bears testimony of the
fact that the spies in our midst are still at work, and from this I
apprehend the worst consequences. Why did Mr. Benjamin send the order
for every man to be arrested who applied for permission to leave the
country? Was it merely to deceive _me_, knowing that I had some
influence with certain leading journals? I am told he says, "no one
leaves the country now."
NOVEMBER 9TH.--Gen. Winder and all his police and Plug Ugly gang have
their friends or agents, whom they continually desire to send to
Maryland. And often there comes a request from Gen. Huger, at Norfolk,
for passports to be granted certain parties to go out under flag of
truce. I suppose he can send whom he pleases.
We have news of a bloody battle in the West, at Belmont. Gen. Pillow and
Bishop Polk defeated the enemy, it is said, killing and wounding 1000.
Our loss, some 500.
Port Royal, on the coast of South Carolina, has been taken by the
enemy's fleet. We had no casemated batteries. Here the Yankees will
intrench themselves, and cannot be dislodged. They will take negroes and
cotton, and menace both Savannah and Charleston.
NOVEMBER 10TH.--A gentleman from Urbana, on the Rappahannock, informs me
that he witnessed the shelling of that village a few days ago. There
are so few houses that the enemy did not strike any of them. The only
blood shed was that of an old _hare_, that had taken refuge in a hollow
stump.
NOVEMBER 11TH.--Bad news. The Unionists in East Tennessee have burnt
several of the railroad bridges between this and Chattanooga. This is
one of the effects of the discharge of spies captured in Western
Virginia and East Tennessee. A military police, if properly directed,
composed of honest men, true Southern men, might do much good, or
prevent much evil; but I must not criticise Gen. Winder's inefficiency,
for he acts under the instructions of Mr. Benjamin.
The burning of these bridges not only prevents the arrival of an immense
amount of clothing and provisions for the army, contributed by the
patriotic people, but it will embarrass the government in the
transmission of men and muniments of war, which an emergency may demand
at any moment. Until the avenues by which the enemy derives information
from our country are closed, I shall look for a series of disasters.
NOVEMBER 12TH.--We have news of the enemy's gun-boats penetrating the
rivers of South Carolina. It is said they got some cotton. Why was it
not burnt?
NOVEMBER 13TH.--Dry goods have risen more than a hundred per cent. since
spring, and rents and boarding are advancing in the same ratio.
NOVEMBER 14TH.--The enemy, knowing our destitution of gun-boats, and
well apprised of the paucity of our garrisons, are sending expeditions
southward to devastate the coast. They say New Orleans will be taken
before spring, and communication be opened with Cairo, at the mouth of
the Ohio. They will not succeed so soon; but success is certain
ultimately, if Mr. Benjamin, Gen. Winder, and Gen. Huger do not cease to
pass Federal spies out of the country.
NOVEMBER 15TH.--We have intelligence that Missouri has joined the
Confederacy. She will be scourged by the vengeful enemy; but will rise
some day and put her foot on the neck of the oppressor. Missouri is a
giant.
NOVEMBER 16TH.--It is sickening to behold the corruption of the
commercial men, which so much wounds our afflicted country. There are
large merchants here who come over from Baltimore breathing vengeance
against the Northern "despots," and to make a show of patriotism they
subscribed liberally to equip some volunteer companies in the city; but
now they are sending their agents North and importing large amounts of
merchandise, which they sell to the government and the people at most
fabulous prices. I am informed that some of them realize $50,000 per
month profit! And this after paying officials on both sides bonuses to
wink at their operations.
After the order of Mr. Benjamin for applicants for passports to leave
the country to be arrested, some of these men applied to me, and I
reported the facts to Gen. Winder; but they were not molested. Indeed,
they came to me subsequently and exhibited passports they had obtained
from the Secretary himself.
NOVEMBER 17TH.--There are also quite a number of _letter-carriers_
obtaining special passports to leave the Confederacy. They charge $1.50
postage to Washington and Maryland, and as much coming hither. They take
on the average three hundred letters, and bring as many, besides diverse
articles they sell at enormously high prices. Thus they realize $1000
per trip, and make two each month. They furnish the press with Northern
journals; but they give no valuable information: at least I have not
conversed with any who could furnish it. They seem particularly ignorant
of the plans and forces of the enemy. It is my belief that they render
as much service to the enemy as to us; and they certainly do obtain
passports on the other side.
Gen. Winder and his _alien_ detectives seem to be on peculiar terms of
intimacy with some of these men; for they tell me they convey letters
for them to Maryland, and deliver them to their families. This is an
equivocal business. Why did they not bring their families away before
the storm burst upon them?
NOVEMBER 18TH.--To-day the Secretary told me, in reply to my question,
that he had authentic information of the seizure of Messrs. Slidell and
Mason, our commissioners to Europe, by Capt. Wilkes, of the U. S. Navy,
and while on board the steamer Trent, a British vessel, at sea. _I said
I was glad of it._ He asked why, in surprise. I remarked that it would
bring the Eagle cowering to the feet of the Lion. He smiled, and said it
was, perhaps, the best thing that could have happened. And he cautions
me against giving passports to _French_ subjects even to visit Norfolk
or any of our fortified cities, for it was understood that foreigners at
Norfolk were contriving somehow to get on board the ships of their
respective nations.
NOVEMBER 19TH.--To-day Monsieur Paul, French Consul, applied in person
for passports on behalf, I believe, of some French players (Zouaves) to
Norfolk. Of course I declined granting them. He grew enthusiastic, and
alleged that British subjects had enjoyed the privilege. He said he
cared nothing for the parties applying in this instance; but he argued
vehemently against British subjects being favored over French subjects.
I sent a note concerning our interview to the Secretary; and while
Monsieur Paul still sat in the office, the following reply came in from
the Secretary: "All you need do is to say to the French Consul, when he
calls, that you obey your instructions, and have no authority to discuss
with him the rights of French subjects. J. P. B." Monsieur Paul departed
with "a flea in his ear." But he received an invitation to dine with the
Secretary to-day.
NOVEMBER 20TH.--I had a protracted and interesting interview to-day with
a gaudily dressed and rather diminutive lieutenant, who applied for a
passport to the Mississippi River, _via_ Chattanooga, and insisted upon
my giving him transportation also. This demand led to interrogatories,
and it appeared that he was not going under special orders of the
adjutant-general. It was unusual for officers, on leave, to apply for
transportation, and my curiosity was excited. I asked to see his
furlough. This was refused; but he told me to what company he belonged,
and I knew there was such a company in Bishop or Gen. Polk's command.
Finally he escaped further interrogatories by snatching up the passport
I had signed and departing hastily. But instead of the usual military
salute at parting, he _courtesied_. This, when I reflected on the
fineness of his speech, the fullness of his breast, his attitudes and
his short steps, led me to believe the person was a woman instead of a
lieutenant. Gen. Winder coming in shortly after, upon hearing my
description of the stranger, said he would ascertain all about the sex.
NOVEMBER 21ST.--My mysterious lieutenant was arrested this morning, on
the western route, and proved, as I suspected, to be a woman. But Gen.
Winder was ordered by the Secretary to have her released.
NOVEMBER 22D.--We have information that the enemy have invaded and taken
possession of the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Accomac and Northampton
Counties. They invaded the two counties with a force of 8000 men, and we
had only 800 to oppose them. Of course there could be no contest against
such odds. They carried my tenant to Drummondtown, the county seat, and
made him (I suppose) assist in raising the United States flag over the
court-house.
NOVEMBER 23D.--J. C. Breckinridge and Humphrey Marshall, of Kentucky,
have been here; and both have been made brigadier-generals, and assigned
to duty in the West. Although the former retained his seat in the Senate
of the United States for many months after the war began, no one doubts
that he is now with us, and will do good service.
NOVEMBER 24TH.--Gen. Floyd has retreated from Cotton Hill, and the enemy
threatens our western communications. Gen. Lee has been sent to Western
Virginia, but it is not an adequate field for him. He should have
command of the largest army in the service, for his is one of the most
capacious minds we have.
NOVEMBER 25TH.--Yesterday Fort Pickens opened fire on our batteries at
Pensacola, but without effect. One of their ships was badly crippled.
NOVEMBER 26TH.--The enemy occupy Tybee Island, and threaten Savannah.
Vice-President Stephens was in my office to-day, and he too deprecates
the passage of so many people to the North, who, from the admission of
the journals there, give them information of the condition of our
defenses. He thinks our affairs are not now in a prosperous condition,
and has serious apprehensions for the fate of Savannah.
NOVEMBER 27TH.--Saw President Tyler to-day. He augurs the worst effects
from the policy of permitting almost unrestricted intercourse with the
enemy's country in time of war.
NOVEMBER 28TH.--Nothing of importance to-day. There will be no such
quiet time after this year.
NOVEMBER 29TH.--Gen. Sydney Johnston has command of the army in
Tennessee and Kentucky. I wish it were only as strong as the wily enemy
is in the habit of representing it!
NOVEMBER 30TH.--Mr. Benjamin has been defeated for the C. S. Senate. Mr.
Hunter has been named as a candidate for the C. S. Senate from
Virginia. I thought he would not remain in the cabinet, after his
relative was arrested (with no reason assigned) by order of Mr.
Benjamin. Besides, the office is a sinecure, and may remain so for a
long time, if the powers at Washington should "stint, and say aye" to
the demands of England.
CHAPTER IX.
Gen. Lee ordered South.--Gen. Stuart ambuscaded at Drainsville.--W. H. B.
Custis returns to the Eastern Shore.--Winder's detectives.--Kentucky
secedes.--Judge Perkins's resolution.--Dibble goes North.--Waiting
for Great Britain to do something.--Mr. Ely, the Yankee M. C.
DECEMBER 1ST.--The people here begin to murmur at the idea that they are
questioned about their loyalty, and often arrested, by Baltimore petty
larceny detectives, who, if they were patriotic themselves (as they are
all able-bodied men), would be in the army, fighting for the redemption
of Maryland.
DECEMBER 2D.--Gen. Lee has now been ordered South for the defense of
Charleston and Savannah, and those cities are safe! Give a great man a
field worthy of his powers, and he can demonstrate the extent of his
abilities; but dwarf him in an insignificant position, and the veriest
fool will look upon him with contempt. Gen. Lee in the streets here bore
the aspect of a discontented man, for he saw that everything was going
wrong; but now his eye flashes with zeal and hope. Give him time and
opportunity, and he will hurl back the invader from his native land;
yes, and he will commend the chalice of invasion to the lips of the
North; but not this year--it is too late for that.
DECEMBER 3D.--Several members of Congress came into my office and
denounced the policy which the government seemed to have adopted of
permitting Yankees, and those who sympathize with them, to be
continually running over to the enemy with information of our condition,
and thus inviting attacks and raids at points where we are utterly
defenseless. They seemed surprised when I told them that I not only
agreed with them entirely, but that I had really written most of the
articles they had read in the press denunciatory of the policy they
condemned. I informed them, moreover, that I had long since refused to
sign any such passports as they alluded to, at the risk of being
removed. They said they believed the President, in his multiplicity of
employments, was not aware of the extent of the practice, and the evil
effects it was certain to entail on the country; and it was their
purpose to wait upon him and remonstrate against the pernicious practice
of Mr. Benjamin.
DECEMBER 4TH.--We are now tasting the bitter fruits of a too indulgent
treatment of our enemies. Yesterday Gen. Stuart's cavalry and the 6th
Regiment S. C. volunteers met with a bloody disaster at Drainsville. It
appears that several of the traitors arrested and sent hither by Gen.
Johnston were subsequently discharged by Gen. Winder, under the
instructions of Mr. Benjamin, and sent to their homes, in the vicinity
of Drainsville, at the expense of the government. These men, with
revenge rankling in their breasts, reported to Gen. Stuart that a large
amount of forage might be obtained in the vicinity of Drainsville, and
that but a few companies of the enemy were in the neighborhood. The
general believing these men to be loyal, since they seemed to have the
confidence of the War Department, resolved to get the forage; and for
that purpose started some 80 wagons early the next morning, escorted by
several regiments of infantry and 1000 cavalry, hoping to capture any
forces of the enemy in the vicinity. Meantime the Drainsville traitors
had returned to their homes the preceding evening, and sent off
intelligence to the headquarters of the enemy of the purpose of Gen.
Stuart to send out in that direction, early the next day, a foraging
party consisting of so many wagons, and small forces of infantry,
artillery, and cavalry.
The enemy hastened away to Drainsville an overwhelming force, and
ambuscaded the road, where it entered the woods, with artillery and men
of all arms. Their line was the shape of a horseshoe, and completely
concealed from view.
Gen. Stuart had not entered far into the jaws of this trap, before some
of his trusty scouts reported the presence of the enemy. Believing it to
be only the pickets of the few companies previously reported, the
general advanced still farther; but at the same time ordering the wagons
to retire. He was soon undeceived by a simultaneous and concentric fire
of artillery and musketry, which brought down many of his men.
Nevertheless, he charged through the lines in one or two places, and
brought his guns to bear with effect on such portions of the enemy's
line as were not wholly protected by the inequalities of the ground and
the dense growth of woods. He quickly ascertained, however, that he was
contending against vastly superior numbers, and drew off his forces in
good order, protecting his wagons. The enemy did not pursue, for Stuart
had rather more men than the informers reported to the enemy. But we
lost 200 men, while the enemy sustained but little injury; their killed
and wounded not exceeding 30.
This is the first serious wound inflicted on the country by Mr.
Benjamin's policy.
DECEMBER 5TH.--The account of the Drainsville massacre was furnished me
by an officer of the 6th S. C. Regiment, which suffered severely. The
newspaper accounts of the occurrence, upon which, perhaps, the history
of this war will be founded, give a different version of the matter. And
hence, although not so designed at first, this Diary will furnish more
authentic data of many of the events of the war than the grave histories
that will be written. Still, I do not aspire to be the Froissart of
these interesting times: but intend merely to furnish my children, and
such others as may read them, with reliable chronicles of the events
passing under my own observation.
DECEMBER 6TH.--It is rumored to-day, I know not on what authority, that
the President mentioned the matter of the Drainsville disaster to the
Secretary of War, and intimated that it was attributed to the
machinations of the Union men discharged from prison here. It is said
Mr. Benjamin denied it--denied that any such men had been discharged by
Gen. Winder, or had been concerned in the affair at all. Of course the
President had no alternative but to credit the solemn assertions of his
confidential adviser. But my books, and the register of the prisons,
would show that the Drainsville prisoners sent hither by Gen. Joseph E.
Johnston were discharged by Gen. Winder, and that their expenses home
were paid by the government; and officers of unimpeachable veracity are
ready to testify that Gen. Stuart was misled by these very men.
DECEMBER 7TH.--Quite a commotion has been experienced in official
circles by the departure of Mr. W. H. B. Custis, late Union member of
the Virginia Convention, without obtaining a passport to leave the city.
Some of his secession constituents being in the city, reported that they
knew it was his purpose to return to the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and
avow his adherence to the United States authorities, alleging that he
had signed the ordinance of secession under some species of duress, or
instruction. Under these representations, it seems Gen. Winder
telegraphed to Norfolk, whither it was understood Custis had gone, to
have him arrested. This was done; and it is said he had passports from
Gen. Huger to cross the Chesapeake Bay. I must doubt this. What right
has a military commander to grant such passports?
DECEMBER 8TH.--I saw Mr. Benjamin to-day, and asked him what disposition
he intended to make of Mr. Custis. He was excited, and said with
emphasis that he was investigating the case. He seemed offended at the
action of Gen. Winder, and thought it was a dangerous exercise of
military power to arrest persons of such high standing, without the
clearest evidence of guilt. Mr. Custis had signed the ordinance of
secession, and that ought to be sufficient evidence of his loyalty.
DECEMBER 9TH.--Gen. Winder informed me to-day that he had been ordered
to release Mr. Custis; and I learned that the Secretary of War had
transmitted orders to Gen. Huger to permit him to pass over the bay.
DECEMBER 10TH.--Nothing new.
DECEMBER 11TH.--Several of Gen. Winder's detectives came to me with a
man named Webster, who, it appears, has been going between Richmond and
Baltimore, conveying letters, money, etc. I refused him a passport. He
said he could get it from the Secretary himself, but that it was
sometimes difficult in gaining access to him. I told him to get it,
then; I would give him none.
DECEMBER 12TH.--More of Gen. Winder's men came with a Mr. Stone, whom
they knew and vouched for, and who wanted a passport merely to Norfolk.
I asked if it was not his design to go farther. They said yes, but that
Gen. Winder would write to Gen. Huger to let him pass by way of Fortress
Monroe. I refused, and great indignation was manifested.
DECEMBER 13TH.--One of the papers has a short account of the application
of Stone in its columns this morning. One of the reporters was present
at the interview. The article bore pretty severely upon the assumption
of power by the military commander of the department. Gen. Winder came
in during the day, and denied having promised to procure a passport for
Stone from Gen. Huger.
DECEMBER 14TH.--Nothing.
DECEMBER 15TH.--The President's private secretary, Capt. Josselyn, was
in to-day. He had no news.
DECEMBER 16TH.--We hear to-day that the loyal men of Kentucky have met
in convention and adopted an ordinance of secession and union with our
Confederacy.
DECEMBER 17TH.--Bravo, Col. Edward Johnson! He was attacked by 5000
Yankees on the Alleghany Mountains, and he has beaten them with 1200
men. They say Johnson is an energetic man, and swears like a trooper;
and instead of a sword, he goes into battle with a stout cane in his
hand, with which he belabors any skulking miscreant found dodging in the
hour of danger.
DECEMBER 18TH.--Men escaped from the Eastern Shore of Virginia report
that Mr. Custis had landed there, and remains quiet.
DECEMBER 19TH.--Judge Perkins came in to-day and denounced in bitter
terms the insane policy of granting passports to spies and others to
leave the country, when every Northern paper bore testimony that we were
betrayed by these people. He asked me how many had been permitted to go
North by Mr. Benjamin since the expiration of the time named in the
President's proclamation. This I could not answer: but suggested that a
resolution of inquiry might elicit the information. He desired me to
write such a resolution. I did so, and he departed with it. An hour
afterward, I learned it had been passed unanimously.
DECEMBER 20TH.--A man by the name of _Dibble_, the identical one I
passed on my way to Montgomery last spring, and whom I then thought
acted and spoke like a Yankee, is here seeking permission to go North;
he _says_ to Halifax. He confesses that he is a Yankee born; but has
lived in North Carolina for many years, and has amassed a fortune. He
declares the South does not contain a truer Southern man than himself;
and he says he is going to the British Provinces to purchase supplies
for the Confederacy. He brought me an order from Mr. Benjamin, indorsed
on the back of a letter, for a passport. I declined to give it; and he
departed in anger, saying the Secretary would grant it. He knew this,
for he said the Secretary had promised him one.
DECEMBER 21ST.--Col. Bledsoe was in to-day. I had not seen him for a
long time. He had not been sitting in the office two minutes before he
uttered one of his familiar groans. Instantly we were on the old footing
again. He said Secretary Benjamin had never treated him as Chief of the
Bureau, any more than Walker.
DECEMBER 22D.--Dibble has succeeded in obtaining a passport from the
Secretary himself.
DECEMBER 23D.--Gen. T. J. Jackson has destroyed a principal dam on the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. That will give the enemy abundance of
trouble. This Gen. Jackson is always doing something to vex the enemy;
and I think he is destined to annoy them more.
It is with much apprehension that I see something like a general
relaxation of preparation to hurl back the invader. It seems as if the
government were waiting for England to do it; and after all, the capture
of Slidell and Mason may be the very worst thing that could have
happened. Mr. Benjamin, I learn, feels very confident that a rupture
between the United States and Great Britain is inevitable. War with
England is not to be thought of by Mr. Seward at this juncture, and he
will not have it. And we should not rely upon the happening of any such
contingency. Some of our officials go so far as to hint that in the
event of a war between the United States and Great Britain, and our
recognition by the former, it might be good policy for us to stand
neutral. The war would certainly be waged on our account, and it would
not be consistent with Southern honor and chivalry to retire from the
field and leave the friend who interfered in our behalf to fight it out
alone. The principal members of our government should possess the
highest stamp of character, for never did there exist a purer people.
DECEMBER 24TH.--I am at work on the resolution passed by Congress. The
Secretary sent it to me, with an order to prepare the list of names, and
saying that he would explain the _grounds_ upon which they were
permitted to depart. I can only give the number registered in this
office.
DECEMBER 25TH.--Mr. Ely, the Yankee member of Congress, who has been in
confinement here since the battle of Manassas, has been exchanged for
Mr. Faulkner, late Minister to France, who was captured on his return
from Europe. Mr. Ely smiled at the brown paper on which I had written
his passport. I told him it was Southern manufacture, and although at
present in a crude condition, it was in the process of improvement, and
that "necessity was the mother of invention." The necessity imposed on
us by the blockade would ultimately redound to our advantage, and might
injure the country inflicting it by diminishing its own products. He
smiled again, and said he had no doubt we should rise to the dignity of
_white paper_.
DECEMBER 26TH.--I have been requested by several members of Congress to
prepare a bill, establishing a passport office by law. I will attempt
it; but it cannot pass, unless it be done in spite of the opposition of
the Secretary, who knows how to use his patronage so as to bind members
to his interest. He learned that at Washington.
DECEMBER 27TH.--Notwithstanding the severe strictures, and the
resolution of Congress, there is an increase rather than a diminution of
the number of persons going North. Some of our officials seem to think
the war is over, or that England will do the balance of our fighting!
DECEMBER 28TH.--The fathers and mothers and sisters of our brave
soldiers continue to send their clothing and provisions. _They_ do not
relax in the work of independence.
DECEMBER 29TH.--Persons are coming here from that portion of Western
Virginia held by the enemy, with passports from Gen. Cox, the Yankee
commander. They applied to me to-day for passports to return to Kanawha,
which I refused. They obtained them from the Assistant Secretary of War,
Mr. Ould.
DECEMBER 30TH.--Some of our officers on furlough complain of the
dullness of the war. The second year will be different.
DECEMBER 31ST.--Northern papers, received in this city, show very
conclusively that the enemy are pretty accurately informed of the
condition of our defenses and the paucity of the numbers in our
regiments.
CHAPTER X.
Seward gives up Mason and Slidell.--Great preparations of the enemy.--
Gen. Jackson betrayed.--Mr. Memminger's blunders.--Exaggerated
reports of our troops in Kentucky and Tennessee.
JANUARY 1ST, 1862.--Seward has cowered beneath the roar of the British
Lion, and surrendered Mason and Slidell, who have been permitted to go
on their errand to England. Now we must depend upon our own strong arms
and stout hearts for defense.
JANUARY 2D.--The enemy are making preparations to assail us everywhere.
Roanoke Island, Norfolk, Beaufort, and Newbern; Charleston, Savannah,
Mobile, Pensacola, and New Orleans are all menaced by numerous fleets on
the sea-board, and in the West great numbers of iron-clad floating
batteries threaten to force a passage down the Mississippi, while
monster armies are concentrating for the invasion of Tennessee and the
Cotton States. Will Virginia escape the scourge? Not she; here is the
bull's-eye of the mark they aim at.
JANUARY 3D.--The enemy have in the field, according to their official
reports, some three-quarters of a million of men; we, about 250,000, or
one-quarter of a million. This might answer for defense if we could only
know where their blows will fall; but then they have a strong navy and
thousands of transports, and we have next to nothing afloat to oppose to
them. And there is no _entente cordiale_ between Mr. Benjamin and any of
our best generals.
JANUARY 4TH.--It is just as I feared. Gen. T. J. Jackson, supposing his
project to be a profound secret, marched on the 1st instant from
Winchester, intending to surprise a force of the enemy at Romney. But he
had not proceeded half the distance before he found a printed account of
his intended expedition in a Baltimore paper at an inn on the roadside.
This was treason of the blackest dye, and will cost us a thousand men.
The enemy, of course, escaped, and our poor soldiers, frost-bitten and
famished, must painfully retrace all steps of this fruitless march.
JANUARY 5TH.--There are rumors of a court-martial, and I fear the
enterprising Jackson will be made to suffer for the crime of others.
That men sympathizing with the Union cause were daily leaving Richmond
for Baltimore was known to all, but how they gained intelligence of the
contemplated movement of Jackson is the mystery.
JANUARY 6TH.--No news.
JANUARY 7TH.--Brig-Gen. Wise is to command on Roanoke Island. It is not
far from Princess Ann County, where his place of residence is. If they
give him men enough, say half as many as the enemy, he _will_ defend it.
JANUARY 8TH.--Dearth of news.
JANUARY 9TH.--Butter is 50 cts. per pound, bacon 25 cts., beef has risen
from 13 cts. to 30 cts., wood is selling for $8 per cord, but flour is
abundant, and cheap enough to keep us from starving.
JANUARY 10TH.--The President is rarely seen in the streets now, and it
is complained that he is not so accessible as formerly in his office. I
do not know what foundation there is for these reports, and see no
reason to credit them. I know he rides out in the afternoon, if the
weather be fair, after the labors of the day, and he is a regular
attendant at St. Paul's Church. I am rather inclined to credit the rumor
that he intends to join the church. All his messages and proclamations
indicate that he is looking to a mightier power than England for
assistance. There is a general desire to have the cabinet modified and
Christianized upon the inauguration of the permanent government.
JANUARY 11TH.--We have three candidates in the field in this district
for Congress: President Tyler, James Lyons, and Wm. H. McFarland. The
first will, of course, walk over the track.
JANUARY 12TH.--Gen. Wise, whose headquarters are to be fixed at Nag's
Head on the beach near Roanoke Island, reports that the force he
commands is altogether inadequate to defend the position. Burnside is
said to have 20,000 men, besides a numerous fleet of gun-boats; and Gen.
Wise has but 3000 effective men.
JANUARY 13TH.--The department leaves Gen. Wise to his superior officer,
Gen. Huger, at Norfolk, who has 15,000 men. But I understand that Huger
says Wise has ample means for the defense of the island, and refuses to
let him have more men. This looks like a man-trap of the "Red-tapers"
to get rid of a popular leader. I hope the President will interfere.
JANUARY 14TH.--All calm and quiet to-day.
JANUARY 15TH.--I forgot to mention the fact that some weeks ago I
received a work in manuscript from London, sent thither before the war,
and brought by a bearer of dispatches from our Commissioner, Hon.
Ambrose Dudley Mann, to whom I had written on the subject. I owe him a
debt of gratitude for this kindness. When peace is restored, I shall
have in readiness some contributions to the literature of the South, and
my family, if I should not survive, may derive pecuniary benefit from
them. I look for a long war, unless a Napoleon springs up among us, a
thing not at all probable, for I believe there are those who are
constantly on the watch for such dangerous characters, and they may
possess the power to nip all embryo emperors in the bud.
Some of our functionaries are not justly entitled to the great positions
they occupy. They attained them by a species of _snap-judgement_, from
which there may be an appeal hereafter. It is very certain that many of
our _best_ men have no adequate positions, and revolutions are mutable
things.
JANUARY 16TH.--To-day, Mr. Benjamin, whom I met in the hall of the
department, said, "I don't grant any passports to leave the country,
except to a few men on business for the government. I have ceased to
grant any for some time past." I merely remarked that I was glad to hear
it.
Immediately on returning to my office I referred to my book, and counted
the names of fifty persons to whom the Secretary had granted passports
within thirty days; and these were not all agents of the government. Mr.
Benjamin reminded me of Daniel Webster, when he used to make solemn
declarations that his friends in office were likewise the partisans of
President Tyler.
JANUARY 17TH.--A Mr. O. Hendricks, very lately of the U. S. Coast
Survey, has returned from a tour of the coast of North Carolina, and has
been commissioned a lieutenant by the Secretary of War. He says Burnside
will take Roanoke Island, and that Wise and all his men will be
captured. It is a _man-trap_.
JANUARY 18TH.--Gen. L. P. Walker, the first Secretary of War, is
assigned to duty in the Southwest under Gen. Bragg. How can he obey the
orders of one who was so recently under his command? I think it
probable he will resign again before the end of the campaign.
JANUARY 19TH.--There has been a storm on the coast, sinking some of the
enemy's ships. Col. Allen, of New Jersey, was lost. He was once at my
house in Burlington, and professed to be friendly to the Southern cause.
I think he said he owned land and slaves in Texas.
JANUARY 20TH.--Mr. Memminger advertises to pay interest on certain
government bonds in _specie_. That won't last long. He is paying 50 per
cent. premium in treasury notes for the specie, and the bonds are given
for treasury notes. What sort of financiering is this?
JANUARY 21ST.--A great number of Germans and others are going to
Norfolk, thinking, as one remarked, if they can't go to the United
States the United States will soon come to them. Many believe that
Burnside will get Norfolk. I think differently, but I may be mistaken.
JANUARY 22D.--Some of the letter-carriers' passports from Mr. Benjamin,
which have the countenance of Gen. Winder, are now going into Tennessee.
What is this for? We shall see.
JANUARY 23D.--Again the Northern papers give the most extravagant
numbers to our army in Kentucky. Some estimates are as high as 150,000.
I know, and Mr. Benjamin knows, that Gen. Johnston has not exceeding
29,000 effective men. And the Secretary knows that Gen. J. has given him
timely notice of the inadequacy of his force to hold the position at
Bowling Green. The Yankees are well aware of our weakness, but they
intend to claim the astounding feat of routing 150,000 men with 100,000!
And they suppose that by giving us credit for such a vast army, we shall
not deem it necessary to send reinforcements. Well, _reinforcements are
not sent_.
JANUARY 24TH.--Beauregard has been ordered to the West. I knew the doom
was upon him! But he will make his mark even at Columbus, though the
place seems to me to be altogether untenable and of no practicable
importance, since the enemy may attack both in front and rear. It would
seem that some of the jealous functionaries would submit to any
misfortune which would destroy Beauregard's popularity. But these are
exceptions: they are few and far between, thank Heaven!
JANUARY 25TH.--The French players have been permitted by the Secretary
to leave the country. But _British_ subjects are now refused passports.
JANUARY 26TH.--President Tyler has been elected to Congress by an
overwhelming majority.
JANUARY 27TH.--The Secretary of War has issued such a peremptory order
to Gen. Wise, that the latter has no alternative but to attempt the
defense of Roanoke Island with 3000 men against 15,000 and a fleet of
gun-boats. The general is quite sick, but he will fight. His son, Capt.
O. Jennings Wise, who has been under fire many times already, commands a
company on the island. He will _deserve_ promotion. The government seems
to have proscribed the great men of the past and their families, as if
_this government was the property of the few men who happen to wield
power at the present moment_. Arrogance and presumption in the South
must, sooner or later, have a fall. The great men who were the leaders
of this revolution may be ignored, but they cannot be kept down by the
smaller fry who aspire to wield the destinies of a great and patriotic
people. Smith and Lovell, New York politicians and Street Commissioners,
have been made _major_-generals, while Wise and Breckinridge are
brigadiers.
JANUARY 28TH.--There must soon be collisions in the West on a large
scale; but the system of lying, in vogue among the Yankees, most
effectually defeats all attempts at reliable computation of numbers.
They say we have 150,000 men in Tennessee and Kentucky, whereas we have
not 60,000. Their own numbers they represent to be not exceeding 50,000,
but I suspect they have three times that number. The shadows of events
are crowding thickly upon us, and the events will speak for
themselves--and that speedily.
JANUARY 29TH.--What we want is a military man capable of directing
operations in the field everywhere. I think Lee is such a man. But can
he, a modest man and a Christian, aspire to such a position? Would not
Mr. Benjamin throw his influence against such a suggestion? I trust the
President will see through the mist generated around him.
JANUARY 30TH.--Some of the mysterious letter-carriers, who have just
returned from their jaunt into Tennessee, are applying again for
passports to Baltimore, Washington, etc. I refuse them, though they are
recommended by Gen. Winder's men; but they will obtain what they want
from the Secretary himself, or his Assistant Secretary.
JANUARY 31ST.--What if these men (they have passports) should be going
to Washington to report the result of their reconnoissances in
Tennessee? The Tennessee River is high, and we have no casemated
batteries, or batteries of any sort, on it above Fort Henry.
CHAPTER XI.
Fall of Fort Henry.--Of Fort Donelson.--Lugubrious Inauguration of the
President in the Permanent Government.--Loss of Roanoke Island.
FEBRUARY 1ST.--We had a startling rumor yesterday that New Orleans had
been taken by the enemy, without firing a gun. I hastened to the
Secretary and asked him if it could be true. He had not heard of it, and
turned pale. But a moment after, recollecting the day on which it was
said the city had fallen, he seized a New Orleans paper of a subsequent
date, and said the news could not be true, since the paper made no
mention of it.
FEBRUARY 2D.--The rumor of yesterday originated in the assertion of a
Yankee paper that New Orleans _would_ be taken without firing a gun.
Some of our people fear it may be so, since Mr. Benjamin's friend, Gen.
Lovell, who came from New York since the battle of Manassas, is charged
with the defense of the city. He delivered lectures, it is said, last
summer on the defenses of New York--_in that city_. Have we not Southern
men of sufficient genius to make generals of, for the defense of the
South, without sending to New York for military commanders?
FEBRUARY 3D.--We have intelligence of the sailing of an expedition from
Cairo for the reduction of Fort Henry on the Tennessee River.
FEBRUARY 4TH.--Burnside has entered the Sound at Hatteras with his fleet
of gun-boats and transports. The work will soon begin.
FEBRUARY 5TH.--I am sorry to hear that Gen. Wise is quite ill. But, on
his back, as on his feet, he will direct operations, and the enemy will
be punished whenever he comes in reach of him.
FEBRUARY 6TH.--The President is preparing his Inaugural Message for the
22d, when he is to begin his new administration of six years. He is to
read it from the Washington Monument in Capitol Square.
FEBRUARY 7TH.--We have vague rumors of fighting at Roanoke. Nothing
reliable.
FEBRUARY 8-20TH.--Such astounding events have occurred since the 8th
instant, such an excitement has prevailed, and so incessant have been my
duties, that I have not kept a regular journal. I give a running account
of them.
Roanoke has fallen before superior numbers, although we had 15,000 idle
troops at Norfolk within hearing of the battle. The government would not
interfere, and Gen. Huger refused to allow the use of a few thousand of
his troops.
But Gen. Wise is safe; Providence willed that he should escape the
"man-trap." When the enemy were about to open fire on his headquarters
at Nag's Head, knowing him to be prostrated with illness (for the island
had then been surrendered after a heroic defense), Lieutenants Bagly and
Wise bore the general away in a blanket to a distance of ten or fifteen
miles. The Yankees would have gladly exchanged all their prisoners for
Gen. Wise, who is ever a terror to the North.
Capt. O. Jennings Wise fell, while gallantly cheering his men, in the
heat of the battle. A thousand of the enemy fell before a few hundred of
our brave soldiers. We lost some 2500 men, for there was no alternative
but to surrender.
Capt. Wise told the Yankee officers, who persisted in forcing themselves
in his presence during his dying moments, that the South could never be
subjugated. They might exterminate us, but every man, woman, and child
would prefer death to abject subjugation. And he died with a sweet smile
on his lip, eliciting the profound respect of his most embittered
enemies.
The enemy paroled our men taken on the island; and we recovered the
remains of the heroic Capt. Wise. His funeral here was most impressive,
and saddened the countenances of thousands who witnessed the pageant.
None of the members of the government were present; but the ladies threw
flowers and evergreens upon his bier. He is dead--but history will do
him justice; and his example will inspire others with the spirit of true
heroism.
And President Tyler is no more on earth. He died after a very brief
illness. There was a grand funeral, Mr. Hunter and others delivering
orations. They came to me, supposing I had written one of the several
biographies of the deceased which have appeared during the last twenty
years. But I had written none--and none published were worthy of the
subject. I could only refer them to the bound volumes of the MADISONIAN
in the State library for his messages and other State papers. The
originals are among my papers in the hands of the enemy. His history is
yet to be written--and it will be read centuries hence.
Fort Henry has fallen. Would that were all! The catalogue of disasters I
feared and foretold, under the policy adopted by the War Department, may
be a long and a terrible one.
The mission of the spies to East Tennessee is now apparent. Three of the
enemy's gun-boats have ascended the Tennessee River to the very head of
navigation, while the women and children on its banks could do nothing
more than gaze in mute despair. No batteries, no men were there. The
absence of these is what the traitors, running from here to Washington,
have been reporting to the enemy. Their boats would no more have
ventured up that river without the previous exploration of spies, than
Mr. Lincoln would dare to penetrate a cavern without torch-bearers, in
which the rattle of venomous snakes could be heard. They have ascended
to Florence, and may get footing in Alabama and Mississippi!
And Fort Donelson has been attacked by an immensely superior force. We
have 15,000 men there to resist, perhaps, 75,000! Was ever such
management known before? Who is responsible for it? If Donelson falls,
what becomes of the ten or twelve thousand men at Bowling Green?
FEBRUARY 21ST.--All our garrison in Fort Henry, with Gen. Tilghman,
surrendered. I think we had only 1500 men there. Guns, ammunition, and
stores, all gone.
No news from Donelson--and that is _bad_ news. Benjamin says he has no
definite information. But prisoners taken say the enemy have been
reinforced, and are hurling 80,000 against our 15,000.
FEBRUARY 22D.--Such a day! The heavens weep incessantly. Capitol Square
is black with umbrellas; and a shelter has been erected for the
President to stand under.
I walked up to the monument and heard the Inaugural read by the
President. He read it well, and seemed self-poised in the midst of
disasters, which he acknowledged had befallen us. And he admitted that
there had been errors in our war policy. We had attempted operations on
too extensive a scale, thus diffusing our powers which should have been
concentrated. I like these candid confessions. They augur a different
policy hereafter, and we may hope for better results in the future. We
must all stand up for our country.
Mr. Hunter has resigned, and taken his place in the Senate.
FEBRUARY 23D.--At last we have the astounding tidings that Donelson has
fallen, and Buckner, and 9000 men, arms, stores, everything are in
possession of the enemy! Did the President know it yesterday? Or did the
Secretary keep it back till the new government (permanent) was launched
into existence? Wherefore? The Southern _people_ cannot be daunted by
calamity!
Last night it was still raining--and it rained all night. It was a
lugubrious reception at the President's mansion. But the President
himself was calm, and Mrs. Davis seemed in spirits. For a long time I
feared the bad weather would keep the people away; and the thought
struck me when I entered, that if there were a Lincoln spy present, we
should have more ridicule in the Yankee presses on the paucity of
numbers attending the reception. But the crowd came at last, and filled
the ample rooms. The permanent government had its birth in storm, but it
may yet flourish in sunshine. For my own part, however, I think a
provisional government of few men, should have been adopted "for the
war."
FEBRUARY 24TH.--Gen. Sydney Johnston has evacuated Bowling Green with
his _ten or twelve_ thousand men! Where is his mighty army now? It never
did exist!
FEBRUARY 25TH.--And Nashville must fall--although no one seems to
anticipate such calamity. We must run the career of disasters allotted
us, and await the turning of the tide.
FEBRUARY 26TH.--Congress, in secret session, has authorized the
declaration of martial law in this city, and at some few other places.
This might be well under other circumstances; but it will not be well if
the old general in command should be clothed with powers which he has no
qualifications to wield advantageously. The facile old man will do
_anything_ the Secretary advises.
Our army is to fall back from Manassas! The Rappahannock is not to be
our line of _defense_. Of course the enemy will soon strike at Richmond
from some direction. I have given great offense to some of our people by
saying the policy of permitting men to go North at will, will bring the
enemy to the gates of the city in ninety days. Several have told me that
the prediction has been marked in the Secretary's tablets, and that I am
marked for destruction if it be not verified. I reply that I would
rather be destroyed than that it should be fulfilled.
FEBRUARY 27TH.--Columbus is to be evacuated. Beauregard sees that it is
untenable with Forts Henry and Donelson in possession of the enemy. He
will not be caught in such a trap as that. But he is erecting a battery
at Island No. 10 that will give the Yankees trouble. I hope it may stay
the catalogue of disasters.
FEBRUARY 28TH.--These calamities may be a wholesome chastening for us.
We shall now go to work and raise troops enough to defend the country.
Congress will certainly pass the Conscription Act recommended by the
President.
CHAPTER XII.
Nashville evacuated.--Martial law.--Passports.--Com. Buchanan's naval
engagement.--Gen. Winder's blunders.--Mr. Benjamin Secretary of
State.--Lee commander-in chief.--Mr. G. W. Randolph Secretary of
War.
MARCH 1ST.--It is certain that the City of Nashville has been evacuated,
and will, of course, be occupied by the enemy. Gen. Johnston, with the
remnant of his army, has fallen down to Murfreesborough, and as that is
not a point of military importance, will in turn be abandoned, and the
enemy will drop out of the State into Alabama or Mississippi.
MARCH 2D.--Gen. Jos. E. Johnston has certainly made a skillful
retrograde movement in the face of the enemy at Manassas. He has been
keeping McClellan and his 210,000 men at bay for a long time with about
40,000. After the abandonment of his works it was a long time before the
enemy knew he had retrograded. They approached very cautiously, and
found that they had been awed by a few _Quaker guns--logs of wood_ in
position, and so painted as to resemble cannon. Lord, how the Yankee
press will quiz McClellan!
MARCH 3D.--But McClellan would not advance. He could not drag his
artillery at this season of the year; and so he is embarking his army,
or the greater portion of it, for the Peninsula.
MARCH 4TH.--We shall have stirring times here. Our troops are to be
marched through Richmond immediately, for the defense of Yorktown--the
same town surrendered by Lord Cornwallis to Washington. But its fall or
its successful defense now will signify nothing.
MARCH 5TH.--Martial law has been proclaimed.
MARCH 6TH.--Some consternation among the citizens--they dislike martial
law.
MARCH 7TH.--Gen. Winder has established a guard with fixed bayonets at
the door of the passport office. They let in only a few at a time, and
these, when they get their passports, pass out by the rear door, it
being impossible for them to return through the crowd.
MARCH 8TH.--Gen. Winder has appointed Capt. Godwin Provost Marshal.
MARCH 9TH.--Gen. Winder has appointed Col. Porter Provost
Marshal,--Godwin not being high enough in rank, I suppose.
MARCH 10TH.--One of the friends of the Secretary of War came to me
to-day, and proposed to have some new passports printed, with the
likeness of Mr. Benjamin engraved on them. He said, I think, the
engraving had already been made. I denounced the project as absurd, and
said there were some five or ten thousand printed passports on hand.
MARCH 11TH.--I have summed up the amounts of patriotic contributions
received by the army in Virginia, and registered on my book, and they
amount to $1,515,898.[1]
The people of the respective States contributed as follows:
North Carolina $325,417
Alabama 317,600
Mississippi 272,670
Georgia 244,885
South Carolina 137,206
Texas 87,800
Louisiana 61,950
Virginia[1] 48,070
Tennessee 17,000
Florida 2,350
Arkansas 950
MARCH 12TH.--Gen. Winder moved the passport office up to the corner of
Ninth and Broad Streets.
The office at the corner of Ninth and Broad Streets was a filthy one; it
was inhabited--for they slept there---by his rowdy clerks. And when I
stepped to the hydrant for a glass of water, the tumbler repulsed me by
the smell of whisky. There was no towel to wipe my hands with, and in
the long basement room underneath, were a thousand garments of dead
soldiers, taken from the hospitals and the battle-field, and exhaling a
most disagreeable, if not deleterious, odor.
MARCH 13TH.--Nevertheless, I am (temporarily) signing my name to the
passports, yet issued by the authority of the Secretary of War. They are
filled up and issued by three or four of the Provost Marshal's clerks,
who are governed mainly by my directions, as neither Col. Porter nor the
clerks, nor Gen. Winder himself, have the slightest idea of the
geography of the country occupied by the enemy. The clerks are all
Marylanders, as well as the detectives, and the latter intend to remain
here to my great chagrin.
MARCH 14TH.--The Provost Marshal, Col. Porter, has had new passports
printed, to which his own name is to be appended. I am requested to sign
it for him, and to instruct the clerks generally.
MARCH 15TH.--For several days troops have been pouring through the city,
marching down the Peninsula. The enemy are making demonstrations against
Yorktown.
MARCH 16TH.--I omitted to note in its place the gallant feat of
Commodore Buchanan with the iron monster Merrimac in Hampton Roads. He
destroyed two of the enemy's best ships of war. My friends, Lieutenants
Parker and Minor, partook of the glory, and were severely wounded.
MARCH 17TH.--Col. Porter has resigned his provost marshalship, and is
again succeeded by Capt. Godwin, a _Virginian_, and I like him very
well, for he is truly Southern in his instincts.
MARCH 18TH.--A Mr. MacCubbin, of Maryland, has been appointed by Gen.
Winder the Chief of Police. He is wholly illiterate, like the rest of
the policemen under his command.
MARCH 19TH.--Mr. MacCubbin, whom I take to be a sort of Scotch-Irishman,
though reared in the mobs of Baltimore, I am informed has given some
passports, already signed, to some of his friends. This interference
will produce a rupture between Capt. Godwin and Capt. MacCubbin; but as
the former is a Virginian, he may have the worst of it in the bear
fight.
MARCH 20TH.--There is skirmishing everyday on the Peninsula. We have not
exceeding 60,000 men there, while the enemy have 158,000. It is fearful
odds. And they have a fleet of gun-boats.
MARCH 21ST.--Gen. Winder's detectives are very busy. They have been
forging prescriptions to _catch_ the poor Richmond apothecaries. When
the brandy is thus obtained it is confiscated, and the money withheld.
They drink the brandy, and imprison the apothecaries.
MARCH 22D.--Capt. Godwin, the Provost Marshal, was swearing furiously
this morning at the policemen about their iniquitous _forgeries_.
MARCH 23D.--Gen. Winder was in this morning listening to something
MacCubbin was telling him about the Richmond _Whig_. It appears that, in
the course of a leading article, enthusiastic for the cause, the editor
remarked, "we have arms and ammunition now." The policemen, one and all,
interpreted this as a violation of the order to the press to abstain
from speaking of the arrivals of arms, etc. from abroad. Gen. Winder,
without looking at the paper, said in a loud voice, "Go and arrest the
editor--and close his office!" Two or three of the policemen started
off on this errand. But I interposed, and asked them to wait a moment,
until I could examine the paper. I found no infraction of the order in
the truly patriotic article, and said so to Gen. Winder. "Well," said
he, "if he has not violated the order, he must not be arrested." He took
the paper, and read for himself; and then, without saying anything more,
departed.
When he was gone, I asked MacCubbin what was the phraseology of the
order that "had been served on the editors." He drew it from his pocket,
saying it had been shown to them, _and not left with them_. It was in
the handwriting of Mr. Benjamin, and signed by Gen. Winder. And I
learned that all the orders, sumptuary and others, had been similarly
written and signed. Mr. Benjamin used the pencil and not the pen in
writing these orders, supposing, of course, they would be copied by Gen.
W.'s clerks. But they were not copied. The policemen threaten to stop
the _Examiner_ soon, for that paper has been somewhat offensive to the
_aliens_ who now have rule here.
MARCH 24TH.--Gen. Walker, of Georgia--the same who had the scene with
Col. Bledsoe--has resigned. I am sorry that the Confederate States must
lose his services, for he is a brave man, covered with honorable scars.
He has displeased the Secretary of War.
MARCH 25TH.--Gen. Bonham, of South Carolina, has also resigned, for
being overslaughed. His were the _first_ troops that entered Virginia to
meet the enemy; and because some of his three months' men were
reorganized into fresh regiments, his brigade was dissolved, and his
commission canceled.
Price, Beauregard, Walker, Bonham, Toombs, Wise, Floyd, and others of
the brightest lights of the South have been somehow successively
obscured. And Joseph E. Johnston is a doomed fly, sooner or later, for
he said, not long since, that there could be no hope of success as long
as Mr. Benjamin was Secretary of War. These words were spoken at a
dinner-table, and will reach the ears of the Secretary.
MARCH 26TH.--The apothecaries arrested and imprisoned some days ago have
been tried and acquitted by a court-martial. Gen. Winder indorsed on the
order for their discharge: _"Not approved, and you may congratulate
yourselves upon escaping a merited punishment."_
MARCH 27TH.--It is said Mr. Benjamin has been dismissed, or resigned.
MARCH 28TH.--Mr. Benjamin has been promoted. He is now Secretary of
State.
His successor in the War Department is G. W. Randolph, a lawyer of
modest pretensions, who, although he has lived for several years in this
city, does not seem to have a dozen acquaintances. But he inherits a
name, being descended from Thomas Jefferson, and, I believe, likewise
from the Mr. Randolph in Washington's cabinet. Mr. Randolph was a
captain at Bethel under Magruder; and subsequently promoted to a
colonelcy. Announcing his determination to quit the military service
more than a month ago, he entered the field as a competitor for the seat
in Congress left vacant by the death of President Tyler. Hon. James
Lyons was elected, and Col. Randolph got no votes at all.
MARCH 30TH.--Gen. Lee is to have command of all the armies--but will not
be in the field himself. He will reside here. Congress passed an act to
create a commanding general; but this was vetoed, for trenching on the
executive prerogative--or failed in some way. The proceedings were in
secret session.
MARCH 31ST.--Gen. Joseph E. Johnston is to command on the Peninsula. The
President took an affectionate leave of him the other day; and Gen. Lee
held his hand a long time, and admonished him to take care of his life.
There was no necessity for him to endanger it--as had just been done by
the brave Sydney Johnston at Shiloh, whose fall is now universally
lamented. This Gen. Johnston (Joseph E.) I believe has the misfortune to
be wounded in most of his battles.
CHAPTER XIII.
Gen. Beauregard succeeds Gen. Sydney Johnston.--Dibble, the traitor.--
Enemy at Fredericksburg.--They say we will be subdued by the 15th of
June.--Lee rapidly concentrating at Richmond.--Webster, the spy, hung.
APRIL 1ST.--Gen. Sydney Johnston having fallen in battle, the command in
the West devolved on Gen. Beauregard, whose recent defense at Island No.
10 on the Mississippi, has revived his popularity. But, I repeat, he is
a doomed man.
APRIL 2D.--Gen. Wise is here with his report of the Roanoke disaster.
APRIL 3D.--Congress is investigating the Roanoke affair. Mr. Benjamin
has been denounced in Congress by Mr. Foote and others as the sole cause
of the calamities which have befallen the country.
I wrote a letter to the President, offering to show that I had given no
passport to Mr. Dibble, the traitor, and also the evidences, in his own
handwriting, that Mr. Benjamin granted it.
APRIL 4TH.--The enemy are shelling our camp at Yorktown. I can hear the
reports of the guns, of a damp evening. We are sending back defiance
with our guns.
The President has not taken any notice of my communication. Mr. Benjamin
is too powerful to be affected by such proofs of such small matters.
APRIL 5TH.--Newbern, N. C., has fallen into the hands of the enemy! Our
men, though opposed by greatly superior numbers, made a brave
resistance, and killed and wounded 1000 of the invaders.
The enemy were piloted up the river to Newbern by the same _Mr. Dibble_
to whom I refused a passport, but to whom the Secretary of War granted
one.
The press everywhere is commenting on the case of Dibble--_but Mordecai
still sits at the gate_.
APRIL 6TH.--Two spies (Lincoln's detective police) have been arrested
here, tried by court-martial, and condemned to be hung. There is an
awful silence among the Baltimore detectives, which bodes no harm to the
condemned. They will not be executed, though guilty.
APRIL 7TH.--R. G. H. Kean, a young man, and a connection of Mr.
Randolph, has been appointed Chief of the Bureau of War in place of Col.
Bledsoe, resigned at last. Mr. Kean was, I believe, a lieutenant when
Mr. Randolph was colonel, and acted as his adjutant.
APRIL 8TH.--Col. Bledsoe has been appointed Assistant Secretary of War
by the President. Now he is in his glory, and has forgotten me.
APRIL 9TH.--There are several young officers who have sheathed the
sword, and propose to draw the pen in the civil service.
To-day I asked of the department a month's respite from labor, and
obtained it. But I remained in the city, and watched closely, still
hoping I might serve the cause, or at least prevent more injury to it,
from the wicked facility hitherto enjoyed by spies to leave the country.
APRIL 10TH.--The condemned spies have implicated _Webster_, the
letter-carrier, who has had so many passports. He will hang, probably.
Gen. Winder himself, and his policemen, wrote home by him. I don't
believe him any more guilty than many who used to write by him; and I
mean to tell the Judge Advocate so, if they give me an opportunity.
APRIL 11TH.--The enemy are at Fredericksburg, and the Yankee papers say
it will be all over with us by the 15th of June. I doubt that.
APRIL 12TH.--The committee (Congressional) which have been investigating
the Roanoke Island disaster have come to the conclusion, unanimously,
and the House has voted accordingly, and with unanimity, that the blame
and guilt of that great calamity rest solely upon "Gen. Huger and Judah
P. Benjamin."
APRIL 13TH.--Gen. Wise now resolved to ask for another command, to make
another effort in defense of his country. But, when he waited upon the
Secretary of War, he ascertained that there was no brigade for him.
Returning from thence, some of his officers, who had escaped the trap at
Roanoke, crowded round him to learn the issue of his application.
"There is no Secretary of War!" said he.
"What is Randolph?" asked one.
"He is not Secretary of War!" said he; "he is merely a _clerk_, an
underling, and cannot hold up his head in his humiliating position. He
never will be able to hold up his head, sir."
APRIL 14TH.--There will soon be hard fighting on the Peninsula.
APRIL 15TH.--Gen. Beauregard has written to Gen. Wise, offering him a
command in his army, if the government will consent to it. It will not
be consented to.
APRIL 16TH.--Troops are being concentrated rapidly in Virginia by Gen.
Lee.
APRIL 17TH.--To-day Congress passed an act providing for the termination
of martial law within thirty days after the meeting of the next session.
This was as far as they could _venture_; for, indeed, a majority seem to
be intimidated at the glitter of bayonets in the streets, wielded by the
authority of martial law. The press, too, has taken the alarm, and
several of the publishers have confessed a fear of having their offices
closed, if they dare to speak the sentiments struggling for utterance.
It is, indeed, a reign of terror! Every Virginian, and other loyal
citizens of the South--members of Congress and all--must now, before
obtaining Gen. Winder's permission to leave the city for their homes,
bow down before the _aliens_ in the Provost Marshal's office, and
subscribe to an oath of allegiance, while a file of bayonets are pointed
at his back!
APRIL 18TH.--The President is thin and haggard; and it has been
whispered on the street that he will immediately be baptized and
confirmed. I hope so, because it may place a great gulf between him and
the descendant of those who crucified the Saviour. Nevertheless, some of
his enemies allege that professions of Christianity have sometimes been
the premeditated accompaniments of usurpations. It was so with Cromwell
and with Richard III. Who does not remember the scene in Shakspeare,
where Richard appears on the balcony, with prayer book in hand and a
priest on either side?
APRIL 19TH.--All believe we are near a crisis, involving the possession
of the capital.
APRIL 21ST.--A calm before the storm.
APRIL 22D.--Dibble, the traitor, has been captured by our soldiers in
North Carolina.
APRIL 23D.--The North Carolinians have refused to give up Dibble to Gen.
Winder. And, moreover, the governor has demanded the rendition of a
citizen of his State, who was arrested there by one of Gen. Winder's
detectives, and brought hither. The governor says, if he be not
delivered up, he will institute measures of retaliation, and arrest
every alien policeman from Richmond caught within the limits of his
jurisdiction.
Is it not shameful that martial law should be playing such fantastic
tricks before high heaven, when the enemy's guns are booming within
hearing of the capital?
APRIL 24TH.--Webster has been tried, condemned, and _hung_.
APRIL 25TH.--Gen. Wise, through the influence of Gen. Lee, who is a
Christian gentleman as well as a consummate general, has been ordered
into the field. He will have a brigade, but not with Beauregard. The
President has unbounded confidence in Lee's capacity, modest as he is.
Another change! Provost Marshal Godwin, for rebuking the Baltimore chief
of police, is to leave us, and to be succeeded by a Marylander, Major
Griswold, whose family is now in the enemy's country.
APRIL 26TH.--Gen. Lee is doing good service in bringing forward
reinforcements from the South against the day of trial--and an awful day
awaits us. It is understood that he made fully known to the President
his appreciation of the desperate condition of affairs, and demanded
_carté blanche_ as a condition of his acceptance of the position of
commanding general. The President wisely agreed to the terms.
APRIL 27TH.--Gen. Lee is calm--but the work of preparation goes on night
and day.
APRIL 28TH.--We have rumors of an important cabinet meeting, wherein it
was resolved to advise or command Gen. Johnston to evacuate Yorktown and
retire toward Richmond! Also that Norfolk is to be given up! I don't
believe it; Lee's name is not mentioned.
APRIL 29TH.--Major Griswold is here, and so is a new batch of
Marylanders.
APRIL 30TH.--Troops from the South are coming in and marching down the
Peninsula.
CHAPTER XIV.
Disloyalists entrapped.--Norfolk abandoned.--Merrimac blown up.--Army
falling back.--Mrs. Davis leaves Richmond.--Preparing to burn the
tobacco.--Secretary of War trembles for Richmond.--Richmond to be
defended.--The tobacco.--Winking and blinking.--Johnston's great
battle.--Wounded himself.--The wounded.--The hospitals.
MAY 1ST.--The ladies shower loaves of bread and slices of ham on the
passing troops.
MAY 2D.--An iniquitous-looking prisoner was brought in to-day from
Orange C. H., by the name of Robert Stewart. The evidence against him is
as follows: He is a Pennsylvanian, though a resident of Virginia for a
number of years, and owns a farm in Orange County. Since the series of
disasters, and the seeming downward progress of our affairs, Stewart has
cooled his ardor for independence. He has slunk from enrollment in the
militia, and under the Conscription Act. And since the occupation of
Fredericksburg by the enemy he has made use of such equivocal language
as to convince his neighbors that his sympathies are wholly with the
Northern invader.
A day or two since, near nightfall, three troopers, weary and worn,
halted at Stewart's house and craved food and rest for themselves and
horses. Stewart, supposing them to be Confederate soldiers, declared he
had nothing they wanted, and that he was destitute of every description
of refreshments. They said they were sorry for it, as it was a long ride
to Fredericksburg.
"Are you _Union_ soldiers?" asked Stewart, quickly.
"Yes," said they, "and we are on scouting duty."
"Come in! Come in! I have everything you want!" cried Stewart, and when
they entered he embraced them.
A sumptuous repast was soon on the table, but the soldiers refused to
eat! Surprised at this, Stewart demanded the reason; the troopers rose,
and said they were Confederate soldiers, and it was their duty to arrest
a traitor. They brought him hither. Will he, too, escape merited
punishment?
MAY 3D.--I fear there is something in the rumor that Norfolk and
Portsmouth and Yorktown and the Peninsula will be _given_ up. The
Secretaries of War and Navy are going down to Norfolk.
MAY 4TH.--The Yankees on the Peninsula mean to fight. Well, that is what
our brave army pants for.
MAY 5TH.--The prospect of battle produces a joyous smile on every
soldier's face to-day.
MAY 6TH, 7TH.--We have not yet reached the lowest round of the ladder.
The Secretary is at Norfolk, and the place is to be evacuated. I would
resign first.
MAY 8TH.--Norfolk and Portsmouth are evacuated! Our army falling back!
The Merrimac is to be, or has been, blown up!
MAY 9TH.--My family, excepting my son Custis, started to-day for
Raleigh, N. C., where our youngest daughter is at school. But it is in
reality another flight from the enemy. No one, scarcely, supposes that
Richmond will be defended. But it must be!
MAY 10TH.--The President's family have departed for Raleigh, and the
families of most of the cabinet to their respective homes, or other
places of refuge. The President has been baptized (at home) and
privately confirmed in St. Paul's Church.
MAY 11TH.--The Baltimore detectives are the lords of the ascendant. They
crook a finger, and the best carriages in the street pause, turn round,
and are subject to their will. They loll and roll in glory. And they
ride on horseback, too--government horses, or horses _pressed_ from
gentlemen's stables. One word of remonstrance, and the poor victim is
sent to Castle Godwin.
MAY 12TH.--I suggested to the Provost Marshal several days ago that
there was an act of Congress _requiring_ the destruction of tobacco,
whenever it might be in danger of falling into the hands of the enemy.
He ran to Gen. Winder, and he to some one else, and then a hundred or
more negroes, and as many wagons, were "pressed" by the detectives. They
are now gathering the weed from all quarters, and piling it in "pressed"
warehouses, mixed with "combustibles," ready for the conflagration.
And now the consuls from the different nations are claiming that all
bought on foreign account ought to be spared the torch. Mr. Myers, the
little old lawyer, has been employed to aid them. He told me to-day that
none ought to be burnt, that the Yankees having already the tobacco of
Missouri, Kentucky, and Maryland, if we burn ours it will redound to
their benefit, as it will enhance the price of that in their hands. That
is a Benjamite argument. He hastened away to see the Secretary of State,
and returned, saying, in high glee (supposing I concurred with him, of
course), Mr. B. agreed with him. I told him, very gravely, that it
mattered not who agreed with him; so soon as the enemy came to Richmond
all the tobacco would be burned, as the retiring army would attend to
it; several high officers were so resolved. He looked astounded, and
departed.
MAY 13TH.--This morning I learned that the consuls had carried the day,
and were permitted to collect the tobacco _alleged_ to be bought on
foreign account in separate warehouses, and to place the flags of their
respective nations over them. This was saving the property claimed by
foreigners whose governments refused to recognize us (these consuls are
accredited to the United States), and destroying that belonging to our
own citizens. I told the Provost Marshal that the act of Congress
included _all_ tobacco and cotton, and he was required by _law_ to see
it all destroyed. He, however, acknowledged only martial law, and was,
he said, acting under the instructions of the Secretary of State. What
has the Secretary of State to do with _martial law_? Is there really no
Secretary of War?
Near the door of the Provost Marshal's office, guarded by bayoneted
sentinels, there is a desk presided over by Sergeant Crow, who orders
_transportation_ on the cars to such soldiers as are permitted to rejoin
their regiments. This Crow, a Marylander, keeps a little black-board
hung up and notes with chalk all the regiments that go down the
Peninsula. To-day, I saw a man whom I suspected to be a Yankee spy, copy
with his pencil the list of regiments; and when I demanded his purpose,
he seemed confused. This is the kind of information Gen. McClellan can
afford to pay for very liberally. I drew the Provost Marshal's attention
to this matter, and he ordered a discontinuance of the practice.
MAY 14TH.--Our army has fallen back to within four miles of Richmond.
Much anxiety is felt for the fate of the city. Is there no turning point
in this long lane of downward progress? Truly it may be said, our
affairs at this moment are in a critical condition. I trust in God, and
the chivalry and patriotism of the South _in the field_.
The enemy's fleet of gun-boats are ascending James River, and the
obstructions are not completed. We have but one or two casemated guns in
battery, but we have brave men there.
MAY 15TH.--The enemy's gun-boats, Monitor, Galena, etc. are at Drewry's
Bluff, eight miles below the city, shelling our batteries, and our
batteries are bravely shelling them. The President rode down to the
vicinity this morning, and observed the firing.
The guns are heard distinctly in the city, and yet there is no
consternation manifested by the people. If the enemy pass the
obstructions, the city will be, it is true, very much at their mercy.
They may shell us out of it, and this may occur any hour. South of the
city the enemy have no forces, and we can find refuge there. I suppose
the government would go to Lynchburg. I shall remain with the army, _and
see that the tobacco be burnt, at all hazards, according to law_. I have
seen some of our generals, and am convinced that the Baltimore rabble,
and those that direct them, will be suppressed, or exterminated, if they
attempt to throw impediments in the way of our soldiers in the work of
destroying the tobacco, as enjoined by Congress.
Our marksmen will keep up an incessant fire into the port-holes of the
gun-boats; and if it be at all practicable, we will board them. So hope
is by no means extinct. But it is apprehended, if the enemy get within
shelling distance of the city, there will be an attack along our lines
by McClellan. We must beat him there, as we could never save our guns,
stores, etc. retreating across the river. And we _will_ beat him, for we
have 80,000 men, and more are coming.
Joyful tidings! the gun-boats have been repulsed! A heavy shot from one
of our batteries ranged through the Galena from stem to stern, making
frightful slaughter, and disabling the ship; and the whole fleet turned
about and steamed down the river! We have not lost a dozen men. We
breathe freely; and the government will lose no time in completing the
obstructions and strengthening the batteries.
MAY 16TH.--McClellan is intrenching--that is, at least, significant of a
respite, and of apprehension of attack.
MAY 17TH.--Gen. Lee has admonished Major Griswold on the too free
granting of passports. Will it do any good?
MAY 18TH.--All quiet to-day except the huzzas as fresh troops arrive.
MAY 19TH.--We await the issue before Richmond. It is still believed by
many that it is the intention of the government and the generals to
evacuate the city. If the enemy were to appear in force on the south
side, and another force were to march on us from Fredericksburg, we
should be inevitably taken, in the event of the loss of a battle--an
event I don't anticipate. Army, government, and all, might, it is true,
be involved in a common ruin. Wrote as strong a letter as I could to the
President, stating what I have every reason to believe would be the
consequences of the abandonment of Richmond. There would be
demoralization and even insubordination in the army. Better die here!
With the exception of the business portion of the city, the enemy could
not destroy a great many houses by bombardment. But if defeated and
driven back, our troops would make a heroic defense in the streets, in
the walled grave-yards, and from the windows. Better electrify the world
by such scenes of heroism, than surrender the capital and endanger the
cause. I besought him by every consideration not to abandon Richmond to
the enemy short of the last extremity.
The legislature has also passed resolutions calling upon the C. S.
Government to defend Richmond at all hazards, relieving the Confederate
authorities, in advance, of all responsibility for any damage sustained.
This will have its effect. It would be pusillanimous to retire now.
But every preparation had been made to abandon it. The archives had been
sent to Columbia, S. C. and to Lynchburg. The tracks over the bridges
had been covered with plank, to facilitate the passage of artillery. Mr.
Randolph had told his page, and cousin, "you must go with my wife into
the country, for to-morrow the enemy will be here." Trunks were packed
in readiness--for what? Not one would have been taken on the cars! The
Secretary of the Treasury had a special locomotive and cars, constantly
with steam up, in readiness to fly with the treasure.
Nevertheless, many of the _old_ secessionists have resolved not to leave
their homes, for there were no other homes for them to fly to. They say
they will never take the oath of allegiance to the despised government
of the North, but suffer whatever penalties may be imposed on them.
There is a sullen, but generally a calm expression of inflexible
determination on the countenances of the people, men, women, and
children. But there is no consternation; we have learned to contemplate
death with composure. It would be at least an effectual escape from
dishonor; and Northern domination is dishonor.
MAY 20TH.--The President, in response to the Legislative Committee,
announced that Richmond would be defended. A thrill of joy electrifies
every heart, a smile of triumph is on every lip. The inhabitants seem to
know that their brave defenders in the field will prove invincible; and
it is understood that Gen. Lee considers the city susceptible of
successful defense. The ladies are in ecstasies.
MAY 21ST.--There are skirmishes every day, and we can hear both the
artillery and musketry from the hills on the outskirts of the city,
whither some of us repair every afternoon.
But the Provost Marshal's administration is abominable. Mr. Garnett, M.
C., told me that in an interview with the President, the latter informed
him that he had just received a letter from Gen. Johnston, stating that
the enemy not only knew everything going on within our lines, but seemed
absolutely to know what we intended doing in the future, as if the most
secret counsels of the cabinet were divulged.
Count Mercier, the French Minister residing at Washington, has been here
on a mysterious errand. They said it referred to our recognition. He had
prolonged interviews with Mr. Benjamin. I think it was concerning
tobacco. There are $60,000,000 worth in Richmond, at French prices. For
$1,000,000, Mr. Seward might afford to wink very hard; and, after
distributing several other millions, there would be a grand total profit
both to the owners and the French Emperor. I smile at their golden
expectations, for I know they will not be realized. If one man can
prevent it, the South shall never be betrayed for a crop of tobacco.
This is a holy cause we are embarked in, worthy to die for.
The British Minister, Lord Lyons, has embarked for England, to report to
his government that "the rebellion is on its last legs," and must
speedily succumb. He is no prophet, or the son of a prophet.
MAY 22D.--There is lightning in the Northwest, and the deep thunder of
avenging guns is heard at Washington! Gen. Jackson, sent thither by Gen.
Lee, is sweeping everything before him, defeating Shields, Banks,
Fremont, and one or two other Yankee major-generals, with his little
_corps d'armée_! And his coadjutor, Ewell, is worthy of his
companionship. He has swept them out of the valley, scattering their
hosts like quails before the fowler! They fly in every direction; and
the powers at Washington are trembling for the safety of their own
capital. Glorious Jackson! and he gives, as is justly due, the glory to
God.
MAY 23D.--Oh, the extortioners! Meats of all kinds are selling at 50
cts. per pound; butter, 75 cts.; coffee, $1.50; tea, $10; boots, $30 per
pair; shoes, $18; ladies' shoes, $15; shirts, $6 each. Houses that
rented for $500 last year, are $1000 now. Boarding, from $30 to $40 per
month. Gen. Winder has issued an order fixing the maximum prices of
certain articles of marketing, which has only the effect of keeping a
great many things out of market. The farmers have to pay the merchants
and Jews their extortionate prices, and complain very justly of the
partiality of the general. It does more harm than good.
MAY 24TH.--Every day the two armies are shelling each other, more or
less; and every gun can be heard from the Hospital Hill, north of the
city, whither many repair to listen.
MAY 25TH.--The enemy send up several balloons every day. Sometimes three
can be seen at once. They are stationary, being fastened by ropes to
trees; and give us an idea of the extent of his lines. But with glasses
they can not only see our camps around the city, but they can view every
part of the city itself.
MAY 26TH.--Gen. Lee is still strengthening the army. Every day
additional regiments are coming. We are now so strong that no one fears
the result when the great battle takes place. McClellan has delayed too
long, and he is doomed to defeat. The tobacco savers know it well, and
their faces exhibit chagrin and disappointment. Their fortunes will not
be made this year, and so their reputations may be saved.
MAY 27TH.--More troops came in last night, and were marched to the camp
at once, so that the Yankees will know nothing of it.
MAY 28TH.--Prisoners and deserters from the enemy say the Yankees get
the Richmond papers, every day, almost as soon as we do. This is a
great advantage they possess; and it demonstrates the fact that the
Provost Marshal has interposed no effectual barriers between us and the
enemy.
MAY 29TH.--More troops are marching into the city, and Gen. Lee has them
sent out in such manner and at such times as to elude the observations
of even the spies.
MAY 30TH.--It is said some of the enemy's mounted pickets rode through
the city last night! Northern papers manifest much confidence in the
near approach of the downfall of Richmond, and the end of the
"rebellion." The 15th of June is the utmost limit allowed us for
existence. A terrific storm arose yesterday; and as our scouts report
the left wing of the enemy on this side of the Chickahominy, Gen.
Johnston has determined to attack it to-morrow. Thank God, we are strong
enough to make the attack!
MAY 31ST.--Everybody is upon the tip-toe of expectation. It has been
announced (in the streets!) that a battle would take place this day, and
hundreds of men, women, and children repaired to the hills to listen,
and possibly to see, the firing. The great storm day before yesterday,
it is supposed, has so swollen the Chickahominy as to prevent
McClellan's left wing from retreating, and reinforcements from being
sent to its relief. The time is well chosen by Gen. Johnston for the
attack, but it was bad policy to let it be known where and when it would
be made; for, no doubt, McClellan was advised of our plans an hour or so
after they were promulged in the streets. Whose fault is this? Johnston
could hardly be responsible for it, because he is very reticent, and
appreciates the importance of keeping his purposes concealed from the
enemy. Surely none of his subordinates divulged the secret, for none but
generals of division knew it. It must have been found out and proclaimed
by some one in the _tobacco_ interest. It is true, Mr. Randolph told Mr.
Jacques a great battle would begin at 8 A.M., to-day; but he would not
propagate such news as that!
But the battle did not occur at the time specified. Gen. Huger's
division was not at the allotted place of attack at the time fixed upon.
His excuse is that there was a stream to cross, and understanding Gen.
Longstreet was his senior in command (which is not the fact, however),
he permitted his division to have _precedence_. All the divisions were
on the ground in time but Huger's, but still no battle. Thousands of
impatient spectators are venting their criticisms and anathemas, like
an audience at a theater when some accident or disarrangement behind the
scenes prevents the curtain from rising.
At last, toward noon, a few guns are heard; but it was not till 4 P.M.
that Huger's division came upon the field. Nevertheless, the battle
began in earnest before that hour; and we could hear distinctly not only
the cannon but the musketry.
The hearts of our soldiers have been inspired with heroic resolution,
and their arms nerved with invincible power to overcome the difficulties
known to be in the way. Every one is aware that the camp of the enemy,
on this side of the Chickahominy, is almost impregnably intrenched; and
in front of the works trees have been cut down and the limbs sharpened,
so as to interpose every obstacle to our advance.
Ever and anon after rapid firing of cannon, and a tremendous rattle of
musketry, a pause would ensue; and we knew what this meant! A battery
had been taken at the point of the bayonet, and we cheered accordingly.
One after another, we could in this manner perceive the strongholds of
the enemy fall into our hands.
Toward sundown it was apparent that the intrenched camp had been taken;
and as the deep booming of cannon became more distant, and the rattle of
musketry less distinct, we felt certain that the foe was flying, and
that our men were pursuing them. But we _knew_ that our men would take
everything they were ordered to take. _They_ care not for wounds and
death. This is their only country. But the enemy have a country to run
to, and they hope to live, even if defeated here. If they kill all our
young men, the old men and women, and even our children, will seize
their arms and continue the conflict.
At night. The ambulances are coming in with our wounded. They report
that all the enemy's strong defenses were stormed, just as we could
perceive from the sounds. They say that our brave men suffered much in
advancing against the intrenchments, exposed to the fire of cannon and
small arms, without being able to see the foe under their shelter; but
when they leaped over the breastworks and turned the enemy's guns on
them, our loss was more than compensated. Our men were shot in front;
the enemy in the back--and terrible was the slaughter. We got their
tents, all standing, and a sumptuous repast that had just been served
up when the battle began. Gen. Casey's headquarters were taken, and his
_plate_ and smoking viands were found on his table. His papers fell into
our hands. We got a large amount of stores and refreshments, so much
needed by our poor braves! There were boxes of lemons, oranges, brandies
and wines, and all the luxuries of distant lands which enter the
unrestricted ports of the United States. These things were narrated by
the pale and bleeding soldiers, who smiled in triumph at their
achievement. Not one in the long procession of ambulances uttered a
complaint. Did they really suffer pain from their wounds? This question
was asked by thousands, and the reply was, "not much." Women and
children and slaves are wending to the hospitals, with baskets of
refreshments, lint, and bandages. Every house is offered for a hospital,
and every matron and gentle daughter, a tender nurse.
But how fares it with the invader? Unable to recross the swollen
Chickahominy, the Yankees were driven into an almost impenetrable swamp,
where they must pass the night in water up to their knees. The wounded
borne off by them will have no ministrations from their sisters and
mothers, and their dead are abandoned on the field. If Huger had come up
at the time appointed, the enemy would have been ruined.
CHAPTER XV.
Huger fails again.--A wounded boy.--The killed and wounded.--Lee assumes
command.--Lee prepares to attack McClellan--Beauregard watches the
gold.--Our generals scattered.--Hasty letter from Gen. Lee.--Opening
of grand battle.--First day, 26th June.--Second, etc.--Lee's
consummate skill.--Every day for a week it rages.--Streets crowded
with Blue Jackets.--McClellan retires.
JUNE 1ST.--The ambulances are now bringing in the enemy's wounded as
well as our own. It is the prompting of humanity. They seem truly
grateful for this magnanimity, as they call it; a sentiment hitherto
unknown to them.
The battle was renewed to-day, but not seriously. The failure of Gen.
Huger to lead his division into action at the time appointed, is
alleged as the only reason why the left wing of the enemy was not
completely destroyed. But large masses of the enemy did cross the river,
on bridges constructed for the purpose, and they had 50,000 men engaged
against a much less number on our part; and their batteries played upon
us from the north bank of the Chickahominy. The flying foe kept under
shelter of this fire--and these guns could not be taken, as the pontoon
bridge was defended by heavy artillery.
All day the wounded were borne past our boarding-house in Third Street,
to the general hospital; and hundreds, with shattered arms and slight
flesh wounds, came in on foot. I saw a boy, not more than fifteen years
old (from South Carolina), with his hand in a sling. He showed me his
wound. A ball had entered between the fingers of his left hand and
lodged near the wrist, where the flesh was much swollen. He said,
smiling, "I'm going to the hospital just to have the ball cut out, and
will then return to the battle-field. I can fight with my right hand."
The detectives are jubilant to-day. They say one of their number, ----,
did heroic feats of arms on the field, killing a Yankee colonel, and a
private who came to the rescue. At all events, they brought in a
colonel's sword, pistols, and coat, as trophies. This story is to be in
the papers to-morrow!
JUNE 2D.--Great indignation is expressed by the generals in the field at
the tales told of the heroism of the amateur fighters. They say ----
stripped a dead colonel, and was never in reach of the enemy's guns.
Moreover, the civilians in arms kept at such a distance from danger that
their balls fell among our own men, and wounded some of them! An order
has been issued by one of the major-generals, that hereafter any
stragglers on the field of battle shall be shot. No civilians are to be
permitted to be there at all, unless they go into the ranks.
Gen. Johnston is wounded--badly wounded, but not mortally. It is his
misfortune to be wounded in almost every battle he fights. Nevertheless,
he has gained a glorious victory. Our loss in killed and wounded will
not exceed 5000; while the enemy's killed, wounded, and prisoners will
not fall short of 13,000. They lost, besides, many guns, tents, and
stores--all wrung from them at the point of the bayonet, and in spite of
their formidable abattis. Prisoners taken on the field say: "The
Southern soldiers would charge into hell if there was a battery before
them--and they would take it from a legion of devils!" The moral effect
of this victory must be great. The enemy have been taught that none of
the engines of destruction that can be wielded against us, will prevent
us from taking their batteries; and so, hereafter, when we charge upon
them, they might as well run away from their own guns.
JUNE 3D.--Gen. Lee henceforth assumes command of the army in person.
This may be hailed as the harbinger of bright fortune.
JUNE 4TH.--Col. Bledsoe sent word to me to-day by my son that he wished
to see me. When I met him he groaned as usual, and said the department
would have to open another passport office, as the major-generals in the
field refused to permit the relatives of the sick and wounded in the
camps to pass with orders from Brig.-Gen. Winder or his Provost Marshal.
JUNE 5TH.--I reopened my office in the department.
JUNE 6TH.--Gen. Winder getting wind of what was going on, had an
interview, first with Mr. Benjamin, who instructed him what to say; and
then bringing forward the Provost Marshal, they had a rather stormy
interview with Mr. Randolph, who, as usual, yielded to their
protestations against having _two_ passport offices, while martial law
existed.
And so Col. Bledsoe came in and told me to "shut up shop." The Secretary
had revoked his order.
JUNE 7TH.--But business is in a great measure suspended, and so I have
another holiday.
JUNE 8TH.--I learn that Col. Bledsoe has to grant passports to the army,
as the pickets have been instructed to let no one pass upon the order of
Gen. Winder or his Provost Marshal.
JUNE 9TH.--It is now apparent that matters were miserably managed on the
battle-field, until Gen. Lee assumed command in person. Most of the
trophies of the victory, and thousands of arms, stores, etc. were
pillaged by the promiscuous crowds of aliens and Jews who purchased
passports thither from the Provost Marshal's detectives.
JUNE 10TH.--Col. Bledsoe sent for me again. This time he wanted me to
take charge of the letter room, and superintend the young gentlemen who
briefed the letters. This I did very cheerfully; I opened all the
letters, and sent to the Secretary the important ones immediately.
These, for want of discrimination, had sometimes been suffered to remain
unnoticed two or three days, when they required instant action.
JUNE 11TH, 12TH.--Gen. Smith, the New York street commissioner, had been
urged as commander-in-chief.
JUNE 13TH.--Gen. Lee is satisfied with the present posture of
affairs--and McClellan has no idea of attacking us now. He don't say
what he means to do himself.
JUNE 14TH.--The wounded soldiers bless the ladies, who nurse them
unceasingly.
JUNE 15TH.--What a change! No one now dreams of the loss of the capital.
JUNE 17TH.--It is not yet ascertained what amount of ordnance stores we
gained from the battle.
JUNE 18TH.--Lee is quietly preparing to attack McClellan. The President,
who was on the battle-field, is very cheerful.
JUNE 19TH.--To-day so many applications were made to the Secretary
himself for passports to the armies, and beyond the lines of the
Confederate States, that, forgetting the revocation of his former order,
he sent a note into the Assistant Secretary, saying he thought a
passport agent had been appointed to attend to such cases; and he now
directed that it be done. Bledsoe came to me immediately, and said:
"Jones, you'll have to open a passport office again--I shall sign no
more."
JUNE 20TH.--Moved once more into the old office.
JUNE 21ST.--Gen. Beauregard is doubly doomed. A few weeks ago, when the
blackness of midnight brooded over our cause, there were some
intimations, I know not whether they were well founded, that certain
high functionaries were making arrangements for a flight to France; and
Gen. Beauregard getting intimation of an order to move certain sums in
bullion in the custody of an Assistant Treasurer in his military
department, forbid its departure until he could be certain that it was
not destined to leave the Confederacy. I have not learned its ultimate
destination; but the victory of the Seven Pines intervening, Gen.
Beauregard has been relieved of his command, "on sick leave." But I know
his army is to be commanded permanently by Gen. Bragg. There are charges
against Beauregard. It is said the Yankee army might have been
annihilated at Shiloh, if Beauregard had fought a little longer.
JUNE 23D.--And Gen. Johnston, I learn, has had his day. And Magruder is
on "sick leave." He is too open in his censures of the late Secretary of
War. But Gen. Huger comes off scotfree; he has always had the confidence
of Mr. Benjamin, and used to send the flag of truce to Fortress Monroe
as often as could be desired.
JUNE 24TH.--Gen. Lee's plan works like a charm! Although I have daily
orders from Mr. Randolph to send persons beyond our lines, yet the
precautions of Lee most effectually prevent any spies from knowing
anything about his army. Even the Adjutant-General, S. Cooper, don't
know how many regiments are ordered into Virginia, or where they are
stationed. Officers returning from furlough, cannot ascertain in the
Adjutant-General's office where their regiments are! They are referred
to me for passports to Gen. Lee's headquarters. No man with a passport
from Gen. Winder, or from his Provost Marshal, can pass the pickets of
Gen. Lee's army. This is the harbinger of success, and I predict a
career of glory for Lee, and for our country! There are some vague
rumors about the approach of Stonewall Jackson's army; but no one knows
anything about it, and but few believe it. Recent Northern papers say he
is approaching Winchester, and I see they are intrenching in the valley
to guard against his terrible blows. This is capital! And our people are
beginning to _fear_ there will be no more fighting around Richmond until
McClellan _digs_ his way to it. The moment fighting ceases, our people
have fits of gloom and despondency; but when they snuff battle in the
breeze, they are animated with confidence. They regard victory as a
matter of course; and are only indignant at our long series of recent
reverses, when they reflect that our armies have so seldom been led
against the embattled hosts of the enemy.
JUNE 25TH.--The people of Louisiana are protesting strongly against
permitting Gen. Lovell to remain in command in that State, since the
fall of New Orleans (which I omitted to note in regular order in these
chronicles), and they attribute that disgraceful event, some to his
incompetency, and others to treason. These remonstrances come from such
influential parties, I think the President must listen to them. Yes, a
Massachusetts man (they say Gen. L. came from Boston) was in command of
the troops of New Orleans when that great city surrendered without
firing a gun. And this is one of the Northern generals who came over to
our side _after_ the battle of Manassas.
JUNE 26TH.--To-day a letter, hastily written by Gen. Lee to the
Secretary of War, stated that his headquarters would be at ----, or
_beyond_ that point, whence couriers could find him if there should be
anything of importance--the Secretary might desire to communicate during
the day. _This is the day of battle!_ Jackson is in the rear of
McClellan's right wing! I sent this note to the Secretary at once. I
_suppose_ Mr. Randolph had been previously advised of Gen. Lee's
intention to fight to-day; but I do not _know_ it. I know some of the
brigadier-generals in the army do not know it; although they have all
been ordered to their commands. This is no uncommon order; but it is
characteristic of Lee's secretiveness to keep _all_ of his officers in
profound ignorance of his intentions, except those he means to be
engaged. The _enemy_ cannot possibly have any intimation of his purpose,
because the spies here have no intelligence; and none are permitted to
pass the rear pickets in sight of the city without my passport. What a
change since the last battle!
To-day, in compliance with an intimation of the President, all in the
departments, who felt so disposed, formed a military organization for
the defense of the city, and especially of the archives, which had been
brought back since the assumption of command by Gen. Lee. Col. Bledsoe
denounced the organization as a humbug! Defending the government, or
readiness to defend it, in such times as these, is no humbug! In the
fluctuations of a great battle, almost in the suburbs of the city, a
squadron of the enemy's horse might penetrate even to the office of the
Chief Executive, when a few hundred muskets, in the hands of old men and
boys, might preserve the papers.
After dinner I repaired, with Custis and a few friends, to my old stand
on the hill north of the Jews' Cemetery, and sat down in the shade to
listen. Many persons were there as usual--for every day some firing
could be heard--who said, in response to my inquiries, that distant guns
had been heard in the direction of the Pamunky River.
"That is _Jackson_!" I exclaimed, as the sounds were distinctly
discerned by myself; "and he is in their rear, behind their right wing!"
All were incredulous, and some doubted whether he was within a hundred
miles of us. But the sounds grew more distinct, and more frequent, and I
knew he was advancing. But how long could he advance in that direction
without being overwhelmed? Everywhere else along the line a deathlike
silence reigned, that even the dropping fire of the pickets, usually so
incessant, could be heard.
This suspense continued only a few minutes. Two guns were then heard
northeast of us, and in such proximity as to startle some of the anxious
listeners. These were followed by three or four more, and then the fire
continued with increasing rapidity. This was Gen. A. P. Hill's division
in _front_ of the enemy's right wing, and Lee's plan of battle was
developed. Hill was so near us as to be almost in sight. The drums and
fifes of his regiments, as they marched up to the point of attack, could
be easily heard; how distinctly, then, sounded his cannon in our ears!
And the enemy's guns, pointed in the direction of the city, were as
plainly discerned. I think McClellan is taken by surprise.
One gentleman, who had been incredulous on the subject of a battle
to-day, held his watch in his hand ten minutes, during which time one
hundred and ninety guns were heard. Saying he believed a battle was in
progress, he replaced the watch in his pocket, and sat down on the
ground to listen.
Another hour, and the reports come with the rapidity of seconds, or 3600
per hour! And now, for the first time, we hear the rattle of small arms.
And lo! two guns farther to the right,--from Longstreet's division, I
suppose. And they were followed by others. This is Lee's grand plan of
battle: Jackson first, then Hill, then Longstreet--time and distance
computed with mathematical precision! The enemy's balloons are not up
now. They _know_ what is going on, without further investigations up in
the air. The business is upon earth, where many a Yankee will breathe
his last this night! McClellan must be thunderstruck at this unexpected
opening of a decisive battle. Our own people, and even our own general
officers, except those who were to participate in the attack, were
uninformed of Lee's grand purpose, until the booming of Jackson's guns
were heard far on our left.
As the shades of evening fall, the fire seems to increase in rapidity,
and a gentle breeze rising as the stars come out, billows of smoke are
wafted from the battle-field. And now, occasionally, we can distinctly
see the bursting of shells in the air, aimed too high by the enemy, and
exploding far this side of our line of battle.
Darkness is upon us, save the glimmer of the stars, as the sulphurous
clouds sink into the humid valleys. But the flashes of the guns are
visible on the horizon, followed by the deep intonations of the mighty
engines of destruction, echoing and reverberating from hill to hill, and
through the vast valley of the James in the rear.
Hundreds of men, women, and children were attracted to the heights
around the city to behold the spectacle. From the Capitol and from the
President's mansion, the vivid flashes of artillery could be seen; but
no one doubted the result. It is only silence and inaction we dread. The
firing ceased at nine o'clock P.M. The President was on the field, but
did not interfere with Lee.
JUNE 27TH.--At the first dawn of day, the battle recommenced, farther
round to the east. This was enough. The enemy had drawn in his right
wing. And courier after courier announced the taking of his batteries by
our brave defenders! But the battle rages loud and long, and the troops
of Jackson's corps, like the march of Fate, still upon McClellan's right
flank and rear. Jackson's horse, and the gallant Stuart, with his
irresistible cavalry, have cut the enemy's communications with their
base on the Pamunky. It is said they are burning their stores!
What genius! what audacity in Lee! He has absolutely taken the greater
portion of his army to the north side of the Chickahominy, leaving
McClellan's center and left wing on the south side, with apparently easy
access to the city. This is (to the invaders) impenetrable strategy. The
enemy believes Lee's main forces are _here_, and will never think of
advancing. We have so completely closed the avenues of intelligence that
the enemy has not been able to get the slightest intimation of our
strength or the dispositions of our forces.
JUNE 28TH.--The President publishes a dispatch from Lee, announcing a
victory! The enemy has been driven from all his intrenchments, losing
many batteries.
Yesterday the President's life was saved by Lee. Every day he rides out
near the battle-field, in citizen's dress, marking the fluctuations of
the conflict, but assuming no direction of affairs in the field. Gen.
Lee, however, is ever apprised of his position; and once, when the enemy
were about to point one of their most powerful batteries in the
direction of a certain farm-house occupied by the President, Lee sent a
courier in haste to inform him of it. No sooner had the President
escaped than a storm of shot and shell riddled the house.
Some of the people still think that their military President is on the
field directing every important movement in person. A gentleman told me
to-day, that he met the President yesterday, and the day before, alone,
in the lanes and orchards, near the battle-field. He issued no orders;
but awaited results like the rest of us, praying fervently for abundant
success.
To-day some of our streets are crammed with thousands of
bluejackets--Yankee prisoners. There are many field officers, and among
them several generals.
General Reynolds, who surrendered with his brigade, was thus accosted by
one of our functionaries, who knew him before the war began:
"General, this is in accordance with McClellan's prediction; you are in
Richmond."
"Yes, sir," responded the general, in bitterness; "and d--n me, if it is
not precisely in the manner I anticipated."
"Where is McClellan, general?"
"I know not exactly; his movements have been so frequent of late. But I
think it probable he too may be here before night!"
"I doubt that," said his fellow-prisoner, Gen. McCall; "beware of your
left wing! Who commands there?"
"Gen. Jackson."
"Stonewall Jackson? Is he in this fight? Was it really Jackson making
mince-meat of our right? Then your left wing is safe!"
Four or five thousand prisoners have arrived.
JUNE 29TH.--The battle still rages. But the scene has shifted farther to
the east. The enemy's army is now entirely on _this_ side of the
Chickahominy. McClellan is doggedly retiring toward the James River.
JUNE 30TH.--Once more all men are execrating Gen. Huger. It is alleged
that he _again_ failed to obey an order, and kept his division away from
the position assigned it, which would have prevented the escape of
McClellan. If this be so, who is responsible, after his alleged
misconduct at the battle of the Seven Pines?
CHAPTER XVI.
Terrific fighting.--Anxiety to visit the battle-field.--Lee prepares for
other battles.--Hope for the Union extinct.--Gen. Lee brings forward
conscripts.--Gen. Cobb appointed to arrange exchange of prisoners.--
Mr. Ould as agent.--Pope, the braggart, comes upon the stage.--Meets
a braggart's fate.--The war transferred to Northern Virginia.
JULY 1ST.--To-day Gen. Magruder led his division into action at Malvern
Hill, it is said, contrary to the judgment of other commanders. The
enemy's batteries commanded all the approaches in most advantageous
position, and fearful was the slaughter. A wounded soldier, fresh from
the field to-night, informs me that our loss in killed in this
engagement will amount to as many as have fallen in all the others
combined.
JULY 2D.--More fighting to-day. The enemy, although their batteries were
successfully defended last night at Malvern Hill; abandoned many guns
after the charges ceased, and retreated hastily. The grand army of
invasion is now some twenty-five miles from the city, and yet the
Northern papers claim the victory. They say it was a masterly strategic
movement of McClellan, and a premeditated change of base from the
Pamunky to the James; and that he will certainly take Richmond in a week
and end the rebellion.
JULY 3D.--Our wounded are now coming in fast, under the direction of the
Ambulance Committee. I give passports to no one not having legitimate
business on the field to pass the pickets of the army. There is no
pilfering on this field of battle; no "Plug Ugly" detectives stripping
dead colonels, and, Falstaff like, claiming to be made "either Earl or
Duke" for killing them.
So great is the demand for vehicles that the brother of a North Carolina
major, reported mortally wounded, paid $100 for a hack to bring his
brother into the city. He returned with him a few hours after, and,
fortunately, found him to be not even dangerously wounded.
I suffer no physicians not belonging to the army to go upon the
battle-field without taking amputating instruments with them, and no
private vehicle without binding the drivers to bring in two or more of
the wounded.
There are fifty hospitals in the city, fast filling with the sick and
wounded. I have seen men in my office and walking in the streets, whose
arms have been amputated within the last three days. The realization of
a great victory seems to give them strength.
JULY 4TH.--Lee does not follow up his blows on the whipped enemy, and
some sage critics censure him for it. But he knows that the fatal blow
has been dealt this "grand army" of the North. The serpent has been
killed, though its tail still exhibits some spasmodic motions. It will
die, so far as the Peninsula is concerned, after sunset, or when it
thunders.
The commanding general neither sleeps nor slumbers. Already the process
of reorganizing Jackson's corps has been commenced for a blow at or near
the enemy's capital. Let Lincoln beware the hour of retribution.
The enemy's losses in the seven days' battles around Richmond, in
killed, wounded, sick, and desertions, are estimated at 50,000 men, and
their losses in cannon, stores, etc., at some $50,000,000. Their own
papers say the work is to be begun anew, and subjugation is put off six
months, which is equivalent to a loss of $500,000,000 inflicted by Lee's
victory.
By their emancipation and confiscation measures, the Yankees have made
this a war of extermination, and added new zeal and resolution to our
brave defenders. All hope of a reconstruction of the Union is
relinquished by the few, comparatively, in the South, who still clung to
the delusion. It is well. If the enemy had pursued a different course we
should never have had the same unanimity. If they had made war only on
men in arms, and spared private property, according to the usages of
civilized nations, there would, at least, have been a _neutral_ party in
the South, and never the same energy and determination to contest the
last inch of soil with the cruel invader. Now they will find that
3,000,000 of troops cannot subjugate us, and if subjugated, that a
standing army of half a million would be required to keep us in
subjection.
JULY 5TH.--Gen. Lee is bringing forward the conscript regiments with
rapidity; and so large are his powers that the Secretary of War has but
little to do. He is, truly, but a mere clerk. The correspondence is
mostly referred to the different bureaus for action, whose experienced
heads know what should be done much better than Mr. Randolph could tell
them.
JULY 6TH.--Thousands of fathers, brothers, mothers, and sisters of the
wounded are arriving in the city to attend their suffering relations,
and to recover the remains of those who were slain.
JULY 7TH.--Gen. Huger has been relieved of his command. He retains his
rank and pay as major-general "of ordnance."
Gen. Pope, Yankee, has been assigned to the command of the army of
invasion in Northern Virginia, and Gen. Halleck has been made commanding
general, to reside in Washington. Good! The Yankees are disgracing
McClellan, the best general they have.
JULY 8TH.--Glorious Col. Morgan has dashed into Kentucky, whipped
everything before him, and got off unharmed. He had but little over a
thousand men, and captured that number of prisoners. Kentucky will rise
in a few weeks.
JULY 9TH.--Lee has turned the tide, and I shall not be surprised if we
have a long career of successes. Bragg, and Kirby Smith, and Loring are
in motion at last, and Tennessee and Kentucky, and perhaps Missouri,
will rise again in "Rebellion."
JULY 10TH.--I forgot to note in its place a feat of Gen. Stuart and his
cavalry, before the recent battles. He made a complete girdle around the
enemy, destroying millions of their property, and returned without loss.
He was reconnoitering for Jackson, who followed in his track. This made
Stuart major-general.
I likewise omitted to note the death of the brave Gen. Ashby, who fell
in one of Jackson's brilliant battles in the Valley. But history will do
him justice. [My chronicles are designed to assist history, and to
supply the smaller incidents and details which the grand historian would
be likely to omit.]
JULY 11TH.--Gen. Howell Cobb has been sent down the river under flag of
truce to negotiate a cartel with Gen. Dix for the exchange of prisoners.
It was decided that the exchange should be conducted on the basis agreed
to between the United States and the British Government during the war
of 1812, and all men taken hereafter will be released on parole within
ten days after their capture. We have some 8000 prisoners in this city,
and altogether, I dare say, a larger number than the enemy have of our
men.
JULY 12TH.--Mr. Ould has been appointed agent to effect exchanges of
paroled men. He is also acting as judge advocate.
JULY 13TH.--We have some of Gen. Pope's proclamations and orders. He is
simply a braggart, and will meet a braggart's fate. He announces his
purpose to subsist his army in our country, and moreover, he intends to
shoot or hang our non-combating citizens that may fall into his hands,
in retaliation for the killing of any of his thieving and murdering
soldiers by our avenging guerrillas. He says his headquarters will be on
his horse, and that he will make no provision for retreat. That he has
been accustomed to see the _backs_ of his enemies! Well, we shall see
how he will face a Stonewall!
JULY 14TH.--Jackson and Ewell and Stuart are after Pope, but I learn
they are not allowed to attempt any enterprise for some weeks yet. Fatal
error, I fear. For we have advices at the department that Pope has not
now exceeding 20,000 men, but that all the rolling stock of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is ordered West to bring reinforcements.
Besides, the United States Government is calling for 600,000 additional
men. Then again, McClellan and Burnside will form a junction with Pope,
and we will be outnumbered. But the President and Gen. Lee know best
what is to be done. We have lost many of the flower of Southern chivalry
in the late conflicts.
JULY 15TH.--Gen. Pendleton has given McClellan a scare, and might have
hurt him if he had fired lower. He planted a number of batteries
(concealed) on the south side of the river, just opposite the enemy's
camp. The river was filled with gun-boats and transports. At a signal,
all the guns were fired, at short range, too, for some minutes with
great rapidity, and then the batteries were withdrawn. I happened to be
awake, and could not conjecture what the rumpus meant. But we fired too
high in the dark, and did but little execution. Our shells fell beyond
the enemy's camp on the opposite side of the river. We lost a few men,
by accident, mostly. But hereafter in "each bush they fear an officer."
JULY 16TH.--Gen. Lee is hurrying up reinforcements from the South, old
regiments and conscripts, and pays very little attention to McClellan on
the Peninsula, knowing no further enterprises will be attempted by the
enemy in that quarter for some time to come.
JULY 17TH.--The people are too jubilant, I fear, over our recent
successes near the city. A great many _skulkers_ from the army are seen
daily in the streets, and it is said there are 3000 men here subject to
conscript duty, who have not been enrolled. The business of purchasing
substitutes is prevailing alarmingly.
JULY 18TH.--To-day several ladies applied in person to the Secretary of
War for passports to Norfolk and Baltimore, and he sent me written
orders to grant them. They next applied to Gen. Winder to go with the
flag of truce, exhibiting their passports. He repudiated them, however,
and sent the ladies back to me, saying he wanted something with the
Secretary's signature, showing me to be authorized to sign them. I wrote
such a note as I supposed he wanted, and the Secretary signed it as
follows:
"RICHMOND, July 18th, 1862.
"BRIG.-GEN. J. H. WINDER.
"SIR:--The passports issued by J. B. Jones from this Department to
pass the lines of the Confederate armies, and the lines of the
Confederate States, are granted by my direction, evidences of which
are on file in the Passport Office.
"Respectfully,
"G. W. RANDOLPH,
"_Secretary of War_."
This, one of the ladies delivered to him. I hope I am now done with Gen.
Winder and his "Plug Ugly" dynasty.
JULY 19TH.--This morning early, while congratulating myself on the
evidence of some firmness and independence in the new Secretary, I
received the following note:
"RICHMOND, July 19th, 1862.
"Mr. J. B. JONES.
"SIR:--I have just been directed by the Secretary of War that he
has turned over the whole business of passports to Gen. Winder, and
that applications for passports will not be received at this office
at all.
"Very respectfully,
"A. G. BLEDSOE,
"_Asst. Sec. War_."
Of course I ceased operations immediately. So large a concourse of
persons now accumulated in the hall, that it was soon necessary to put
up a notice that Gen. Winder would grant them passports. But the current
set back again. Gen. Winder _refused_ to issue passports to the
relatives of the sick and wounded in the camps, well knowing the
generals, his superiors in rank, would not recognize his authority. He
even came into the department, and tore down the notice with his own
hands.
JULY 20TH.--I am back again, signing passports to the army. But
yesterday, during the _interregnum_, the Beaverdam Depot was burnt by
the enemy, information of its defenseless condition having been given by
a Jew peddler, who obtained no passport from me.
JULY 21ST.--A Marylander, a lieutenant employed by Gen. Winder to guard
the prisoners (the generals and other high Yankee officers), came to me
to-day, with a friend who had just arrived from Baltimore, and demanded
passports to visit Drewry's Bluff, for the purpose of inspecting the
defenses. I refused, fearing he might (I did not like his face) have
been corrupted by his prisoners. He said very significantly that he
would go in spite of me. This I reported to the Assistant
Adjutant-General, and also wrote a note to Gen. Wise, to examine him
closely if he came within his lines.
JULY 22D.--To-day Gen. Winder came into my office in a passion with a
passport in his hand which I had given, a week before, to Mr. Collier,
of Petersburg, on the order of the Assistant Secretary of
War--threatening me with vengeance and the terrors of Castle Godwin, his
Bastile! if I granted any more passports to Petersburg where he was
military commander, that city being likewise under martial law. I
simply uttered a defiance, and he departed, boiling over with rage.
JULY 23D.--To-day I received the following note from the Secretary:
"JULY 23D, 1862.
"J. B. JONES, ESQ.
"SIR:--You will not issue passports except to persons going to the
camps near Richmond.
"Passports elsewhere will be granted by Brig.-Gen. Winder.
"Respectfully,
"GEO. W. RANDOLPH,
"_Secretary of War_."
JULY 24TH.--Already the flood-gates of treasonable intelligence flowing
North seem to be thrown wide open. The Baltimore papers contain a vast
amount of information concerning our condition, movements in progress,
and projected enterprises. And to crown all, these rascals publish in
the same papers _the passports given them by Gen. Winder_. I doubt not
they are sold by the detectives, Winder being ignorant.
JULY 25TH.--More Northern papers received to-day, containing news from
the South. Most fortunately, they can know nothing reliable of what is
passing within Gen. Lee's lines. The responsibility of keeping his gates
closed against spies rests in a great measure on myself, and I endeavor
to keep even our own people in profound ignorance of what transpires
there.
JULY 26TH.--There is a pause in the depreciation of C. S. securities.
JULY 27TH.--Gen. Lovell, it is said, will be tried by a court-martial.
The same has been said of Generals Magruder and Huger. But I doubt it.
JULY 28TH.--The Examining Board of Surgeons, established by the
Secretary of War, has been abolished by order of Gen. Lee. It was the
only idea of the Secretary yet developed, excepting the "handing over"
of the "whole business of passports to Gen. Winder."
JULY 29TH.--Pope's army, greatly reinforced, are committing shocking
devastations in Culpepper and Orange Counties. His brutal orders, and
his bragging proclamations, have wrought our men to such a pitch of
exasperation that, when the day of battle comes, there will be, must be
terrible slaughter.
JULY 30TH.--Both Gen. Jackson and Gen. Stuart were in the department
to-day. Their commands have preceded them, and must be near Orange C. H.
by this time. These war-worn heroes (neither of them over forty years of
age) attracted much attention. Everybody wished to see them; and if they
had lingered a few minutes longer in the hall, a crowd would have
collected, cheering to the echo. This they avoided, transacting their
business in the shortest possible space of time, and then escaping
observation. They have yet much work to do.
JULY 31ST.--Gen. Breckinridge has beaten the Yankees at Baton Rouge, but
without result, as we have no co-operating fleet.
CHAPTER XVII.
Vicksburg shelled.--Lee looks toward Washington.--Much manoeuvring in
Orange County.--A brigade of the enemy annihilated.--McClellan flies
to Washington.--Cretans.--Leo has a mighty army.--Missouri risings.--
Pope's coat and papers captured.--Cut up at Manassas.--Clothing
captured of the enemy.
AUGUST 1ST.--Vicksburg has triumphantly withstood the shelling of the
enemy's fleet of gun-boats. This proves that New Orleans might have been
successfully defended, and could have been held to this day by Gen.
Lovell. So, West Point is not always the best criterion of one's fitness
to command.
AUGUST 2D.--The Adjutant-General, "by order" (I suppose of the
President), is annulling, one after another, all Gen. Winder's despotic
orders.
AUGUST 3D.--There is a rumor that McClellan is "stealing away" from his
new base! and Burnside has gone up the Rappahannock to co-operate with
Pope in his "march to Richmond."
AUGUST 4TH.--Lee is making herculean efforts for an "on to Washington,"
while the enemy think he merely designs a defense of Richmond. Troops
are on the move, all the way from Florida to Gordonsville.
AUGUST 5TH.--The enemy have postponed drafting, that compulsory mode of
getting men being unpopular, _until after the October elections_. I hope
Lee will make the most of his time, and annihilate their drilled and
seasoned troops. He can put more _fighting_ men in Virginia than the
enemy, during the next two months. "Now's the day, and now's the hour!"
AUGUST 6TH.--Jackson is making preparations to fight. I know the
symptoms. He has made Pope believe he's afraid of him.
AUGUST 7TH.--Much incomprehensible manoeuvring is going on in Orange
County.
AUGUST 8TH.--We hear of skirmishing in Orange County, and the enemy seem
as familiar with the paths and fords as our own people; hence some
surprises, attempted by our cavalry, have failed.
AUGUST 9TH.--Jackson and Ewell are waiting and watching. Pope will
expose himself soon.
AUGUST 10TH.--Jackson struck Pope yesterday! It was a terrible blow, for
the numbers engaged. Several thousand of the enemy were killed, wounded,
and taken prisoners. Among the latter is Gen. Prince, who arrived in
this city this morning. He affected to be ignorant of Pope's brutal
orders, and of the President's retaliatory order concerning the
commissioned officers of Pope's army taken in battle. When Prince was
informed that he and the fifty or sixty others taken with him were not
to be treated as prisoners of war, but as _felons_, he vented his
execrations upon Pope. They were sent into close confinement.
AUGUST 11TH.--Our killed, wounded, and captured did not amount to more
than 600. We might have captured a whole brigade at one time during the
battle, but _did not_. They charged our batteries, not perceiving a
brigade of our own lying concealed just in the rear of the guns: so,
when they advanced, shouting, to within _thirty yards_ of our troops,
they rose and "let them have it." Nine-tenths of the enemy fell, and the
rest were soon dispatched, before they could get away. One of their
dying officers said they would have surrendered to us, if we had
demanded it. He was reminded of Pope's beastly orders, and died with a
horrible groan.
AUGUST 12TH.--Pope claims a victory! So did McClellan. But truth will
rise, in spite of everything. I will not quote Bryant literally, because
he is an enemy in this war, and falsifies his own precepts.
AUGUST 13TH.--McClellan is gone, bag and baggage, abandoning his
"_base_;" to attain which, he said he had instituted his magnificent
strategic movements, resulting in an unmolested retreat from the
Peninsula and flight to Washington, for the defense of his own capital.
So the truth they crushed to earth on the Chickahominy has risen again,
and the Yankees, like the Cretans, are to be known henceforth as a
nation of liars.
AUGUST 14TH.--Lee has gone up the country to command in person. Now let
Lincoln beware, for there _is_ danger. A mighty army, such as Napoleon
himself would have been proud to command, is approaching his capital.
This is the triumph Lee has been providing for, while the nations of the
earth are hesitating whether or not to recognize our independence.
AUGUST 15TH.--Moved my office to an upper story of the Bank of Virginia,
where the army intelligence office is located--an office that keeps a
list of the sick and wounded.
AUGUST 16TH.--We have intelligence from the West of a simultaneous
advance of several of our columns. This is the work of Lee. May God
grant that our blows be speedy and effectual in hurling back the invader
from our soil!
AUGUST 17TH.--We have also news from Missouri of indications of an
uprising which will certainly clear the State of the few Federal troops
remaining there. The _draft_ will accelerate the movement. And then if
we get Kentucky, as I think we must, we shall add a hundred thousand to
our army!
AUGUST 18TH.--From Texas, West Louisiana, and Arkansas, we shall soon
have tidings. The clans are gathering, and 20,000 more, half mounted on
hardy horses, will soon be marching for the _prairie_ country of the
enemy. Glorious Lee! and glorious Jackson! They are destined to roll the
dark clouds away from the horizon.
AUGUST 19TH.--Day and _night_ our troops are marching; they are now
_beyond_ the right wing of Pope, and will soon be accumulated there in
such numbers as to defy the combined forces of Pope, Burnside, and
McClellan!
AUGUST 20TH.--We have now a solution of the secret of Pope's familiarity
with the country. _His guide and pilot is the identical Robt. Stewart
who was sent here to the Provost Marshal--a prisoner._ How did he get
out? They say money did it.
AUGUST 21ST.--Some apprehensions are felt by a few for the safety of
this city, as it is supposed that _all_ the troops have been withdrawn.
This is not so, however. From ten to fifteen _thousand_ men could be
concentrated here in twenty-four hours. Richmond is not in half the
danger that Washington is.
AUGUST 22D.--Saw Vice-President Stephens to day, as cordial and
enthusiastic as ever.
AUGUST 23D.--Members of Congress are coming to my office every day,
getting passports for their constituents. Those I have seen (Senator
Brown, of Mississippi, among the rest) express a purpose not to renew
the act, to expire on the 18th September, authorizing martial law.
AUGUST 24TH.--In both Houses of Congress they are thundering away at
Gen. Winder's Provost Marshal and his Plug Ugly alien policemen. Senator
Brown has been very bitter against them.
AUGUST 25TH.--Mr. Russell has reported a bill which would give us
martial law in such a modified form as to extract its venom.
AUGUST 26TH.--Mr. Russell's bill will not pass. The machinery of
legislation works too slowly.
Fredericksburg has been evacuated by the enemy! It is said the Jews
rushed in and bought boots for $7.00, which they now demand $25.00 for,
and so with various other articles of merchandise. They are now
investing money in real estate for the first time, which is evidence
that they have no faith in the ultimate redemption of Confederate money.
AUGUST 27TH.--Huzza for Gen. Stuart! He has made another _circumvention_
of the enemy, getting completely in Pope's rear, and destroying many
millions worth of stores, etc.
AUGUST 28TH.--Pope's coat was captured, and all his papers. The braggart
is near his end.
AUGUST 29TH.--Bloody fighting is going on at Manassas. All the news is
good for us. It appears that Pope, in his consummate egotism, refused to
believe that he had been outwitted, and "pitched into" our corps and
divisions, believing them to be merely brigades and regiments. He has
been terribly cut up.
AUGUST 30TH.--Banks, by the order of Pope, has burnt 400 Yankee cars
loaded with quartermaster's and commissary stores. But our soldiers have
fared sumptuously on the enemy's provisions, and captured clothing
enough for half the army.
AUGUST 31ST.--Fighting every day at Manassas.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Lee announces a victory.--Crosses the Potomac.--Battle of Sharpsburg.--
McClellan pauses at the Potomac.--Lee moves mysteriously.--The
campaign a doubtful one in its material results.--Horrible scene near
Washington.--Conscription enlarged.--Heavy loss at Sharpsburg.--
10,000 in the hospitals here.
SEPTEMBER 1ST.--Official dispatches from Lee, announcing a "signal
victory," by the blessing of God, "over the combined forces of the
enemy." That is glory enough for a week. When _Lee_ says "signal
victory," we know exactly what it means, and we breathe freely. _Our_
generals _never_ modify their reports of victories. They see and know
the extent of what has been done before they speak of it, and they never
mislead by exaggerated accounts of successes.
SEPTEMBER 2D.--Winchester is evacuated! The enemy fled, and left enough
ordnance stores for a campaign! It was one of their principal depots.
SEPTEMBER 3D.--We lament the fall of _Ewell_--not killed, but his leg
has been amputated. The enemy themselves report the loss, in killed and
wounded, of _eight generals_! And Lee says, up to the time of writing,
he had paroled 7000 prisoners, taken 10,000 stand of small arms, 50 odd
cannon, and immense stores!
SEPTEMBER 4TH.--The enemy's loss in the series of battles, in killed,
wounded, and prisoners, is estimated at 30,000. Where is the braggart
Pope now? Disgraced eternally, deprived of his command by his own
government, and sent to Minnesota to fight the Indians! Savage in his
nature, he is only fit to fight with savages!
SEPTEMBER 5TH.--Our army knows no rest. But I fear this incessant
marching and fighting may prove too much for many of the tender boys.
SEPTEMBER 6TH.--We have authentic accounts of our army crossing the
Potomac without opposition.
SEPTEMBER 7TH.--We see by the Northern papers that Pope claimed a great
victory over Lee and Jackson! It was too much even for the lying editors
themselves! The Federal army being hurled back on the Potomac, and then
compelled to cross it, it was too transparently ridiculous for the press
to contend for the victory. And now they confess to a series of defeats
from the 26th June to the culminating calamity of the 30th August. They
acknowledge they have been beaten--badly beaten--_but they will not
admit that our army has crossed into Maryland_. Well, Lee's dispatch to
the President is dated "Headquarters, Frederick City." We believe him.
SEPTEMBER 8TH.--But the Marylanders have not risen _yet_. Some of our
divisions have touched the soil of _Pennsylvania_. And I believe the
whole Yankee host would leave Washington, escaping by the Potomac, if it
were not for the traitors here, who go to Norfolk and Baltimore by flag
of truce, and inform the Lincoln Government (for pay) that we have no
troops here--none between this and Manassas, none all the way to Lee,
while thousands in the army are prostrated with physical exhaustion.
SEPTEMBER 9TH.--Lord, what a scare they are having in the North! They
are calling everybody to arms for the defense of _Philadelphia_, and
they are removing specie, arms, etc., from Harrisburg and all the
intervening towns. This is the chalice so long held by them to our lips.
SEPTEMBER 10TH.--On the very day that Lee gained the signal victory at
Manassas, Kirby Smith gained one at Richmond, Kentucky, capturing
thousands of prisoners. This is not chance--it is God, to whom all the
glory is due.
SEPTEMBER 11TH.--And Cincinnati is trembling to its center. That
abolition city, half foreign and half American, is listening for the
thunder of our avenging guns.
SEPTEMBER 12TH.--The ranks of the enemy are broken everywhere in the
West. Buell is flying to Nashville as a city of refuge, but we have
invincible columns interposed between him and his country.
SEPTEMBER 13TH.--Buell has impressed 10,000 slaves, and is fortifying
Nashville.
SEPTEMBER 14TH.--Our army has entered the City of Lexington, and the
population hail our brave soldiers as deliverers. Three regiments were
organized there in twenty-four hours, and thirty thousand recruits, it
is thought, will flock to our standard in Kentucky.
SEPTEMBER 15TH.--Our flag floats over the Capitol at Frankfort! And Gen.
Marshall, lately the exile and fugitive, is encamped with his men on his
own farm, near Paris.
SEPTEMBER 16TH.--Intelligence from Missouri states that the Union
militia have rallied on the side of the South.
SEPTEMBER 17TH.--Everything seems to indicate the "breaking up" of the
armies of our enemies, as if our prayers had been answered, and the
hosts of Lincoln were really to be "brought to confusion."
SEPTEMBER 18TH.--To-day, in response to the President's proclamation, we
give thanks to Almighty God for the victories HE has blessed us with.
SEPTEMBER 19TH.--And God has blessed us even more abundantly than we
supposed. The rumor that our invincible Stonewall Jackson had been sent
by Lee to Harper's Ferry, and had taken it, is TRUE. Nearly 12,000 men
surrendered there on the 15th inst., after the loss of two or three
hundred on their side, and only _three_ killed and a few wounded on
ours. We got 90 guns, 15,000 stand of small arms, 18,000 fine horses,
200 wagons, and stores of various kinds, worth millions.
SEPTEMBER 20TH.--While Jackson was doing his work, McClellan, who has
been restored to command, marched at the head of 100,000 men to the
rescue of Harper's Ferry, but D. P. Hill, with his single division, kept
him at bay for many hours, until Longstreet came to his assistance, and
night fell upon the scene.
But Lee soon concentrated his weary columns at Sharpsburg, near
Shepherdstown, and on the 17th inst. gave battle. We got the first news
of this battle from a Northern paper--the _Philadelphia Inquirer_--which
claimed a great victory, having killed and taken 40,000 of our men,
made Jackson prisoner, and wounded Longstreet! But the truth is, we lost
5000 and the enemy 20,000. At the next dawn Lee opened fire again--but,
lo! the enemy had fled!
SEPTEMBER 21ST.--We have one day of gloom. It is said that our army has
retreated back into Virginia.
SEPTEMBER 22D.--There are rumors that only Jackson's corps recrossed the
Potomac to look after a column of the enemy sent to recapture Harper's
Ferry and take Winchester, our grand depot.
SEPTEMBER 23D.--Jackson, the ubiquitous and invincible, fell upon
Burnside's division and annihilated it. This intelligence has been
received by the President.
We have, also, news from Kentucky. It comes this time in the _New York
Herald_, and is true, as far as it goes. A portion of Buell's army,
escaping from Nashville, marched to Mumfordsville, where Bragg cut them
to pieces, taking 5000 prisoners! It cannot be possible that this is
more than half the truth.
The newsboys are selling extras in the streets containing these glorious
accounts.
SEPTEMBER 24TH.--The papers this morning are still in doubt whether Lee
has returned to the Virginia side of the Potomac, or remains in
Maryland. My theory is that he is _perdue_ for the present, hoping all
the enemy's forces will enter Virginia, from Washington--when he will
pounce upon that city and cut off their retreat.
The Northern papers contain intimations of the existence of a conspiracy
to _dethrone_ Lincoln, and put a military Dictator at the head of the
government. Gen. Fremont is named as the man. It is alleged that this
movement is to be made by the Abolitionists, as if Lincoln were not
sufficiently radical for them!
A call has been made by Congress for explanations of the arrest of a
citizen of Virginia, by Gen. Winder, for procuring a substitute for a
relative. Gen. W., supposing his powers ample, under martial law, had
forbidden agents to procure substitutes. This was in contravention of an
act of Congress, legalizing substitutes. If Winder be sustained, it is
said we shall have inaugurated a military despotism.
I have just seen persons from the Eastern Shore of Virginia. They say
my farm there has not been disturbed[2] by the enemy. I think it
probable they knew nothing about its ownership, or it would have been
devastated. My agent sent me a little money, part of the rent of year
before last. My tenant is getting rich. After peace I shall reside there
myself. How I long for the independent life of a farmer!
Wood is selling at $16 per cord, and coal at $9 per load. How can we
live here, unless our salaries are increased? The matter is under
consideration by Congress, and we _hope_ for favorable action.
Col. Bledsoe has resigned and gone back to his school at
Charlottesville.
SEPTEMBER 25TH.--Blankets, that used to sell for $6, are now $25 per
pair; and sheets are selling for $15 per pair, which might have been had
a year ago for $4. Common 4.4 bleached cotton shirting is selling at $1
a yard.
Gen. Lee's locality and operations, since the battle of Sharpsburg or
Shepherdstown, are still enveloped in mystery.
About one hundred of the commissioned officers of Pope's army, taken
prisoners by Jackson, and confined as felons in our prisons, in
conformity to the President's retaliatory order, were yesterday released
on parole, in consequence of satisfactory communications from the United
States Government, disavowing Pope's orders, I presume, and stating
officially the fact that Pope himself has been relieved from command.
We have taken, and paroled, within the last twelve or fifteen weeks, no
less than _forty odd thousand prisoners_! The United States must _owe_
us some thirty thousand men. This does not look like progress in the
work of subjugation.
Horrible! I have seen men just from Manassas, and the battle-field of
the 30th August, where, they assure me, hundreds of dead Yankees still
lie unburied! They are swollen "as large as cows," say they, "and are as
black as crows." No one can now undertake to bury them. When the wind
blows from that direction, it is said the scent of carrion is distinctly
perceptible at the _White House in Washington_. It is said the enemy
are evacuating Alexandria. I do not believe this.
A gentleman (Georgian) to whom I gave a passport to visit the army,
taking two substitutes, over forty-five years of age, in place of two
sick young men in the hospitals, informs me that he got upon the ground
just before the great battle at Sharpsburg commenced. The substitutes
were mustered in, and in less than an hour after their arrival, one of
them was shot through the hat and hair, but his head was untouched. He
says they fought as well as veterans.
SEPTEMBER 26TH.--The press here have no knowledge of the present
locality of Gen. Lee and his army. But a letter was received from Gen. L.
at the department yesterday, dated on this side of the Potomac, about
eighteen miles above Harper's Ferry.
It is stated that several hundred prisoners, taken at Sharpsburg, are
paroled prisoners captured at Harper's Ferry. If this be so (and it is
said they will be here to-night), I think it probable an example will be
made of them. This unpleasant duty may not be avoided by our government.
After losing in killed and wounded, in the battle of Sharpsburg, ten
generals, and perhaps twenty thousand men, we hear no more of the
advance of the enemy; and Lee seems to be lying _perdue_, giving them an
opportunity to ruminate on the difficulties and dangers of
"subjugation."
I pray we may soon conquer a peace with the North; but then I fear we
shall have trouble among ourselves. Certainly there is danger, after the
war, that Virginia, and, perhaps, a sufficient number of the States to
form a new constitution, will meet in convention and form a new
government.
Gen. Stark, of Mississippi, who fell at Sharpsburg, was an acquaintance
of mine. His daughters were educated with mine at St. Mary's Hall,
Burlington, N. J.--and were, indeed, under my care. Orphans now!
SEPTEMBER 27TH.--The papers this morning contain accounts of the landing
of Yankees at White House, York River; and of reinforcements at
Williamsburg and Suffolk. They might attempt to take Richmond, while
Lee's army is away; for they know we have no large body of troops here.
A battery passed through the city this morning early, at _double-quick_,
going eastward.
Yesterday Congress passed an act, supplemental and amendatory to the
Conscription Act of last April, authorizing the President to call into
the military service all residents between the ages of thirty-five and
forty-five. The first act included only those between the ages of
eighteen and thirty-five.
By the 1st of January there will be $300,000,000 Treasury notes in
circulation. It is proposed in Congress to make a forced loan of
one-fifth of the incomes of the people.
It is said Lincoln has issued a proclamation declaring the slaves of
Rebels free, on and after the 1st of January, 1863. This will only
intensify the war, and add largely to our numbers in the field.
A letter was received from General Lee to-day, dated at Martinsburg,
giving a sad account of the army. It seems that without some additional
power given the President by Congress to enforce discipline, he fears
the army will melt away. He suggests that incompetent officers be
reduced to the ranks, and that more stringent regulations be adopted. He
is in no condition to advance now, since so many thousands of his men
are permitted to wander away. We shall be afflicted with fresh
invasions--and that, if nothing else, may cause the stragglers to
return.
The substance of Lee's letter has been communicated to Congress, and
that body, I understand, has postponed the day of adjournment until the
6th October.
In future times, I wonder if it will be said that we had great men in
this Congress? Whatever may be _said_, the truth is, there are not a
dozen with any pretensions to statesmanship.
SEPTEMBER 29TH.--We have Lincoln's proclamation, freeing all the slaves
from and after the 1st January next. And another, declaring martial law
throughout the United States! Let the Yankees ruminate on that! Now for
a _fresh_ gathering of our clans for another harvest of blood.
On Saturday the following resolutions were reported by Mr. Semmes, from
the Committee of the Judiciary, in the Senate:
"1st. That no officer of the Confederate Government is by law empowered
to vest Provost Marshals with any authority whatever over citizens of
the Confederate States not belonging to the land and naval forces
thereof, or with general police powers and duties for the preservation
of the peace and good order of any city, town, or municipal district in
any State of this Confederacy, and any such exercise of authority is
illegal and void.
"2d. That no officer of the Confederate Government has constitutional or
other lawful authority to limit or restrict, or in any manner to
control, the exercise of the jurisdiction of the civil judicial
tribunals of the States of this Confederacy, vested in them by the
Constitution and laws of the States respectively; and all orders of any
such officer tending to restrict or control or interfere with the full
and normal exercise of the jurisdiction of such civil judicial tribunals
are illegal and void."
We shall see what further action will follow. This is in marked contrast
to the despotic rule in the Yankee nation. Nevertheless, the Provost
Marshal here keeps his establishment in full blast. He was appointed by
Gen. Winder, of Maryland, who has been temporarily subordinated by
Major-Gen. Smith, of New York.
Since Gen. Smith has been in command, the enemy has made raids to
Leesburg, Manassas, and even Warrenton, capturing and paroling our sick
and wounded men. Who is responsible?
Accounts from Nashville state that our cavalry is beleaguering that
city, and that both the United States forces there, and the inhabitants
of the town, are reduced nearly to starvation.
Buell, it is said, has reached Louisville. We hope to hear soon of
active operations in Kentucky. Bragg, and Smith, and Price, and Marshall
are there with abundant forces to be striking heavy blows.
Beauregard is assigned to the defense of South Carolina and Georgia.
Harper's Ferry is again occupied by the enemy--but we have removed
everything captured there. The Northern papers now admit that the
sanguinary battle of Sharpsburg was without result.
I sent my wife money to-day, and urged her to return to Richmond as soon
as possible, as the enemy may cut the communications--being within forty
miles of the railroad. How I should like to think they were cut to
pieces! Then they would let us alone.
Hitherto 100,000 sick and wounded patients have been admitted into the
army hospitals of this city. Of these, about 10,000 have been
furloughed, 3000 discharged from the service, and only 7600 have died.
At present there are 10,000 in the hospitals. There is not so much
sickness this year as there was last, nor is it near so fatal.
Many of the Northern papers seem to dissent from the policy of Lincoln's
proclamation, and _hope_ that evil consequences may not grow out of it.
But how can it be possible for the people of the North to submit to
martial law? The government which directs and enforces so obnoxious a
tyranny cannot be sure of its stability. And when the next army of
invasion marches southward, it will be likely to have enemies in its
rear as well as in its front. The _Tribune_ exclaims "God bless Abraham
Lincoln." Others, even in the North, will pray for "God to ---- him!"
SEPTEMBER 30TH.--Lincoln's proclamation was the subject of discussion in
the Senate yesterday. Some of the gravest of our senators favor the
raising of the _black flag_, asking and giving no quarter hereafter.
The yellow fever is raging at Wilmington, North Carolina.
The President, in response to a resolution of inquiry concerning Hyde,
the agent who procured a substitute and was arrested for it, sent
Congress a letter from the Secretary of War, stating that the action of
Gen. Winder had not been approved, and that Mr. Hyde had been
discharged. The Secretary closes his letter with a _sarcasm_, which, I
think, is not his own composition. He asks, as martial law is still
existing, though the writ of _habeas corpus_ is not suspended, for
instructions as to the power of the military commander, Winder, to
_suppress tippling shops_! Several members declared that martial law
existed in this city without any constitutional warrant. There is much
bad feeling between many members and the Executive.
No fighting has occurred on the Peninsula, and I believe Gen. Wise has
returned with his forces to Chaffin's Bluff.
CHAPTER XIX.
McClellan has crossed the Potomac.--Another battle anticipated.--I am
assured here that Lee had but 40,000 men engaged at Sharpsburg.--He
has more now, as he is defending Virginia.--Radicals of the North
want McClellan removed.--Our President has never taken the field.--
Lee makes demonstrations against McClellan.--A Jew store robbed last
night.--We have 40,000 prisoners excess over the enemy.--My family
arrived from Raleigh.--My wife's substitute for coffee.--Foul
passports.--My friend Brooks dines and wines with members of
Congress.--The Herald and Tribune tempt us to return to the Union.--
Lee writes, no immediate advance of McClellan.--Still a rumor of
Bragg's victory in Kentucky.--Enemy getting large reinforcements.--
Diabolical order of Governor Baylor.--Secretary's estimate of
conscripts and all others, 500,000.--Bragg retreating from
Kentucky.--Bickering between Bragg and Beauregard.--Lee wants
Confederate notes made a legal tender.--There will be no second
Washington.
OCTOBER 1ST.--They are still striking at martial law in the Senate, as
administered by Gen. Winder. A communication from the Secretary of War
admits that Gen. W. was authorized to suppress substitute agencies--"but
this did not justify impressment and confiscation." It appears that Gen
Winder ordered the agents to be impressed into the service, and the
money paid for substitutes to be confiscated! Notwithstanding his
blundering ignorance is disavowed, he is still retained in command.
The enemy are at Warrenton; and McClellan's army has crossed the Upper
Potomac. Another battle is imminent--and fearful will be the slaughter
this time. Lee had but little if any more than 40,000 in the battle of
Sharpsburg; the Northern papers said McClellan had 200,000! a fearful
odds. But Lee now has 70,000--and, besides, he will be defending
Virginia. McClellan, with his immense army, _must_ advance, or else
relinquish command. The Abolitionists of the North have never liked him,
and they wield the power at present. A defeat of Lee near Winchester
would produce consternation here.
There are, as usual, thousands of able-bodied men still in our streets.
It is probable every man, able to march, will be required on the field
of battle. If we can get out _all_, we shall certainly gain the day, and
establish our independence.
How shall we subsist this winter? There is not a supply of wood or coal
in the city--and it is said there are not adequate means of transporting
it hither. Flour at $16 per barrel, and bacon at 75 cts. per pound,
threaten a famine. And yet there are no beggars in the streets. We must
get a million of men in arms and drive the invader from our soil. We are
capable of it, and we must do it. Better die in battle than die of
starvation produced by the enemy.
The newspapers are printed on half sheets--and I think the publishers
make money; the extras (published almost every day) are sold to the
newsboys for ten cents, and often sold by them for twenty-five cents.
These are mere slips of paper, seldom containing more than a
column--which is reproduced in the next issue. The _matter_ of the
extras is mostly made up from the Northern papers, brought hither by
persons running the blockade. The supply is pretty regular, and dates
are rarely more than three or four days behind the time of reception. We
often get the first accounts of battles at a distance in this way, as
our generals and our government are famed for a prudential reticence.
When the Northern papers simply say they have gained a victory, we
rejoice, knowing their Cretan habits. The other day they announced, for
European credulity, the capture and killing of 40,000 of our men: this
staggered us; but it turned out that they did capture 700 of our
stragglers and 2000 wounded men in field hospitals. _Now_ they are under
the necessity of admitting the truth. Truth, like honesty, is always the
best policy.
OCTOBER 2D.--News from the North indicate that in Europe all expectation
of a restoration of the Union is at an end; and the probability is that
we shall soon be recognized, to be followed, possibly, by intervention.
Nevertheless, we must rely upon our own strong arms, and the favor of
God. It is said, however, an iron steamer is being openly constructed in
the Mersey (Liverpool), for the avowed purpose of opening the blockade
of Charleston harbor.
Yesterday in both Houses of Congress resolutions were introduced for
the purpose of retaliating upon the North the barbarities contemplated
in Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
The Abolitionists of the North want McClellan removed--I hope they may
have their will. The reason assigned by his friends for his not
advancing farther into Virginia, is that he has not troops enough, and
the Secretary of War has them not to send him. I hope this may be so.
Still, I think he must fight soon if he remains near Martinsburg.
The yellow fever is worse at Wilmington. I trust it will not make its
appearance here.
A resolution was adopted yesterday in the Senate, to the effect that
martial law does not apply to civilians. But it _has_ been applied to
them here, and both Gen. Winder and his Provost Marshal threatened to
apply it to me.
Among the few measures that may be attributed to the present Secretary
of War, is the introduction of the telegraph wires into his office. It
may possibly be the idea of another; but it is not exactly original; and
it has not been productive of good. It has now been in operation several
weeks, all the way to Warrenton; and yet a few days ago the enemy's
cavalry found that section of country undefended, and took Warrenton
itself, capturing in that vicinity some 2000 wounded Confederates, in
spite of the Secretary's expensive vigilance. Could a Yankee have been
the inventor of the Secretary's plaything? One amused himself
telegraphing the Secretary from Warrenton, that all was quiet there;
_and that the Yankees had not made their appearance in that
neighborhood, as had been rumored_! If we had imbeciles in the field,
our subjugation would be only pastime for the enemy. It is well,
perhaps, that Gen. Lee has razeed the department down to a second-class
bureau, of which the President himself is the chief.
I see by a correspondence of the British diplomatic agents, that their
government have decided no reclamation can be made on us for burning
cotton and tobacco belonging to British subjects, where there is danger
that they may fall into the hands of the enemy. Thus the British
government do not even claim to have their subjects in the South favored
above the Southern people. But Mr. Benjamin is more liberal, and he
directed the Provost Marshal to save the tobacco bought on foreign
account. So far, however, _the grand speculation has failed_.
OCTOBER 3D.--Gen. Wise was countermanded in his march against
Williamsburg, by Major-Gen. Gustavus W. Smith. He had 2700 men, the
enemy 1500, and he would have captured and slain them all. Gen. Wise was
the trusted and revered Governor of Virginia, while Smith was the Street
Commissioner in New York.
A strong letter from Vice-President Stephens is published to-day, in
which it is successfully maintained that no power exists, derived either
from the Constitution or acts of Congress, for the declaration of
martial law. He says all punishments inflicted by military governors on
civilians are clearly illegal.
There is a rumor that we have Louisville, but it does not seem to be
authentic. We have nothing from Lee, and know not exactly where
McClellan is.
Many people thought the President himself would take the field. I doubt
not he would have done so if the Provisional Government had continued in
existence until independence was achieved.
OCTOBER 4TH.--A splendid aurora borealis last night.
Yesterday, most of the delegation in Congress from Kentucky and
Tennessee petitioned the President to order Gen. Breckinridge, at
Knoxville, to march to the relief of Nashville, and expel the enemy,
without waiting for orders from Gen. Bragg, now in Kentucky. The
President considers this an extraordinary request, and will not, I
suppose, grant it.
It is said Gen. Lee is advancing against Gen. McClellan at Martinsburg.
If Lee attacks him, and beats him, he will probably be ruined, for the
Potomac will be in his rear.
The enemy's paper, printed at Nashville, thinks Bragg has taken
Louisville. I hope so. I think we shall get Nashville soon.
Gen. Butler, the Yankee commander in New Orleans, has issued an order to
all the inhabitants of that city, sympathizing with the Southern
Confederacy, to present themselves immediately, and take the oath of
allegiance, when they will be recommended for _pardon_. If they do not
comply with the order, they will be arrested by his police, cast into
prison, and their property confiscated. These are the orders which rally
our men and make them fight like heroes. How many Yankees will bleed and
die in consequence of this order? And Lincoln's Emancipation
Proclamation will seal the doom of one hundred thousand of his own
people!
A letter from Gen. Lee, dated October 1st, says that McClellan has not
crossed the Potomac. Some of his scouts have been at Martinsburg, or in
its vicinity. It is not to be supposed that Lee can be _amused_ by
McClellan, while a force of any magnitude is sent against Richmond. Some
fear this, but I don't.
OCTOBER 6TH, MONDAY.--A Jew store, in Main Street, was robbed of $8000
worth of goods on Saturday night. They were carted away. This is
significant. The prejudice is very strong against the extortionists, and
I apprehend there will be many scenes of violence this winter. And our
own people, who ask four prices for wood and coal, may contribute to
produce a new Reign of Terror. The supplies necessary for existence
should not be withheld from a suffering people. It is dangerous.
There is great diversity of opinion yet as to the locality of
McClellan's army and Lee's intentions.
A dispatch from Gen. Van Dorn, in West Tennessee, indicates that we are
_gaining_ a victory over Rosecrans. The battle was in _progress_, not
completed.
OCTOBER 7TH.--Nothing further has been heard from Corinth. A great
battle is looked for in Kentucky. All is quiet in Northern Virginia.
Some 2500 Confederate prisoners arrived from the North last evening.
They are on parole, and will doubtless be exchanged soon, as we have
taken at least 40,000 more of the enemy's men than they have captured of
ours.
Yesterday, Congress, which has prolonged the session until the 13th
instant, passed a bill increasing the pay of soldiers four dollars per
mouth. I hope they will increase _our_ pay before they adjourn. Congress
also, yesterday, voted down the proposition of a _forced loan_ of
one-fifth of all incomes. But the Committee of Ways and Means are
instructed to bring forward another bill.
This evening Custis and I expect the arrival of my family from Raleigh,
N. C. We have procured for them one pound of sugar, 80 cents; one quart
of milk, 25 cents; one pound of sausage-meat, 37-1/2 cents; four loaves
of bread, as large as my fist, 20 cents each; and we have a little
coffee, which is selling at $2.50 per pound. In the morning, some one
must go to market, else there will be short-commons. Washing is $2.50
per dozen pieces. Common soap is worth 75 cents per pound.
OCTOBER 8TH.--At last we have definite accounts of the battle of
Corinth, on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday last. We have been defeated,
and fearful has been the slaughter on both sides. The enemy had
overwhelming numbers. We have no particulars, further than that our army
retreated. This is bad for Van Dorn and Price.
My family arrived last night, well, and pleased with the cottage, which
they call Robin's Nest. But we were saddened by the loss of a trunk--the
most valuable one--containing some heavy spoons, forks, and other plate,
saved from the wreck at Burlington; my wife's velvet cloak, satin dress
(bought in Paris), my daughter's gold watch, and many other things of
value. Twelve trunks, the right number, were delivered; but one did not
belong to us.
OCTOBER 9TH.--Early this morning I was at the depot. The superintendent
suggested that I should send some one to Weldon in search of the trunk.
He proffered to pass him free. This was kind; but I desired first to
look among the baggage at the depot, and the baggage-master was called
in. Only two were unclaimed last night; but he said a gentleman had been
there early in the morning looking for his trunk, who stated that by
some mistake he had got the _wrong_ one last night. He said he stopped
at the Exchange, and I repaired thither without delay, where I found my
trunk, to the mutual joy of the traveler and myself. It was sent to the
cottage, and the stranger's taken to the hotel. Had it not been for my
lucky discovery, we should have had no spoons, forks, etc.
My wife has obviated one of the difficulties of the blockade, by a
substitute for coffee, which I like very well. It is simply _corn meal,
toasted like coffee_, and served in the same manner. It costs five or
six cents per pound--coffee, $2.50.
I heard a foolish North Carolinian abusing the administration to-day. He
said, among other things, that the President himself, and his family,
had Northern proclivities. That the President's family, when they fled
from Richmond, in May, took refuge at St. Mary's Hall, Raleigh, the
establishment of the Rev. Dr. Smedes, a Northern man of open and avowed
partiality for the Union; and that the Rev. Dr. Mason of the same place,
with whom they were in intimate association, was a Northern man, and an
open Unionist. That the President's aid, and late Assistant Secretary of
State, was an Englishman, imported from the North; Gen. Cooper, the
highest in rank of any military officer, was a Northern man; Col.
Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, was also a Northern man; Gen. Lovell, who was
in the defeat at Corinth, and who had surrendered New Orleans, was from
Pennsylvania; Gen. Smith, in command of Virginia and North Carolina,
from New York; and Gen. Winder, commanding this metropolis, a
Marylander, and his detectives strangers and aliens, who sold passports
to Lincoln's spies for $100 each. He was furious, and swore all the
distresses of the people were owing to a Nero-like despotism,
originating in the brain of Benjamin, the Jew, whose wife lived in
Paris.
The Senate, yesterday, passed the following resolutions, almost
unanimously:
_1st. Resolved by the Congress of the Confederate States of America_,
That no officer of the Confederate Government is _by law_ empowered to
vest Provost Marshals with any authority whatever over citizens of the
Confederate States not belonging to the land or naval forces thereof or
with general police powers and duties for the preservation of the peace
and good order of any city, town, or municipal district in any State of
this Confederacy, and any such exercise of authority _is illegal and
void_.
_2d. Resolved_, That no officer of the Confederate Government has
constitutional or other lawful authority to limit or restrict, or in any
manner to control the exercise of the jurisdiction of the civil judicial
tribunals of the States of this Confederacy, vested in them by the
constitutions and laws of the States respectively, and all orders of any
such officer, tending to restrict or control or interfere with the full
and normal exercise of the jurisdiction of such civil judicial tribunals
_are illegal and void_.
_3d. Resolved_, That the military law of the Confederate States is, by
the courts and the enactments of Congress, limited to the land and naval
forces and the militia when in actual service, and to such other persons
as are within the lines of any army, navy, corps, division or brigade of
the army of the Confederate States.
Yesterday, the _Dispatch_ contained an article, copied from the
_Philadelphia Inquirer_, stating that a certain person who had been in
prison here, arrested by order of Gen. Winder, for disloyalty, and for
attempting to convey information to the enemy, had succeeded in
obtaining his release; and, for a _bribe_ of $100, a passport to leave
the Confederacy had been procured from Gen. Winder's alien detectives.
The passport is printed in the Philadelphia paper, and the bearer, the
narrative says, has entered the United States service.
This must have been brought to the attention of the President; for a
lady, seeking a passport to go to her son, sick and in prison in the
North, told me that when she applied to Gen. Winder to-day, he said _the
President had ordered him to issue no more passports_. And subsequently
several parties, government agents and others, came to me with orders
from the Secretary (which I retain on file), to issue passports for
them. I hope this may be the end of Winder's reign.
A letter from Gen. Lee states that, in view of certain movements, he
had, without waiting for instructions, delivered the sword, horse, etc.
of Gen. Kearney, lately killed, to his wife, who had made application
for them. The _movements_ referred to we shall know more about in a few
days.
Gen. Van Dorn dispatches the department that his army is safe; that he
took thirteen guns and 700 prisoners. So it was not so disastrous a
defeat. But the idea of charging five times his number!
OCTOBER 10TH.--Mr. Brooks called this morning to get me to draft a
passport bill, which he said he would get Congress to pass. I doubt it.
I wrote the bill, however. He says fifteen or twenty members of Congress
visit his house daily. They dine with him, and drink his old whisky.
Mr. B. has a superb mansion on Clay Street, which he bought at a
sacrifice. He made his money at trade. In one of the rooms Aaron Burr
once dined with Chief Justice Marshall, and Marshall was assailed for it
afterward by Mr. Jefferson. It was during Burr's trial, and Marshall was
his judge. Mr. Wickham, who was Burr's counsel, then occupied the house,
and gave a dinner party. Marshall did not know Burr was to be one of the
guests. I got these facts from Mr. Foote, whom I met there the other
evening.
A letter from Gen. Bragg to the President, indicates but too clearly
that the people of Kentucky hesitate to risk the loss of property by
joining us. Only one brigade has been recruited so far. The general says
50,000 more men are requisite. Can he have them? None!
OCTOBER 11TH.--There are rumors of Abolition gun-boats in the York and
James Rivers. A battery of long range guns was sent down yesterday.
It is said that an army of raw Abolitionists, under Sigel, has marched
from Alexandria toward Culpepper County. If this be so, we shall soon
have more fighting, and more running, I hope. Lee keeps his own
counsel--_wisely_.
OCTOBER 13TH.--Northern papers, received last night, speak of a battle
at Perryville, Kentucky, on the 9th instant, in which the Abolitionists
lost, by their own confession, 2000 killed and wounded, which means
10,000. They say Bragg's forces held a _portion_ of the field after the
battle. If this prove not a glorious victory for our arms, I don't know
how to read Abolition journals.
I see that our Congress, late on Saturday night (they adjourn to-day),
passed an act increasing the salaries of officers and employees in the
departments residing at Richmond. This will make the joint compensation
of my son and myself $3000; this is not equal to $2000 a year ago. But
Congress failed to make the necessary appropriation. The Secretary might
use the contingent fund.
Another act authorizes the President to appoint twenty additional
brigadier-generals, and a number of lieutenant-generals.
The _New York Herald_, and even the _Tribune_, are _tempting_ us to
return to the Union, by promises of _protecting slavery_, and an offer
of a convention to alter the Constitution, giving us such guarantees of
safety as we may demand. _This is significant._ We understand the sign.
Letters from Gen. Lee do not indicate an immediate purpose to retire
from the Potomac; on the contrary, he has ordered Gen. Loring, if
practicable, to menace Wheeling and Pennsylvania, and form a junction
with him _via_ the Monongahela and Upper Potomac. But Loring does not
deem it safe to move all his forces (not more than 6000) by that route;
he will, however, probably send his cavalry into Pennsylvania.
And Gen. Lee does not want any more raw conscripts. They get sick
immediately, and prove a burden instead of a benefit. He desires them
to be kept in camps of instruction, until better _seasoned_ (a term
invented by Gen. Wise) for the field.
Senator Brown, of Mississippi, opposed the bill increasing our salaries,
on the ground that letters from himself, indorsed by the President,
applying for clerkships for his friends, _remained unanswered_. He did
not seem to know that this was exclusively the fault of the head clerk,
Mr. Randolph, who has the title of Secretary of War.
And the _Examiner_ denounces the bill, because it seems to sanction a
depreciation of our currency! What statesmanship! What logic!
OCTOBER 14TH.--Congress adjourned yesterday at five o'clock P.M. I have
heard nothing of Mr. Brooks and the Passport Bill I drafted. The truth
is that, with few exceptions, the members of this Congress are very
weak, and very subservient to the heads of departments.
Congress has given him (the President) power to suspend the writ of
_habeas corpus_ anywhere, until thirty days after the reassembling of
Congress--and they have failed to pass the joint resolution declaring no
power exists under the Constitution to institute martial law. They voted
it separately, but _flinched_ when put to the test to act conjointly;
and martial law still exists in this city.
We have Northern accounts of a dash into Pennsylvania by Gen. Stuart and
1500 of his cavalry. He went as far as Chambersburg, which surrendered;
and he was gathering horses, etc., for the use of the army, paying for
them in Confederate notes. They say he did not disturb any other
description of private property without paying for it. I hope he is
safely back again by this time. The Northern papers claim a victory in
Kentucky--but I shall wait until we hear from Bragg.
Gen. Magruder has been assigned to duty in Texas. What Gen. Johnston is
to do, does not yet appear. A great many new assistant adjutants and
inspector-generals are to be appointed for the generals,
lieutenant-generals, majors, and brigadier-generals, having rank and pay
of colonels, majors, captains, and lieutenants of cavalry. Like the
Russian, perhaps, we shall have a purely military government; and it may
be as good as any other.
Gold, in the North, is selling at 28 per cent. premium; and Exchange on
England at $1.40. This is an indication that the Abolitionists are
bringing distress upon their own country.
The financial bill did not pass--so there is to be no forced loan.
Neither did a bill, making Confederate notes a legal tender--so there
will be a still greater depreciation.
Gen. Hardee is a lieutenant-general.
OCTOBER 15TH.--A young man showed me a passport to-day to return to
Washington. It appears that Secretary Randolph has adopted another plan,
which must be a rare stroke of genius. The printed passport is "by order
of the Secretary of War," and is signed by "J. H. Winder, Brig.-Gen."
But this is not all: on the back it is "_approved_--by order of
Major-Gen. Gustavus W. Smith," and signed by one of Smith's "adjutants."
So the command of the Secretary of War is approved by the New Yorker,
Smith, after being first manipulated by Winder. It is an improvement, at
all events, on the late mode of sending out spies--they cannot get
passports for bribes now, without Smith's adjutant knowing something
about it. Heretofore the "Plug Uglies" might take the bribe, and by
their influence with Gen. Winder, obtain his signature to a blank
passport.
The following was received yesterday:
"WINCHESTER, VA., Oct. 14, 1862.
"HON. G. W. RANDOLPH.
"The cavalry expedition to Pennsylvania has returned safe. They
passed through Mercersburg, Chambersburg, Emmetsburg, Liberty, New
Market, Syattstown, and Burnesville. The expedition crossed the
Potomac above Williamsport, and recrossed at White's Ford, making
the entire circuit, cutting the enemy's communications, destroying
arms, etc., and obtaining many recruits.
"R. E. LEE, General."
Thus, Gen. Stuart has made another circle round the enemy's army; and
hitherto, every time he has done so, a grand battle followed. Let
McClellan beware!
A letter, just received from Gen. Lee, says there is no apprehension of
an immediate advance of McClellan's army. This he has ascertained from
his scouts sent out to obtain information. He says the enemy is in no
condition to advance. Will they go into winter quarters? Or will Lee
beat them up in their quarters?
But the government has desired Lee to fall back from the Potomac; and
Lee, knowing best what he should do at present, declines the _honor_. He
says he is now subsisting his army on what, if he retreated, would
subsist the enemy, as he has but limited means of transportation. He
says, moreover, that our cavalry about Culpepper and Manassas (belonging
to the command of Gen. Gustavus W. Smith), should be more _active_ and
_daring_ in dashing at the enemy; and then, a few weeks hence, McClellan
would go into winter quarters. That would insure the safety of Richmond
until spring.
There is a rumor, generally credited, that Bragg has led the enemy, in
Kentucky, into an ambuscade, and slaughtered 25,000. A traveler from the
West reports having read an account to this effect in the Louisville
_Journal_. If the _Journal_ really says so--that number won't cover the
loss. The Abolitionist journals are incorrigible liars. And, indeed, so
are many of those who bring us news from the West.
OCTOBER 16TH.--There is no confirmation of the reported victory in
Kentucky.
An Englishman, who has been permitted to go North, publishes there a
minute and pretty accurate description of our river defenses.
I have written a leading article for the _Whig_ to-morrow, on "Martial
Law and Passports." My plan is to organize committees in all the border
counties to examine the passports of strangers seeking egress from the
country; and to permit loyal citizens, not desiring to pass our borders,
or the lines of the armies, to travel without passports. An officer and
a squad of soldiers at the depots can decide what soldiers are entitled
to pass on the roads.
OCTOBER 17TH.--The article in the _Whig_ is backed by one of a similar
character in the _Examiner_. We shall see what effect they will have on
the policy adopted by the Secretary of War.
Although still unofficial, we have confirmatory accounts of Bragg's
victory in Kentucky. The enemy lost, they say, 25,000 men. Western
accounts are generally exaggerated.
The President has appointed the following lieutenant-generals: Jackson,
Longstreet, (Bishop) Polk, Hardee, Pemberton, Holmes, and Smith (Kirby).
The raid of Stuart into Pennsylvania was a most brilliant affair. He
captured and destroyed much public property--respecting that of
individuals. The Abolitionists are much mortified, and were greatly
frightened. The plan of this expedition was received at the department
to-day--just as conceived and prepared by Lee, and it was executed by
Stuart in a masterly manner.
Advices from Winchester inform the government that McClellan is
receiving large reinforcements. He may be determined to cross the
Potomac and offer battle--as nothing less will satisfy the rabid
Abolitionists. Gen. Lee is tearing up the rails on the road from
Harper's Ferry.
Our improvident soldiers lose a great many muskets. We should not have
arms enough on the Potomac, were it not for those captured at Harper's
Ferry. An order will be issued, making every man responsible for the
safe-keeping of his gun.
OCTOBER 18TH.--Major-Gen. Jones telegraphs from Knoxville, Tenn., that a
wounded officer arrived from Kentucky, reports a victory for Bragg, and
that he has taken over 10,000 prisoners. We shall soon have positive
news.
A letter from Admiral Buchanan states that he has inspected the defenses
of Mobile, and finds them satisfactory.
I traversed the markets this morning, and was gratified to find the
greatest profusion of all kinds of meats, vegetables, fruits, poultry,
butter, eggs, etc. But the prices are enormously high. If the army be
kept away, it seems the supply must soon be greater than the demand.
Potatoes at $5 per bushel, and a large crop! Half-grown chickens at $1
each! Butter at $1.25 per pound! And other things in the same
proportion.
Here is a most startling matter. Gov. Baylor, appointed Governor of
Arizona, sent an order some time since to a military commander to
assemble the Apaches, under pretense of a treaty--_and when they came,
to kill every man of them, and sell their children to pay for the
whisky_. This order was sent to the Secretary, who referred it to Gen.
Sibley, of that Territory, to ascertain if it were genuine. To-day it
came back from Gen. S. indorsed a _true bill_. Now it will go to the
President--and we shall see what will follow. He cannot sanction such a
perfidious crime. I predict he will make Capt. Josselyn, his former
private Secretary, and the present Secretary of the Territory, Governor
in place of Baylor.
OCTOBER 20TH.--The news from Kentucky is very vague. It seems there has
been a battle, which resulted favorably for us, so far as the casualties
are concerned. But then Bragg has fallen back forty miles, and is
probably retiring toward Cumberland Gap, that he may not be taken in the
rear by the enemy's forces lately at Corinth.
The President intends suspending the Conscription Act in Western
Virginia, for the purpose, no doubt, of organizing an army of Partisan
Rangers in that direction.
It seems, from recent Northern papers received in this city, that the
elections in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana have gone against the
Abolitionists. What then? If the war should be waged by the Democrats
for the restoration of the Union, and waged according to the rules of
civilized nations, respecting non-combatants, and exempting private
property from pillage, it would be a still more formidable war than that
now waged against us.
I have just received the following note from the Secretary:
"OCTOBER 17th, 1862.
"MR. J. B. JONES will hereafter refer all applicants for passports
to Gen. Smith's Adjutant-General, and grant none from the
department.
"GEORGE W. RANDOLPH,
"_Sec. of War_."
Neither the acting Assistant Secretary, nor Mr. Kean, with his whole
alphabet of initials, could be certain whether the order referred merely
to applicants to go out of the Confederacy, or all applicants of
whatever kind. If the latter, I am _functus officio_, so far as
passports are concerned. But Capt. Kean says there is plenty of work for
me to do; and I presume I will not be entirely out of employment.
I took a good look at Mr. Randolph to-day. He is thin, frail. His face
is pale, and will soon be a mass of wrinkles, although he is not over
forty. His eyes are extremely small, blue, and glisten very much.
OCTOBER 21ST.--Still nothing definite from Kentucky, more than the
retreat of Bragg. Gen. Loring is here--he would not act upon the
suggestions of Lee, and so he is recalled.
The government is uneasy about Richmond. They want a portion of Lee's
army sent hither. But Lee responds, that although he is not advised of
the condition of things on the south side of James River, yet, if he
detaches a portion of his army, he may be too weak to encounter
McClellan, if he should advance.
I saw the Secretary again this morning; he wished me to turn over all
the passport business to the military. I said I was glad to be rid of
that business, and would never touch it again.
OCTOBER 22D.--Back at the department at work, but not much to do yet.
The mails are not heavy.
We have Bragg's report of the battle of Perryville. He beat the enemy
from his positions, driving him back two miles, when night set in. But
finding overwhelming masses accumulating around him, he withdrew in good
order to Bryattsville. Thus Kentucky is given up for the present!
McClellan has retired back into Maryland, hoping, I suppose, Lee will
follow and fall into his ambuscade.
The President will call out, under the Conscription Act, all between the
ages of eighteen and forty. This will furnish, according to the
Secretary's estimate, 500,000, after deducting the exempts. A great
mistake.
A letter from Gen. Lee indicates that he is in favor of making Treasury
notes a legal tender. It was so with Washington concerning Continental
money--but Congress pays no attention to the subject. Why does not the
President recommend it? It would then pass--for, at present, he is
master.
The paper from the Provost Marshal, referred by the latter to the
President, came back to-day. The Secretary, in referring it, seems to
incline to the opinion that the writ of _habeas corpus_ not being
suspended, there was no remedy for the many evils the Provost Marshal
portrayed. The President, however, did not wholly coincide in that
opinion. He says: "The introduction and sale of liquors must be
prevented. Call upon the city authorities to withhold licenses, and to
abate the evil in the courts, _or else an order will be issued, such as
the necessity requires_."
Judge Campbell, late of the United States Supreme Court, has been
appointed Assistant Secretary of War.
OCTOBER 23D.--The Gov. of Florida calls for aid, or he thinks his State
will fall.
Albert Pike, writing from Texas, says if the Indian Territory be not
attended to "_instantly_," it will be lost.
Per contra, we have a rumor that Lee is recrossing the Potomac into
Maryland.
OCTOBER 24TH.--Bragg is in full retreat, leaving Kentucky, and racing
for Chattanooga--the point of interest now. But Beauregard, from whom
was taken the command of the Western army, day before yesterday repulsed
with slaughter a large detachment of the Yankees that had penetrated to
the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. Thus, in spite of the fantastic
tricks of small men here, the _popular_ general is destined to rise
again.
OCTOBER 25TH.--Many severe things are alleged against the President for
depriving Beauregard of the command of the Western army. It is alleged
that Bragg reported that the enemy would have been annihilated at
Shiloh, if Beauregard had fought an hour longer. Now, it appears, that
Bragg would have annihilated the enemy at Perryville, if he had fought
an hour longer! And just at the moment of his flying out of Kentucky,
news comes of Beauregard's victory over the enemy in the South. Nor is
this all. The enemy some time since intercepted a letter from Beauregard
to Bragg (a copy of which was safely sent to the government here),
detailing his plan of the campaign in the West, if he had not been
unjustly deprived of the command. But Bragg chose to make a plan of his
own, or was directed to disregard Beauregard's advice. No one doubts
that Beauregard's plan would have been successful, and would have given
us Cincinnati and Louisville; but that of Bragg, as the one sent him by
the government, has resulted in the loss of Kentucky, and, perhaps,
Tennessee!
Brig.-Gen. Edward Johnson is recommended by Gen. Lee for promotion to
major-general, and to be placed in command of the army in Western
Virginia.
OCTOBER 27TH.--From information (pretty direct from Washington), I
believe it is the purpose of the enemy to make the most strenuous
efforts to capture Richmond and Wilmington this fall and winter. It has
been communicated to the President that if it takes their last man, and
all their means, these cities must fall. Gen. Smith is getting negroes
to work on the defenses, and the subsistence officers are ordered to
accumulate a vast amount of provisions here.
Letters from Beauregard show that the Commissary-General, because _he_
thinks Charleston cannot be defended, opposes the provisioning the forts
as the general would have it done! The general demands of the government
to know whether he is to be overruled, and if so, he must not be held
responsible for the consequences. We shall see some of these days which
side the President will espouse. Beauregard is _too popular_, I fear, to
meet with favor here. But it is life or death to the Confederacy, and
danger lurks in the path of public men who endanger the liberties of the
people.
OCTOBER 28TH.--Gen. Bragg is here, but will not probably be deprived of
his command. He was opposed by vastly superior numbers, and succeeded in
getting away with the largest amount of provisions, clothing, etc., ever
obtained by an army. He brought out 15,000 horses and mules, 8000
beeves, 50,000 barrels of pork, a great number of hogs, 1,000,000 yards
of Kentucky cloth, etc. The army is now at Knoxville, Tennessee, in good
condition. But before leaving Kentucky, Morgan made still another
capture of Lexington, taking a whole cavalry regiment prisoners,
destroying several wagon trains, etc. It is said Bragg's train of wagons
was forty miles long! A Western _tale_, I fear.
Letters from Lee urge the immediate completion of the railroad from
Danville to Greenville, North Carolina, as of _vital importance_. He
thinks the enemy will cut the road between this and Weldon. He wants
Confederate notes made a legal tender; and the President says that, as
the courts cannot enforce payment in anything else, they are
substantially a legal tender already. And he suggests the withholding of
pay from officers during their absence from their regiments. A good
idea.
Everything indicates that Richmond will be assailed this fall, and that
operations in the field are not to be suspended in the winter.
Polk, Bragg, Cheatham, etc. are urging the President to make Col.
Preston Smith a brigadier-general. Unfortunately, Bragg's letter
mentioned the fact that Beauregard had given Smith command of a brigade
at Shiloh; and this attracting the eye of the President, he made a sharp
note of it with his pencil. "What authority had he for this?" he asked;
and Col. Smith will not be appointed.
OCTOBER 29TH.--There was a rumor yesterday that the enemy were marching
on Weldon; but we have no confirmation of it to-day.
Loring, after all, did not send his cavalry into Pennsylvania, I
presume, since nothing has been heard of it.
The _Charleston Mercury_ has some strictures on the President for not
having Breckinridge in Kentucky, and Price in Missouri, this fall. They
would doubtless have done good service to the cause. The President is
much absorbed in the matter of appointments.
Gen. Wise was again ordered down the Peninsula last Saturday; and again
ordered back when he got under way. They will not let him fight.
OCTOBER 30TH.--The Commissary-General is in hot water on account of some
of his contracts, and a board of inquiry is to sit on him.
The President has delayed the appointment of Gen. E. Johnson, and Gen.
Echols writes that several hundred of his men have deserted; that the
enemy, 10,000 or 15,000 strong, is pressing him, and he must fall back,
losing Charleston, Virginia, the salt works, and possibly the railroad.
He has less than 4000 men!
But we have good news from England--if it be true. The New York
_Express_ says Lord Lyons is instructed by England, and perhaps on the
part of France and other powers, to demand of the United States an
armistice; and in the event of its not being acceded to, the governments
will recognize our independence. One of the President's personal
attendants told me this news was regarded as authentic by our
government. I don't regard it so.
Yesterday the whole batch of "Plug Ugly" policemen, in the Provost
Marshal's "department," were summarily dismissed by Gen. Winder, for
"malfeasance, corruption, bribery, and incompetence." These are the
branches: the roots should be plucked up, and Gen. Winder and his
Provost Marshal ought to resign. I believe the President ordered the
removal.
OCTOBER 31ST.--If it be not a Yankee electioneering trick to operate at
the election in New York, on the fourth of November, the Northern
correspondence with Europe looks very much like speedy intervention in
our behalf.
Winder has really dismissed all his detectives excepting Cashmeyer,
about the worst of them.
If we gain our independence by the valor of our people, or assisted by
European intervention, I wonder whether President Davis will be regarded
by the world as a second Washington? What will his own country say of
him? I know not, of course; but I know what quite a number here say of
him now. They say he is a small specimen of a statesman, and no military
chieftain at all. And worse still, that he is a capricious tyrant, for
lifting up Yankees and keeping down great Southern men. Wise, Floyd,
etc. are kept in obscurity; while Pemberton, who commanded the
Massachusetts troops, under Lincoln, in April, 1861, is made a
lieutenant-general; G. W. Smith and Lovell, who were office-holders in
New York, when the battle of Manassas was fought, are made
major-generals, and the former put in command over Wise in Virginia, and
all the generals in North Carolina. Ripley, another Northern general,
was sent to South Carolina, and Winder, from Maryland, has been allowed
to play the despot in Richmond and Petersburg. Washington was maligned.
CHAPTER XX.
General Lee in Richmond: beard white.--First proposition to trade cotton
to the enemy.--Secretary in favor of it.--All the letters come
through my hands again.--Lee falling back.--5000 negroes at work on
the fortifications.--Active operations looked for--Beauregard advises
non-combatants to leave the city.--Semmes's operations.--Making a
nation.--Salt works lost in Virginia.--Barefooted soldiers.--
Intrigues of Butler in New Orleans.--Northern army advancing
everywhere.--Breach between the President and Secretary of War.--
President's servant arrested for robbing the Treasury.--Gen. J. E.
Johnston in town.--Secretary has resigned.--Hon. J. A. Seddon
appointed Secretary of War.--The enemy marching on Fredericksburg.--
Lee writes that he will be ready for them.--Kentuckians will not be
hog drivers.--Women and children flying from the vicinity of
Fredericksburg.--Fears for Wilmington.--No beggars.--Quiet on the
Rappahannock.--M. Paul, French Consul, saved the French tobacco.--
Gen. Johnston goes West.--President gives Gov. Pettit full authority
to trade cotton to France.
NOVEMBER 1ST.--Gen. Winder's late policemen have fled the city. Their
monstrous crimes are the theme of universal execration. But I reported
them many months ago, and Gen. Winder was cognizant of their forgeries,
correspondence with the enemy, etc. The Secretary of War, and the
President himself, were informed of them, but it was thought to be a
"small matter."
Gen. Lee made his appearance at the department to-day, and was hardly
recognizable, for his beard, now quite white, has been suffered to grow
all over his face. But he is quite robust from his exercises in the
field. His appearance here, coupled with the belief that we are to have
the armistice, or recognition and intervention, is interpreted by many
as an end of the war. But I apprehend it is a symptom of the falling
back of our army.
I have been startled to-day by certain papers that came under my
observation. The first was written by J. Foulkes, to L. B. Northrop,
Commissary-General, proposing to aid the government in procuring meat
and bread for the army _from ports in the enemy's possession_. _They
were to be paid for in cotton._ The next was a letter from the
Commissary-General to G. W. Randolph, Secretary of War, urging the
acceptance of the proposition, and saying without it, it would be
impossible to subsist the army. He says the cotton proposed to be used,
in the Southwest will either be burned or fall into the hands of the
enemy; and that more than two-thirds is never destroyed when the enemy
approaches. But to effect his object, it will be necessary for the
Secretary to sanction it, and to give orders for the cotton to pass the
lines of the army. The next was from the Secretary to the President,
dated October thirtieth, which not only sanctioned Colonel Northrop's
scheme, but went further, and embraced shoes and blankets for the
Quartermaster-General. This letter inclosed both Foulkes's and
Northrop's. They were all sent back to-day by the President, with his
remarks. He hesitates, and does not concur. But says the Secretary will
readily see the propriety of _postponing_ such a resort until
January--and he hopes it may not be necessary then to depart from the
settled policy of the government--to forbear trading cotton to the
Yankees, etc. etc.
Mr. Benjamin, Secretary of State, has given Mr. Dunnock permission to
sell cotton to the Yankees and the rest of the world on the Atlantic and
Gulf coast. Can it be that the President knows nothing of this? It is
obvious that the cotton sold by Mr. Dunnock (who was always licensed by
Mr. Benjamin to trade with people in the enemy's country beyond the
Potomac) will be very _comfortable_ to the enemy. And it may aid Mr.
Dunnock and others in accumulating a fortune. The Constitution defines
_treason_ to be giving aid and comfort to the enemy. I never supposed
Mr. Randolph would suggest, nay _urge_, opening an illicit trade with
"Butler, the Beast." This is the first really dark period of our
struggle for independence.
We have acres enough, and laborers enough, to subsist 30,000,000 of
people; and yet we have the spectacle of high functionaries, under Mr.
Davis, urging the necessity of bartering cotton to the enemy for stores
essential to the maintenance of the army! I cannot believe it is a
necessity, but a destitution of that virtue necessary to achieve
independence. If they had any knowledge of these things in Europe, they
would cease their commendations of President Davis.
Mr. Randolph says, in his letter to the President, that trading with
ports in possession of the enemy is forbidden to citizens, and not to
the government! The archives of the department show that this is not the
first instance of the kind entertained by the Secretary. He has granted
a license to _citizens_ in Mobile to trade cotton in New Orleans for
certain supplies in exchange, in exact compliance with Gen. Butler's
proclamation. Did Pitt ever practice such things during his contest with
Napoleon? Did the Continental Government ever resort to such equivocal
expedients? A member of Washington's cabinet (and he, too, was a
Randolph) once violated the "settled policy of the government," but he
was instantly deprived of the seals of office. He acted under the advice
of Jefferson, who sought to destroy Washington; and the present
Secretary Randolph is a grandson of Jefferson. Washington, the
inflexible patriot, frowned indignantly upon every departure from the
path of rectitude.
I can do nothing more than record these things, and WATCH!
NOVEMBER 2D, SUNDAY.--I watch the daily orders of Adjutant and
Inspector-Gen. Cooper. These, when "by command of the Secretary of War,"
are intelligible to any one, but not many are by his command. When
simply "by order," they are promulgated by order of the President,
without even consulting the Secretary; and they often annul the
Secretary's orders. They are _edicts_, and sometimes thought very
arbitrary ones. One of these orders says liquor shall not be introduced
into the city; and a poor fellow, the other day, was sentenced to the
ball-and-chain for trying to bring hither his whisky from Petersburg. On
the same day Gov. Brown, of Georgia, seized liquor in his State, in
transitu over the railroad, belonging to the government!
Since the turning over of the passports to Generals Smith and Winder, I
have resumed the position where all the letters to the department come
through my hands. I read them, make brief statements of their contents,
and send them to the Secretary. Thus all sent by the President to the
department go through my hands, being epitomized in the same manner.
The new Assistant Secretary, Judge Campbell, has been ordering the
Adjutant-General too peremptorily; and so Gen. Cooper has issued an
order making Lieut.-Col. Deas an Acting Assistant Secretary of War, thus
creating an office in defiance of Congress.
NOVEMBER 3D.--The right wing of Lee's army has fallen back as far as
Culpepper County, and the enemy advances. Active movements are speedily
looked for; many suppose a desperate attempt to take Richmond.
Our government has decided that _no one_ shall be permitted to go North
for thirty days.
A requisition for heavy guns to defend Cumberland Gap, elicited from the
Inspector of Ordnance a statement of the fact that we are "short" of
guns for the defense of Richmond.
There was a rumor yesterday that the enemy was marching in force on
Petersburg. This, at all events, was premature.
A letter from Hon. C. C. Clay, Senator, says there is much defection in
North Alabama, and that many people are withdrawing themselves to avoid
conscription.
Just at this time, if it were not for Lincoln's proclamation, if the war
were conducted according to the rules of civilized nations, I verily
believe a very formidable party in favor of RECONSTRUCTION might spring
up in the South. With a united South, two million of Abolitionists could
not subjugate us.
NOVEMBER 4TH.--An exposé of funds in the hands of disbursing agents
shows there are nearly seventy millions of dollars not accounted for!
The members of the legislature are fearful of an attack on the Southern
Railroad, and asks that Gen. Mahone be sent to Petersburg.
The government is impressing flour at $12 per barrel, when it is selling
at $24; and as the railroads are not allowed to transport any for
private use, _it may be hoped we shall have our bread cheaper some of
these days_. But will the government make itself popular with the
people?
The _Examiner_ says a clerk in the War Department is making money in the
substitute business. If this be true, it is rank corruption! But, then,
what is the cotton business?
The Chief of Ordnance Bureau, Col. J. Gorgas (Northern by birth),
recommends the Secretary of War to remove the lighter guns, some sixty
in number, from the lower tiers of Forts Sumter, Moultrie, and Morgan,
for the defense of the rivers likely to be ascended by the enemy's
gun-boats.
I saw, to-day, the President's order to revoke the authority heretofore
given Gov. Baylor to raise a brigade, and in regard to his conduct as
governor (ordering the massacre of the Indians after collecting them
under pretense of forming a treaty of peace). The President suggests
that nothing be done until the Governor _be heard in his own defense_.
It was diabolical! If it had been consummated, it would have affixed the
stigma of infamy to the government in all future time, and might have
doomed us to merited subjugation.
NOVEMBER 5TH.--Major Ruffin, in the Commissary Department, says the army
must go on half rations after the 1st of January next.
It is alleged that certain favorites of the government have a monopoly
of transportation over the railroads, for purposes of speculation and
extortion!
NOVEMBER 6TH.--I believe the commissaries and quartermasters are
cheating the government. The Quartermaster-General sent in a paper,
to-day, saying he did not need the contributions of clothes tendered by
the people of Petersburg, but still would pay for them. They were
offered for nothing.
The Commissary-General to-day says there is not wheat enough in Virginia
(when a good crop was raised) for Gen. Lee's army, and unless he has
millions in money and cotton, the army must disband for want of food. I
don't believe it.
There are 5000 negroes working on the fortifications near the city, and
2500 are to work on the Piedmont Railroad.
We are all hoping that New York and other States declared against the
Republicans, at the elections in the United States, on Tuesday last.
Such a communication would be regarded as the harbinger of peace. We are
all weary of the war, but _must_ and _will_ fight on, for no other
alternative remains. Everything, however, indicates that we are upon the
eve of most interesting events. This is the time for England or France
to come to the rescue, and enjoy a commercial monopoly for many years. I
think the Secretary of War has abandoned the idea of trading cotton to
the enemy. It might cost him his head.
NOVEMBER 7TH.--Yesterday I received from the agent of the City Councils
fourteen pounds of salt, having seven persons in my family, including
the servant. One pound to each member, per month, is allowed at 5 cts.
per pound. The extortionists sell it at 70 cts. per pound. One of _them_
was drawing for his family. He confessed it; but said he paid 50 cts.
for the salt he sold at 70 cts. Profit $10 per bushel! I sent an article
to-day to the _Enquirer_, suggesting that fuel, bread, meat, etc. be
furnished in the same manner. We shall soon be in a state of siege.
Last night there was a heavy fall of _snow_.
The authorities of Charleston, with the concurrence of Beauregard,
advise all the non-combating population to leave the city, and remove
their personal property. The city will be defended to the last
extremity.
What a change in the Executive Department! Before the election, the
President was accessible to all; and even a member of Congress had no
preference over the common citizen. But now there are _six_ aids,
cavalry colonels in rank and pay, and one of them an Englishman, who see
the people, and permit only certain ones to have access to the
President. This looks like the beginning of an imperial court. But what
may not its ending be?
I see that Mr. Hurlbut, incarcerated once as a spy, or as a writer for
an Abolition paper in New York, and a Northern man himself, after being
protected by Mr. Browne (the English A.D.C. of the President) and
released by Mr. Benjamin from prison, has escaped to the North, and is
out in a long article in the _Times_! He says he got a passport from
Gen. Winder's Provost Marshal. Mr. James Lyons thought he had made H. a
Southern man; what does he think now?
The "290" or Alabama, the ship bought in Europe, and commanded by Capt.
Semmes, C. S. N., is playing havoc with the commerce of the United
States. If we had a dozen of them, our foes would suffer incalculably,
for they have an immense amount of shipping. I see Semmes had captured
the Tonawanda, that used to lie at the foot of Walnut Street,
Philadelphia; but he released her, first putting the master under bond
to pay President Davis $80,000 after the war. I hope he will pay it, for
I think the President will want the money.
NOVEMBER 8TH.--The European statesmen, declining intervention in our
behalf, have, nevertheless, complimented our President by saying he has,
at all events, "made a nation." He is pleased with this, I understand.
But it is one of the errors which the wise men over the water are ever
liable to fall into. The "nation" was made before the President existed:
indeed, the nation made the President.
We have rumors of fighting near the mouth of the Shenandoah, and that
our arms were successful. It is time both armies were in winter
quarters. Snow still lies on the ground here.
We have tidings from the North of the triumph of the Democrats in New
York, New Jersey, etc. etc. This news produces great rejoicing, for it
is hailed as the downfall of Republican despotism. Some think it will be
followed by a speedy peace, or else that the European powers will
recognize us without further delay. I should not be surprised if Seward
were now to attempt to get the start of England and France, and cause
our recognition by the United States. I am sure the Abolitionists cannot
now get their million men. The drafting must be a failure.
The Governor of Mississippi (Pettus) informs the President that a
Frenchman, perhaps a Jew, proposes to trade salt for cotton--ten sacks
of the first for one of the latter. The Governor says he don't _know_
that he has received the consent of "Butler, the Beast" (but he knows
the trade is impossible without it), but that is no business of his. He
urges the traffic. And the President has consented to it, and given him
power to conduct the exchange in spite of the military authorities. The
President says, however, that twenty sacks of salt ought to be given for
one of cotton. Salt is worth in New Orleans about one dollar a sack,
cotton $160 per bale. The President informed the Secretary of what had
been _done_, and sends him a copy of his dispatch to Gov. Pettus. He
don't even ask Mr. Randolph's _opinion_.
NOVEMBER 9TH.--It is too true that Charleston, Va., and the great
Kanawha salt works have been abandoned by Gen. Echols for the want of an
adequate force to hold them. If the President had only taken Gen. Lee's
advice a month ago, and ordered a few thousand more men there, under the
command of Gen. Ed. Johnson, we should have kept possession of the
works. The President may seem to be a good nation-maker in the eyes of
distant statesmen, but he does not seem to be a good salt-maker for the
nation. The works he has just relinquished to the enemy manufacture 7000
bushels of salt per day--two million and a half a year--an ample supply
for the entire population of the Confederacy, and an object adequate to
the maintenance of an army of 50,000 in that valley. Besides, the troops
necessary for its occupation will soon be in winter quarters, and quite
as expensive to the government as if in the valley. A Cæsar, a
Napoleon, a Pitt, and a Washington, all great nation-makers, would have
deemed this work worthy their attention.
Only three days ago the President wrote to the Secretary that the idea
of trading cotton to the enemy must be postponed until the first of
January, and perhaps indefinitely, but now he informs Mr. Randolph that
he has sent the requisite authority to his friend, Gov. Pettus, to
launch out in that trade.
No, the people have made the nation. It is a people's war, and it is the
momentum of a united, patriotic people, which carries everything with
it. Our brave men win victories under adverse circumstances, and often
under incompetent officers, and the people feed and clothe the armies in
spite of the shortcomings of dishonest commissaries and quartermasters.
They are now sending ten thousand pairs of shoes to Lee's army in
opposition to the will of the Jew Myers, Quartermaster-General, who says
everything must be contracted and paid for by his agents, according to
red-tape rule and regulation.
The weather continues cold, 38°, and snow still lies on the ground. This
_must_ produce a cessation of hostilities, and afford Lincoln's drafted
recruits opportunity for meditation.
If it be true that the Democrats have carried the day in the North, I
think the war is approaching a termination.
NOVEMBER 10TH.--A day or two ago some soldiers marched through the city
without shoes, _in the snow_. A committee of citizens to-day obtained an
order from the War Department, for the impressment of all the boots,
shoes, blankets, and overcoats in the shops. What a commotion among the
Jews!
It is _certain_ that the enemy are advancing upon Culpepper, on the way
to Richmond, in great force. This we have in letters from Gen. Lee,
dated 7th inst., near Culpepper C. H. He says the enemy's cavalry is
very numerous, while our horses have the "sore tongue," and tender
hoofs. Lee has ordered the stores, etc. from Gordonsville to Lynchburg.
He says Jackson may possibly march through one of the gaps and fall upon
the enemy's flank, and intimates that an opportunity may be offered to
strike the invaders "a blow."
Yesterday, Sunday, a cavalry company dashed into Fredericksburg, and
after robbing the stores, and reporting that the Democrats had swept
the North, that England and France had recognized us, etc., they dashed
out again.
The President sent to the department to-day, _without comment_, a
defense by Col. Baylor of his atrocious order for the massacre of the
Indians. It was in a Texas paper. Baylor acknowledges its genuineness,
and says the Apaches murdered our people invited to make a treaty with
them, and he says it is his intention to retaliate by extermination of
them.
Another proposition was received by the government to-day from a French
firm of _New Orleans_ merchants, to furnish us salt, meat, shoes,
blankets, etc., in unlimited quantities, _and guarantee their delivery_,
if we will allow them, with the proceeds of salt, the privilege of
buying cotton on the Mississippi River, and they will, moreover, freight
French ships above New Orleans, and guarantee that not a bale shall be
landed in any U. S. port. Is it not _certain_ that "Butler, the Beast,"
is a party to the speculation? This is a strong temptation, and we shall
see what response our government will make to this proposition to
violate an act of Congress.
NOVEMBER 11TH.--More projects from the Southwest. Mr. Jno. A. S. has
_just_ arrived from _New Orleans_, where, he states in his communication
to the government, he had interviews and correspondence with the U. S.
authorities, Butler, etc., and they had given him positive assurances
that he will be permitted to take any supplies to the planters
(excepting arms and ammunition) in exchange for cotton, which may be
shipped to any part of the world. S. says that Butler will let us have
_anything_ for a bribe. No doubt! And Mr. L., President of the L. Bank,
writes that he will afford facilities to Mr. S. It remains to be seen
what our government will do in these matters. They smack of treason.
It is said heavy firing was heard yesterday in the direction of
Culpepper C. H., and it is supposed a battle is in progress to-day. No
danger of it.
NOVEMBER 12TH.--The heavy firing heard did no execution. Letters from
Gen. Lee indicate no battle, unless the enemy should make an egregious
blunder. He says he has _not half men enough_ to resist McClellan's
advance with his mighty army, and prefers manoeuvring to risking his
army. He says three-fourths of our cavalry horses are sick with
sore-tongue, and their hoofs are falling off, and the soldiers are not
fed and clad as they should be. He urges the sending of supplies to
Gordonsville.
And we have news of a simultaneous advance of Northern armies
everywhere; and everywhere we have the same story of deficiency of men
and provisions. North and south, east and west of us, the enemy is
reported advancing.
Soon we shall have every one blaming the Secretary of War for the
deficiency of men, and of quartermaster and commissary stores.
The Commissary-General, backed by the Secretary of War, made another
effort to-day to obtain the President's permission to trade cotton with
"Butler, the Beast." But the President and Gov. Pettus will manage that
_little_ matter without their assistance.
Major Ruffin's (Commissary's Bureau) statement of the alarming prospects
ahead, unless provisions be obtained outside of the Confederacy (for
cotton), was induced by reports from New Orleans. A man was in the
office to-day exhibiting Butler's passport, and making assurances that
all the Yankee generals are for sale--for cotton. Butler will make a
fortune--and so will some of our great men. Butler says the reason he
don't send troops into the interior is that he is afraid we will burn
the cotton.
It is reported that a fleet of the enemy's gun-boats are in the James
River.
NOVEMBER 13TH.--The President has rebuked the Secretary of War in round
terms for ordering Gen. Holmes to assume the command on _this_ side the
Mississippi. Perhaps Mr. Randolph has resolved to be really Secretary.
This is the first thing I have ever known him to do without previously
obtaining the President's sanction--and it must be confessed, it was a
matter of some gravity and importance. Of course it will be
countermanded. I have not been in the Secretary's office yet, to see if
there is an envelope on his table directed to the President marked
"_Immediate_." But he has not been to see the President--and that may be
significant, as this is the usual day.
A gentleman, arrived to-day from Maryland, reports that Gen. McClellan
has been removed, and the command given to Burnside! He says, moreover,
that this change has given umbrage to the army. This may be our
deliverance; for if McClellan had been let alone two weeks longer
(provided he ascertained our present condition), he might have captured
Richmond, which would be holding all Eastern and much of Central
Virginia. This blunder seems providential.
We learn, also, that the Democracy have carried Illinois, Mr. Lincoln's
own State, by a very large majority. This is hailed with gladness by our
people; and if there should be a "rebellion in the North," as the
_Tribune_ predicts, this intervention of the Democrats will be regarded
altogether in our favor. Let them put down the radical Abolitionists,
and then, no doubt, they will recover some of our trade. It will mortify
the Republicans, hereafter, when the smoke clears away, to learn that
Gen. Butler was trading supplies for our army during this November,
1862--and it will surprise our secessionists to learn that our
government is trading him cotton!
NOVEMBER 14TH.--An order has gone forth to-day from the Secretary of
War, that no more flour or wheat shall leave the States. This order was
given some time ago--then relaxed, and now reissued. How soon will he
revoke it again?
Never before did such little men rule such a great people. Our rulers
are like children or drunken men riding docile horses, that absolutely
keep the riders from falling off by swaying to the right and left, and
preserving an equilibrium. There is no rule for anything, and no
stability in any policy.
To-day more propositions from Frenchmen (in New Orleans) have been
received. Butler is preparing to do a great business--and no objection
to the illicit traffic is filed by the Secretaries of State or Treasury.
Yesterday one of the President's servants was arrested for stealing
Treasury notes. The Treasury Department is just under the Executive
Department; and this negro (slave) has been used by the President to
take important papers to the departments. The amount abstracted was
$5000--unsigned--but some one, perhaps the negro, for he is educated,
forged the Register's and Treasurer's names.
I saw Gen. J. E. Johnston standing idle in the street to-day.
NOVEMBER 15TH.--"Now, by St. George, the work goes bravely on!" Another
letter on my desk from the President to the Secretary. Well, being in an
official envelope, it was my duty to open it, note its contents, and
send it to the Secretary. The Secretary has been responding to the short
espistle he received yesterday. It appears he could not clearly
understand its purport. But the President has used such plain language
in this, that it must be impossible to misunderstand him. He says that
the transferring of generals commanding important military districts,
without conference with him and his concurrence; and of high disbursing
officers; and, above all, the making of appointments without his
knowledge and consent, are prerogatives that do not pertain to the
Secretary of War in the first instance; and can only be exercised by him
under the direction of the Chief Executive. In regard to _appointments_,
especially, the President has no constitutional authority nor any
disposition to transfer the power. He discussed their relative
duties,--for the benefit of all future Secretaries, I suppose.
But it looks like a rupture. It seems, then, after acting some eight
months merely in the humble capacity of clerk, Mr. Randolph has all at
once essayed to act the PRESIDENT.
The Secretary of War did not go to the President's closet to-day. This
is the third day he has absented himself. Such incidents as these
preceded the resignation of Mr. Walker. It is a critical time, and the
Secretary of War ought to confer freely with the President.
NOVEMBER 16TH, SUNDAY.--Yesterday the Secretary of War resigned his
office, and his resignation was promptly accepted by the President.
NOVEMBER 17TH.--A profound sensation has been produced in the outside
world by the resignation of Mr. Randolph; and most of the people and the
press seem inclined to denounce the President, for they know not what.
In this matter the President is not to blame; but the Secretary has
acted either a very foolish or a very desperate part. It appears that he
wrote a note in reply to the last letter of the President, stating that
as no discretion was allowed him in such matters as were referred to by
the President, he begged respectfully to tender his resignation. The
President responded, briefly, that inasmuch as the Secretary declined
acting any longer as one of his constitutional advisers, and also
declined a personal conference, no alternative remained but to accept
his resignation.
Randolph's friends would make it appear that he resigned in consequence
of being restricted in his action; but he knows very well that the
latitude allowed him became less and less circumscribed; and that,
hitherto, he was well content to operate within the prescribed limits.
Therefore, if it was not a silly caprice, it was a deliberate purpose,
to escape a cloud of odium he knew must sooner or later burst around
him.
A letter from Gen. Magruder, dated 10th inst., at Jackson, Mississippi,
intimates that we shall lose Holly Springs. He has also been in Mobile,
and doubts whether that city can be successfully defended by Gen.
Forney, whose liver is diseased, and memory impaired. He recommends that
Brig.-Gen. Whiting be promoted, and assigned to the command in place of
Forney, relieved.
A letter from Gen. Whiting, near Wilmington, dated 13th. inst.,
expresses serious apprehensions whether that place can be held against a
determined attack, unless a supporting force of 10,000 men be sent there
immediately. It is in the command of Major-Gen. G. A. Smith.
More propositions to ship cotton in exchange for the supplies needed by
the country. The President has no objection to accepting them all,
provided the cotton don't go to any of the enemy's ports. How _can_ it
be possible to avoid this liability, if the cotton be shipped from the
Mississippi River?
NOVEMBER 18TH.--Well, the President is a bold man! He has put in
Randolph's place, temporarily at least, Major-Gen. Gustavus W.
Smith--who was Street Commissioner in the City of New York, on the day
that Capt. G. W. Randolph was fighting the New Yorkers at Bethel!
Gen. Wise is out in a card, stating that in response to a requisition
for shoes for his suffering troops, Quartermaster-Gen. A. C. Myers said,
"Let them suffer."
The enemy attacked Fredericksburg yesterday, and there was some
skirmishing, the result of which we have not heard. It is rumored they
are fighting there to-day. We have but few regiments between here and
Fredericksburg.
NOVEMBER 19TH.--Hon. James A. Seddon (Va.) has been appointed Secretary
of War. He is an able man (purely a civilian), and was member of our
Revolutionary Convention, at Metropolitan Hall, 16th April, 1861. But
some thought him then rather inclined to restrain than to urge decisive
action. He is an orator, rich, and frail in health. He will not remain
long in office if he attempts to perform all the duties.
Two letters were received from Gen. Lee to-day. Both came unsealed and
open, an omission of his adjutant-general, Mason. The first inclines to
the belief that Burnside intends to embark his army for the south side
of James River, to operate probably in Eastern North Carolina.
The second, dated 17th inst. 6-1/2 P.M., says the scouts report large
masses advancing on Fredericksburg, and it may be Burnside's purpose to
make that town his base of operations. (Perhaps for a pleasant excursion
to Richmond.) Three brigades of the enemy had certainly marched to
Fredericksburg. A division of Longstreet's corps were marched thither
yesterday, 18th, at early dawn. Lee says if the reports of the scouts be
confirmed, the entire corps will follow immediately. And he adds:
"Before the enemy's trains can leave Fredericksburg (for Richmond) this
whole army will be in position." These letters were sent immediately to
the President.
A letter from Gen. Holmes calls for an immediate supply of funds
($24,000,000) for the trans-Mississippi Department. A letter from Gen.
Pike says if Gen. Hindman (Ark.) is to control there, the Indian Country
will be lost.
We shall soon have a solution of Burnside's intentions. Lee is in
spirits. He knows Burnside can be easily beaten with greatly inferior
numbers.
We hear of sanguinary acts in Missouri--ten men (civilians) being shot
in retaliation for one killed by our rangers. These acts exasperate our
people, and will stimulate them to a heroic defense.
The cars this afternoon from the vicinity of Fredericksburg were crowded
with negroes, having bundles of clothing, etc., their owners sending
them hither to escape the enemy. A frightened Jew, who came in the
train, said there was an army of 100,000 near Fredericksburg, and we
should hear more in a few days. I doubt it not.
Salt sold yesterday at auction for $1.10 per pound. Boots are now
bringing $50 per pair; candles (tallow) 75 cts. per pound; butter $2.00
per pound. Clothing is almost unattainable. We are all looking shabby
enough.
Mr. K., the young Chief of the Bureau, who came in with Mr. Randolph,
declines the honor of going out with him, to the great chagrin of
several anxious applicants. It is an office "for life."
I shall despair of success unless the President puts a stop to Gen.
Winder's passport operations, for, if the enemy be kept advised of our
destitute condition, there will be no relaxation of efforts to subjugate
us. And Europe, too, will refuse to recognize us. I believe there are
traitors in high places here who encourage the belief in the North and
in Europe that we must soon succumb. And some few of our influential
great men might be disposed to favor reconstruction of the Union on the
basis of the Democratic party which has just carried the elections in
the North.
Everything depends upon the result of approaching military operations.
If the enemy be defeated, and the Democrats of the North should call for
a National Convention--but why anticipate?
NOVEMBER 20TH.--A letter from Brig. H. Marshall, Abingdon, Ky., in reply
to one from the Secretary, says his Kentuckians are not willing to be
made Confederate _hog-drivers_, but they will protect the commissary's
men in collecting and removing the hogs. Gen. M. criticises Gen. Bragg's
campaign very severely. He says the people of Kentucky looked upon their
fleeting presence as a _horse-show_, or military pageantry, and not as
indicating the stern reality of war. Hence they did not rise in arms,
and hence their diffidence in following the fortunes of the new
Confederacy. Gen. M. asks if it is the purpose of the government to
_abandon_ Kentucky, and if so, is he not _functus officio_, being a
Kentucky general, commanding Kentucky troops?
Col. Myers has placed on file in the department a denial of having said
to Gen. Wise's quartermaster, "Let them suffer."
Several ladies, near relatives of Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of
War, came over yesterday under flag of truce. They lived, I believe, in
Alexandria.
Another requisition has been made by the engineer for 5000 negroes to
work on the fortifications of Richmond.
No letters were received from Gen. Lee to-day, and he may be busy in the
field. Accounts say the enemy is planting batteries on the heights
opposite Fredericksburg.
It has been raining occasionally the last day or two. I hope the ground
is _soft_, and the mud deep; if so, Burnside cannot move on Richmond,
and we shall have time to prepare for "contingencies."
Yesterday salt sold at auction for $1.30 per pound. We are getting into
a pretty extreme condition.
NOVEMBER 21ST.--It rained all night, which may extinguish Burnside's
ardent fire. He cannot drag his wagons and artillery through the melting
snow, and when it dries we may look for another rain.
The new Secretary is not yet in his seat. It is generally supposed he
will accept.
President Davis hesitates to retaliate life for life in regard to the
Missouri military executions.
Common shirting cotton, and Yankee calico, that used to sell at 12-1/2
cts. per yard, is now $1.75! What a temptation for the Northern
manufacturers! What a _rush_ of trade there would be if peace should
occur suddenly! And what a party there would be in the South for peace
(and unity with Northern Democrats) if the war were waged somewhat
differently. The excesses of the Republicans _compel_ our people to be
almost a unit. This is all the better for us. Still, we are in quite a
bad way now, God knows!
The passengers by the cars from Fredericksburg this morning report that
Gen. Patrick (Federal) came over under a flag of truce, demanding the
surrender of the town, which was refused by Gen. Lee, in compliance with
the unanimous sentiments of the people. Gen. Patrick, it is stated, said
if it were not surrendered by 9 A.M. to-day, it would be shelled.
Mr. Dargan, M. C., writes to the President from Mobile that the
inhabitants of that city are in an awful condition. Meal is selling for
$3.50 per bushel, and wood at $15 per cord, and that the people are
afraid to bring supplies, apprehending that the government agents will
seize them. The President (thanks to him!) has ordered that interference
with domestic trade must not be permitted.
Mr. Seddon has taken his seat. He has, at least, a manly appearance--his
predecessor was said to look like a m----y.
The President has ordered our generals in Missouri, if the Yankee
accounts of the executions of our people be true, to execute the next
ten Federal officers taken in that State.
The _Enquirer_, to-day, publishes Col. Baylor's order to execute the
Indians in Arizona, coupled with Mr. Randolph's condemnation of the act.
Who furnished this for publication?
It is rumored that Fredericksburg is in flames, shelled by the enemy. We
will know how true this is before night.
NOVEMBER 23D.--The cars which came in from the North last night brought
a great many women, children, and negroes from Fredericksburg and its
vicinity. The benevolent and patriotic citizens here had, I believe,
made some provision for their accommodation. But the enemy had not yet
shelled the town.
There is a rumor that Jackson was to appear somewhere in the rear of the
enemy, and that the Federal stores which could not be moved with the
army had been burnt at Manassas.
Yesterday the President remitted the sentence of a poor lad, sentenced
to ball-and-chain for six months, for cowardice, etc. He had endured the
penalty three months. I like this act, for the boy had enlisted without
the consent of his parents, and was only sixteen years of age.
J. R. Anderson & Co. (having drawn $500,000 recently on the contract)
have failed to furnish armor for the gun-boats--the excuse being that
iron could not be had for their rolling-mills. The President has ordered
the Secretaries of the Navy and War to consult on the propriety of
taking railroad iron, on certain tracks, for that purpose.
NOVEMBER 24TH.--Fredericksburg not shelled yet; but the women and
children are flying hither. The enemy fired on a train of women and
children yesterday, supposing the cars (baggage) were conveying military
stores. The Northern press says Burnside is determined to force his way,
directly from the Rappahannock to Richmond, by virtue of superior
numbers. The thing Lee desires him to attempt.
The enemy are landing troops at Newport News, and we shall soon hear of
gun-boats and transports in the James River. But no one is dismayed. We
have supped on horrors so long, that danger now is an accustomed
condiment. Blood will flow in torrents, and God will award the victory.
Another letter from Gen. Whiting says there is every reason to suppose
that Wilmington will be attacked immediately, and if reinforcements
(10,000) be not sent him, the place cannot be defended against a land
assault. Nor is this all: for if the city falls, with the present force
only to defend it, none of our men can escape. There is no repose for
us!
NOVEMBER 25TH.--Fredericksburg is not shelled yet; and, moreover, the
enemy have apologized for the firing at the train containing women and
children. Affairs remain in _statu quo_--the mayor and military
authorities agreeing that the town shall furnish neither aid nor comfort
to the Confederate army, and the Federals agreeing not to shell it--for
the present.
Gen. Corcoran, last year a prisoner in this city, has landed his Irish
brigade at Newport News. It is probable we shall be assailed from
several directions simultaneously.
_No beggars can be found in the streets of this city._ No cry of
distress is heard, although it prevails extensively. High officers of
the government have no fuel in their houses, and give nearly $20 per
cord for wood for cooking purposes. And yet there are millions of tons
of coal almost _under_ the very city!
NOVEMBER 26TH.--No fighting on the Rappahannock yet, that I hear of; and
it is said the enemy are moving farther down the river. Can they mean to
cross? Nothing more is heard of Gen. Corcoran, with his Irish
bogtrotters, on the Peninsula.
The government has realized 50,000 pounds of leather from two counties
in Eastern North Carolina, in danger of falling into the hands of the
enemy. This convinces me that there is abundance of leather in the
South, if it were properly distributed. It is held, like everything
else, by speculators, for extortioners' profits. The government might
remedy the evils, and remove the distresses of the people; but instead
of doing so, the bureaus aggravate them by capricious seizures, and
tyrannical restrictions on transportation. Letters are coming in from
every quarter complaining of the despotic acts of government agents.
Mr. J. Foulkes writes another letter to the department on his cotton
scheme. He says it must be embraced now or never, as the enemy will soon
make such dispositions as would prevent his getting supplies _through
their lines_. The Commissary-General approves, and the late Secretary
approved; but what will the new one do? The President is non-committal.
What a blunder France and England made in hesitating to espouse our
cause! They might have had any commercial advantages.
NOVEMBER 27TH.--Some of the late Secretary's friends are hinting that
affairs will go amiss now, as if he would have prevented any disaster!
Who gave up Norfolk? That was a calamitous blunder! Letters from North
Carolina are distressing enough. They say, but for the influence of Gov.
Vance, the _legislature_ would favor reconstruction!
Gen. Marshall writes lugubriously. He says his men are all barefoot.
Gen. Magruder writes that Pemberton has only 20,000 men, and should have
50,000 more at once--else the Mississippi Valley will be lost, and the
cause ruined. He thinks there should be a concentration of troops there
immediately, no matter how much other places might suffer; the enemy
beaten, and the Mississippi secured at all hazards. If not, Mobile is
lost, and perhaps Montgomery, as well as Vicksburg, Holly Springs, etc.
One of our paroled men from Washington writes the President that, on the
6th instant, Burnside had but seventy regiments; and the President
seemed to credit it! The idea of Burnside advancing with seventy
regiments is absurd. But how many absurd ideas have been entertained by
the government, and have influenced it! _Nous verrons._
NOVEMBER 28TH.--All is quiet on the Rappahannock; the enemy reported to
be extending his line up the river some twenty miles, intending to find
a passage. He _might_ have come over last week but for a _ruse_ of Gen.
Lee, who appeared near Fredericksburg twenty-four hours in advance of
the army. His presence deceived Burnside, who took it for granted that
our general was at the head of his army!
M. Paul carried the day yesterday, in the Confederate Court, in the
matter of $2,000,000 worth of tobacco, which, under pretense of its
belonging to French citizens (though bought by Belmont, of New York, an
alien enemy), is rescued from sequestration. In other words, the
recognition of M. Paul as Consul, and the validity of his demands,
deprives the Confederate Government of two millions; and really
acknowledges the _exequatur_ of the United States, as M. Paul is not
Consul to the Confederate States but to the United States. This looks
like submission; and a great fee has been realized by somebody. If the
enemy were to take Richmond, this tobacco would be destroyed by the
_military_.
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston is assigned to the command of the army of the
West.
To-day we have a dispatch from Gov. Pettus, saying authority to pass
cotton through the lines of the army, and for salt to have ingress, must
be given immediately. The President directs the Secretary to transmit
orders to the generals to that effect. He says the cotton is to go to
France without touching any port in the possession of the enemy.
NOVEMBER 29TH.--The Quartermaster-General publishes a notice that _he_
will receive and distribute contributions of clothing, etc. to the army,
and even _pay_ for the shirts $1 each! Shirts are selling at $12. The
people will not trust him to convey the clothing to their sons and
brothers, and so the army must suffer on. But he is getting in bad odor.
A gentleman in Alabama writes that his agents are speculating in food:
the President tells the Secretary to demand explanations, and the
Secretary does so. Col. Myers fails, I think, to make the exhibit
required, and it may be the worse for him.
I see by the papers that another of Gen. Winder's police has escaped to
Washington City, and is now acting as a _Federal_ detective. And yet
many similar traitors are retained in service here!
The Governor of North Carolina writes the President that his State
intends to organize an army of 10,000 men for its own defense, besides
her sixty regiments in the Confederate States service; and asks if the
Confederate States Government can furnish any arms, etc. The President
sends this to the Secretary of War, for his _advice_. He wants to know
Mr. Seddon's views on the subject--a delicate and embarrassing
predicament for the new Secretary, truly! He must know that the
President frowns on all military organizations not under his own
control, and that he counteracted all Gen. Floyd's efforts to raise a
division under State authority. Beware, Mr. Seddon! The President is a
little particular concerning his prerogatives; and by the advice you now
give, you stand or fall. What is North Carolina to the Empire? You
tread on dangerous ground. Forget your old State-Rights doctrine, or off
goes your head.
NOVEMBER 30TH.--It is said there is more concern manifested in the
government here on the indications that the States mean to organize
armies of non-conscripts for their own defense, than for any
demonstration of the enemy. The election of Graham Confederate States
Senator in North Carolina, and of H. V. Johnson in Georgia, causes some
uneasiness. These men were not original secessionists, and have been the
objects of aversion, if not of proscription, by the men who secured
position in the Confederate States Government. Nevertheless, they are
able men, and as true to Southern independence as any. But they are
opposed to despotic usurpation--and their election seems like a rebuke
and condemnation of military usurpation.
From all sections of the Confederacy complaints are coming in that the
military agents of the bureaus are oppressing the people; and the belief
is expressed by many, that a sentiment is prevailing inimical to the
government itself.
CHAPTER XXI.
The great crisis at hand.--The rage for speculation raises its head.--
Great battle of Fredericksburg.--The States called on for supplies.--
Randolph resigns as Brigadier-General.--South Carolina honor.--Loss
at Fredericksburg.--Great contracts.--Lee's ammunition bad.--
Small-pox here.
DECEMBER 1ST, MONDAY.--There is a rumor to-day that we are upon the eve
of a great battle on the Rappahannock. I doubt it not.
I am sorry to see that Col. McRae, a gallant officer, has resigned his
commission, charging the President with partiality in appointing junior
officers, and even his subordinates, brigadiers over his head.
Nevertheless, he tenders his services to the Governor of his State, and
will be made a general. But where will this end? I fear in an issue
between the State and Confederate authorities.
The news from Europe is not encouraging. France is willing to
interfere, and Russia is ready to participate in friendly mediation to
stay the effusion of blood--but England seems afraid of giving offense
to the United States. They refer to the then approaching elections in
the North, and lay some stress on the anticipated change in public
opinion. Popular opinion! What is it worth in the eyes of European
powers? If it be of any value, and if the voice of the people should be
allowed to determine such contests, why not leave it to a vote of the
Southern people to decide under which government they will live? But why
make such an appeal to monarchies, while the Republican or Democratic
government of the North refuses to permit 8,000,000 of people to have
the government they unanimously prefer? Can it be possible that the
United States are ignorant of popular sentiment here? I fear so; I fear
a few traitors in our midst contrive to deceive even the Government at
Washington. Else why a prolongation of the war? They ought to know that,
under almost any conceivable adverse circumstances, we can maintain the
war twenty years. And if our lines should be everywhere broken, and our
country overrun--it would require a half million soldiers to _hold us
down_, and this would cost the United States $500,000,000 per annum.
God speed the day of peace! Our patriotism is mainly in the army and
among the ladies of the South. The avarice and cupidity of the men at
home, could only be excelled by ravenous wolves; and most of our
sufferings are fully deserved. Where a people will not have mercy on one
another, how can they expect mercy? They depreciate the Confederate
notes by charging from $20 to $40 per bbl. for flour; $3.50 per bushel
for meal; $2 per lb. for butter; $20 per cord for wood, etc. When we
shall have peace, let the extortionists be remembered! let an indelible
stigma be branded upon them.
A portion of the people look like vagabonds. We see men and women and
children in the streets in dingy and dilapidated clothes; and some seem
gaunt and pale with hunger--the speculators, and thieving quartermasters
and commissaries only, looking sleek and comfortable. If this state of
things continue a year or so longer, they will have their reward. There
will be governmental bankruptcy, and all their gains will turn to dust
and ashes, dust and ashes!
And I learn they are without shirts in the North--cotton being
unattainable. A universal madness rules the hour! Why not throw aside
the instruments of death, and exchange commodities with each other?
Subjugation is an impossibility. Then why not strive for the possible
and the good in the paths of peace? The Quakers are the wisest people,
after all. I shall turn Quaker after this war, in one sense, and strive
to convince the world that war is the worst remedy for evils ever
invented--and man the most dangerous animal ever created.
DECEMBER 2D.--There was skirmishing this morning on the line of the
Rappahannock. The Chief of Ordnance is ordering arms and ammunition to
Gen. Pemberton, in Mississippi. This indicates a battle in the
Southwest.
A writer in the London _Times_, who is from Nashville, Tenn., says the
South is willing to go into Convention with the North, and be bound by
its decisions. I doubt that.
But the _Enquirer_ to-day contains a communication from T. E. Chambliss,
not the Virginia member of Congress, proposing the election of
Commissioners from North and South, to put an end to the war. What can
this mean but reconstruction on the old Democratic basis? It will not
meet with favor, unless we meet great reverses this winter. Still, but
few have faith in foreign intervention, to terminate the war; and there
is a growing party both in the North and the South opposed to its
indefinite prolongation. If we beat Burnside, _I_ think it will be the
last battle of magnitude. If he beats us, no one can see the end of the
struggle. But from every State complaints are made against the military
agents of the Confederate Government, for their high-handed oppressions.
We may split up into separate States, and then continue the war--but it
will be a sad day for us! The President ought to change his cabinet
immediately, and then change his policy. He should cultivate the
friendship and support of the people, and be strong in their affections,
if he would rule with a strong hand. If he offends and exasperates them,
they will break his power to pieces. And he should not attempt to
destroy, nor permit others to destroy, the popular leaders. That way
lies his own destruction.
DECEMBER 3D.--One of the President's Aids, Mr. Johnston, has asked the
Secretary's permission for Mrs. E. B. Hoge, Mrs. M. Anderson, Miss
Judith Venable, and Mrs. R. J. Breckinridge, with children and servants,
to leave Richmond by flag of truce, and proceed to their homes in
Kentucky. Of course it will be granted--the President sanctions it, but
does not commit himself by ordering it.
There was no fighting on the Rappahannock yesterday, and no rumors
to-day.
Letters were received from Gen. Lee to-day. He says several thousand of
his men are barefoot! He suggests that shoes be _taken_ from the
extortioners at a _fair price_. That is right. He also recommends a rule
of the department putting cavalry on foot when they cannot furnish good
horses, and mounting infantry that can and will procure them. This would
cause better care to be taken of horses. Gen. Lee also writes for more
arms--which may indicate a battle. But the weather is getting bad again,
and the roads will not admit of marching.
Mr. Gastrell, M. C., writes to the Secretary of War for permission for
Messrs. Frank and Gernot, a Jew firm of Augusta, Ga., to bring through
the lines a stock of goods they have just purchased of the Yankees in
Memphis. Being a member of Congress, I think his request will be
granted. And if all such applications be granted, I think money-making
will soon _absorb_ the war, and bring down the prices of goods.
We are a confident people. There are no symptoms of trepidation,
although a hostile army of 150,000 men is now within two day's march of
our capital. A few of guilty consciences, the extortioners, may feel
alarm--but not the women and children. They reflect that over one
hundred thousand of the enemy were within four miles of the city last
spring and summer--and were repulsed.
The negroes are the best-clad people in the South. They have their
Sunday clothing, and the half-worn garments of their masters and
mistresses; and having worn these but once a week, they have a decidedly
fresher aspect than the dresses of their owners. They are well fed, too,
at any cost, and present a happy appearance. And they are happy. It is a
great mistake of the Abolitionists, in supposing the slaves hail their
coming with delight; on the contrary, nearly all the negroes regard
their approach with horror.
It might be well for the South if 500,000 of the slaves were suddenly
emancipated. The loss would not be felt--and the North would soon be
conscious of having gained nothing! My friend, Dr. Powell, near the
city, abandoned his farm last summer, when it was partly in possession
of the enemy, leaving fifty negroes on it--which he could have sold for
$50,000. They promised not to leave him, and they kept their word. Judge
Donnell, in North Carolina, has left his plantation with several hundred
thousand dollars worth on it--rather risking their loss than to sell
them.
DECEMBER 4TH.--All is quiet (before the storm) on the Rappahannock, Gen.
Jackson's corps being some twenty miles lower down the river than
Longstreet's. It is said Burnside has been removed already and Hooker
given the command.
Gen. S. Cooper takes sides with Col. Myers against Gen. Wise. Gen. W.'s
letter of complaint of the words, "Let them suffer," was referred to
Gen. C., who insisted upon sending the letter to the Quartermaster-General
before either the Secretary or the President saw it,--and it was done.
Why do the Northern men _here_ hate Wise?
Gen. Lee dispatches to-day that there is a very large amount of corn in
the Rappahannock Valley, which can be procured, if wagons be sent from
Richmond. What does this mean? That the enemy will come over and get it
if we do not take it away?
A letter from the President of the Graniteville Cotton Mills, complains
that only 75 per ct. profit is allowed by Act of Congress, whose
operatives are exempted from military duty, if the law be interpreted to
include sales to individuals as well as to the government, and
suggesting certain modifications. He says he makes 14,000 yards per day,
which is some 4,000,000 per annum. It costs him 20 cts. per yard to
manufacture cotton cloth, including, of course, the cotton, and 75 per
ct. will yield, I believe, $500,000 profits, which would be equivalent
to 32 cts. per yard. But the market price, he says, is 68 cts. per yard,
or some $2,000,000 profits! This war is a great encourager of domestic
manufacturers, truly!
The Governor sends out a proclamation to-day, saying the President has
called on him and other governors for assistance, in returning absent
officers and men to their camps; in procuring supplies of food and
clothing for the army; in drafting slaves to work on fortifications;
and, finally, to put down the extortioners. The Governor invokes the
people to respond promptly and fully. But how does this speak for the
government, or rather the efficiency of the men who by "many indirect
ways" came into power? Alas! it is a sad commentary.
The President sent a hundred papers to the department to-day, which he
has been diligently poring over, as his pencil marks bear ample
evidence. They were nearly all applications for office, and _this_
business constitutes much of his labor.
DECEMBER 5TH.--Yesterday there was some little skirmishing below
Fredericksburg. But it rained last night, and still rains. Lee has only
30,000 or 40,000 effective men.
We have the Federal President's Message to-day. It is moderate in tone,
and is surprising for its argument on a _new proposition_ that Congress
pass resolutions proposing amendments to the Constitution, allowing
compensation for all slaves emancipated between this and the year 1900!
He argues that slaves are property, and that the South is no more
responsible for the existence of slavery than the North! The very
argument I have been using for twenty years. He thinks if his
proposition be adopted that "several of the border States will embrace
its terms, and that the Union will be reconstructed." He says the money
expended in this way will not amount to so much as the cost of a war of
subjugation. He is getting sick of the war, and therein I see the
"beginning of the end" of it. It is a good sign for us, perhaps. I
should not be surprised if his proposition had advocates in the South.
Lt.-Col. T. C. Johnson sent in a communication, to-day. He alludes to an
interview with the Secretary, in which the latter informed him that the
government intended to exchange cotton for supplies for the army, and
Lt.-Col. J. suggests that it be extended to embrace all kinds of
merchandise for the people, and informs him that New York merchants are
willing to send merchandise to our ports if we will permit their ships
to return laden with cotton, at 50 cts. per pound, and pledging
themselves to furnish goods at 50 per cent. advance on cost. He
advocates a trade of this nature to the extent of $100,000,000, our
government (and not individuals) to sell the cotton. The goods to be
sold by the government to the merchants here. I know not what answer the
Secretary will make. But I know our people are greedy for the
merchandise.
The enemy have shelled Port Royal, below Fredericksburg, in retaliation
for some damage done their gun-boats in the river by one of our land
batteries. And we have news of the evacuation of Winchester by the
enemy. The Northern papers say Burnside (who is not yet removed) will
beat Lee on the Rappahannock, and that their army on the James River
will occupy Richmond. When Lee is beaten, perhaps Richmond will fall.
A large number of our troops, recruited in Kentucky, have returned to
their homes. It is said, however, that they will fight the enemy there
as guerrillas.
The President has appointed his nephew, J. R. Davis, a
brigadier-general. I suppose no president could escape denunciation,
nevertheless, it is to be regretted that men of mind, men who wrought up
the Southern people, with their pens, to the point of striking for
national independence, are hurled into the background by the men who
arranged the programme of our government. De Bow was offered a lower
clerkship by Mr. Secretary Memminger, which he spurned; Fitzhugh
accepted the lower class clerkship Mr. M. offered him after a prolonged
hesitation; and others, who did more to produce the revolution than any
one of the high functionaries now enjoying its emoluments, are to be
found in the lowest subordinate positions; while Tom, Dick, and Harry,
never heard of before, young, and capable of performing military
service, rich, and able to live without office, are heads of bureaus,
chief clerks of departments, and staff-officers flourishing their stars!
Even this is known in the North, and they exult over it as a just
retribution on those who were chiefly instrumental in fomenting
revolution. But they forget that it was ever thus, and that our true
patriots and bold thinkers who furnish our lesser men, in greater
positions, with ideas, are still true and steadfast in the cause they
have advocated so long.
DECEMBER 7TH.--Last night was bitter cold, and this morning there was
ice on my wash-stand, within five feet of the fire. Is this the "sunny
South" the North is fighting to possess? How much suffering must be in
the armies now encamped in Virginia! I suppose there are not less than
250,000 men in arms on the plains of Virginia, and many of them who
survive the war will have cause to remember last night. Some must have
perished, and thousands, no doubt, had frozen limbs. It is terrible, and
few are aware that the greatest destruction of life, in such a war as
this, is not produced by wounds received in battle, but by disease,
contracted from exposure, etc., in inclement seasons. But the deadly
bullet claims its victims. A friend just returned from the battle-field
of June, near the city, whither he repaired to recover the remains of a
relative, says the scene is still one of horror. So great was the
slaughter (27th June) that we were unable to bury our own dead for
several days, for the battle raged a whole week, and when the work was
completed, the weather having been extremely hot, it was too late to
inter the enemy effectually, so the earth was merely thrown over them,
forming mounds, which the rains and the wind have since leveled. And now
the ground is thickly strewn with the bleaching bones of the invaders.
The flesh is gone, but their garments remain. He says he passed through
a wood, not a tree of which escaped the missiles of the contending
hosts. Most of the trees left standing are dead, being often perforated
by scores of Minié-balls, but thousands were prostrated by cannon-balls
and shells. It will long remain a scene of desolation, a monument of the
folly and wickedness of man.
And what are we fighting for? What does the Northern Government propose
to accomplish by the invasion? Is it supposed that six or eight million
of free people can be exterminated? How many butchers would be required
to accomplish the beneficent feat? More, many more, than can be sent
hither. The Southern people, in such a cause, would fight to the last,
and when the men all fell, the women and children would snatch their
arms and slay the oppressors. Without complete annihilation, it is the
merest nonsense to suppose our property can be confiscated.
But if a forced reconstruction of the Union were consummated, does the
North suppose any advantage would result to that section? In the Union
we could not be compelled to trade with them again. Nor would
intercourse of any kind be re-established. Their ships would be
destroyed, and their people could never come among us but at the risk of
ill treatment. They could not maintain a standing army of half a
million, and they could not disarm us in such an extensive territory.
The best plan, the only plan, to redeem the past and enjoy blessings in
the future, is to cease this bootless warfare and be the first to
recognize our independence. We are exasperated with Europe, and like
the old colonel in Bulwer's play, we can like a brave foe after fighting
him. Let the North do this, and we will trade with its people, I have no
doubt, and a mutual respect will grow up in time, resulting, probably,
in combinations against European powers in their enterprises against
governments on this continent.
DECEMBER 8TH.--A letter from Gen. Lee, received to-day, states that, in
the recent campaigns, he has experienced the effects of having inferior
artillery and fixed ammunition. But this discrepancy is rapidly
disappearing, from captures of the enemy's batteries, etc. He recommends
that our 12-pounder howitzers and 6-pounder smooth bores be recast into
12-pounder Napoleons, 10-pounder Parrott guns, and 3-inch rifle cannon.
He wants four 12-pounder Napoleons sent him immediately, for a _special
purpose_. _His next battle will be principally with artillery._
Gov. Vance sends a letter, referring to an order of the government that
all cotton not removed west of the Weldon and Williamsburg Railroad, by
the 16th instant, is to be destroyed. He says his State is purchasing
15,000 to 20,000 bales, to establish a credit in Europe, and asks that
the Confederate Government authorities will respect the cotton designed
for this purpose. He says he will destroy it himself, when the enemy
approaches. He says, moreover, that the order will have an unhappy
effect; that many of the people have already lost their slaves, grain,
etc. from the inroads of the enemy, and have nothing to live on but
their cotton. If it remains where it is, how can they subsist on it
without selling it to the enemy? And that would be treason, pretty
nearly. But why does the government issue such an order in North
Carolina, when the government itself is selling, not destroying, the
cotton of Mississippi?
The President of the Central Railroad says that Messrs. Haxhall,
Crenshaw & Co., who have the gigantic contract with the government to
furnish flour, and who have a preference of transportation by the
contract, are blocking up their depots, and fail to remove the grain.
They keep whole trains waiting for days to be unladen; and thus hundreds
of thousands of bushels, intended for other mills and the people are
delayed, and the price kept up to the detriment of the community. Thus
it is that the government contractors are aiding and abetting the
extortioners. And for this reason large amounts of grain may fall into
the hands of the enemy.
DECEMBER 9TH.--W----l, another of Provost Marshal Griswold's policemen,
has arrived in Washington. I never doubted he was secretly in the Yankee
service here, where many of his fellows still remain, betraying the hand
that feeds them. Gen. Winder and the late Secretaries of War must be
responsible for all the injury they may inflict upon the country.
Yesterday, the President received a letter from a gentleman well known
to him, asserting that if Mississippi and Alabama be overrun by the
enemy, a large proportion of the people of those States will certainly
submit to the Government of the United States. The President sent this
letter to the Secretary of War "for his information."
A letter from W. P. Harris, Jackson, Mississippi, urges the government
to abandon the cities and eastern seaboard, and concentrate all the
forces in the West, for the defense of the Mississippi Valley and River,
else the latter must be lost, which will be fatal to the cause, etc.
Hon. J. H. Reagan has written a savage letter to the Secretary of War,
withdrawing certain papers relating to an application for the discharge
from service of his brother-in-law, on account of feeble health. He says
he will not await the motions (uncertain) of the circumlocution office,
and is unwilling to produce evidence of his statements of the disability
of his relative. Mr. Seddon will doubtless make a spirited response to
this imputation on his office.
We have a rumor that Morgan has made another brilliant raid into
Kentucky, capturing 1800 of the enemy.
The small-pox is spreading in this city to an alarming extent. This is
the feast to which Burnside is invited. They are vaccinating the clerks
in the departments.
Gen. Floyd writes the government that, as the enemy cannot advance from
the West before spring, Echol's and Marshall's forces (10,000) might be
used on the seaboard. I wish they were here.
The United States forces in the field, by their own estimates, amount to
800,000. We have not exceeding 250,000; but they are not aware of that.
DECEMBER 10TH.--Not a word from the Rappahannock. But there soon will
be.
Official dispatches from Gen. Bragg confirm the achievement of Col.
Morgan, _acting_ as brigadier-general. There was a fight, several
hundred being killed and wounded on both sides; but Morgan's victory was
complete, his captures amounting to 1800 men, a battery, wagon train,
etc.
We have also a dispatch that _Major-Gen. Lovell_, the Yankee, had a
battle with the enemy, killing, wounding, and capturing 34!
A characteristic letter was received to-day from Mr. Sanford, Alabama,
recommending Col. Dowdell for a brigadiership. I hope he may get it, as
he is a gallant _Southerner_. Mr. S. has some hard hits at the
government; calling it a government of chief clerks and subordinate
clerks. He hopes Mr. Seddon will not be merely a clerk.
Gen. Jos. E. Johnston has written from the West a gloomy letter to Mr.
Wigfall, Texan Senator. He says he is ordered to reinforce Lieut.-Gen.
Pemberton (another Northern general) from Bragg's army. Pemberton is
retreating on Grenada, Mississippi, followed by 40,000 of the enemy. How
is he, Gen. J., to get from Tennessee to Grenada with reinforcements,
preceded by one army of the enemy, and followed by another?
Mr. Wigfall recommends the Secretary (as if _he_ could do it!) to
concentrate all the armies of the West, and beat the enemy out of the
Mississippi Valley. Gen. Johnston says Lieut.-Gen. Holmes _has_ been
ordered to reinforce Pemberton. Why, this is the very thing Mr. Randolph
did, and lost his _clerkship_ for it! The President must have changed
his mind.
Gen. Randolph sent in his resignation as brigadier-general to-day. The
younger brigadiers, Davis (the President's nephew) and Pryor, have been
recently assigned to brigades, and this may have operated on Randolph as
an emetic.
There are two war steamers at Charleston from abroad; one a Frenchman,
the other an Englishman. Gen. Beauregard entertained the officers of the
first the other day.
Gen. Banks has sailed down the coast on an expedition, the nature of
which, no doubt, will be developed soon.
DECEMBER 11TH.--Gen. Lee dispatched this morning early that the enemy
were constructing three pontoon bridges, and that firing had commenced
on both sides. At nine o'clock A.M. the firing increased, and Gen. Lee
dispatched for ammunition, looking to the contingency of a prolonged
battle.
At three P.M., Gen. Lee says, the enemy had been repulsed in two of
their attempts to throw bridges over the river; but the third attempt
_would probably succeed_, as it was under cover of batteries which
commanded the river, and where his sharpshooters could not reach the
workmen. But, he says, _his batteries command the plain_ where the enemy
must debouch. We may speedily hear of a most sanguinary conflict.
Burnside must have greatly superior numbers, or else he is a great fool
to precipitate his men into a plain, where every Southern soldier is
prepared to die, in the event of failure to conquer! There is no
trepidation here; on the contrary, a settled calm on the faces of the
people, which might be mistaken for indifference. They are confident of
the success of Lee, and really seem apprehensive that Burnside will not
come over and fight him in a decisive battle. We shall soon see, now, of
what stuff Burnside and his army are made. I feel some anxiety; because
the destruction of our little army on the Rappahannock might be the fall
of Richmond.
It is rumored that the President started two days ago for the
West--Tennessee and Mississippi. No papers have been sent in by him
since Tuesday, and it may be true. If so, he means to return speedily. I
think we shall soon have news from the lower James River.
A letter from the Governor of Alabama calls urgently for heavy guns, and
a reserve force, for the defense of Mobile.
Major Hause, the government's agent in Europe, has purchased, up to this
time, 157,000 stand of arms, besides many cannon, much ammunition,
quartermaster's stores, etc. A portion was lost in transitu, however,
but not a large amount. Besides the large sums he has expended, he has
obtained credit to the extent of $6,000,000!
They are calling for a guard at Petersburg against incendiaries. A
factory was burned the other night. This is bad.
Scully and Lewis, condemned to die as spies, have been pardoned by the
President, and are to be sent North.
Another dispatch from Gen. Lee, dated 3-1/2 P.M., says the enemy has
nearly completed his bridge, and will probably commence crossing this
evening or in the morning. The bulletin boards in the city purport to
give intelligence of the passage having been effected in part; but I do
not see how the editors could have obtained their information.
At 6 P.M., passengers by the Fredericksburg train (which left at 1 P.M.)
report the shelling of the town, and a great battle in progress on this
side of the river. I doubt both; and I saw but one excited man (a Jew)
who said he was in Fredericksburg when the shelling began. I do not
believe it. The cars were not within four miles of the town, and perhaps
merely _conjectured_ the cannonading they heard to be directed at the
town. There were no ladies or children in the cars. But doubtless the
enemy _will_ cross the river, and there will be a battle, which must
result in a great mortality.
DECEMBER 12TH.--The enemy have possession of Fredericksburg, and
succeeded in crossing a large portion of their force three miles below,
on their pontoon bridge. Up to 3 P.M. to-day, we have no other
intelligence but that "they are fighting." We shall know more, probably,
before night.
The President has passed through East Tennessee on his way to
Mississippi.
Lieut.-Col. Nat Tyler, publisher of the _Enquirer_, the organ of the
government, was in my office this morning, denouncing Mr. Memminger,
Secretary of the Treasury. He says Mr. M.'s head is as worthless as a
pin's-head. He also denounced the rules of admission to our Secretary,
adopted by Mr. R. G. H. Kean, Chief of the Bureau, and asked for a copy
of them, that he might denounce them in his paper. It appears that Mr.
Jacques is to say _who_ can see the Secretary; and to do this, he must
catechize each applicant as to the nature of his business. This is
deemed insulting by some of the hot bloods, and will make friend Mr.
J.'s position rather a disagreeable and derogatory one.
DECEMBER 13TH.--After all, Fredericksburg was severely shelled--whether
designedly or incidentally in the fight, does not yet appear.
Our army has fallen back a little--for a purpose. Lee knows every inch
of the ground.
Again we have rumors of a hostile fleet being in the river; and
Major-Gen. G. W. Smith has gone to Petersburg to see after the means of
defense, if an attack should be made in that quarter. Some little gloom
and despondency are manifested, for the first time, in this community.
Major-Gen. S. Jones writes that although the Federal Gen. Cox has left
the valley of the Kanawha, 5000 of his men remain; and he deems it
inexpedient, in response to Gen. Lee's suggestion, to detach any portion
of his troops for operations elsewhere. He says Jenkins's cavalry is in
a bad condition.
Here is an instance of South Carolina honor. During the battle of
Williamsburg, last spring, W. R. Erwin, a private in Col. Jenkins's
Palmetto sharpshooters, was detailed to take care of the wounded, and
was himself taken prisoner. The enemy supposing him to be a surgeon, he
was paroled. He now returns to the service; and although the mistake
could never be detected, he insists on our government exchanging a
private of the enemy's for himself. With the assurance that this will be
done, he goes again to battle.
Yesterday flour and tobacco had a fall at auction. Some suppose the
bidders had in view the contingency of the capture of the city by the
enemy.
In the market-house this morning, I heard a man speaking loudly,
denounce a farmer for asking about $6 a bushel for his potatoes, and
hoping that the Yankees would take them from him for nothing!
DECEMBER 14TH, SUNDAY.--Yesterday was a bloody day. Gen. Lee telegraphs
that the enemy attacked him at 9 A.M., and as the fog lifted, the fire
ran along the whole line, and the conflict raged until darkness (6 P.M.)
put an end to the battle. The enemy was repulsed at all points, he
continued, thanks be to God! But we have to mourn, as usual, a heavy
loss. Lee expects another blow at Burnside to-day.
It is understood that Gens. Hood, Texas, was wounded; T. R. R. Cobb,
Georgia, and a brigadier from South Carolina were killed. A dispatch
says that where our generals fell, the colonels could no longer restrain
their regiments; and the men ran into the ranks of the enemy, and,
animated with a spirit of desperation, slaughtered the foe in great
numbers with their bayonets, pistols, and knives.
Preparations are being made here for the reception of the wounded. The
request was to provide for a large number.
Last night, at nine o'clock, a number of regiments which had been
encamped among the fortifications northwest of the city, were marched
down to Drewry's Bluff. It is probable Gen. Smith has heard of the
enemy's approach from that quarter. I hope he may prove the right man in
the right place.
It is rumored that we were repulsed yesterday, this side of Suffolk.
At this critical moment the President is away.
A dispatch from Gen. Lee says Gen. Wade Hampton dashed _into Dumfries_,
the other side of the Rappahannock, and in the _rear of the enemy_,
capturing some wagons, and taking a few men. This seems most
extraordinary. If he be not taken himself, the diversion must have a
good effect; but if he be taken, it will be considered a wild and
desperate sally, boding no good to the cause. But Lee knows what he is
about.
From the dispositions of our troops (few in number) in the vicinity of
Richmond, at this moment, it seems to me that Gen. Smith is putting the
city to great hazard. There are not a thousand men to guard the approach
from the head of York River; and if a dozen of the enemy's swift
transports were to dash up that river, the city could be surprised by
5000 men!
Ten o'clock A.M. No dispatches from Lee have come over the wires to-day.
He may have interdicted others. We got no intelligence whatever. From
this I infer the battle was resumed at early dawn, and the general deems
it best to have no announcements but _results_. If this be so, it is a
day big with events--and upon its issue may depend the fate of
governments. And yet our people exhibited no trepidation. The foreign
portion of the population may be seen grouped on the pavements indulging
in speculation, and occasionally giving vent to loud laughter, when a
Jew is asked what will be the price of his shoes, etc. to-morrow. They
care not which side gains the day, so they gain the profits.
But our women and children are going to church as usual, to pray for the
success of the cause, and not doubting but that our army will triumph as
usual on the field of combat. It is a bright and lovely Sabbath morning,
and as warm as May.
DECEMBER 15TH.--Yesterday evening several trains laden with wounded
arrived in the city. The remains of Brig.-Gen. T. R. R. Cobb, of
Georgia, were brought down. Brig.-Gen. Gregg, of South Carolina, is said
to be mortally wounded. It is now believed that Major-Gen. Hood, of
Texas, did not fall. The number of our killed and wounded is estimated,
by a surgeon who came with the wounded, to be not over a thousand.
To-day, stragglers from the battle-field say that our loss in killed and
wounded is 3000. It is all conjecture.
There was heavy skirmishing all day yesterday, and until to-day at noon,
when the telegraph operator reports that the firing had ceased. We know
not (yet) what this means. We are still sending artillery ammunition to
Gen. Lee.
Gen. Evans dispatches from Kinston, N. C., that on the 14th, yesterday,
he repulsed the enemy, 15,000 strong, and drove them back to their boats
in Neuse River. A portion of Gen. R. A. Pryor's command, in Isle of
Wight County, was engaged with the enemy's advance the same day. They
have also landed at Gloucester Point. This is pronounced a simultaneous
attack on our harbors and cities in Virginia and North Carolina. Perhaps
we shall have more before night. Our people seem prepared for any event.
Another long train of negroes have just passed through the city,
singing, to work on the fortifications.
DECEMBER 16TH.--To-day the city is exalted to the skies! Gen. Lee
telegraphed that the enemy had disappeared from his front, _probably
meditating a design to cross at some other place_. Such were his words,
which approach nearer to a practical joke, and an inkling of exultation,
than anything I have seen from his pen. He has saved the capital. Before
the enemy could approach Richmond from "some other place;" Lee would be
between him and the city, and if he could beat him on the Rappahannock
he can beat him anywhere.
Doubtless Burnside has abandoned his heavy stores, siege guns, etc., and
at this moment our army must occupy the town. Lee _allowed_ the invaders
to cross the river, and, in exact accordance with his promise, made a
month ago, before they could advance from Fredericksburg, his "whole
army _was_ in position." They could not debouch without passing through
our crescent line, the extreme ends of which touched the river above and
below them. They attempted this on Saturday, and met with a bloody
defeat, and until last night, when they retraced their steps, were
confined to an exceedingly narrow and uncomfortable strip of land along
the south bank of the river.
Our loss in the battle will not exceed, perhaps, 2000 men, not more than
500 being slain. It is estimated that the enemy's loss is over 10,000,
and it may greatly exceed that number, as our positions were strong and
our batteries numerous. The enemy fought well, charging repeatedly over
the plain swept completely by our guns, and leaving the earth strewn
with their dead. We have many prisoners, but I have heard no estimate of
the number.
The enemy have taken Kinston, N. C., having overwhelming numbers, and a
letter from Gen. Bragg, dated at Raleigh, yesterday, says it is probable
Goldsborough will fall into their hands. This will cut our railroad
communication with Wilmington, which may likewise fall--but not without
its price in blood.
Why not let the war cease now? It is worse than criminal to prolong it,
when it is apparent that subjugation is an impossibility.
There were no stragglers from Lee's army, and never were men in better
spirits and condition. They are well clad and fed, and exceedingly
anxious for Burnside to resume his "On to Richmond" after the _skirmish_
of Saturday. They call it but a skirmish, for not a brigade was blown,
not a regiment fatigued.
Although men shake hands over this result, they all say they never
looked for any other termination of Burnside. The ladies say he is now
charred all over. Well, he _may_ come again by some other route, but I
have doubts. The rigors of winter are sufficient punishment for his
troops. It is said Burnside intended to resume the battle on Sunday
morning, but his generals reported that their men could not be relied
upon to approach our batteries again. I shall look with interest for the
next Northern papers.
DECEMBER 17TH.--A dispatch from Gen. G. W. Smith, last night, says we
have repulsed the enemy from Kinston, N. C., but a dispatch this morning
says a cavalry force has cut the railroad near Goldsborough, broken down
the wires, and burnt the bridge. We had no letters from beyond that
point this morning.
Last night large quantities of ammunition and some more regiments were
sent to North Carolina. This is done because Richmond is relieved by
the defeat and retreat of Burnside. But suppose it should _not_ be
relieved, and a force should be sent suddenly up the James and York
Rivers?
We have not a word from Fredericksburg, and it is probable Burnside's
batteries still command the town. Lee is content and has no idea of
crossing the river.
There are two notable rumors in the streets: first, that we have gained
a great battle in Tennessee; and, second, that the government at
Washington has arrested John Van Buren and many other Democratic leaders
in the North, which has resulted in a riot, wherein 1000 have fallen,
making the gutters in New York run with blood!
Gen. Lee's official report says our loss in the battle of the 13th in
killed and wounded did not exceed 1200, whereas our _papers_ said 2050
wounded have already been brought to this city.
Well, our government must have spies at Washington as an offset to
Federal spies here among Gen. Winder's policemen; for we knew _exactly_
when the enemy would begin operations in North Carolina, and ordered the
cotton east of the Weldon Railroad to be burnt on the 16th inst.,
yesterday, and yesterday the road was cut by the enemy. I have not heard
of the cotton being burnt--_and I don't believe it was destroyed_. Nor
do I believe Gen. Smith knew that Burnside would be defeated in time to
send troops from here to North Carolina.
Elwood Fisher died recently in Georgia, and his pen, so highly prized by
the South for its able vindication of her rights, was forgotten by the
politicians who have power in the Confederate Government. All Mr.
Memminger would offer him was a lowest class clerkship. He died of a
broken heart. He was more deserving, but less fortunate, than Mr. M.
It was Mr. _Memminger_, it seems, who refused to contribute anything to
supply the soldiers with shoes, and the press is indignant. They say he
is not only not a native South Carolinian, but Hessian born.
DECEMBER 18TH.--We have more accounts of the battle of Fredericksburg
now in our possession. Our loss in killed and wounded will probably be
more than the estimate in the official report, while Federal prisoners
report theirs at 20,000. This may be over the mark, but the _Examiner's_
correspondent at Fredericksburg puts down their loss at 19,000. The
Northern papers of the 14th inst. (while they supposed the battle still
undecided) express the hope that Burnside will fight his last man and
fire his last cartridge on that field, rather than not succeed in
destroying Lee's army! Lee's army, after our victory, is mostly
uninjured. The loss it sustained was not a "flea-bite."
The enemy, in their ignominous flight on Saturday night, left their dead
propped up as sentinels and pickets, besides 3000 on the plain.
Accounts from North Carolina indicate the repulse of the enemy, though
they have burnt some of the railroad bridges. We shall hear more anon.
Reinforcements are flying to the scene of action.
DECEMBER 19TH.--Gen. Burnside acknowledges a loss of upwards of 5000,
which is good evidence here that his loss was not less than 15,000. The
Washington papers congratulate themselves on the _escape_ of their army,
and say it might have been easily captured by Lee. They propose, now,
going into winter quarters.
We have nothing further from North Carolina or Mississippi. Gen. Banks's
expedition had passed Hilton Head.
A Mr. Bunch, British Consul, has written an impudent letter to the
department, alleging that an Irishman, unnaturalized, is forcibly
detained in one of our camps. He says his letters have not been
answered, which was great discourtesy, and he means to inform Lord John
Russell of it. This letter _was_ replied to in rather scathing terms, as
the Irishman had enlisted and then deserted. Besides, we are out of
humor with England now, and court a French alliance.
The President was at Chattanooga on the 15th instant; and writes the
Secretary that he has made some eight appointments of brigadiers, and
promotions to major-generals. Major-Gen. Buckner is assigned to command
at Mobile.
We are straightened for envelopes, and have taken to turning those we
receive. This is economy; something new in the South. My family dines
four or five times a week on _liver_ and rice. We cannot afford anything
better; others do not live so well.
Custis and I were vaccinated to-day, with the rest of the officers of
the department.
The Northern papers now want the Federal army to go into winter
quarters. This was, confessedly, to be the final effort to take
Richmond. It failed. Many of the people regard the disaster of Burnside
as the harbinger of peace.
An officer from the field informs me that all our generals were sadly
disappointed, when it was discovered that Burnside had fled. They wanted
one more blow at him, and he would have been completely destroyed.
DECEMBER 20TH.--Last accounts from Fredericksburg state that the enemy
are retiring toward the Potomac and Washington. We have got some of
their pontoon bridges, and other things left behind. It is now very
cold, with a fair prospect of the Potomac freezing over. Let them
beware!
But we were in a bad way: our army, instead of numbering 200,000 as the
Federal journals report, did not exceed 50,000 men; and not half that
number went into action. The Secretary of War had ordered several
regiments from Gen. S. Jones, in Western Virginia; now sent to North
Carolina.
There is no mail yet from beyond Goldsborough, and the news from North
Carolina seems vague and unsatisfactory. They say we beat the enemy at
Kinston; yet they have destroyed a portion of the railroad between
Goldsborough and Wilmington. They say the Federals are retreating on
Newbern; yet we know they made 500 of our men prisoners after they
crossed the Neuse. It is reported that our loss is small, and the
enemy's large; and that our 3000 men fought successfully their 18,000.
However, we have sent some 15,000 reinforcements.
It is reported that the Federals are evacuating Nashville; but reports
from the West are not always reliable.
A communication has been received by Secretary Seddon from S. B. M., of
Vicksburg, proposing to purchase shoes, blankets, etc. in the United
States, and sell them to the government for cotton or for Confederate
notes. This was referred to the Quartermaster-General, who favors it.
Now what will Mr. Secretary do? Better wait till the President returns!
The late Secretary of War, Mr. Randolph, has formed a partnership with
Mr. G. A. Myers. To-day a paper was sent in by them to the new
Secretary, containing the names of ten clients, all Jews and
extortioners, who, it appears, at the beginning of the war, and before
Virginia had fully seceded, joined several Virginia companies of
artillery, but did not drill with them. They hired substitutes for a
small sum, all, as the memorial sets forth, being foreigners of the
class subsequently exempted by act of Congress. And these counselors
demand the exemption of the Jew extortioners on the ground that they
once furnished substitutes, now out of the service! And it is probable
they will carry their point, and gain large fees. Substitutes now are
worth $2000--then, $100.
A dispatch from Charleston to-day says: "Iron steamer Columbia, formerly
the Giraffe, of Liverpool, with cargo of shoes, blankets, Whitworth
guns, and ammunition, arrived yesterday." I suppose cargoes of this
nature have been arriving once a week ever since the war broke out. This
cargo, and the ship, belong to the government.
9 O'CLOCK P.M.--After a very cold day, it has become intensely frigid. I
have two fires in our little Robin's Nest (frame) on the same floor, and
yet ice forms rapidly in both rooms, and we have been compelled to empty
the pitchers! This night I doubt not the Potomac will be closed to
Burnside and his transports! During the first Revolution, the Chesapeake
was frozen over. If we have a winter like that, we shall certainly have
an armistice in Virginia without the intervention of any other than the
Great Power above. But we shall suffer for the want of fuel: wood is $18
per cord, and coal $14 per cart load.
Gen. Bonham, who somehow incurred the dislike of the authorities here,
and was dropped out of the list of brigadiers, has been made Governor of
South Carolina.
And Gen. Wise, who is possessed of perhaps the greatest mind in the
Confederacy, is still fettered. They will not let him fight a battle,
because he is "ambitious!" When Norfolk was (wickedly) given up, his
home and all his possessions fell into the hands of the enemy. He is now
without a shelter for his head, bivouacing with his devoted brigade at
Chaffin's farm, below the city. He is the senior brigadier in the army,
and will never be a major-general.
DECEMBER 21ST, SUNDAY.--Nothing, yet, has been done by the immense
Federal fleet of iron-clad gun-boats which were to devastate our coast
this winter. But the winter is not over yet, and I apprehend something
will be attempted. However, we shall make a heroic defense of every
point assailed.
I omitted to state, in connection with the partnership formed between
Mr. Myers and Mr. Randolph, that the former had already succeeded, when
the latter was Secretary of War, in getting the substitutes of the Jew
extortioners out of the army, on the ground that they were not domiciled
in this country; and now both are intent on procuring the exemption of
the principals. This may be good practice, but it is not good service.
Every man protected and enriched by the government, owes service to the
country in its hour of peril.
I am glad to hear that W. H. B. Custis, of the Eastern Shore of
Virginia, takes no part in the war. This is the proper course for him
under the circumstances. It is said he declined a high position tendered
by the Federal Government. No doubt he has been much misrepresented: his
principles are founded on the Constitution, which is violated daily at
Washington, and therefore he can have no sympathy with that government.
DECEMBER 22D.--We shall never arrive at the correct amount of casualties
at the battle of Fredericksburg. The _Enquirer_ to-day indicates that
our loss in killed, wounded, and missing (prisoners), amounted to nearly
4000. On the other hand, some of the Federal journals hint that their
loss was 25,000. Gen. Armstrong (Confederate), it is said, counted 3500
of their dead on the field; and this was after many were buried. There
are five wounded to one killed. But where Burnside is now, or what he
will attempt next, no doubt Lee knows; but the rest of our people are
profoundly ignorant in relation thereto. The New York _Herald_ says:
"The finest and best appointed army the world ever saw, has been beaten
by a batch of Southern ragamuffins!" And it advises that the shattered
remains of the army be put into winter quarters.
The weather has greatly moderated. I hope, now, it will continue
moderate!
Mr. Crenshaw, who has the gigantic flour contract with the War
Department, effected with Mr. Randolph, has just (in the President's
absence) made another contract with Mr. Seddon. The department becomes a
partner with him, and another party in England, in a huge commercial
transaction, the object of which is to run goods in, and cotton out. We
shall have our Girards, as well as the United States. Mr. Crenshaw
proceeds to England immediately, bearing letters of credit to Mr.
Mason, our Minister, etc.
An immense sum is to be sent West to pay for stores, etc., and Mr.
Benjamin recommends the financial agent to the department. The illicit
trade with the United States has depleted the country of gold, and
placed us at the feet of the Jew extortioners. It still goes on. Mr.
Seddon has granted passports to two agents of a Mr. Baumgartien--and how
many others I know not. These Jews have the adroitness to carry their
points. They have injured the cause more than the armies of Lincoln.
Well, if we gain our independence, instead of being the vassals of the
Yankees, we shall find all our wealth in the hands of the Jews.
The accounts from North Carolina are still conflicting. It is said the
enemy have retired to Newbern; but still we have no letters beyond
Goldsborough. From Raleigh we learn that the legislature have postponed
the array bill until the 20th of January.
DECEMBER 23D.--The battle of Fredericksburg is still the topic, or the
wonder, and it transpired more than nine days ago. It will have its page
in history, and be read by school-boys a thousand years hence. The New
York _Times_ exclaims, "God help us--for man cannot." This is another
war sheet. The _Tribune_ is bewildered, and knows not what to say. The
_Herald_ says "everything by turns, and nothing long." Its sympathies
are ever with the winning party. But it is positively asserted that both
Seward and his son have resigned, to be followed by the rest of the
cabinet. That example might be followed here without detriment to our
cause. And it is said Burnside has resigned. I doubt that--but no doubt
he will be removed. It is said Fremont has been appointed his successor.
That would be good news. I think Halleck will be removed, and McClellan
will be recalled. No matter.
It is said our President will command in Mississippi himself--the army
having no confidence in Pemberton, because he is a Yankee.
We have a letter to-day from Gen. Pike (another Yankee), saying the
Indian country is lost--lost, because Gens. Holmes and Hindman--Southern
men--won't let him have his own way!
The news from North Carolina is still cloudy. Gen. G. W. Smith is there
(another Northern man).
Gen. Elzey has been appointed to command this department during Gen.
L.'s absence. Gen. E. is a Marylander. In the President's absence, it is
said this appointment was made by Gen. S. Cooper (another Yankee) to
insult Virginia by preventing the capital from being in the hands of a
Virginian. The Richmond papers occasionally allude to the fact that the
general highest in rank in the Confederacy is a Yankee--Gen. S. Cooper.
Gen. Lee says his ammunition is bad in quality, and that his new guns
burst in the late battle--all under charge of the chief of the Bureau of
Ordnance--another Yankee. Gen. D. H. Hill writes a scathing letter to
the department in response to a rebuke from the new Secretary,
occasioned by some complaints of Major Palfrey in Gen. Cooper's (A. and
I. General) office. I do not know where Major P. came from; but the fact
that he was not in the field, gave the general occasion to rasp him
severely. It must have been caused by an order transferring,
furloughing, or discharging some soldier in Gen. H.'s division--and his
patience vanished at the idea of having his men taken out of the ranks
without consulting him, by carpet knights and civilian lawyers. He says
8000 are now absent from his command--and that Gen. Johnston's army,
last spring, was reduced from the same cause to 40,000 men, where he had
to oppose 138,000 of the "rascally Yankees." He concludes, however, by
saying it is the duty of subordinate generals in the field to submit in
all humility to the behests of their superiors comfortably quartered in
Richmond. But if justice were done, and the opinions of the generals in
the field were regarded in the matter of discharges, etc., the lawyers,
who have grown fat on fees by thinning our ranks, would be compelled to
resort to some more laudable means of making a living.
A letter from Gov. Shorter, of Alabama, introduces Judge Rice, agent for
P. S. Gerald and J. R. Powell, who propose to bring goods into the
Confederate States through Mexico, to be paid for in cotton, etc. This
was referred by the Secretary to the Quartermaster-General--who protests
against it on the ground that it might interfere with _his agents
already engaged in the business_.
The President publishes a retaliatory proclamation to-day against Gen.
Butler, for hanging Mr. Munford, of New Orleans, who took down the
United States flag before the city had surrendered. He declares Butler
to be out of the pale of civilization; and orders any commander who may
capture him, to hang him as an outlaw. And all commissioned officers
serving under Butler, and in arms with negroes, to be reserved for
execution.
There is a rumor that an agent of the Federal Government has arrived in
the city, to propose an armistice. No armistice, unless on the basis of
_uli possidetis ante bellum_!
Bethel, Leesburg, and Fredericksburg are victories memorable for our
great success when fighting in advantageous positions. They teach a
lesson to generals; and it will be apparent that no necessity exists for
so great an expenditure of life in the prosecution of this war. The
disparity of numbers should be considered by our generals. I fear the
flower of our chivalry mostly perished in storming batteries. It is true
a _prestige_ was gained.
DECEMBER 24TH.--The _Louisville Journal_ says the defeat of Burnside is
"sickening," and that this sad condition of affairs cannot be borne
long.
It is said that Confederate bonds are bringing quite as much in New York
as in Richmond; and that the bonds of Southern men are freely discounted
in the North. These, if true, are _indications_ of approaching peace.
Cotton at 50 cents per pound, and our capacity to produce five million
bales per annum, must dazzle the calculating Yankees. A single crop
worth $1,000,000,000! What interest or department of industry in the
United States can promise such results?
Letters were received to-day from Nassau, dated 12th December. Mr. L.
Heyliger, our agent, reports a number of steamers sailing, and about to
sail, with large amounts of stores and goods of all kinds, besides
_plates for our navy_. A Mr. Wiggs has several steamers engaged in this
business. Our government own some, and private individuals (foreign
speculators) are largely engaged in the trade. Most of these steamers
run sixteen miles an hour.
A Mr. Hart, agent for S. Isaac Campbell & Co., London, proposes to
clothe and equip 100,000 men for us, and to receive certificates for
specific amounts of cotton. This same house has, on this, it is said,
advanced as much as $2,000,000 on our account. This looks cheering. We
have credit abroad. But they are Jews.
Mr. Heyliger says he has seen letters from the United States, conveying
information that Charleston is to be attacked about the holidays--the
ensuing week--by four iron-clad gun-boats. Well, I believe _we_ have
three there; so let them come!
Every day we have propositions to supply the army and the country with
goods, for cotton; and they succeed in delivering stores, etc., in spite
of the vigilance of the Federal blockading squadrons. There is a
prospect that we shall have abundance of everything some of these days.
But there is some wrangling. The Quartermaster-General complains to-day
that Lieut.-Gen. Pemberton has interfered with his agents, trading
cotton for stores. Myers is a Jew, and Pemberton a Yankee--so let them
fight it out.
DECEMBER 25TH, CHRISTMAS DAY.--Northern papers show that there is much
distraction in the North; that both Seward and Chase, who had resigned
their positions, were with difficulty persuaded to resume them. This
news, coupled with the recent victory, and some reported successes in
the West (Van Dorn's capture of Holly Springs), produces some effect on
the spirits of the people here; and we have a merrier Christmas than the
last one.
It is said the Federal Congress is about to provide for the organization
of 100 regiments of negroes. This does not occasion anxiety here. The
slaves, once armed, would cut their way back to their masters. The only
possible way to restore the Union--if indeed it be possible--is to
withdraw all the Federal troops, and maintain an _effective_ blockade.
There might possibly ensue dissensions among our politicians and States,
detrimental to any required unity of purpose. But the Yankees, with all
their smartness, cannot perceive this. They can never appal us with
horrors, for we have fed upon nothing else for so long a period, that we
have become accustomed to them. And they have not men enough to
subjugate us and hold us in subjugation. Two millions would not suffice!
The boys are firing Chinese crackers everywhere, and no little gunpowder
is consumed in commemoration of the day.
But turkeys are selling at $11 each! Shoes for $25 per pair. Salt,
however, has fallen from $1.50 to 33 cents per pound. Fresh meats sell
at from 35 to 50 cents per pound.
A silver (lever) watch, which had been lying in my trunk for two years,
and which cost me $25, sold at auction yesterday for $75. This sufficed
for fuel for a month, and a Christmas dinner. At the end of another
month, my poor family must be scattered again, as this house will be
occupied by its owner. I have advertised for boarding in the country,
but get no response. It would require $300 per month to board my family
here, and that is more than my income. What shall we do? Trust in God!
DECEMBER 26TH.--We have no news to-day--not even a rumor. We are ready
for anything that may come. No doubt the assailants of Mobile,
Wilmington, or Charleston, will meet with determined resistance.
The President will be in Richmond about the first day of January. I saw
a man who traveled with him in Alabama.
Vicksburg, I understand, cannot be taken by water. And Grant, the
Federal general, is said to be retreating out of Mississippi.
DECEMBER 27TH.--The successes in the West have been confirmed. Morgan
captured 2000 and Van Dorn 1500 prisoners at Holly Springs. They
likewise destroyed a large amount of stores.
We have intelligence of a great armament, under Gen. Sherman, sailing
from Memphis against Vicksburg. At the last accounts the President was
at Vicksburg; and he may be witness of this decisive struggle for the
possession of the Mississippi River, the result of which involves
immense interests. We await with much anxiety the issue of the naval
operations during the ensuing month. We are content with the land
achievements of this year; and if we should be equally successful in
resisting the enemy's fleets, we shall deem ourselves fortunate indeed.
The agents of the Commissary and Quartermaster-General make grievous
complaints against Lieut.-Gen. Pemberton, at Grenada, Mississippi; they
say he interferes with their arrangements to procure supplies--for
cotton; and it is intimated that he has some little arrangements of his
own of that nature. This illicit trade is very demoralizing in its
nature.
Oh, that peace would return! But with INDEPENDENCE!
DECEMBER 28TH.--We have no news to-day from the West. If the great
battle has been fought at Vicksburg, we ought to know it to-day or
to-morrow; and if the enemy be beaten, it should be decisive of the
war. It would be worse than madness to continue the contest for the
Union.
Several fine brass batteries were brought down from Fredericksburg last
night, an indication that the campaign is over for the winter in that
direction.
If we should have disasters in the West, and on the Southern seaboard,
the next session of Congress, to begin a fortnight hence, will be a
stormy one.
DECEMBER 29TH.--We have a dispatch from Vicksburg at last. The enemy,
25,000 strong, were repulsed three times yesterday, and finally driven
back seven miles, to their gun-boats. It was no battle, for our loss was
only 30, and that of the enemy 400. It will be fought to-day, probably.
It is said an attempt will be made this week on Weldon, as well as
Charleston.
Our Morgan has been in Kentucky again, and captured 1200 men. Glorious
Morgan!
The accounts from the United States are rather cheering. The _Herald_
proposes a convention of all the "loyal States," that reconstruction may
be tried in that way. A dispatch from Tennessee says, even the New York
_Tribune_ expresses the opinion that our independence must be
recognized. The Philadelphia _Press_ proposes another route to Richmond
_via_ the rivers, and thinks Richmond may be taken yet, and the
rebellion crushed.
The surgeon in charge of the Howard Hospital reports that the small-pox
is greatly on the increase, and terminating fatally in almost every
case. He says men die of it without eruptions on the surface, the
disease striking inward. It is proposed to _drive_ away the strangers
(thousands in number), if they will not leave voluntarily. There are too
many people here for the houses, and the danger of malignant diseases
very great.
My vaccination was not a success; very little inflammation and a small
scab being the only evidences. But I have a cough, and much lassitude.
DECEMBER 30TH.--We have another crisis. Dispatches from Murfreesborough
state the hostile armies are facing each other, and not a mile apart;
the skirmishing increases, and a decisive battle may occur at any
moment.
From Vicksburg we have no further intelligence; but from the
Rappahannock we learn that both artillery and infantry were distinctly
heard yesterday in the direction of Dumfries. Is Stuart there?
DECEMBER 31ST.--There were more skirmishes near Vicksburg yesterday; and
although several of the Louisiana regiments are said to have
immortalized themselves (having lost only two or three men each), I
suppose nothing decisive was accomplished. I have not implicit faith in
Western dispatches; they are too often exaggerations. And we have
nothing further from Murfreesborough.
But there is reliable intelligence from Albemarle Sound, where a large
fleet of the enemy's transports appeared yesterday. We must look now for
naval operations. Perhaps Weldon is aimed at.
Gen. Wise writes a remarkable letter to the department. His son, just
seventeen years old, a lieutenant in 10th Virginia Cavalry, was detailed
as ordnance officer of the general's brigade, when that regiment was
taken from his father. Now Gen. Cooper, the Northern head of the
Southern army, orders him to the 10th Cavalry. The general desires his
son to remain with him, or that the lieutenant may be permitted to
resign. He says he asks no favors of the administration, and has never
received any. His best blood (Capt. O. J. W.) has been given to the
country, and his home and property lost by the surrender of Norfolk,
etc.
To-day, Gen. Winder's account for disbursement of "secret service" money
was sent in. Among the persons who were the recipients of this money, I
noticed _Dr. Rossvally_, a notorious spy, and S----w, one of his
policemen, who, with W----ll, very recently fled to the enemy, and is
now in the service of the United States, at Washington!
Gen. Lee has given the command in Northwestern Virginia to Gen. W. E.
Jones; and he asks the Secretary to hold a major he has captured as a
hostage for the good conduct of the Federal Gen. Milroy, who is
imitating Gen. Pope in his cruelties to civilians.
CHAPTER XXII.
Lee in winter quarters.--Bragg's victory in the Southwest.--The President
at Mobile.--Enemy withdraw from Vicksburg.--Bragg retreats as
usual.--Bureau of Conscription.--High rents.--Flour contracts in
Congress.--Efforts to escape conscription.--Ships coming in freely.--
Sneers at negro troops.--Hopes of French intervention.--Gen. Rains
blows himself up.--Davis would be the last to give up.--Gov. Vance
protests against Col. August's appointment as commandant of
conscripts.--Financial difficulties in the United States.
JANUARY 1ST, 1863.--This first day of the year dawned in gloom, but the
sun, like the sun of Austerlitz, soon beamed forth in great splendor
upon a people radiant with smiles and exalted to the empyrean.
A letter from Gen. H. Marshall informed the government that Gen. Floyd
had seized slaves in Kentucky and refused to restore them to their
owners, and that if the government did not promptly redress the wrong,
the Kentuckians would at once "take the law into their own hands."
We had a rumor (not yet contradicted) that the enemy, or traitors, had
burned the railroad bridge between Bristol and Knoxville, cutting our
communication with the West.
Then it was said (and it was true) that Gen. Lee had sent his artillery
back some 30 miles this side of the Rappahannock, preparatory to going
into winter quarters. But this was no occasion for gloom. Lee always
knows what is best to be done.
Next there was a rumor (not yet confirmed, but credited) that Stuart had
made another of his wonderful reconnoissances, capturing prisoners and
destroying much of the enemy's stores beyond the Rappahannock.
Then came a dispatch from Bragg which put us almost "beside" ourselves
with joy, and caused even enemies to pause and shake hands in the
street. Yesterday he attacked Rosecrans's army near Murfreesborough, and
gained a great victory. He says he drove him from all his positions,
except on the extreme left, and after ten hours' fighting, occupied the
whole of the field except (those exceptions!) the point named. We had,
as trophies, thirty-one guns, two generals, 4000 prisoners, and 200
wagons. This is a _Western_ dispatch, it is true, but it has Bragg's
name to it, and he does not willingly exaggerate. Although I, for one,
shall await the next dispatches with anxiety, there can be no question
about the victory on the last day of the bloody year 1862. Bragg says
the loss was heavy on both sides.
I noticed that one of the brass pieces sent down by Lee to go to North
Carolina had been struck by a ball just over the muzzle, and left a
glancing mark toward the touch-hole. That ball, probably, killed one of
our gunners.
JANUARY 2D.--A dispatch from Gov. Harris gives some additional
particulars of the battle near Murfreesborough, Tenn. He says the enemy
was driven back six miles, losing four generals killed and three
captured, and that we destroyed $2,000,000 commissary and other stores.
But still we have no account of what was done yesterday on the "extreme
left."
Gen. Stuart has been near Alexandria, and his prisoners are coming in by
every train. He captured and destroyed many stores, and, up to the last
intelligence, without loss on his side. He is believed, now, _to be in
Maryland_, having crossed the Potomac near Leesburg.
The mayor of our city, Jos. Mayo, meeting two friends last night, whom
he recognized but who did not recognize him, playfully seized one of
them, a judge, and, garroter fashion, demanded his money or his life.
The judge's friend fell upon the mayor with a stick and beat him
dreadfully before the joke was discovered.
The President was at Mobile on the 30th December, having visited both
Murfreesborough and Vicksburg, but not witnessing either of the battles.
We are in great exaltation again! Dispatches from Gen. Bragg, received
last night, relieve us with the information that the stronghold of the
enemy, which he failed to carry on the day of battle, was abandoned the
next day; that Forrest and Morgan were operating successfully far in the
rear of the invader, and that Gen. Wheeler had made a circuit of the
hostile army after the battle, burning several hundred of their wagons,
capturing an ordnance train, and making more prisoners. Bragg says the
enemy's telegraphic and railroad communications with his rear have been
demolished, and that he will follow up the defeated foe. I think we will
get Nashville now.
JANUARY 3D.--To-day we have a dispatch from Vicksburg stating that the
enemy had re-embarked, leaving their intrenching instruments, etc.,
apparently abandoning the purpose of assaulting the city. This is
certainly good news.
Gen. Stuart did not cross the Potomac, as reported in the Northern
press, but, doubtless, the report produced a prodigious panic among the
Yankees. But when Stuart was within eight miles of Alexandria, he
telegraphed the government at Washington that if they did not send
forward larger supplies of stores to Burnside's army, he (Stuart) would
not find it worth while to intercept them.
Capt. Semmes, of the Alabama, has taken another prize--the steamer
Ariel--but no gold being on board, and having 800 passengers, he
released it, under bonds to pay us a quarter million dollars at the end
of the war.
A large meeting has been held in New York, passing resolutions in favor
of peace. They propose that New Jersey send a delegation hither to
induce us to meet the United States in convention at Louisville, to
adopt definitive terms of peace, on the basis of the old Union, or, that
being impracticable, separation. Too late!
JANUARY 4TH.--We have nothing additional from Murfreesborough, but it is
ascertained that the bridges burned by the enemy on the Virginia and
Tennessee Railroad cannot be repaired in a month.
It really does seem that some potent and malign influence, resident at
the capital, some high functionary, by some species of occultation,
controlling the action of the government, a Talleyrand in the pay of
both governments, and balancing or equalizing disasters between them to
magnify his importance and increase his reward, has been controlling
many events since the beginning of this war, and is still engaged in the
diabolical work. It now appears that several regiments were withdrawn
from the vicinity of Bristol, whose presence there was necessary for the
protection of the railroad and the bridges. They were brought hither
_after Lee's defeat of Burnside_, for the protection of the capital! The
President was away, and Mr. Seddon was now in the War Office. But Gen.
Cooper is _old_ in office, and should have known better; and Gen. G. W.
Smith certainly must have known better. Just suppose we had been beaten
at Murfreesborough, and our communications cut, west and east and south!
There would have been no escape.
It had even been proposed to take a large portion of Lee's men from him,
so that he must be inevitably defeated on the Rappahannock, but Lee's
resignation would have shocked the people unbearably. Great injury was
done him by abstracting some 20,000 of his men by discharges, transfers,
and details. Nothing but his generalship and the heroism of his men
saved us from ruin. The disasters of Donelson, Newbern, Nashville,
Memphis, Roanoke, New Orleans, Norfolk, etc. may be traced to the same
source. But all new governments have been afflicted by a few
evil-disposed leaders.
Our people in arms have upheld the State; they have successfully
resisted the open assaults of the invader, and frustrated the occult
machinations of the traitors in our midst. We have great generals, but
what were they without great men to obey them? Generals have fallen, and
divisions and brigades have fought on without them. Regiments have lost
their field officers and continued the fight, and companies have
maintained their position after all their commissioned officers were
stricken down. The history which shall give the credit of their
achievements to others will be a vile calumny. Our cause would have been
ruined if it had not been for the bravery and heroism of the
people--_the privates in our armies_.
There is a rumor this morning that the enemy are advancing toward
Petersburg from Suffolk. If this be so, some spy, under the protection
of martial law, has informed the Yankees of our defenseless condition at
that place, being alarmed at the success of our brave and patriotic men
in the West.
JANUARY 5TH.--We learn from Gen. Bragg that the enemy did not retire far
on the 2d inst., but remain still in the vicinity of Murfreesborough. He
says, however, that our cavalry are still circling the Yankees, taking
prisoners and destroying stores. During the day an absurd rumor was
invented, to the effect that Bragg had been beaten. We are anxious to
learn the precise particulars of the battle. It is to be feared that too
many of Bragg's men were ordered to reinforce Pemberton. If that
blunder should prove disastrous, the authorities here will have a
hornet's nest about their ears. The President arrived yesterday, and his
patriotic and cheering speech at Jackson, Miss., appeared in all the
papers this morning.
We hear of no fighting at Suffolk. But we have dispatches from North
Carolina, stating that a storm assailed the enemy's fleet off Hatteras,
_sinking the Monitor with all on board_, and so crippling the Galena
that her guns were thrown overboard! This is good news--if it be
confirmed.
A letter from Major Boyle, in command at Gordonsville, gives information
that the smugglers and extortioners are trading tobacco (contraband)
with the enemy at Alexandria. He arrested B. Nussbaum, E. Wheeler, and
S. Backrack, and sent them with their wagons and goods to Gen. Winder,
Richmond. But instead of being dealt with according to law, he learns
that Backrack is back again, and on his way to this city _with another
wagon load of goods from Yankee-land_, and will be here to-day or
to-morrow. I sent the letter to the Secretary, and hope it will not be
intercepted on its way to him from the front office. The Secretary never
sees half the letters addressed him, or knows of one-half the attempts
of persons to obtain interviews. The Assistant Secretary's duty is to
dispose of the less important communications, but to exhibit his
decisions.
JANUARY 6TH.--To-day we are all _down_ again. Bragg has _retreated_ from
Murfreesborough. It is said he saved his prisoners, captured cannon,
etc., but it is _not_ said what became of his own wounded. The Northern
papers say they captured 500 prisoners in the battle, which they claim
as a victory. I do not know how to reconcile Bragg's first dispatches,
and particularly the one saying he had the whole field, and would
_follow_ the enemy, with this last one announcing his withdrawal and
retirement from the field.
Eight thousand men were taken from Bragg a few days before the battle.
It was not done at the suggestion of Gen. Johnston; for I have seen an
extract of a letter from Gen. J. to a Senator (Wigfall), deprecating the
detachment of troops from Bragg, and expressing grave apprehensions of
the probable consequences.
A letter was received from R. R. Collier, Petersburg, to-day, in favor
of civil liberty, and against the despotism of martial law.
Senator Clark, of Missouri, informed me to-day that my nephew, R. H.
Musser, has been made a colonel (under Hindman or Holmes), and has a
fine regiment in the trans-Mississippi Department.
Lewis E. Harvie, president of the railroad, sends a communication to the
Secretary (I hope it will reach him) inclosing a request from Gen.
Winder to permit liquors to be transported on his road to Clover Hill.
Mr. Harvie objects to it, and asks instructions from the Secretary. He
says Clover Hill is the point from which the smuggling is done, and that
to place it there, is equivalent to bringing it into the city.
JANUARY 7TH.--To-day I was requested to aid, temporarily, in putting in
operation a new bureau, created by the military authorities, not by law,
entitled the Bureau of Conscription. From conscription all future
recruits must be derived. I found Gen. Rains, the chief, a most affable
officer; and Lieut.-Col. Lay, his next officer, was an acquaintance. I
shall not now, perhaps, see so much of the _interior_ of this moving
picture of Revolution; my son, however, will note important letters. It
is said that Sumner's corps (of Burnside's army) has landed in North
Carolina, to take Wilmington. We shall have news soon.
We are sending troops rapidly from Virginia to North Carolina.
The Northern papers say the following dispatch was sent to Washington by
our raiding Stuart: "Gen. Meigs will in future please furnish better
mules; those you have furnished recently are very inferior." He signed
his own name.
A large body of slaves passed through the city to-day, singing happily.
They had been working on the fortifications north of the city, and go to
work on them south of it. They have no faith in the efficacy of
Lincoln's Emancipation.
But it is different in Norfolk; 4000 enfranchised slaves marched in
procession through the town the other day in a sort of frantic jubilee.
They will bewail their error; and so will the Abolitionists. They will
consume the enemy's commissary stores; and if they be armed, we shall
get their arms.
Lee and Beauregard were telegraphed to-day in relation to the movement
on Wilmington; and the President had the cabinet with him many hours.
Gen. Rains is quite certain that the fall of New Orleans was the result
of treachery.
By the emancipation, Gen. Wise's county, Princess Ann, is excepted--and
so are Accomac and Northampton Counties; but I have no slaves. All I ask
of the invaders is to spare my timber, and I will take care of the
land--and I ask it, knowing the request will never be known by them
until the war is over.
JANUARY 8TH.--Gen. French writes that the enemy at Suffolk and Newbern
amounted to 45,000; and this force now threatens Weldon and Wilmington,
and we have not more than 14,000 to oppose them. With generalship that
should suffice.
All the Virginia conscripts are ordered to Gen. Wise, under Major-Gen.
Elzey. The conscripts from other States are to be taken to Gen. Lee. If
the winter should allow a continuance of active operations, and the
enemy should continue to press us, we might be driven nearly to the
wall. We must help ourselves all we can, and, besides, invoke the aid of
Almighty God!
We have nothing fresh from Bragg--nothing from Vicksburg--and that is
_bad news_.
I like Gen. Rains. He comes in and sits with me every day. Col. Lay is
the active business man of the bureau. The general is engaged in some
experiments to increase the efficiency of small arms.
He is very affable and communicative. He says he never witnessed more
sanguinary fighting than at the battle of the Seven Pines, where his
brigade retrieved the fortunes of the day; for at one time it was lost.
He was also at Yorktown and Williamsburg; and he cannot yet cease
condemning the giving up of the Peninsula, Norfolk, etc. Gen. Johnston
did that, backed by Randolph and Mallory.
We have all been mistaken in the number of troops sent to the rescue of
North Carolina; but four or five regiments, perhaps 3000 men, have gone
thither from Virginia. A letter from Gen. Lee, dated the 5th inst., says
he has not half as many men as Burnside, and cannot spare any. He thinks
North Carolina, herself, will be able to expel the Federals, who
probably meditate only a marauding expedition. And he supposes Bragg's
splendid victory (what did he suppose the next day?) may arrest the
inroads of the enemy everywhere for a season. At this moment I do not
believe we have 200,000 men in the field against 800,000! But what of
that, after seeing Lee beat 150,000 with only 20,000 in action! True, it
was an ambuscade.
JANUARY 9TH.--The Northern papers say the Federals have taken Vicksburg;
but we are incredulous. Yet we have no reliable intelligence from
thence; and it may be so. It would be a terrible blow, involving, for a
time, perhaps, the loss of the Mississippi River.
But we have cheering news from Galveston, Texas. Several of our
improvised gun-boats attacked the enemy's war vessels in the harbor, and
after a sanguinary contest, hand to hand, our men captured the Harriet
Lane, a fine United States ship of war, iron clad. She was boarded and
taken. Another of the enemy's ships, it is said, was blown up by its
officers, rather than surrender, and many perished. If this be
Magruder's work, it will make him famous.
Our public offices are crowded with applicants for clerkships, mostly
wounded men, or otherwise unfit for field duty.
How can we live here? Boarding is $60 per month, and I have six to
support! They ask $1800 rent for a dwelling--and I have no furniture to
put in one. Gen. Rains and I looked at one to-day, thinking to take it
jointly. But neither of us is able to furnish it. Perhaps we shall take
it, nevertheless.
JANUARY 10TH.--We have news from the West, which is believed to be
reliable, stating that Bragg captured 6000 prisoners altogether in his
late battles; took 30 cannon, 800 stand of arms, and destroyed 1500
wagons and many stores. The estimated loss of the enemy in killed and
wounded is put down at 12,000. Our loss in killed and wounded not more
than half that number.
To-day we have official intelligence confirming the brilliant
achievement at Galveston; and it was Magruder's work. He has men under
him fitted for desperate enterprises; and he has always had a penchant
for desperate work. So we shall expect to hear of more gallant exploits
in that section. He took 600 prisoners.
We have news also from Vicksburg, and the city was not taken; on the
contrary, the enemy had sailed away. I trust this is reliable; but the
Northern papers persist in saying that Vicksburg has fallen, and that
the event took place on the 3d inst.
Six hundred women and children--refugees--arrived at Petersburg
yesterday from the North. They permit them to come now, when famine and
pestilence are likely to be added to the other horrors of war! We are
doomed to suffer this winter!
JANUARY 11TH.--The message of Gov. Seymour, of New York, if I am not
mistaken in its import and purposes, will have a distracting effect on
the subjugation programme of the government at Washington. I shall look
for riots, and perhaps rebellions and civil wars in the North.
Mr. Stanley, ycleped Governor of North Carolina, has written a letter
(dated 31st December) to Gen. French, complaining that our soldiery have
been guilty of taking slaves from their humane and _loyal_ masters in
Washington County, against their will; and demanding a restoration of
them to their kind and beneficent owners, to whom they are anxious to
return. Gen. French replies that he will do so very cheerfully, provided
the United States authorities will return the slaves they have taken
from masters loyal to the Confederate States. These may amount to
100,000. And he might have added that on the next day all--4,000,000--were
to be emancipated, so far as the authority of the United States could
accomplish it.
The enemy's gun-boats (two) came up the York River last week, and
destroyed an oyster boat. Beyond the deprivation of oysters, pigs, and
poultry, we care little for these incursions.
JANUARY 12TH.--The news of the successful defense of Vicksburg is
confirmed by an official dispatch, to the effect that the enemy had
departed up the Mississippi River. By the late Northern papers, we find
they confess to a loss of 4000 men in the several attacks upon the town!
Our estimate of their loss did not exceed that many hundred. They lost
two generals, Morgan and another. We did not lose a hundred men,
according to our accounts. The _Herald_ (N. Y.) calls it "another
Fredericksburg affair."
The estimate of the enemy's loss, at Murfreesborough, from 12,000 to
20,000, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, and ours at from four to nine
thousand. Bragg says he will fight again near the same place, and his
men are in high spirits.
Our men fight to _kill_ now, since the emancipation doom has been
pronounced. But we have had a hard rain and nightly frosts, which will
put an end to campaigning during the remainder of the winter. The
fighting will be on the water, or near it.
The legislature is in session, and resolutions inimical to the passport
system have already been introduced. But where are State Rights now?
Congress meets to-morrow.
JANUARY 13TH.--The generals in North Carolina are importunate for
reinforcements. They represent the enemy as in great force, and that
Weldon, Goldsborough, Raleigh, and Wilmington are in extreme peril. Lee
cannot send any, or, if he does, Richmond will be threatened again, and
possibly taken.
How shall we live? Boarding ranges from $60 to $100 per month. Our
landlord says he will try to get boarding in the country, and if he
succeeds, probably we may keep the house we now occupy, furnished, at a
rent of $1200, for a mere robin's nest of four rooms! But I hope to get
the house at the corner of First and Casey, in conjunction with Gen.
Rains, for $1800. It has a dozen rooms.
JANUARY 14TH.--Gen. Beauregard, some of whose forces have been taken
from him and sent to the defense of Wilmington, is apprehensive that
they may be lost, in the event of the enemy making a combined naval and
land attack, and then Charleston and Savannah would be in great peril.
Gens. Smith and Whiting call lustily for aid, and say they have not
adequate means of defense.
Some 4000 more negroes have been called for to work on the
fortifications near Richmond. I believe 10,000 are at work now.
A letter "by order" of the Secretary of War to Col. Godwin, in King and
Queen County, written by Judge Campbell, says that blockaders are
allowed to run through, provided they be not suspicious parties. The
government takes what it wants at seventy-five per cent. and releases
the rest. The parties are liable to have their goods confiscated by the
Secretary of the Treasury, who, however, the letter proceeds to say, has
never molested any one in the illicit trade--smuggling.
In Congress, yesterday, Mr. Foote called for a committee to investigate
the commissary's contract with Haxhall, Crenshaw & Co., and was
particularly severe on Major Ruffin, in the commissary's office, whom he
understood was a partner in the flour concern.
Mr. Foote introduced a series of resolutions to-day, tempting the
Northern States to make peace with us separately, excluding the New
England States, and promising commercial advantages, etc. But we must
treat as independent States, pledging a league with those that abandon
the United States Government--offensive and defensive--and guaranteeing
the navigation of the Mississippi River to the Northwestern States. They
were referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, of which he is the
chairman. This is nothing.
But neither yesterday nor the day before was there a quorum of both
houses; a sad spectacle in such a season of gloom. It was enlivened,
however, by a communication from the Surgeon-General, proposing to send
surgeons to vaccinate all the members. They declined the honor, though
the small-pox is raging frightfully.
To-day a quorum was found in each house, and the President's message was
sent in. I have not read it yet.
JANUARY 15TH.--The President's message is highly applauded. It is well
written; but I do not perceive much substance in it, besides some
eloquent reproaches of England and France for the maintenance of their
neutrality, which in effect is greatly more beneficial to the United
States than to us. The President essays to encourage the people to
continued effort and endurance--and such encouragement is highly
judicious at this dark epoch of the struggle. He says truly we have
larger armies, and a better supply of arms, etc., now, than we have had
at any time previously.
The President says he will, unless Congress directs differently, have
all Federal officers that we may capture, handed over to the States to
be dealt with as John Brown was dealt with. The Emancipation
Proclamation, if not revoked, may convert the war into a most barbarous
conflict.
Mr. Foote, yesterday, introduced a resolution requesting the recall of
our diplomatic agents; and, after a certain time, to notify the foreign
consuls to leave the country, no longer recognizing them in an official
capacity.
A bill was introduced making Marylanders subject to conscription.
JANUARY 16TH.--Gen. Lee is in the city, doubtless to see about the
pressure upon him for reinforcements in North Carolina. Gen. Smith still
writes from Goldsborough for more men, with doleful forebodings if they
be refused.
From Eastern Tennessee, we have bad accounts of outrages by the disloyal
inhabitants, who have fled, to escape conscription, to the mountains and
caves, many of them taking their families. At night they emerge from
their hiding-places, and commit depredations on the secessionists.
It has been blowing a gale for two days, and there are rumors of more
losses of the enemy's ships on the coast of North Carolina.
A letter was received by the government to-day from Arizona, justifying
Col. Baylor for his policy of dealing with the Indians. I do not hear of
any steps yet on the part of the President.
A report of the commandant at Camp Holmes, Raleigh, N. C., states that
12,000 conscripts have been received there altogether; 8000 have been
sent off to regiments, 2000 detailed on government work, 500 deserted,
etc.
The _Enquirer_ to-day publishes the fact that a ship, with stores,
merchandise, etc., has just arrived at Charleston; that six more are on
the way thither, and that a steamer has successfully run the blockade
from Wilmington with cotton. This notification may increase the
vigilance of the blockading fleet. The _Enquirer_ is also perpetually
tilting with the Raleigh _Standard_. I doubt the policy of charging the
leading journals in North Carolina with predilections for the Union. I
believe the _Enquirer_ has no settled editor now.
Mr. Foote favors the conscription of Marylanders. If such an act should
be likely to pass, Gen. Winder will be beset with applications to leave
the Confederacy.
JANUARY 17TH.--Gen. Lee has left the city. His troops, encamped thirty
miles north of Richmond, marched northward last night. So it is his
determination to cross the Rappahannock? Or is it a demonstration of the
enemy to prevent him from sending reinforcements to North Carolina? We
shall know speedily.
North Carolina, one would think, is soon to be the scene of carnage; and
it is asked what can 16,000 men do against 60,000?
The enemy began the attack on Fort Caswell yesterday; no result. But
one of his blockaders went ashore in the storm, and we captured the
officers and crew.
All the conscripts in the West have been ordered to Gen. Bragg.
Shall we starve? Yesterday beef was sold for 40 cts. per pound; to-day
it is 60 cts. Lard is $1.00. Butter $2.00. They say the sudden rise is
caused by the prisoners of Gen. Bragg, several thousand of whom have
arrived here, and they are subsisted from the market. Thus they injure
us every way. But, _n'importe_, say some; if Lincoln's Emancipation be
not revoked, _but few more prisoners will be taken on either side_. That
would be a barbarous war, without quarter.
I see that Col. J. W. Wall, of New Jersey, has been nominated, and I
suppose will be elected, U. S. Senator. He was confined for months in
prison at Fort Lafayette. I imagine the colonel is a bold, able man.
JANUARY 18TH.--It was bitter cold last night, and everything is frozen
this morning; there will be abundance of ice next summer, if we keep our
ice-houses.
In these times of privation and destitution, I see many men, who were
never prominent secessionists, enjoying comfortable positions, and
seeking investments for their surplus funds. Surely there must be some
compensation in this world or the next for the true patriots who have
sacrificed everything, and still labor in subordinate positions, with
faith and patient suffering. These men and their families go in rags,
and upon half-rations, while the others fare most sumptuously.
We are now, in effect, in a state of siege, and none but the opulent,
often those who have defrauded the government, can obtain a sufficiency
of food and raiment. Calico, which could once be bought for 12-1/2 cts.
per yard, is now selling at $2.25, and a lady's dress of calico costs
her about $30.00. Bonnets are not to be had. Common bleached cotton
shirting brings $1.50 per yard. All other dry goods are held in the same
proportion. Common tallow candles are $1.25 per pound; soap, $1.00;
hams, $1.00; oppossum $3.00; turkeys $4 to $11.00; sugar, brown, $1.00;
molasses $8.00 per gallon; potatoes $6.00 per bushel, etc.
These evils might be remedied by the government, for there is no great
scarcity of any of the substantials and necessities of life in the
country, if they were only equally distributed. The difficulty is in
procuring transportation, and the government monopolizes the railroads
and canals.
Our military men apprehend no serious consequences from the army of
negroes in process of organization by the Abolitionists at Washington.
Gen. Rains says the negro cannot fight, and will always run away. He
told me an anecdote yesterday which happened under his own observation.
An officer, when going into battle, charged his servant to stay at his
tent and take care of his property. In the fluctuations of the battle,
some of the enemy's shot fell in the vicinity of the tent, and the
negro, with great white eyes, fled away with all his might. After the
fight, and when the officer returned to his tent, he was vexed to learn
that his slave had run away, but the boy soon returned, confronting his
indignant master, who threatened to chastise him for disobedience of
orders. Cæsar said: "Massa, you told me to take care of your property,
and dis property" (placing his hand on his breast) "is worf fifteen
hundred dollars." He escaped punishment.
Some 200,000 of the Abolition army will be disbanded in May by the
expiration of their terms of enlistment, and we have every reason to
believe that their places cannot be filled by new recruits. If we hold
out until then, we shall be able to resist at all vital points.
JANUARY 19TH.--We have rumors of fighting this morning on the
Rappahannock; perhaps the enemy is making another advance upon Richmond.
There was a grand funeral to-day,--Gen. D. R. Jones's; he died of heart
disease.
Gen. Bragg dispatches that Brig.-Gen. Wheeler, with his cavalry, got in
the rear of Rosecrans a few days ago, and burned a railroad bridge. He
then penetrated to the Cumberland River, and destroyed three large
transports and bonded a fourth, which took off his paroled prisoners.
After this he captured and destroyed a _gun-boat_ and its armament sent
in quest of him.
We have taken Springfield, Missouri.
Rosecrans sends our officers, taken at Murfreesborough, to Alton, Ill.,
to retaliate on us for the doom pronounced in our President's
proclamation, and one of his generals has given notice that if we burn
a railroad bridge (in our own country) all private property within a
mile of it shall be destroyed. The black flag next.
We have no news from North Carolina.
Mr. Caperton was elected C. S. Senator by the Virginia Legislature on
Saturday, in place of Mr. Preston, deceased.
An intercepted letter from a Mr. Sloane, Charlotte, N. C., to A. T.
Stewart & Co., New York, was laid before the Secretary of War yesterday.
He urged the New York merchant, who has contributed funds for our
subjugation, to send merchandise to the South, now destitute, and he
would act as salesman. The Secretary indorsed "conscript him," and yet
the Assistant Secretary has given instructions to Col. Godwin, in the
border counties, to wink at the smugglers. This is consistency! And the
Assistant Secretary writes "by order of the Secretary of War!"
JANUARY 20TH.--The rumor of fighting on the Rappahannock is not
confirmed. But Gen. Lee writes that his beeves are so poor the soldiers
won't eat the meat. He asks the government to send him salt meat.
From Northern sources we learn that Arkansas Post has fallen, and that
we have lost from 5000 to 7000 men there. If this be true, our men must
have been placed in a man-trap, as at Roanoke Island.
Mr. Perkins, in Congress, has informed the country that Mr. Memminger,
the Secretary of the Treasury, has hitherto opposed and defeated the
proposition that the government buy all the cotton. Mr. M. should never
have been appointed. He is headstrong, haughty, and tyrannical when he
imagines he is dealing with inferiors, and he deems himself superior to
the rest of mankind. But he is no Carolinian by birth or descent.
We see accounts of public meetings in New Jersey, wherein the government
at Washington is fiercely denounced, and peace demanded, regardless of
consequences. Some of the speakers openly predicted that the war would
spread into the North, if not terminated at once, and in that event, the
emancipationists would have foes to fight elsewhere than in the South.
Among the participants I recognize the names of men whom I met in
convention at Trenton in 1860. They clamor for the "Union as it was, the
Constitution as it is," adopting the motto of my paper, the "_Southern
Monitor_," the office of which was sacked in Philadelphia in April,
1861. Our government will never agree to anything short of independence.
President Davis will be found inflexible on that point.
There was a rumor yesterday that France had recognized us. The news of
the disaster of Burnside at Fredericksburg having certainly been deemed
very important in Europe. But France has not yet acted in our behalf. We
all pray for the Emperor's intervention. We suffer much, and but little
progress is made in conscription. Nearly all our resources are in the
field. Another year of war, and ----!
JANUARY 21ST.--Last night the rain fell in torrents, and to-day there is
a violent storm of wind from the N. W. This may put an end, for a
season, to campaigning on land, and the enemy's fleet at sea may be
dispersed. Providence may thus intervene in our behalf.
It is feared that we have met with a serious blow in Arkansas, but it is
not generally believed that so many (5000 to 7000 men) surrendered, as
is stated in the Northern papers. Gen. Holmes is responsible for the
mishap.
Conscription drags its slow length along. It is not yet adding many to
the army. The Assistant Secretary of War, and several others, "by order
of the Secretary of War," are granting a fearful number of exemptions
daily. Congress, I hope, will modify the exemption bill immediately. It
is believed enrolling officers, surgeons, and others are permitting
thousands to remain at home "for a price." Even clerks in the War
Department, it is said, are driving a lucrative business in "getting men
off," who should be on duty, in this war of independence. _Young_ men in
the departments, except in particular cases, will not stand in good
repute "when the hurly burly's done, when the battle's lost and won."
Congress is at work projecting the organization of a Supreme Court.
JANUARY 22D.--We have reliable intelligence of the sinking of the U. S.
gun-boat Hatteras, in the Gulf, by the Alabama. She was iron-clad, and
all the officers and crew, with the exception of five, went down.
Gen. Whiting telegraphs to-day for the use of conscripts near
Wilmington, in the event of an _emergency_. Several ships have just come
in safely from abroad, and it is said a large number are on the way.
Mr. Miles yesterday reported, from the Military Committee, a bill
repealing the existing exemption law, and embracing all male residents
between the ages of 18 and 45 years. The President, or Secretary of War,
to have authority to grant exemptions in certain cases, if deemed
expedient. This _ought_ to give us 200,000 more men. And they will be
required.
A resolution was passed demanding of the Commissary and
Quartermaster-General the number of their employees capable of
performing military duty. It would be well to extend the inquiry to the
War Department itself.
A letter from Norfolk states that at a grand ball, in celebration of the
emancipation of the negroes, Gen. Vieille opened the dance with a
mulatto woman of bad character as his partner; and Mrs. V. had for her
partner a negro barber.
JANUARY 23D.--The Northern papers are filled with what purports to be
the intercepted correspondence of Mr. Benjamin with Messrs. Mason and
Slidell. Lord John Russell is berated. The Emperor of France is charged
with a design to seize Mexico as a colony, and to recognize Texas
separately, making that State in effect a dependency, from which cotton
may be procured as an offset to British India. He says the French
Consuls in Texas are endeavoring to detach Texas from the Confederacy.
If this be a genuine correspondence, it will injure the South; if it be
false (if the allegations be false), it will still injure us. I have no
doubt of its genuineness; and that Mr. Sanders, once the correspondent
of the New York _Tribune_, was the bearer. If Texas leaves us, so may
Louisiana--and the gigantic Houmas speculation may turn out well at
last.
Mr. Curry has brought forward a copyright bill; Mr. Foster, of Alabama,
has introduced a bill to abolish the passport system--leaving the matter
to railroad conductors.
A dispatch from Gen. Bragg assures us that our cavalry are still
capturing and destroying large amounts of Rosecrans's stores on the
Cumberland River.
Col. Wall has been elected Senator from New Jersey. They say he is still
pale and ill from his imprisonment, for opinion sake. I hope he will
speak as boldly in the Senate as out of it.
I met Gen. Davis to-day (the President's nephew), just _from_
Goldsborough, where his brigade is stationed. He is in fine
_plumage_--and I hope he will prove a game-cock.
Major-Gen. French, in command at Petersburg, is a Northern man. Our
_native_ generals are brigadiers. It is amazing that all the superior
officers in command near the capital should be Northern men. Can this be
the influence of Gen. Cooper? It may prove disastrous!
JANUARY 24TH.--Gen. Smith writes that he deems Wilmington in a condition
to resist any attacks.
The exposition of Mr. Benjamin's dispatches has created profound
mortification in the community.
Another transport has been taken from the enemy in the Cumberland River.
No further news from Arkansas.
There is a white flag (small-pox) within seventy yards of our house. But
it is probable we must give up the house soon, as the owner is desirous
to return to it--being unable to get board in the country.
Gen. Rains, who has been making a certain sort of primer, met with an
accident this morning; one of them exploded in his hand, injuring his
thumb and finger. He was scarcely able to sign his name to official
documents to-day.
Mr. Hunter has brought forward a measure for the funding of Treasury
notes, the redundant circulation having contributed to produce the
present fabulous prices in the market.
In the New Jersey Legislature petitions are flowing in denunciatory of
Lincoln's Emancipation scheme, which would cast into the free States a
large excess of profitless population.
JANUARY 25TH.--Gen. Lee mentions, in his recent correspondence, an
instance of the barbarity of some of the Yankee soldiers in the
Abolition Army of the Potomac. They thrust into the Rappahannock River a
poor old negro man, whom they had taken from his master, because he had
the small-pox; and he would have been drowned had he not been rescued by
our pickets. It is surmised that this dreadful disease prevails to an
alarming extent in the Yankee army, and probably embarrasses their
operations. Our men have all been vaccinated; and their recklessness of
disease and death is perhaps a guarantee of exemption from affliction.
Their health, generally, is better than it has ever been before.
The government at Washington has interdicted the usual exchange of
newspapers, for the present. This gives rise to conjecture that Lincoln
experiences grave difficulties from the adverse sentiment of his people
and his armies regarding his Emancipation Proclamation. And it is likely
he has met with grave losses at sea, for the invading army in North
Carolina has retired back on Newbern. But the season for naval
enterprises is not over, and we are prepared to expect some heavy blows
before April.
The revelations in the intercepted dispatches captured with Mr. Sanders,
whose father is a notorious political adventurer, may be most
unfortunate. They not only show that we even were negotiating for six
war steamers, but give the names of the firms in Europe that were to
furnish them. The project must now be abandoned. And Louis Napoleon will
be enraged at the suspicions and imputations of our Secretary of State
regarding his occult policy.
Gen. Rains has invented a new primer for shell, which will explode from
the slightest pressure. The shell is buried just beneath the surface of
the earth, and explodes when a horse or a man treads upon it. He says he
would not use such a weapon in ordinary warfare; but has no scruples in
resorting to any means of defense against an army of Abolitionists,
invading our country for the purpose, avowed, of extermination. He tried
a few shell on the Peninsula last spring, and the explosion of only four
sufficed to arrest the army of invaders, and compelled them to change
their line of march.
JANUARY 26TH.--The _Northern_ papers say Hooker's grand division crossed
the Rappahannock, ten miles above Falmouth, several days ago.
Burnside has issued an address to his army, promising them another
battle immediately.
Gen. Lee advises the government to buy all the grain in the counties
through which the canal runs. He says many farmers are hoarding their
provisions, for extortionate prices.
I have no house yet. Dr. Wortham had one; and although I applied first,
he let Mr. Reagan, the Postmaster-General, have it. He is a member of
President Davis's cabinet--and receives $6000 salary.
There is much indignation expressed by the street talkers against Mr.
Benjamin and Mr. Sanders, in the matter of the intercepted dispatches:
against Mr. Benjamin for casting such imputations on Napoleon and his
consular agents, and for sending his dispatches by such a messenger, in
the absence of the President; against Sanders for not destroying the
dispatches. Many think the information was _sold_ to the United States
Government.
Col. Wall has made a speech in Philadelphia. He said he should take his
seat in the United States Senate as an advocate of peace; and he boldly
denounced the Lincoln administration.
Our official report shows that our military authorities, up to this
time, have burnt 100,000 bales of cotton in Arkansas. I have not learned
the amount destroyed in other States--but it is large. Gen. Lee thinks
the object of the expeditions of the enemy on the Southern coast is to
procure cotton, etc. The slaves can do them no good, and the torch will
disappoint the marauders.
Strong and belligerent resolutions have been introduced in the United
States Congress against France, for her alleged purpose to obtain
dominion in Mexico. It is violative of the Monroe doctrine. And Mr.
Benjamin's accusation against the consuls (embracing a French design on
Texas) might seem like a covert purpose to unite both the Confederate
and the United States against France--and that might resemble
premeditated reconstruction. But diplomatists _must_ be busy--always at
their webs. President Davis would be the last man to abandon the ship
Independence.
JANUARY 27TH.--It is too true that several thousand of our men were
captured at Arkansas Post, and that Little Rock is now in danger.
There seems to be no probability, after all, of an immediate advance of
the enemy across the Rappahannock.
But there are eight iron-clad gun-boats and ninety sail at Beaufort,
North Carolina, and, it is reported, 52,000 men. Wilmington will
probably be assailed.
Mr. Foote said, yesterday, if Indiana and Illinois would recede from the
war, he should be in favor of aiding them with an army against Lincoln.
And all the indications from the North seem to exhibit a strong
sentiment among the people favoring peace. But the people are not the
government, and they sink peace and reconstruction together.
Yesterday Mr. Crockett, of Kentucky, said, in the House of
Representatives, that there was a party in favor of forming a Central
Confederacy (of free and slave States) between the Northern and Southern
extremes. Impracticable.
To-day we have news of the bombardment of Fort McAlister, near Savannah.
No result known. Now we shall have tidings every few days of naval
operations. Can Savannah, and Charleston, and Wilmington be successfully
defended? They may, if they will emulate the example of Vicksburg. If
they fall, it will _stagger_ this government--before the peace party in
the North can operate on the Government of the United States. But it
would not "crush the rebellion."
JANUARY 28TH.--The bombardment of Fort McAlister continued five hours
yesterday, when the enemy's boats drew off. The injury to the fort can
be repaired in a day. Not a man was killed or a gun dismounted. The
injury done the fleet is not known. But the opinion prevails here that
if the bombardment was continued to-day, the elongated shot of the enemy
probably demolished the fort.
Last night and all this day it snowed incessantly--melting rapidly,
however. This must retard operations by land in Virginia and probably in
North Carolina.
JANUARY 29TH.--It appears from the Northern press that the enemy _did_
make three attempts last week to cross the Rappahannock; but as they
advanced toward the stream, the _elements_ successfully opposed them. It
rained, it snowed, and it froze. The gun carriages and wagons sank up to
the hubs, the horses to their bodies, and the men to their knees; and so
all stuck fast in the mud.
I saw an officer to-day from the army in North Carolina. He says the
prospect for a battle is good, as soon as the roads admit of marching.
We have nothing further from the bombardment near Savannah. The wires
may not be working--or the fort may be taken.
Gov. Vance has sent to the department a strong protest against the
appointment of Col. August as commandant of conscripts in Northern
Tennessee. Col. A. is a Virginian--that is the only reason. Well, Gen.
Rains, who commands all the conscripts in the Confederate States, is a
North Carolinian. But the War Department has erred in putting so many
strangers in command of localities, where natives might have been
selected. Richmond, for instance, has never yet been in the command of a
Southern general.
There are indications of a speedy peace, although we are environed by
sea and by land as menacingly as ever. The _Tribune_ (New York) has an
article which betrays much desperation. It says the only way for the
United States Government to raise $300,000,000, indispensably necessary
for a further prosecution of the war, is to guarantee (to the
capitalists) that it will be the _last_ call for a loan, and that
subjugation will be accomplished in ninety days, or never. It says the
war must then be urged on _furiously_, and negro soldiers sent among the
slaves to produce an insurrection! If this will not suffice, then let
peace be made on the best possible terms. The New York _World_ denounces
the article, and is for peace at once. It says if the project
(diabolical) of the _Tribune_ fails, it may not be possible to make
peace on any terms. In this I see indications of a foregone conclusion.
All over the North, and especially in the Northwest, the people are
clamoring for peace, and denouncing the Lincoln Emancipation
Proclamation. I have no doubt, if the war continues throughout the year,
we shall have the spectacle of more Northern men fighting against the
United States Government than slaves fighting against the South.
Almost every day, now, ships from Europe arrive safely with merchandise:
and this is a sore vexation to the Northern merchants. We are likewise
getting, daily, many supplies from the North, from blockade-runners. No
doubt this is winked at by the United States military authorities, and
perhaps by some of the civil ones, too.
If we are not utterly crushed before May (an impracticable thing), we
shall win our independence.
JANUARY 30TH.--There is a rumor that Kentucky has voted to raise an army
of 60,000 men to resist the execution of Lincoln's Emancipation
Proclamation.
Fort Caswell, below Wilmington, has been casemated with iron; but can it
withstand elongated balls weighing 480 pounds? I fear not. There are,
however, submarine batteries; yet these may be avoided, for Gen. Whiting
writes that the best pilot (one sent thither some time ago by the enemy)
escaped to the hostile fleet since Gen. Smith visited North Carolina,
which is embraced within his command. This pilot, no doubt, knows the
location of all our torpedoes.
Nothing further from Savannah.
Mr. Adams, the United States Minister at London, writes to Mr. Seward,
Secretary of State, dated 17th of October, 1862, that if the Federal
army shall not achieve decisive successes by the month of February
ensuing, it is probable the British Parliament will recognize the
Confederate States. To-morrow is the last day of January.
I cut the following from yesterday's _Dispatch_:
"_The Results of Extortion and Speculation._--The state of affairs
brought about by the speculating and extortion practiced upon the public
cannot be better illustrated than by the following grocery bill for one
week for a small family, in which the prices before the war and those of
the present are compared:
1860. 1863.
Bacon, 10 lbs. at 12-1/2c $1 25 Bacon, 10 lbs. at $1 $10 00
Flour, 30 lbs. at 5c 1 50 Flour, 30 lbs. at 12-1/2c 3 75
Sugar, 5 lbs. at 8c 40 Sugar, 5 lbs. at $1 15 5 75
Coffee, 4 lbs. at 12-1/2c 50 Coffee, 4 lbs. at $5 20 00
Tea (green), 1/2 lb. at $1 50 Tea (green), 1/2 lb. at $16 8 00
Lard, 4 lbs. at 12-1/2c 50 Lard, 4 lbs. at $1 4 00
Butter, 3 lbs. at 25c 75 Butter, 3 lbs. at $1 75 5 25
Meal, 1 pk. at 25c 25 Meal, 1 pk. at $1 1 00
Candles, 2 lbs. at 15c 30 Candles, 2 lbs. at $1 25 2 50
Soap, 5 lbs. at 10c 50 Soap, 5 lbs. at $1 10 5 50
Pepper and salt (about) 10 Pepper and salt (about) 2 50
---- ----
Total $6 55 Total $68 25
"So much we owe the speculators, who have stayed at home to prey upon
the necessities of their fellow-citizens."
We have just learned that a British steamer, with cannon and other
valuable cargo, was captured by the enemy, two days ago, while trying to
get in the harbor. Another, similarly laden, got safely in yesterday. We
can afford to lose one ship out of three--that is, the owners can, and
then make money.
Cotton sells at _seventy-five cents_ per pound in the United States. So
the blockade must be felt by the enemy as well as ourselves. War is a
two-edged sword.
JANUARY 31ST.--We have dispatches from Charleston, to-day, which
reconcile us to the loss of the cargo captured by the blockading
squadron early in the week. An artillery company captured a fine
gun-boat in Stone River (near Charleston) yesterday evening. She had
eleven guns and 200 men.
But this morning we did better still. Our little fleet of two iron-clads
steamed out of Charleston harbor, and boldly attacked the blockading
fleet. We crippled two of their ships, and sunk one, completely raising
the blockade, for the time being. This will frustrate some of their
plans, and may relieve Wilmington.
The attack on Fort McAlister was a failure. The monitor which assaulted
the fort sustained so much injury, that it had to retire for repairs.
Several blockade-runners between this and Williamsburg were arrested and
sent to Gen. Winder to-day by Lieut. G. D. Wise. Gen. W. sent them to
Gen. Rains. Mr. Petit and Mr. James Custis (from Williamsburg) came with
them to endeavor to procure their liberation. Gen. Rains sent them back
to Gen. W., with a note that he had no time to attend to such matters.
Such business does not pertain to his bureau. I suppose they will be
released.
Major Lear, of Texas, who was at the capture of the Harriet Lane, met on
the captured steamer his mortally-wounded son, the lieutenant.
A few days ago, Lieut. Buchanan was killed on a United States gun-boat
by our sharpshooters. He was the son of Admiral Buchanan, in the
Confederate service, now at Mobile. Thus we are reminded of the wars of
the roses--father against son, and brother against brother. God speed
the growth of the Peace Party, North and South; but we must have
independence.
Mr. Hunter was in our office to-day, getting the release of a son of the
Hon. Jackson Morton, who escaped from Washington, where he had resided,
and was arrested here as a conscript. The Assistant Secretary of War
ruled him entitled to exemption, although yesterday others, in the same
predicament, were ruled into the service.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Proposed fixture of prices.--Depreciation in the North.--Gen. Hooker in
command of the U. S. forces.--Lee thinks Charleston will be
attacked.--Congress does nothing.--Some fears for Vicksburg.--
Pemberton commands.--Wise dashes into Williamsburg.--Rats take food
from my daughter's hand.--Lee wants the meat sent from Georgia to
Virginia, where the fighting will be.--Gen. Winder uneasy about my
Diary.--Gen. Johnston asks to be relieved in the West.
FEBRUARY 1ST.--The Virginia Legislature, now in session, has a bill
under discussion for the suppression of extortion. One of the members,
Mr. Anderson, read the following table of the prices of
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE.
_Before the war._ _Now._
White wheat, per bushel $1 50 White wheat, per bushel $4 50
Flour, per barrel 7 50 Flour, per barrel 22 00
Corn, per bushel 70 Corn, per bushel 3 50
Hay, per hundred 1 00 Hay, per hundred 3 50
Hides, per pound 7 Hides, per pound 40
Beef, per pound 8 Beef, per pound 50
Bacon, per pound 13 Bacon, per pound 60
Lard, per pound 15 Lard, per pound 1 00
Butter, per pound 30 Butter, per pound 1 50
Irish potatoes 1 00 Irish potatoes 5 00
Sweet potatoes 1 00 Sweet potatoes 6 00
Apple brandy 1 00 Apple brandy 15 00
Wool, per pound 30 Wool, per pound 2 00
MANUFACTURES.
Bar iron, per pound 4 Bar iron, per pound 20
Nails, per pound 4 Nails, per pound 60
Leather, sole, per pound 25 Leather, sole, per pound 2 50
" upper, per pound 33 " upper, per pound 3 50
COTTON GOODS.
Osnaburgs, per yard 10 Osnaburgs, per yard 75
Brown cotton, per yard 10 Brown cotton, per yard 75
Sheeting, per yard 15 Sheeting, per yard 1 25
WOOLEN GOODS.
Coarse jeanes 45 Coarse jeanes 4 00
Crenshaw's gray 2 00 Crenshaw's gray 28 00
MISCELLANEOUS.
Coarse shoes $1 50 Coarse shoes $15 00
High-quartered shoes 3 50 High-quartered shoes 25 00
Boots 7 50 Boots 60 00
Wool hats, per dozen 7 00 Wool hats, per dozen 50 00
STOCKS.
Dividends on stocks in cotton companies, worth in May, 1861, $25 to $50
per share, now from $112 to $140.
It is doubtful whether the bill will pass, as most of the members are
agriculturists.
It is said and believed that several citizens from Illinois and Indiana,
now in this city, have been sent hither by influential parties, to
consult our government on the best means of terminating the war; or,
that failing, to propose some mode of adjustment between the
Northwestern States and the Confederacy, and new combination against the
Yankee States and the Federal administration.
Burnside has at last been removed; and Franklin and Sumner have
resigned. Gen. Hooker now commands the Federal Army of the Potomac--if
it may be still called an army. Gen. R----, who knows Hooker well, says
he is deficient in talent and character; and many years ago gentlemen
refused to associate with him. He resigned from the army, in California,
and worked a potatoe patch, Yankee like, on speculation--and failed.
FEBRUARY 2D.--After the feat at Charleston, Gen. Beauregard and
Commodore Ingraham invited the consuls resident to inspect the harbor,
and they pronounced the blockade raised, no United States ship being
seen off the coast. Then the general and the commodore issued a
proclamation to the world that the port was open. If this be recognized,
then the United States will have to give sixty days' notice before the
port can be closed again to neutral powers; and by that time we can get
supplies enough to suffice us for a year. Before night, however, some
twenty blockaders were in sight of the bar. It is not a question of
right, or of might, with France and England--but of inclination.
Whenever they, or either of them, shall be disposed to relieve us, it
can be done.
There was a fight near Suffolk yesterday, and it is reported that our
troops repulsed the enemy.
The enemy's gun-boats returned to the bombardment of Fort McAlister, and
met no success. They were driven off. But still, I fear the fort must
succumb.
Senator Saulsbury, of Delaware, has been arrested by the
Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, for his denunciation of Lincoln as an
"imbecile." And a Philadelphia editor has been imprisoned for alleged
"sympathy with secessionists." These arrests signify more battles--more
blood.
FEBRUARY 3D.--It appears that Gen. Pryor's force, 1500 strong, was
attacked by the enemy, said to be 5000 in number, on the Blackwater.
After some shelling and infantry firing, Gen. P. retired some eight
miles, and was not pursued. Our loss was only fifty; _it is said_ the
enemy had 500 killed and wounded; but I know not how this was
ascertained.
Gold in the North now brings 58-1/2 cents premium. Exchange sells at
$1.75. Cotton at 96 cents per pound!
They are getting up a fine rumpus in the North over the imprisonment of
an editor.
To-day, when conversing with Judge Perkins in relation to having a
passport system established by law, he admitted the necessity, but
despaired of its accomplishment. "For," said he, "nothing can be done in
Congress which has not the sanction of the Executive." He meant, I
thought, from his manner and tone, that the Executive branch of the
government was omnipotent, having swallowed up the functions of the
other co-ordinate branches. I cannot understand this, for the Executive
has but little appointing patronage, the army being completely
organized, having supplementary generals, and all officers, under the
grade of brigadiers, being promoted as vacancies occur.
FEBRUARY 4TH.--One of the enemy's iron-clad gun-boats has got past our
batteries at Vicksburg. Gen. Pemberton says it was struck "three times."
But it is through.
The enemy's presses reiterate the assertion that Gen. Longstreet is in
Tennessee with his corps; and that the detachments from Gen. Lee's army
amount to 75,000 men. This is evidently for the purpose to encourage
Hooker's army to cross the Rappahannock. These presses must know that
Gen. Lee's whole army was less than 75,000 men; that Longstreet is still
with him, and that only one small brigade has been sent away to North
Carolina. Well, let them come! They will be annihilated. But is it not
diabolical in the New York _Post_, _Times_, etc. to urge their own
people on to certain destruction? If Hooker had 300,000, he could not
now come to Richmond!
We have extremely cold weather now; and, probably, the rivers in
Virginia will be frozen over to-night.
FEBRUARY 5TH.--It snowed again last night. Tuesday night the mercury was
8° below zero.
A dispatch from Gen. Beauregard says sixty sail of the enemy have left
Beaufort, N. C., for Charleston. A British frigate (Cadmus) has arrived
at Charleston with intelligence that the Federal fleet of gun-boats will
attack the city immediately; and that the British consul is ordered away
by the Minister at Washington. The attack will be by sea and land. God
help Beauregard in this fearful ordeal!
FEBRUARY 6TH.--Gen. Lee thinks Charleston will be assailed, and suggests
that all the troops in North Carolina be concentrated near Wilmington,
and he will undertake the defense of the rest of the State.
Nevertheless, if the government deems it more important to have his
troops sent to North Carolina, than to retain them for the defense of
Richmond, he must acquiesce. But he thinks Hooker will attempt the
passage of the Rappahannock, at an early day, if the weather will admit
of it. In regard to the last attempt of Burnside to cross his army (when
he stuck in the mud), Gen. Lee says it was fortunate for the Federals
that they failed to get over. No doubt he was prepared for their
reception.
Congress is doing nothing but voting money for themselves. The President
(some of the members say) is their master, and they await his nod. These
are his enemies.
FEBRUARY 7TH.--We have a dispatch from Texas, of another success of Gen.
Magruder at Sabine Pass, wherein he destroyed a large amount of the
enemy's stores.
But we are calmly awaiting the blow at Charleston, or at Savannah, or
wherever it may fall. We have confidence in Beauregard.
We are more anxious regarding the fate of Vicksburg. Northern man as he
is, if Pemberton suffers disaster by any default, he will certainly
incur the President's eternal displeasure. Mississippi must be
defended, else the President himself may feel the pangs of a refugee.
"That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me!"
FEBRUARY 8TH.--From intelligence received yesterday evening, it is
probable the Alabama, Harriet Lane, and Florida have met off the West
Indies, and turned upon the U. S. steamer Brooklyn. The account says a
large steamer was seen on fire, and three others were delivering
broadsides into her. The United States press thought the burning steamer
was the Florida.
From Charleston or Savannah we shall soon have stirring news. They may
overpower our forces, but our power there will be completely exhausted
before resistance ceases. There will be no more "giving up," as with New
Orleans, Norfolk, etc. Yet there is a feverish anxiety regarding
Vicksburg. Pemberton permitted one iron-clad gun-boat to pass, and all
our boats below are now at its mercy.
The House of Representatives, at Washington, has passed the "negro
soldier bill." This will prove a "Pandora's Box," and the Federals may
rue the day that such a measure was adopted.
FEBRUARY 9TH.--Gen. Lee requests that all dispatches passing between his
headquarters and the War Department be in cipher. He says everything of
importance communicated, he has observed, soon becomes the topic of
public conversation; and thence is soon made known to the enemy.
The iron-clad gun-boat, which got past Vicksburg, has been up the Red
River spreading devastation. It has taken three of our steamers, forty
officers on one, and captured large amounts of stores and cotton.
Gen. Wise made a dash into Williamsburg last night, and captured the
place, taking some prisoners.
Custis (my son) received a letter to-day from Miss G., Newbern, _via_
underground railroad, inclosing another for her sweet-heart in the army.
She says they are getting on tolerably well in the hands of the enemy,
though the slaves have been emancipated. She says a Yankee preacher
(whom she calls a white-washed negro) made a _speculation_. He read the
Lincoln Proclamation to the negroes: and then announced that none of
them had been legally married, and might be liable to prosecution. To
obviate this, he proposed to marry them over, charging _only_ a dollar
for each couple. He realized several thousand dollars, and then returned
to the North. This was a legitimate Yankee speculation; and no doubt the
preacher will continue to be an enthusiastic advocate of a war of
subjugation. As long as the Yankees can make money by it, and escape
killing, the war will continue.
FEBRUARY 10TH.--No stirring news yet. The enemy's fleet is at Port
Royal, S. C. Everywhere we are menaced with overwhelming odds. Upon God,
and our own right arms, we must rely, and we do rely.
To-day, in cabinet council, it is believed it was decided to call out
all conscripts under forty-five years of age. The President might have
done it without consulting the cabinet.
Yesterday Mrs. Goddin, the owner or wife of the owner of the house I
occupy, failing to get board in the country, and we having failed to get
another house, took possession of one room of the little cottage. We
have temporarily the rest: parlor, dining-room, and two chambers--one of
them 8 by 11--at the rate of $800 per annum. This is low, now; for
ordinary dwellings, without furniture, rent for $1800. Mr. G. has an
hereditary (I believe) infirmity of the mind, and is confined by his
father in an asylum. Mrs. G. has four little children, the youngest only
a few weeks old. She has a white nurse, who lost her only child (died of
scarlet fever) six days ago; her husband being in the army. It is a sad
spectacle.
To-day beef was selling in market at _one dollar_ per pound. And yet one
might walk for hours in vain, in quest of a _beggar_. Did such a people
ever exist before?
FEBRUARY 11TH.--There is a rumor that Major-Gen. Gustavus W. Smith has
tendered his resignation.
Some idea may be formed of the scarcity of food in this city from the
fact that, while my youngest daughter was in the kitchen to-day, a young
rat came out of its hole and seemed to beg for something to eat; she
held out some bread, which it ate from her hand, and seemed grateful.
Several others soon appeared, and were as tame as kittens. Perhaps we
shall have to eat them!
FEBRUARY 12TH.--Congress has not yet restricted the class of exempts,
and the work of conscription drags heavily along. All under forty-five
must be called, else the maximum of the four hundred regiments cannot be
kept up. It reminds me of Jack Falstaff's mode of exemption. The
numerous employees of the Southern Express Co. have been let off, after
transporting hither, for the use of certain functionaries, sugars, etc.
from Alabama. And so in the various States, enrolling and other officers
are letting thousands of conscripts slip through their hands.
FEBRUARY 13TH.--There is a rumor in the papers that something like a
revolution is occurring, or has occurred, in the West; and it is stated
that the Federal troops demand the recall of the Emancipation
Proclamation. They also object to serving with negro troops.
But we ought to look for news of terrific fighting at Savannah or
Charleston. No doubt all the troops in the field (Federal) or on the
water will be hurled against us before long, so as to effect as much
injury as possible before defection can spread extensively, and before
the expiration of the enlistments of some 200,000 men in May.
And what are we doing? But little. The acceptance of substitutes who
desert, and the exemption of thousands who should be fighting for the
country, employ hundreds of pens daily in this city. Alas, that so many
dishonest men have obtained easy places! The President has been grossly
imposed upon.
FEBRUARY 14TH.--A beautiful day. Yet Gen. Lee is giving furloughs, two
to each company. If the weather should be dry, perhaps Hooker will
advance: a thing desired by our people, being confident of his
destruction.
The papers issued extras to-day with news from the Northwest, based upon
the account of a "reliable gentleman," who has just run the blockade. He
says Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois have resolved to meet in
convention, at Frankfort, Ky., for the purpose of _seceding from the
United States, and setting up a confederacy for themselves, or joining
the Southern Confederacy_. I fear the "reliable gentleman" is not to be
relied upon. Yet it would be well for the Western States, a just
retribution to New England, _and a very great relief to us_.
Gen. Lee is urging the department to have the meat at Atlanta brought to
his army without delay. It is _here_ the army will be wanted.
I saw pigs to-day, not six weeks old, selling in market at $10 a piece.
I met Col. Bledsoe to-day, on a visit to the city, who told me Fenelon
never tasted meat, and lived to be ninety years old. I am no Fenelon,
but I shall probably have to adopt his regimen. I would barter, however,
some of his years for a good supply of food. We must have peace soon, or
a famine.
FEBRUARY 15TH.--Already, as if quite certain that the great Northwest
would speedily withdraw from the Eastern United States, our people are
discussing the eventualities of such a momentous occurrence. The most
vehement opposition to the admission of any of the non-slaveholding
States, whose people have invaded our country and shed the blood of our
people, into this Confederacy, is quite manifest in this city. But
Virginia, "the Old Mother," would, I think, after due hesitation, take
back her erring children, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and perhaps one or
two more, if they earnestly desired to return to her parental
protection.
Some of the Cotton States might revolt at such a project, and even the
cabinet might oppose the scheme of adding several powerful free States
to the Confederacy; but it would not all suffice to prevent it, if they
desire to join us. It is true, the constitution would have to be
modified, for it is not to be supposed that slaves would be held in any
of the States referred to; but then slavery would be recognized by its
proper term, and ample guarantees would be agreed upon by the great free
States which abandon the United States on the issue of emancipation.
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, added to the thirteen Confederate States,
would speedily constitute us a people of sufficient military power to
defy the menaces of the arms of the greatest powers of the earth; and
the commercial and agricultural prosperity of the country would amaze
the world.
I am of the opinion that Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, North
Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri would form a league of union
with Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana, even if the rest of the Southern
States were to reject the alliance. But who can foresee the future
through the smoke of war, and amid the clash of bayonets? Nevertheless,
division and subdivision, would _relieve all of the burden of debt, for
they would repudiate the greater part, if not the whole, of the
indebtedness of both the present governments, which has been incurred
in ravaging the country and cutting each other's throats_. The cry will
be: "We will not pay the price of blood--for the slaughter of our
brothers!"
FEBRUARY 16TH.--Another gun-boat has got past Vicksburg. But three
British steamers have run into Charleston with valuable cargoes.
Gen. Lee is now sending troops to Charleston, and this strengthens the
report that Hooker's army is leaving the Rappahannock. They are probably
crumbling to pieces, under the influence of the peace party growing up
in the North. Some of them, however, it is said, are sent to Fortress
Monroe.
Our Bureau of Conscription ought to be called the Bureau of Exemption.
It is turning out a vast number of exempts. The Southern Express Company
bring sugar, partridges, turkeys, etc. to the potential functionaries,
and their employees are exempted during the time they may remain in the
employment of the company. It is too bad!
I have just been reperusing Frederick's great campaigns, and find much
encouragement. Prussia was not so strong as the Confederate States, and
yet was environed and assailed by France, Austria, Russia, and several
smaller powers simultaneously. And yet Frederick maintained the contest
for seven years, and finally triumphed over his enemies. The
preponderance of numbers against him in the field was greater than that
of the United States against us; and Lee is as able a general as
Frederick. Hence we should never despair.
FEBRUARY 17TH.--Gen. Lee is _not_ sending troops to Charleston. He is
sending them _here_ for the defense of Richmond, which is now supposed
to be the point of attack, by land and by water, and on both sides of
the James River. Well, they have striven to capture this city from every
point of the compass but one--the south side. Perhaps they will make an
attempt from that direction; and I must confess that I have always
apprehended the most danger from that quarter. But we shall beat them,
come whence they may!
FEBRUARY 18TH.--Mr. H----s, another of Gen. Winder's detectives, has
gone over to the enemy. He went on a privateering cruise from
Wilmington; the vessel he sailed in captured a brig, and H----s was put
in command of the prize, to sail into a Confederate port. Instead of
this, however, H----s sailed away for one of the West India islands, and
gave up his prize to Com. Wilkes, of the United States Navy.
One or two of the regiments of Gen. Lee's army were in the city last
night. The men were pale and haggard. They have but a quarter of a pound
of meat per day. But meat has been ordered from Atlanta. I hope it is
abundant there.
All the necessaries of life in the city are still going up higher in
price. Butter, $3 per pound; beef, $1; bacon, $1.25; sausage-meat, $1;
and even liver is selling at 50 cents per pound.
By degrees, quite perceptible, we are approaching the condition of
famine. What effect this will produce on the community is to be seen.
The army must be fed or disbanded, or else the city must be abandoned.
How we, "the people," are to live is a thought of serious concern.
Gen. Lee has recommended that an appeal be made to the people to bring
food to the army, to feed their sons and brothers; but the
Commissary-General opposes it; probably it will not be done. No doubt
the army could be half fed in this way for months. But the "red tape"
men are inflexible and inscrutable. Nevertheless, the commissaries and
quartermasters are getting rich.
FEBRUARY 19TH.--The resignation of Gen. Gustavus W. Smith has been
accepted by the President. It was well done--the acceptance, I mean. Who
will Gen. Winder report to now? Gen. Winder has learned that I am
keeping a diary, and that some space in it may be devoted to the history
of martial law. He said to Capt. Warner, his commissary of prisons, that
he would patronize it. The captain asked me if Gen. Winder's rule was
not dwelt upon in it. I said doubtless it was; but that I had not yet
revised it, and was never in the habit of perusing my own works until
they were completed. Then I carefully corrected them for the press.
Major-Gen. Pickett's division marched through the city to-day for
Drewry's Bluff. Gen. Lee writes that this division can beat the army
corps of Hooker, supposed to be sent to the Peninsula. It has 12,000
men--an army corps 40,000. Brig.-Gen. Hood's division is near the city,
on the Chickahominy. Gen. Lee warns the government to see that Gens.
French and Pryor be vigilant, and to have their scouts closely watching
the enemy at Suffolk. He thinks, however, the main object of the enemy
is to take Charleston; and he suggests that every available man be sent
thither. The rest of his army he will keep on the Rappahannock, to watch
the enemy still remaining north of that river.
I sent a communication to the President to-day, proposing to reopen my
register of "patriotic contributions" to the army, for they are
suffering for meat. I doubt whether he will agree to it. If the war be
prolonged, the appeal must be to the people to feed the army, or else it
will dissolve.
FEBRUARY 20TH.--We have exciting news from the West. The iron-shod
gun-boat, Queen of the West, which run past Pemberton's batteries some
time since, captured, it appears, one of our steamers in Red River, and
then compelled our pilot to steer the Queen of the West farther up the
river. The heroic pilot ran the boat under our masked batteries, and
then succeeded in escaping by swimming. The Queen of the West was forced
to surrender. This adventure has an exhilarating effect upon our
spirits.
Hon. James Lyons sent to the President to-day a petition, signed by a
majority of the members of Congress, to have me appointed major in the
conscription service.
FEBRUARY 21ST.--Major-Gen. Hood's division passed through the city
to-day, and crossed over the river. I hope an attack will be made at
Suffolk. It is too menacing a position to allow the invader to occupy it
longer.
No attack on Charleston yet, and there is a rumor that the command of
the expedition is disputed by Foster and Hunter. If it hangs fire, it
will be sure to miss the mark.
FEBRUARY 22D.--This is the anniversary of the birth of Washington, and
of the inauguration of President Davis, upon the installation of the
permanent government of the Confederate States. It is the ugliest day I
ever saw. Snow fell all night, and was falling fast all day, with a
northwest wind howling furiously. The snow is now nearly a foot deep,
and the weather very cold.
My communication to the President, proposing an appeal to the people to
furnish the army with meat and clothing (voluntary contributions), was
transmitted to the Secretary of War yesterday, without remark, other
than the simple reference. The plan will not be adopted, in all
probability, for the Secretary will consult the Commissary and
Quartermaster-General, and they will oppose any interference with the
business of their departments. Red tape will win the day, even if our
cause be lost. Our soldiers must be fed and clothed according to the
"rules and regulations," or suffer and perish for the want of food and
clothing!
I have some curiosity to learn what the President has indorsed, or may
indorse, on the paper sent him by Mr. Lyons, signed by half the members
of Congress. Will he simply refer it to the Secretary? Then what will
the Secretary do? My friends in Congress will likewise be curious to
learn the result.
FEBRUARY 23D.--I saw a letter from Gen. Lee to-day, suggesting to the
government on appeal to the Governors of the States to aid more directly
in recruiting the armies. He says the people habitually expect too much
from the troops now in the field; that because we have gained many
victories, it does not follow that we shall always gain them; that the
legitimate fruits of victory have hitherto been lost, for the want of
numbers on our side; and, finally, that all those who fail to go to the
field at such a momentous period as this, are guilty of the blood of the
brave soldiers who perish in the effort to achieve independence.
This would be contrary to the "rules and regulations" as understood by
the Adjutant and Inspector-General (a Northern man), and no doubt the
Secretary of War and the President will reject the plan.
The petition of forty members of Congress in my behalf came from Mr.
Seddon, the Secretary, to our bureau to-day. He asks the superintendent
if there is a necessity for such an officer, one whose rank is equal to
that of a commandant of a camp of instruction. He says important
services only should require the appointment of such an officer. Well,
Gen. Rains recommended it. I know not whether he can say more. I shall
not get it, for Congress has but little influence, just now.
FEBRUARY 24TH.--Gen. Longstreet is now in command of Gen. Smith's late
department, besides his own corps. Richmond is safe.
Our papers contain a most astonishing speech purporting to have been
delivered by Mr. Conway, in the United States Congress. Mr. C. is from
Kansas, that hot-bed of Abolitionism. He is an avowed Abolitionist; and
yet he advocates an immediate suspension of hostilities, or at least
that the Federal armies and fleets be ordered to act on the defensive;
that the independence of the Confederate States be recognized, upon the
basis of a similar tariff; free-trade between the North and South; free
navigation of the Mississippi, and co-operation in the maintenance of
the Monroe doctrine. I like the indications apparent in this speech. Let
us have a suspension of hostilities, and then we can have leisure to
think of the rest. No doubt the peace party is growing rapidly in the
United States; and it may be possible that the Republicans mean to beat
the Democrats in the race, by going beyond them on the Southern
question. The Democrats are for peace and Union; the Republicans may
resolve to advocate not only peace, _but secession_.
FEBRUARY 25TH.--On the 18th inst. the enemy's battery on the opposite
side of the Mississippi River opened on Vicksburg. The damage was not
great; but the front of the town is considered untenable.
The Conscription bill has passed the United States Senate, which will
empower the President to call for 3,000,000 men. "Will they come, when
he does call for them?" That is to be seen. It may be aimed at France;
and a war with the Emperor might rouse the Northern people again. Some
of them, however, have had enough of war.
To-day I heard of my paper addressed to the President on the subject of
an appeal to the people to send food to the army. He referred it to the
Commissary-General, Col. Northrop, who sent it to the War Department,
with an indorsement that as he had no acquaintance with that means of
maintaining an army (the patriotic contributions of the people), he
could not recommend the adoption of the plan. Red tape is mightier than
patriotism still. There may be a change, however, for Gen. Lee approves
the plan.
FEBRUARY 26TH.--We have good news from Vicksburg to-day. The Queen of
the West, lately captured by us, and another gun-boat, attacked the
Indianola, the iron-clad Federal gun-boat which got past our batteries
the other day, and, after an engagement, sunk her. We captured all the
officers and men.
FEBRUARY 27TH.--No news from any quarter to-day.
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston is discontented with his command in the West.
The armies are too far asunder for co-operative action; and, when
separated, too weak for decisive operations. There is no field there for
him, and he desires to be relieved, and assigned to some other command.
I was surprised to receive, to-day, the following very official letter
from the Secretary of War:
"RICHMOND, VA., Feb. 27th, 1863.
"J. B. JONES, ESQ.
"SIR:--The President has referred your letter of the 19th inst. to
this department.
"In reply, you are respectfully informed that it is not deemed
judicious, unless in the last extremity, to resort to the means of
supply suggested. The patriotic motives that dictated the
suggestion are, however, appreciated and acknowledged.
"Your obedient servant,
"JAMES A. SEDDON,
"_Secretary of War_."
CHAPTER XXIV.
Removed into Clay Street.--Gen. Toombs resigned.--Lincoln dictator.--He
can call 3,000,000 of men.--President is sick.--His office is not a
bed of roses.--Col. Gorgas sends in his oath of allegiance.--
Confederate gold $5 for $1.--Explosion of a laboratory.--Bad weather
everywhere.--Fighting on the Mississippi River.--Conflict of views in
the Conscription Bureau.--Confederate States currency $10 for $1.--
Snow a foot deep, but melting.--We have no negro regiments in our
service.--Only 6000 conscripts from East Tennessee.--How seven were
paroled by one.--This is to be the crisis campaign.--Lee announces
the campaign open.
MARCH 1ST.--To-morrow we remove to new quarters. The lady's husband,
owning cottage, and who was confined for seven months among lunatics,
has returned, and there is not room for two families. Besides, Mrs. G.
thinks she can do better taking boarders, than by letting the house.
What a mistake! Beef sold yesterday for $1.25 per pound; turkeys, $15.
Corn-meal $6 per bushel, and all other articles at the same rates. No
salaries can board families now; and soon the expense of boarding will
exceed the incomes of unmarried men. Owners and tenants, unless engaged
in lucrative business, must soon vacate their houses and leave the city.
But we have found a house occupied by three widows in Clay Street. They
have no children. They mean to board soon among their relatives or
friends, and then we get the house; in the mean time, they have fitted
up two rooms for us. We should have gone yesterday, but the weather was
too bad. The terms will not exceed the rent we are now paying, and the
house is larger. I espied several fruit trees in the back yard, and a
space beyond, large enough for a smart vegetable garden. How delighted I
shall be to cultivate it myself! Always I have visions of peas, beans,
radishes, potatoes, corn, and tomatoes of my own raising! God bless the
widows sent for our relief in this dire necessity!
Met Judge Reagan yesterday, just from the Council Board. I thought he
seemed dejected. He said if the enemy succeeded in getting command of
the Mississippi River, the Confederacy would be "cut in two;" and he
intimated his preference of giving up Richmond, if it would save Texas,
etc. for the Confederacy. Texas is his adopted State.
MARCH 2D.--The enemy burnt the steamship Nashville on Saturday near
Savannah. She was employed taking provisions to Fort McAlister. I think
it was destroyed by an incendiary shell.
There is a rumor to-day of the burning of railroad bridges between this
and Fredericksburg.
I signed an agreement to-day with Mr. Malsby to publish my new "Wild
Western Scenes." He is to print 10,000 copies, which are to retail at
$2; on this he pays me 12-1/2 per cent. or 25 cents for every copy sold;
$2500 if the whole are sold. He will not be able to get it out before
May.
We moved into the west end of Clay Street to-day, and like the change.
There are no children here except our own. The house is a brick one, and
more comfortable than the frame shell we abandoned.
MARCH 3D.--We like our new quarters--and the three Samaritan widows,
without children. They lend us many articles indispensable for our
comfort. It is probable they will leave us soon in the sole occupancy
of the house. There is ground enough for a good many vegetables--and
meat is likely to be scarce enough. Bacon is now $1.37-1/2 cts. per
pound, and flour $30 per barrel. The shadow of the gaunt form of famine
is upon us! But the pestilence of small-pox is abating.
We have now fine March weather; but the floods of late have damaged the
railroad bridges between this and Fredericksburg. The Secretary of War
requested the editors, yesterday, to say nothing of this. We have no
news from the West or from the Southeast--but we shall soon have enough.
The United States Congress has passed the Conscription Act. We shall see
the effect of it in the North; I predict civil war there; and that will
be our "aid and comfort."
Gen. Toombs has resigned; and it is said Pryor has been made a
major-general. Thus we go up and down. The President has issued a
proclamation for prayer, fasting, etc., on the twenty-seventh of this
month. There will certainly be fasting--and prayer also. And God _has_
helped us, or we should have been destroyed ere this.
MARCH 4TH.--The enemy bombarded Fort McAlister again yesterday, several
gun-boats opening fire on it. It lasted all day; during which one of the
iron-clads retired, perhaps injured. We had only two men wounded and one
gun (8 in. columbiad) dismounted. The fort was but little injured.
Recent Northern papers assert that their gun-boats have all passed
through the canal opposite Vicksburg. This is not true--yet.
Lincoln is now Dictator, his Congress having given him power to call out
all the male population between the ages of twenty and thirty-five
years, and authority to declare martial law whenever he pleases. The
_Herald_ shouts for Lincoln--of course. We must fight and pray, and hope
for revolution and civil war in the North, which may occur any day.
Our cavalry, under Gen. Jones, has done some brilliant skirmishing
recently in the vicinity of Winchester; and as soon as the March winds
dry the earth a little, I suppose Hooker will recommence the "On to
Richmond." We shall be weaker the next campaign, but our men are brave.
MARCH 5TH.--Yesterday the government seized the flour in the mills and
warehouses; and now the price has risen from $30 to $40 per barrel. I
wrote to the Commissary, in view of the dissatisfaction of the people,
and to prevent disturbances, advising him to seize the 5000 barrels in
the hands of the small speculators, and to allow so many pounds per
month to each inhabitant, at the rate paid by government. This would be
beneficent and popular, confining the grumblers to the extortioners. But
he will not do it, as the Constitution only provides for impressments
for the public use.
Our dinner to-day (for seven, for the servant has an equal share)
consisted of twelve eggs, $1.25; a little corn bread, some rice and
potatoes. How long shall we have even this variety and amount? Bad beef
in market, this morning, sold at $1.25 per pound.
After bombarding Fort McAlister on the 3d inst. and all night, the
enemy's fire ceased. The fort was not much injured, says the dispatch.
There is a rumor to-day that the fort has been reduced--but no one
believes it.
Gen. Van Dorn has had a fight in Tennessee, killing and wounding 1000
and capturing 2600 prisoners. Our loss is said to have been heavy.
Gen. Lee writes that now, since Lincoln may call out 3,000,000 men, and
has $900,000,000 voted him, we must put out all our strength, if we
expect to keep the field. We shall certainly have an exciting time. But
there may be use for some of the Federal troops in the North! If not, I
apprehend that Richmond must withstand another siege and assault. It is
said they have dropped the "Constitution and the Union" in the United
States, and raised the cry of the "NATION" and the "FLAG." This alarms
me. If they get up a new sensation, they will raise new armies.
Gold is selling at a premium of $4.25 in Confederate notes.
We bought a barrel of flour to-day (that is, my wife paid for one not
yet delivered), from a dealer who was not an extortioner, for the
moderate sum of $28.00. This, with what we have on hand, ought to
suffice until the growing wheat matures.
For _tea_ we had meal coffee, and corn cakes without butter. But we had
a _half-pint_ of molasses (for seven) which cost 75 cts. The gaunt
specter is approaching nearer every day!
Every morning there is a large crowd of Irish and Germans besieging Gen.
Winder's office for passports to go North. Is it famine they dread, or
a desire to keep out of the war? Will they not be conscripted in the
North? They say they can get consular protection there.
MARCH 6TH.--I have meditated on this day, as the anniversary of my
birth, and the shortening lapse of time between me and eternity. I am
now fifty-three years of age. Hitherto I have dismissed from my mind, if
not with actual indifference, yet with far more unconcern than at
present, the recurring birthdays which plunged me farther in the vale of
years. But now I cannot conceal from myself, if so disposed, that I am
getting to be an old man. My hair is gray--but nevertheless my form is
still erect, and my step is brisk enough. My fancies, tastes, and
enjoyments have not changed perceptibly; and I can and often do write
without glasses. I desire to live after this war is over, if it be the
will of God--if not, I hope to exist in a better world.
We have no news of interest to-day. A letter says the non-combatants,
even the women and children, heedless of danger, were voluntary
spectators of the bombardment of Vicksburg the other day. The shells
often exploded near them, and behind them, but the fascination was so
great that they remained on the ground; even one had an arm carried away
by a ball! Can such a people be subjugated?
Houses (furnished) are beginning to be offered more plentifully than
ever before; their occupants and owners finding their ordinary incomes
insufficient for subsistence. I suppose they mean to find in the country
an escape from famine prices prevailing in the city.
There is a rumor this evening of the fall of Vicksburg; but that rumor
has been whispered here several times during the last few months. No one
believes it. When Vicksburg falls, many an invader will perish in its
ruins.
MARCH 7TH.--The President is sick, and has not been in the Executive
Office for three days. Gen. Toombs, resigned, has published a farewell
address to his brigade. He does not specify of what his grievance
consists; but he says he cannot longer hold his commission with honor.
The President must be aware of his perilous condition. When in
adversity, some of those he has trusted, discuss the bases of
reconstruction; and when we are prosperous, others, in similar
positions, agitate the question of reorganization--the motive of both
being his ruin. But I suppose he has calculated these contingencies, and
never anticipated paving a bed of roses to recline upon during the
terrible, and sometimes doubtful struggle for independence.
The rumor that Vicksburg had fallen is not confirmed; on the contrary,
the story that the Indianola, captured from the enemy, and reported to
have been blown up, was unfounded. We have Gen. Pemberton's official
assurance of this.
Col. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, a Pennsylvanian, sent into the
department to-day, with a request that it be filed, his oath of
allegiance to this government, and renunciation of that of the United
States, and of his native State. This would indicate that the location
of his nativity has been the subject of remark. What significance is to
be attributed to this step at this late day, I know not, and care not.
An error was committed in placing Northern men in high positions to the
exclusion of Southern men, quite as capable of filling them.
MARCH 8TH.--Judge Meredith's opinion, that foreigners, Marylanders, and
others, who have served in the army, have become domiciled, and are
liable to conscription, has produced a prodigious commotion. Gen.
Winder's door is beset with crowds of eager seekers of passports to
leave the Confederacy; and as these people are converting their
Confederate money into gold, the premium on specie has advanced.
Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War, has decided that Judge
Meredith's opinion is not authority; and hence his son-in-law,
Lieut.-Col. Lay, who at present wields the Conscription Bureau, acts
accordingly. But Gen. Rains has a contrary opinion; and he intended to
see the President yesterday, who is understood to coincide with Judge
Meredith. It is also alleged that Secretary Seddon concurs in this
opinion; and if this be the case, an explosion is imminent--for Judge
Campbell must have given instructions "by order of the Secretary,"
without the Secretary's knowledge or consent.
I advised the general to see the President and Secretary once a week,
and not rely upon verbal instructions received through a subordinate; he
said the advice was good, and he should follow it. But he is much
absorbed in his subterrene batteries.
MARCH 9TH.--We have no news to-day. But the next act of this terrible
drama is near at hand. The Northern papers have reports of the fall of
Vicksburg and Charleston. Unfounded. They also say 22,000 men have
deserted from the Army of the Potomac. This is probably true.
There is much denunciation of the recent seizure of flour; but this is
counteracted by an appalling intimation in one of the papers that unless
the army be subsisted, it will be withdrawn from the State, and Virginia
must fall into the hands of the enemy. The loss of Virginia might be the
loss of the Confederacy.
MARCH 10TH.--No war news of importance.
Just at this time there is a large number of persons passing to and from
the North. They are ostensibly blockade-runners, and they do succeed in
bringing from the enemy's country a large amount of goods, on which an
enormous profit is realized. The Assistant Secretary of War, his
son-in-law, Lt.-Col. Lay, the controlling man in the Bureau of
Conscription, and, indeed, many heads of bureaus, have received
commodities from Maryland, from friends running the blockade. Gen.
Winder himself, and his Provost Marshal Griswold (how much that looks
like a Yankee name!), and their police detectives, have reaped benefit
from the same source. But this intercourse with the enemy is fraught
with other matters. Communications are made by the disloyal to the
enemy, and our condition--bad enough, heaven knows!--is made known, and
hence the renewed efforts to subjugate us. This illicit intercourse,
inaugurated under the auspices of Mr. Benjamin, and continued by
subsequent Ministers of War, may be our ruin, if we are destined to
destruction. Already it has unquestionably cost us thousands of lives
and millions of dollars. I feel it a duty to make this record.
To-day we have a violent snow-storm--a providential armistice.
It has been ascertained that Hooker's army is still near the
Rappahannock, only some 20,000 or 30,000 having been sent to the
Peninsula and to Suffolk. No doubt he will advance as soon as the roads
become practicable. If Hooker has 150,000 men, and advances soon, Gen.
Lee cannot oppose his march; and in all probability we shall again hear
the din of war, from this city, in April and May. The fortifications are
strong, however, and 25,000 men may defend the city against
100,000--provided we have subsistence. The great fear is famine. But
hungry men will fight desperately. Let the besiegers beware of them!
We hope to have nearly 400,000 men in the field in May, and I doubt
whether the enemy will have over 500,000 veterans at the end of that
month. Their new men will not be in fighting condition before July. We
may cross the Potomac again.
MARCH 11TH.--Gen. Fitzhugh Lee has made a dash into Fairfax (near
Washington) a day or two ago, and captured the Federal Gen. Slaughter
and other officers, in their beds.
Last night one of the government warehouses in this city was burnt. It
is supposed to have been the work of an incendiary traitor; perhaps in
retaliation for the recent impressment of flour. Yesterday the lower
house of Congress passed a resolution restricting impressments. This has
a bad aspect.
The Bureau of Conscription, to-day, under the direction of Col. Lay,
decided that all clerks in the departments, appointed subsequent to the
eleventh of October last, are liable to be enrolled for service. Yet the
colonel himself has a clerk appointed in January last.
Gold sells at $5 in Confederate States notes for one; U. S. Treasury
notes are at a premium here of $2.50. Even the notes of our State banks
are at 60 per cent. premium over Confederate notes. This is bad for Mr.
Memminger. An abler financier would have worked out a different result.
All the patriotism is in the army; out of it the demon avarice rages
supreme. Every one seems mad with speculation; and the extortioners prey
upon every victim that falls within their power. Nearly all who sell are
extortioners. We have at the same time, and in the same community,
spectacles of the most exalted virtue and of the most degrading vice.
Col. Mattel, the former commandant of conscripts for North Carolina, who
was wounded at Kinston, and yet was superseded by Col. Lay's friend,
Col. August, is now to be restored, and Col. A. relieved. Upon this Col.
L. has fallen sick.
Mr. Duffield, whom Col. Lay and Mr. Jacques had appointed A. A. G. over
me, has not yet, for some cause, got his commission. The Secretary or
some one else may have "intervened."
MARCH 12TH.--To-day we have no army news.
Mr. Richard Smith issued the first number of _The Sentinel_ yesterday
morning. Thus we have five daily morning papers, all on half sheets.
_The Sentinel_ has a biography of the President, and may aspire to be
the "organ."
John Mitchel, the Irishman, who was sentenced to a penal colony for
disturbances in Ireland, some years ago, is now the leading editor of
the _Enquirer_. He came hither from the North recently. His
"compatriot," Meagher, once lived in the South and advocated our
"institutions." He now commands a Federal brigade. What Mitchel will do
finally, who knows? My friend R. Tyler, probably, had something to do
with bringing him here. As a politician, however, he must know there is
no Irish element in the Confederate States. I am sorry this Irish editor
has been imported.
The resignation of Gen. Toombs is making some sensation in certain
circles. He was among the foremost leaders of the rebellion. He was
Secretary of State, and voluntarily resigned to enter the army. I know
not precisely what his grievance is, unless it be the failure of the
President to promote him to a higher position, which he may have deemed
himself entitled to, from his genius, antecedents, wealth, etc. But it
is probable he will cause some disturbance. Duff Green, who is
everywhere in stormy times, told me to-day that Gen. Toombs would be
elected Governor of Georgia this fall, and said there were intimations
that Georgia might make peace with the United States! This would be
death to the government--and destruction to Toombs. It must be a
mistake. He cannot have any such design. If he had, it would be defeated
by the people of Georgia, though they sighed for peace. Peace is what
all most desire--but not without independence. Some there are, in all
the States, who would go back into the Union, for the sake of repose and
security. But a majority would not have peace on such terms.
Still, it behooves the President to be on his guard. He has enemies in
the South, who hate him much.
MARCH 13TH.--To-day a great calamity occurred in this city. In a large
room of one of the government laboratories an explosion took place,
killing instantly five or six persons, and wounding, it is feared
fatally, some thirty others. Most of them were little indigent girls!
MARCH 14TH.--Gen. Pemberton writes that he has 3000 hogs-heads of sugar
at Vicksburg, which he retains for his soldiers to subsist on when the
meat fails. Meat is scarce there as well as here. Bacon now sells for
$1.50 per pound in Richmond. Butter $3. I design to cultivate a little
garden 20 by 50 feet; but fear I cannot get seeds. I have sought in vain
for peas, beans, corn, and tomatoes seeds. Potatoes are $12 per bushel.
Ordinary chickens are worth $3 a piece. My youngest daughter put her
earrings on sale to-day--price $25; and I think they will bring it, for
which she can purchase a pair of shoes. The area of subsistence is
contracting around us; but my children are more enthusiastic for
independence than ever. Daily I hear them say they would gladly embrace
death rather than the rule of the Yankee. If all our people were of the
same mind, our final success would be certain.
This day the leading article in the _Examiner_ had a striking, if not an
ominous conclusion. Inveighing against the despotism of the North, the
editor takes occasion likewise to denounce the measure of impressment
here. He says if our Congress should follow the example of the Northern
Congress, and invest our President with dictatorial powers, a
reconstruction of the Union might be a practicable thing; for our people
would choose to belong to a strong despotism rather than a weak one--the
strong one being of course the United States with 20,000,000, rather
than the Confederate States with 8,000,000. There may be something in
this, but we shall be injured by it; for the crowd going North will take
it thither, where it will be reproduced, and stimulate the invader to
renewed exertions. It is a dark hour. But God disposes. If we deserve
it, we shall triumph; if not, why should we?
But we cannot fail without more great battles; and who knows what
results may be evolved by them? Gen. Lee is hopeful; and so long as we
keep the field, and he commands, the foe must bleed for every acre of
soil they gain.
MARCH 15TH.--Another cold, disagreeable day. March so far has been as
cold and terrible as a winter month.
MARCH 16TH.--Gen. Hill is moving toward Newbern, N. C., and may attack
the enemy there.
The weather continues dreadful--sleeting; and movements of armies must
perforce be stayed. But the season of slaughter is approaching.
There was an ominous scantiness of supply in the market this morning,
and the prices beyond most persons--mine among the rest.
Col. Lay got turkeys to-day from Raleigh; on Saturday partridges, by the
Express Company. Fortunate man!
MARCH 17TH.--On Saturday, the enemy's lower Mississippi fleet attacked
our batteries at Port Hudson. The result reported is that only one of
their gun-boats got past, and that in a damaged condition. The frigate
Mississippi, one of the best war steamers of the United States, was
burned, and the rest retired down the river, badly repulsed. We
sustained no loss.
To-day, the Secretary of War sent in a paper indorsing Judge Meredith's
opinion in regard to foreigners who have accepted service in our
country, viz., that they are liable to conscription. This is in the
teeth of the decision of the Assistant Secretary, Judge Campbell, Col.
Lay's father-in-law, and upon which the bureau has been acting, although
Gen. Rains, the Superintendent, permitted it with reluctance, upon the
assurance of Col. L. that such was the will of the department. This
business may produce an explosion.
I walked with Gen. Rains this afternoon in Capitol Square. He is annoyed
at the action of Col. Lay in following the instructions of the Assistant
Secretary of War in regard to foreigners. The decision had not the
sanction of the Secretary of War, Mr. Seddon. He thinks _several
thousand_ men may have been permitted to escape military service by it.
He intended to lay Judge Campbell's decision before the President, but
it disappeared very mysteriously from his desk. And to-day it reappeared
just as mysteriously. And, simultaneously, and quite as mysteriously, a
paper appeared, signed by Mr. Seddon, Secretary of War, suggesting that
the bureau act in conformity with Judge Meredith's opinion, directly in
the teeth of Mr. Assistant Secretary Campbell's decision! And it was
dated March 13th, full four days before. What delayed it, and who
brought it, no one seemed to know. Col. Lay suggested that it be sent
back, with an indorsement that the bureau had been already acting under
the decision of Judge Campbell (just the reverse of the opinion),
Assistant Secretary of War, "by order of the Secretary of War."
To this Gen. R. demurred, and said the bureau would conform its action
to Mr. Seddon's suggestions; and he charged a clerk to preserve _that_
paper. Col. L. grumbled awfully at Mr. Seddon's off-hand decision,
without mature reflection.
Gen. Stewart (of Maryland) was at the office a short time before, and
advocated Mr. Seddon's views; for he knew how many Marylanders would be
embraced in the decision, as well as other foreigners.
Lieut.-Col. A. C. Jones, Assistant Adjutant-General, had, in the name of
the bureau, notified Gen. Winder, this morning, that Marylanders, etc.
were not liable to bear arms for the South after being in the service
two years!
The general says he will have all the commandants of conscripts written
to immediately; and that he will have an interview with the Secretary of
War in relation to the matter.
Every man we can put in the field is demanded; and many fear we shall
not have a sufficient number to oppose the overwhelming tide soon to be
surging over the land. At such a crisis, and in consideration of all the
circumstances attending this matter, involving the loss of so many men,
one is naturally startled at Judge Campbell's conduct.
MARCH 18TH.--I sent an extract from my Diary of yesterday to the Hon. T.
H. Watts, Minister of Justice. I know not whether he will appreciate its
importance; but he has professed friendship for me.
The city is in some excitement to-day, for early this morning we had
intelligence of the crossing of the Rappahannock by a portion of the
Federal army. During the day the division of Hood defiled through the
streets, at a quick pace, marching back to Lee's army. But the march of
troops and the rumbling of artillery have ceased to be novel spectacles
to our community. Some aged ladies ran out as they passed, calling the
bronzed Texans their "children," and distributed loaves of bread and
other food among them. I never saw a merrier set than these brave
soldiers, who have been through the "fire and the flood" numberless
times. Some of them had three or four loaves on their bayonets.
Gen. Lee himself left early this morning, on an extra train, having been
"caught napping" here, the first time. The enemy crossed the river
yesterday.
But during the day a dispatch was received from Gen. J. E. B. Stuart
(cavalry), stating that he had attacked the enemy on this side of the
river, and beaten him back, forcing him to recross with loss. The
particulars of the fight were not stated; but it is believed we lost a
brigadier-general, killed.
MARCH 19TH.--Snowing. It is estimated that we lost 250 men, killed,
wounded, and taken, in the fight on the Rappahannock; the enemy's loss
is not known, but certainly was heavy, since they were defeated, and
fled back, hotly pursued.
Confederate money still depreciates, in spite of the funding act. Some
of the brokers are demanding ten dollars Confederate notes for one in
gold! That is bad, and it may be worse.
The enemy are advancing from Corinth, and there are not sufficient
troops to resist them. Gen. Johnston says if men are taken from Bragg,
his army may be destroyed; and none can be ordered from Mobile, where
there are only 2500 for land defense.
MARCH 20TH.--The snow is eight inches deep this morning, and it is still
falling fast.
Not a beggar is yet to be seen in this city of 100,000 inhabitants!
Hood's division, mostly Texans, whose march to the Rappahannock was
countermanded when it was ascertained that the enemy had been beaten
back across the river, were all the morning defiling through Main
Street, in high spirits, and merrily snowballing each other. And these
men slept last night out in the snow without tents! Can such soldiers be
vanquished?
Yesterday Floyd's division of State troops were turned over to the
Confederacy--only about 200!
We have no further particulars of the fight on the Rappahannock; we
know, however, that the enemy were beaten, and that this snow-storm must
prevent further operations for many days. Several Eastern Shore
families, I learn, are about to return to their homes. This is no place
for women and children, who have homes elsewhere. We are all on
quarter-rations of meat, and but few can afford to buy clothing at the
present prices.
MARCH 21ST.--The snow is nearly a foot deep this morning, as it
continued to fall all night, and is falling still. It grows warmer,
however.
But we now learn that the Indianola _was_ destroyed in the Mississippi
by the officers, upon the appearance of a simulated gun-boat sent down,
without a crew! This was disgraceful, and some one should answer for it.
Col. Godwin writes from King and Queen County, that many of the people
there are deserting to the enemy, leaving their stock, provisions,
grain, etc., and he asks permission to seize their abandoned property
for the use of the government. Mr. Secretary Seddon demands more
specific information before that step be taken. He intimates that they
may have withdrawn to avoid conscription.
MARCH 22D.--It was thawing all night, and there is a heavy fog this
morning. The snow will disappear in a few days.
A very large number of slaves, said to be nearly 40,000, have been
collected by the enemy on the Peninsula and at adjacent points, for the
purpose, it is supposed, of co-operating with Hooker's army in the next
attempt to capture Richmond.
The snow has laid an embargo on the usual slight supplies brought to
market, and all who had made no provision for such a contingency are
subsisting on very short-commons. Corn-meal is selling at from $6 to $8
per bushel. Chickens $5 each. Turkeys $20. Turnip greens $8 per bushel.
Bad bacon $1.50 per pound. Bread 20 cts. per loaf. Flour $38 per
barrel,--and other things in proportion. There are some pale faces seen
in the streets from deficiency of food; but no beggars, no complaints.
We are all in rags, especially our underclothes. This for liberty!
The Northern journals say we have negro regiments on the Rappahannock
and in the West. This is utterly untrue. We have no armed slaves to
fight for us, nor do we fear a servile insurrection. We are at no loss,
however, to interpret the meaning of such demoniac misrepresentations.
It is to be seen of what value the negro regiments employed against us
will be to the invader.
MARCH 23D.--The snow has nearly disappeared, and the roads are very bad.
No food is brought to the market, and such as may be found in the city
is held at famine prices.
I saw a letter to-day from Bishop Lay, in Arkansas. He says affairs in
that State wear a dark and gloomy aspect. He thinks the State is lost.
Gen. Beauregard writes the Hon. Mr. Miles that he has not men enough,
nor heavy guns enough, for the defense of Charleston. If this were
generally known, thousands would despair, being convinced that those
charged with the reins of power are incompetent, unequal to the crisis,
and destined to conduct them to destruction rather than independence.
MARCH 24TH.--Judge Lyons has granted an injunction, arresting the
impressment of flour by the Secretary of War, and Congress is debating a
bill which, if passed, will be a marked rebuke to the government.
Notwithstanding the wishes of the Secretary of War, the President, and
Gen. Rains, Lt.-Col. Lay is _still_ exempting Marylanders, and even
foreigners who have bought real estate, and resided for years in this
country, if they have "not taken the oath of domicile."
In Eastern Tennessee, 25,500 conscripts were enrolled, and yet only 6000
were added to the army. The rest were exempted, detailed, or deserted.
Such is the working of the Conscription Act, fettered as it is by the
Exemption Law, and still executed under Judge Campbell's decision. Gen.
Rains has the title, but does not execute the functions of
Superintendent of the Bureau of Conscription. The President has been
informed of everything.
MARCH 25TH.--We have no news to-day, excepting the falling back of
Rosecrans from Murfreesborough, and a raid of Morgan and capture of a
train of cars. Rosecrans means, perhaps, to aid in the occupation of the
Mississippi River. It will be expensive in human life.
Although our conscription is odious, yet we are collecting a thousand
per week. The enemy say they will crush the rebellion in ninety days. In
sixty days half their men will return to their homes, and then we may
take Washington. God knows, but man does not, what will happen.
MARCH 26TH.--We have dispatches (unofficial) from the West, stating that
one of the enemy's gun-boats has been sunk in attempting to pass
Vicksburg, and another badly injured. Also that an engagement has
occurred on the Yazoo, the enemy having several gun-boats sunk, the rest
being driven back.
It snowed a little this morning, and is now clear and cold.
Mr. Seddon is vexed at the unpopularity of the recent impressments by
his order. It was an odious measure, because it did not go far enough
and take all, distributing enough among the people to crush the
extortioners.
MARCH 27TH.--This is the day appointed by the President for fasting and
prayers. Fasting in the midst of famine! May God save this people! The
day will be observed throughout the Confederacy.
The news from the West, destruction of more of the enemy's gun-boats,
seems authentic. So far we have sustained no disasters this spring, the
usual season of success of the enemy by water.
Mr. G. W. Randolph was the counsel of the speculators whose flour was
impressed, and yet this _man_, when Secretary of War, ordered similar
impressments repeatedly. "Oh, man! dressed in a little brief authority,"
etc.
Mr. Foote has brought forward a bill to prevent trading with the enemy.
Col. Lay even gets his pipes from the enemy's country. Let Mr. Foote
smoke that!
A gentleman said, to-day, if the Yankees only knew it, they might derive
all the benefits they seek by the impracticable scheme of subjugation,
without the expenditure of human life, by simply redoubling the blockade
of our ports, withdrawing their armies to the borders, and facilitating
trade between the sections. We would not attack them in their own
country, and in a month millions of their products would be pouring into
the South, and cotton, tobacco, etc. would go to the North in vast
quantities. I wonder the smart Yankee never thinks of this! Let both
sides give passports freely, and an unlimited intercourse would be
immediately established.
MARCH 28TH.--We have nothing additional or confirmatory from the West. A
letter from Gen. Beauregard states that he has but 17,000 men in South
Carolina, and 10,000 in Georgia, 27,000 in all. He asks more, as he will
be assailed, probably, by 100,000 Federals. The President refers this
important letter to the Secretary of War, simply with the indorsement,
"this is an exact statement of affairs in South Carolina and Georgia."
Col. Lay predicts that we shall be beaten in thirty days, or else we
shall then be in the way of beating the enemy. A safe prediction--but
what is his belief? This deponent saith not. There will be fearful odds
against us, and yet our men in the field fear nothing.
We are sending Napoleons up to Lee. But the weather, which has been fine
for the last two days, is wet again. If Hooker makes a premature
advance, he will be sure to "march back again."
An amusing letter was received from an officer in Tennessee to-day. He
was taken prisoner by seven Federals when straying some distance from
camp, and subsequently hearing the men express some anxiety to be at
home again with their families, gave them some brandy which he happened
to possess. He then suggested a plan by which they might return to their
homes, viz., to become his prisoners, and being paroled by him. After
consultation, they agreed to it, and released him. He then paroled them,
giving them the usual certificates to exhibit to their officer, and so,
taking another drink, they pursued their different ways. If this
disposition prevails extensively among the Western Federals, we may look
for speedy results in that quarter. Rosecrans may lose his laurels in a
most unexpected manner.
MARCH 29TH.--No news. Yet a universal expectation. What is expected is
not clearly defined. Those who are making money rapidly no doubt desire
a prolongation of the war, irrespective of political consequences. But
the people, the majority in the United States, seem to have lost their
power. And their representatives in Congress are completely subordinated
by the Executive, and rendered subservient to his will. President
Lincoln can have any measure adopted or any measure defeated, at
pleasure. Such is the irresistible power of enormous executive
patronage. He may extend the sessions or terminate them, and so, all
power, for the time being, reposes in the hands of the President.
A day of reckoning will come, for the people of the United States will
resume the powers of which the war has temporarily dispossessed them, or
else there will be disruptions, and civil war will submerge the earth in
blood. The time has not arrived, or else the right men have not arisen,
for the establishment of despotisms.
Everything depends upon the issues of the present campaign, and upon
them it may be bootless to speculate. No one may foretell the fortunes
of war--I mean where victory will ultimately perch in this frightful
struggle. We are environed and invaded by not less than 600,000 men in
arms, and we have not in the field more than 250,000 to oppose them. But
we have the advantage of occupying the interior position, always
affording superior facilities for concentration. Besides, our men
_must_ prevail in combat, or lose their property, country, freedom,
everything,--at least this is their conviction. On the other hand, the
enemy, in yielding the contest, may retire into their own country, and
possess everything they enjoyed before the war began. Hence it may be
confidently believed that in all the battles of this spring, when the
numbers are nearly equal, the Confederates will be the victors, and even
when the enemy have superior numbers, the armies of the South will fight
with Roman desperation. The conflict will be appalling and sanguinary
beyond example, provided the invader stand up to it. That much is
certain. And if our armies are overthrown, we may be no nearer peace
than before. The paper money would be valueless, and the large fortunes
accumulated by the speculators, turning to dust and ashes on their lips,
might engender a new exasperation, resulting in a regenerated patriotism
and a universal determination to achieve independence or die in the
attempt.
MARCH 30TH.--Gen. Bragg dispatches the government that Gen. Forrest has
captured 800 prisoners in Tennessee, and several thousand of our men are
making a successful raid in Kentucky.
Gen. Whiting makes urgent calls for reinforcements at Wilmington, and
cannot be supplied with many.
Gen. Lee announces to the War Department that the spring campaign is now
open, and his army may be in motion any day.
Col. Godwin (of King and Queen County) is here trying to prevail on the
Secretary of War to put a stop to the blockade-runners, Jews, and spies,
daily passing through his lines with passports from Gens. Elzey and
Winder. He says the persons engaged in this illicit traffic are all
extortioners and spies, and $50,000 worth of goods from the enemy's
country pass daily.
Col. Lay still repudiates Judge Meredith's decision in his instructions
to the Commandants of Camps of Instruction. Well, if we have a
superabundance of fighting men in the field, the foreign-born denizens
and Marylanders can remain at home and make money while the country that
protects them is harried by the invader.
The gaunt form of wretched famine still approaches with rapid strides.
Meal is now selling at $12 per bushel, and potatoes at $16. Meats have
almost disappeared from the market, and none but the opulent can afford
to pay $3.50 per pound for butter. _Greens_, however, of various kinds,
are coming in; and as the season advances, we may expect a diminution of
prices. It is strange that on the 30th of March, even in the "sunny
South," the fruit-trees are as bare of blossoms and foliage as at
mid-winter. We shall have fire until the middle of May,--six months of
winter!
I am spading up my little garden, and hope to raise a few vegetables to
eke out a miserable subsistence for my family. My daughter Ann reads
Shakspeare to me o' nights, which saves my eyes.
MARCH 31ST.--Another stride of the grim specter, and corn-meal is
selling for $17 per bushel. Coal at $20.50 per ton, and wood at $30 per
cord. And at these prices one has to wait several days to get either.
Common tallow candles are selling at $1 per pound. I see that some
furnished houses are now advertised for rent; and I hope that all the
population that can get away, and subsist elsewhere, will leave the
city.
The lower house of Congress has passed a most enormous tax bill, which I
apprehend cannot be enforced, if it becomes a law. It will close half
the shops--but that may be beneficial, as thousands have rushed into
trade and become extortioners.
I see some batteries of light artillery going toward Petersburg. This is
to be used against the enemy when he advances in that direction from
Suffolk. No doubt another attempt will be made to capture Richmond. But
Lee knows the programme, I doubt not.
CHAPTER XXV.
Symptoms of bread riots.--Lee forming depots of provisions near the
Rappahannock.--Beauregard ready to defend Charleston.--He has
rebuffed the enemy severely.--French and British advancing money on
cotton.--The Yankees can beat us in bargaining.--Gen. Lee anxious for
new supplies.--The President appeals to the people to raise food for
man and beast.--Federal and Confederate troops serenading each other
on the Rappahannock.--Cobbler's wages $3000 per annum.--Wrangling in
the Indian country.--Only 700 conscripts per month from Virginia.--
Longstreet at Suffolk.--The President's well eye said to be
failing.--A "reconnoissance!"--We are planting much grain.--Picking
up pins.--Beautiful season.--Gen. Johnston in Tennessee.--
Longstreet's successes in that State.--Lee complains that his army is
not fed.--We fear for Vicksburg now.--Enemy giving up plunder in
Mississippi.--Beauregard is busy at Charleston.--Gen. Marshall, of
Kentucky, fails to get stock and hogs.--Gen. Lee calls for
Longstreet's corps.--The enemy demonstrating on the Rappahannock.
APRIL 1ST.--It is said we have taken Washington, a village in North
Carolina. And it is represented that large supplies of meat, etc. can be
taken from thence and the adjacent counties.
Every day we look for important intelligence from Charleston, and from
the West.
Mr. Seddon, the Secretary of War, has receded from his position in
regard to resident aliens.
APRIL 2D.--This morning early a few hundred women and boys met as by
concert in the Capitol Square, saying they were hungry, and must have
food. The number continued to swell until there were more than a
thousand. But few men were among them, and these were mostly foreign
residents, with exemptions in their pockets. About nine A.M. the mob
emerged from the western gates of the square, and proceeded down Ninth
Street, passing the War Department, and crossing Main Street, increasing
in magnitude at every step, but preserving silence and (so far) good
order. Not knowing the meaning of such a procession, I asked a pale boy
where they were going. A young woman, seemingly emaciated, but yet with
a smile, answered that they were going to find something to eat. I could
not, for the life of me, refrain from expressing the hope that they
might be successful; and I remarked they were going in the right
direction to find plenty in the hands of the extortioners. I did not
follow, to see what they did; but I learned an hour after that they
marched through Cary Street, and entered diverse stores of the
speculators, which they proceeded to empty of their contents. They
impressed all the carts and drays in the street, which were speedily
laden with meal, flour, shoes, etc. I did not learn whither these were
driven; but probably they were rescued from those in charge of them.
Nevertheless, an immense amount of provisions, and other articles, were
borne by the mob, which continued to increase in numbers. An eye-witness
says he saw a boy come out of a store with a hat full of money (notes);
and I learned that when the mob turned up into Main Street, when all the
shops were by this time closed, they broke in the plate-glass windows,
demanding silks, jewelry, etc. Here they were incited to pillage
valuables, not necessary for subsistence, by the class of residents
(aliens) exempted from military duty by Judge Campbell, Assistant
Secretary of War, in contravention of Judge Meredith's decision. Thus
the work of spoliation went on, until the military appeared upon the
scene, summoned by Gov. Letcher, whose term of service is near its
close. He had the Riot Act read (by the mayor), and then threatened to
fire on the mob. He gave them five minutes' time to disperse in,
threatening to use military force (the city battalion being present) if
they did not comply with the demand. The timid women fell back, and a
pause was put to the devastation, though but few believed he would
venture to put his threat in execution. If he had done so, he would have
been hung, no doubt.
About this time the President appeared, and ascending a dray, spoke to
the people. He urged them to return to their homes, so that the bayonets
there menacing them might be sent against the common enemy. He told them
that such acts would bring _famine_ upon them in the only form which
could not be provided against, as it would deter people from bringing
food to the city. He said he was willing to share his last loaf with the
suffering people (his best horse had been stolen the night before), and
he trusted we would all bear our privations with fortitude, and continue
united against the Northern invaders, who were the authors of all our
sufferings. He seemed deeply moved; and indeed it was a frightful
spectacle, and perhaps an ominous one, if the government does not remove
some of the quartermasters who have contributed very much to bring about
the evil of scarcity. I mean those who have allowed transportation to
forestallers and extortioners.
Gen. Elzey and Gen. Winder waited upon the Secretary of War in the
morning, asking permission to call the troops from the camps near the
city, to suppress the women and children by a summary process. But Mr.
Seddon hesitated, and then declined authorizing any such absurdity. He
said it was a municipal or State duty, and therefore he would not take
the responsibility of interfering in the matter. Even in the moment of
aspen consternation, he was still the politician.
I have not heard of any injuries sustained by the women and children.
Nor have I heard how many stores the mob visited; and it must have been
many.
All is quiet now (three P.M.); and I understand the government is
issuing rice to the people.
APRIL 3D.--Gen. D. H. Hill writes from North Carolina that the business
of conscription is miserably mismanaged in that State. The whole
business, it seems, has resolved itself into a machine for making money
and putting pets in office.
No account of yesterday's riot appeared in the papers to-day, for
obvious reasons. The mob visited most of the shops, and the pillage was
pretty extensive.
Crowds of women, Marylanders and foreigners, were standing at the street
corners to-day, still demanding food; which, it is said, the government
issued to them. About midday the City Battalion was marched down Main
Street to disperse the crowd.
Congress has resolved to adjourn on the 20th April. The tax bill has not
passed both Houses yet.
Gen. Blanchard has been relieved of his command in Louisiana. He was
another general from Massachusetts.
APRIL 4TH.--It is the belief of some that the riot was a premeditated
affair, stimulated from the North, and executed through the
instrumentality of emissaries. Some of the women, and others, have been
arrested.
We have news of the capture of another of the enemy's gun-boats, in
Berwick Bay, Louisiana, with five guns. It is said to have been done by
_cavalry_.
A dispatch just received from Charleston states that the enemy's
monitors were approaching the forts, seven in number, and that the
attack was commencing. This is _joyful_ news to our people, so confident
are they that Gen. Beauregard will beat them.
APRIL 5TH.--Snow fell all night, and a depth of several inches covers
the earth this morning. It will soon melt, however, as it is now
raining. The Northern invaders who anticipate a pleasant sojourn during
the winter and spring in this climate, have been very disagreeably
disappointed in these expectations.
A surgeon was arrested yesterday for saying there was "a power behind
the throne greater than the throne." Upon being asked by the mayor what
power he alluded to, he answered "the people." He was released.
APRIL 6TH.--It seems that it was a mistake about the enemy's monitors
approaching the forts in Charleston harbor; but the government has
dispatches to the effect that important movements are going on, not very
distant from Charleston, the precise nature of which is not yet
permitted to transpire.
Generals Johnston and Bragg write that Gen. Pillow has secured ten times
as many conscripts, under their orders, as the bureau in Richmond would
have done. Judge Campbell, as Assistant Secretary of War, having
arrested Gen. P.'s operations, Generals J. and B. predict that our army
in Tennessee will begin, immediately, to diminish in numbers.
The rails of the York River Railroad are being removed to-day toward
Danville, in view of securing a connection with the N. C. Central Road.
It seems that the government thinks the enemy will again possess the
York River Railroad, but it cannot be possible a retreat _out of
Virginia_ is meditated.
APRIL 7TH.--Nothing definite has transpired at Charleston, or if so, we
have not received information of it yet.
From the West, we have accounts, from Northern papers, of the failure of
the Yankee Yazoo expedition. That must have its effect.
Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War, has decided in one instance
(page 125, E. B. Conscript Bureau), that a paroled political prisoner,
returning to the South, is not subject to conscription. This is in
violation of an act of Congress, and general orders. It appears that
grave judges are not all inflexibly just, and immaculately legal in
their decisions. Col. Lay ordered the commandant of conscripts (Col.
Shields) to give the man a protection, without any reason therefor.
It is now said large depots of provisions are being formed on the
Rappahannock. This does not look like an indication of a retrograde
movement on the part of Gen. Lee. Perhaps he will _advance_.
This afternoon dispatches were received from Charleston. Notwithstanding
all the rumors relative to the hostile fleet being elsewhere, it is now
certain that all the monitors, iron-clads, and transports have succeeded
in passing the bar, and at the last accounts were in readiness to begin
the attack. And Beauregard was prepared to receive it. To-morrow we
shall have exciting intelligence. If we are to believe what we hear from
South Carolinians, recently from Charleston (I do believe it),
_Charleston_ will not be taken. If the ground be taken, it will not be
Charleston. If the forts fall, and our two rams be taken or destroyed,
the defenders will still resist. Rifle-pits have been dug in the
streets; and if driven from these, there are batteries beyond to sweep
the streets, thus involving the enemy and the city in one common ruin.
APRIL 8TH.--We learn to-day that the enemy bombarded our forts at
Charleston, yesterday, two hours and a half. But few of our men were
injured, and the forts sustained no damage of consequence. On the other
hand, several of the iron-clads and monitors of the enemy were badly
crippled; one of the latter, supposed to be the Keokuk, was sunk. Since
then the bombardment has not been renewed. But no doubt the enemy will
make other efforts to reduce a city which is the particular object of
their vengeance. Every one is on the _qui vive_ for further news from
Charleston. Success there will make Beauregard the most popular man in
the Confederacy, Lee excepted.
Speculation is running wild in this city; and the highest civil and
military officers are said to be engaged, directly or indirectly, in the
disgraceful business of smuggling. Mr. Memminger cannot be ignorant of
this; and yet these men are allowed to retain their places.
APRIL 9TH.--Nothing additional has occurred at Charleston, the enemy not
having renewed the attack. At Vicksburg all was quiet, and the enemy
abandoning their canal. Such news must have a depressing effect upon the
North. They will see that their monitors and iron-clads have lost their
terrors. They have lost some twenty war steamers within the last few
months; and how many of their merchantmen have been destroyed on the
ocean, we have no means of knowing.
British and French capitalists have taken a cotton loan of $15,000,000,
which is now selling at a premium of four per cent. in those countries.
Our government can, if it will, soon have a navy of Alabamas and
Floridas.
But we are in danger of being sold to the enemy by the blockade-runners
in this city. High officers, civil and military, are said, perhaps
maliciously, to be engaged in the unlawful trade hitherto carried on by
the Jews. It is said that the flag of truce boats serve as a medium of
negotiations between official dignitaries here and those at Washington;
and I have no doubt many of the Federal officers at Washington, for the
sake of lucre, make no scruple to participate in the profits of this
treasonable traffic. They can beat us at this game: cheat us in
bargaining, and excel us in obtaining information as to the number and
position of troops, fortifications, etc.
APRIL 10TH.--We are not informed of a renewal of the attack on
Charleston. It is said our shot penetrated the turret of the Keokuk,
sunk.
In New York they have been exulting over the capture of Charleston, and
gold declined heavily. This report was circulated by some of the
government officials, at Washington, for purposes of speculation.
Col. Lay announced, to-day, that he had authority (oral) from Gen.
Cooper, A. and I. G., to accept Marylanders as substitutes. Soon after
he ordered in two, in place of Louisianian sutlers, whom he accompanied
subsequently--I know not whither. But this verbal authority is in the
teeth of published orders.
APRIL 11TH.--Gen. Beauregard telegraphs that Gen. Walker has destroyed
another Federal gun-boat in Coosa River. They are looking for a renewal
of the attack on Charleston, and are ready for it.
Gen. Lee writes that he is about sending a cavalry brigade into Loudon
County to bring off commissary's and quartermaster's stores. This will
frighten the people in Washington City! He also writes that, unless the
railroads be repaired, so as to admit of speedier transportation of
supplies, he cannot maintain his present position much longer.
The President has published a proclamation, to-day, appealing to the
patriotism of the people, and urging upon them to abstain from the
growth of cotton and tobacco, and raise food for man and beast. Appended
to this is a plan, "suggested by the Secretary of War," to obtain from
the people an immediate supply of meat, etc. in the various counties and
parishes. This is _my_ plan, so politely declined by the Secretary!
Well, if it will benefit the government, the government is welcome to
it; and Mr. Seddon to the credit of it.
APRIL 12TH.--Gen. Van Dorn, it is reported, has captured or destroyed
another gun-boat in the West.
Night before last another riot was looked for in this city by the mayor,
and two battalions of Gen. Elzey's troops were ordered into the city. If
the President could only see the necessity of placing this city under
the command of a native Southern general, he might avoid much obloquy.
The Smiths, Winders, and Elzeys, who are really foreigners, since the
men from their States are not liable to conscription (vide Judge
Campbell's decision), are very obnoxious to the people. Virginians can
never be reconciled to the presence of a mercenary Swiss guard, and will
not submit to imported masters.
Notwithstanding the _Enquirer_ urges it, and Mr. Barksdale, of
Mississippi, persistently advocates it, Congress still refuses to confer
additional powers on the President. Twice, within the last week,
Congress has voted down the proposition to clothe the President with
power to suspend the writ of _habeas corpus_. Congress has likewise
refused to reconsider the vote postponing the consideration of the bill
to create a Court of Claims. Judge S----was here, working for it; but
was doomed to disappointment.
A few nights since a full Federal band came within a hundred yards of
our men, the Rappahannock only separating them, and played "Dixie." Our
men cheered them lustily. Then they played "Yankee Doodle," when the
Yankees cheered. After this they played "Home, sweet Home!" and all
parties cheered them. There may be something significant in this. The
pickets have orders not to fire on each other, when no demonstration is
in progress.
Our members of Congress get salaries of $2750. A cobbler (free negro),
who mends shoes for my family, told me yesterday that he earned $10 per
day, or $3000 per annum.
A pair of pantaloons now costs $40; boots, $60; and so on.
We have warm weather at last, and dry. Armies will soon be in motion.
Our government and people seem now to despair of European intervention.
But the President says our armies are more numerous, and better armed
and disciplined than at any period during the war. Hence the contest
will be maintained indefinitely for independence. With these feelings
the third year of the war opens. May God have mercy on the guilty men
who determine more blood shall be shed. The South would willingly cease
the sanguinary strife, if the invader would retire from our territory;
but just as willingly will she fight hereafter as heretofore, so long as
a foeman sets foot upon her soil. It must soon be seen with what
alacrity our people will rush to the battle-field!
APRIL 13TH.--The Federal monitors, gun-boats, and transports no more
menace the City of Charleston! The fleet has sailed away, several of the
iron-clads towed out of the harbor being badly damaged. But before
leaving that part of the coast, the Yankees succeeded in intercepting
and sinking the merchant steamer Leopard, having 40,000 pairs of shoes,
etc. on board for our soldiers. It is supposed they will reappear before
Wilmington; our batteries there are ready for them.
Gen. Wise assailed the enemy on Saturday, at Williamsburg, captured the
town, and drove the Federals into their fort--Magruder.
The President was ill and nervous on Saturday. His wife, who lost her
parent at Montgomery, Ala., a month ago, and who repaired thither, is
still absent.
Congress still refuses to clothe the President with dictatorial powers.
Senator Oldham, of Texas, made a furious assault on the Secretary of
War, last Saturday. He says Senators, on the most urgent public
business, are subjected to the necessity of writing their names on a
slate, and then awaiting the pleasure of some lackey for permission to
enter the Secretary's office. He was quite severe in his remarks, and
moved a call on the President for certain information he desired.
The _Sentinel_ abuses Congress for differing with the President in
regard to the retention of diplomatic agents in London, etc. And the
_Enquirer_, edited by John Mitchel, the fugitive Irishman, opens its
batteries on the _Sentinel_. So we go.
APRIL 14TH.--We have nothing additional from Gen. Wise's expedition
against Williamsburg; but it was deprecated by our people here, whose
families and negroes have been left in that vicinity. They argue that we
cannot hold the town, or any portion of the Peninsula in the
neighborhood; and when the troops retire, the enemy will subject the
women and children to more rigorous treatment, and take all the slaves.
We have news from Tennessee, which seems to indicate that Gen. Van Dorn
has been beaten, losing a battery, after a sanguinary battle of several
hours. Van Dorn had only cavalry--7000. This has a depressing effect. It
seems that we lose all the battles of any magnitude in the West. This
news may have been received by the President in advance of the public,
and hence his indisposition. We shall have news now every day or so.
Albert Pike is out in a pamphlet against Gens. Holmes and Hindman. He
says their operations in Arkansas have resulted in reducing our forces,
in that State, from forty odd thousand to less than 17,000. It was
imprudent to publish such a statement. Albert Pike is a native Yankee,
but he has lived a long time in the South.
Gov. Vance is furious at the idea of conscribing magistrates,
constables, etc. in North Carolina. He says it would be an annihilation
of State Rights--nevertheless, being subject to militia duty by the laws
of the State, they are liable under the Act of Conscription.
Well, we are getting only some 700 conscripts per month in Virginia--the
largest State! At this rate, how are we to replenish the ranks as they
become thinned in battle? It is to be hoped the enemy will find the same
difficulty in filling up their regiments, else we have rather a gloomy
prospect before us. But God can and will save us if it be His pleasure.
APRIL 15TH.--There is a dispatch, unofficial, from the West,
contradicting the news of the defeat of Van Dorn. On the Cumberland
River, another dispatch says, we have met with new successes, capturing
or destroying several more gun-boats. And Wheeler has certainly captured
a railroad train in the rear of the enemy, containing a large sum of
Federal money, and a number of officers.
We have nothing from the South, except a letter from Gen. Whiting, in
regard to some demonstration at Bull Bay, S. C.
Major Griswold, Provost Marshal, is now himself on trial before a
court-martial, for allowing 200 barrels of spirits to come into the
city. He says he had an order from the Surgeon-General; but what right
had he to give such orders? It is understood he will resign,
irrespective of the decision of the court.
Congress, yesterday (the House of Representatives), passed a series of
resolutions, denying the authority of the government to declare martial
law, such as existed in this city under the administration of Gen.
Winder. It was a great blunder, and alienated thousands.
We have a seasonable rain to-day.
APRIL 16TH.--The Federal papers have heard of the failure to take
Charleston, and the sinking of the Keokuk; and yet they strive to
mollify the disaster, and represent that but little damage was sustained
by the rest of the fleet. Those that escaped, they say, have proved
themselves invulnerable. The Keokuk had ninety shots on the water line.
No wonder it sunk!
Gen. Longstreet has invested Suffolk, this side of Norfolk, after
destroying one gun-boat and crippling another in the Nansemond River.
Unless the enemy get reinforcements, the garrison at Suffolk may be
forced to surrender. Perhaps our general may storm their works!
I learn, to-day, that the remaining eye of the President is failing.
Total blindness would incapacitate him for the executive office. A
fearful thing to contemplate!
APRIL 17TH.--From the Northern papers we learn that the defeat at
Charleston is called by the enemy a RECONNOISSANCE. This causes us much
merriment here; McClellan's defeat was called a "strategical movement,"
and "change of base."
We have some rumors to-day, to the effect that Gen. Hill is likely to
take Washington and Newbern, N. C.; Gen. Longstreet, Suffolk; and Gen.
Wise, Fort Magruder, and the Peninsula--he has not troops enough.
Gold advanced 7 per cent. in New York when the news of the
"reconnoissance" reached that city.
We are planting almost every acre in grain, to the exclusion of cotton
and tobacco--resolved never to be _starved_, nor even feel a scarcity of
provisions in future. We shall be cutting wheat in another month in
Alabama and other States.
Among the other rumors, it is said Hooker is falling back toward
Washington, but these are merely rumors.
The President is in a very feeble and nervous condition, and is really
threatened with the loss of sight altogether. But he works on; and few
or no visitors are admitted. He remains at his dwelling, and has not
been in the executive office these ten days.
Col. Lay was merry again to-day. He ordered in another foreign
substitute (in North Carolina).
Pins are so scarce and costly, that it is now a pretty general practice
to stoop down and pick up any found in the street. The boarding-houses
are breaking up, and rooms, furnished and unfurnished, are rented out to
messes. One dollar and fifty cents for beef, leaves no margin for
profit, even at $100 per month, which is charged for board, and most of
the boarders cannot afford to pay that price. Therefore they take rooms,
and buy their own scanty food. I am inclined to think provisions would
not be deficient, to an alarming extent, if they were equally
distributed. Wood is no scarcer than before the war, and yet $30 per
load (less than a cord) is demanded for it, and obtained.
The other day Wilmington _might_ have been taken, for the troops were
sent to Beauregard. Their places have since been filled by a brigade
from Longstreet. It is a monstrous undertaking to attempt to subjugate
so vast a country as this, even with its disparity of population. We
have superior facilities for concentration, while the invader must
occupy, or penetrate the outer lines of the circumference. Our danger is
from within, not from without. We are distressed more by the
extortioners than by the enemy. Eternal infamy on the heads of
speculators in articles of prime necessity! After the war, let them be
known by the fortunes they have amassed from the sufferings of the
patriots and heroes!--the widows and orphans!
This day is the anniversary of the secession of Virginia. The government
at Washington did not believe the separation would last two years! Nor
do they believe now, perhaps, that it will continue two years longer.
APRIL 18TH.--We have nothing more from the Peninsula, Suffolk, N. C., or
South Carolina; but it is rumored that the enemy's gun-boats (seven or
eight) have passed down the Mississippi in spite of our batteries at
Vicksburg, which sunk one of them. If this be true, it is bad news.
We have lovely weather now, and vegetation shows signs of the return of
the vernal season. We shall soon have blossoms and roses in abundance,
and table vegetables too, to dispel the fears of famine. But we shall
also have the horrid sounds of devastating war; and many a cheerful dame
and damsel to-day, must soon put on the weeds of mourning.
Gen. Jos. E. Johnston has assumed the command of the army of Tennessee.
Gen. Howell Cobb is preparing for the defense of Florida. We do not hear
a word from Lee or Jackson--but this is the ominous silence preceding
their decisive action.
Bacon fell to-day from $2 to $1.50 per pound, and butter from $3.50 to
$3.25; potatoes are $16 per bushel. And yet they say there is no
scarcity in the country. Such supplies are hoarded and hidden to extort
high prices from the destitute. An intelligent gentleman from North
Carolina told me, to-day, that food was never more abundant in his
State; nevertheless, the extortioners are demanding there very high
prices.
This evening we have dispatches (unofficial) confirmatory of the passing
of Vicksburg by the enemy's gun-boats. One of them was destroyed, and
two disabled, while five got by uninjured. This is not cheering. No
doubt an attack by land will be made, by superior numbers, and blood
will gush in streams!
It is now said that Longstreet has captured two gun-boats in the
Nansemond, and taken 600 prisoners; and that the Yankees in Norfolk have
been thrown into great commotion. The general in command there, Veillé,
has adopted very stringent measures to keep the people sympathizing
with our cause in subjection. Perhaps he fears an outbreak.
The weather continues fine, and we must soon have important operations
in the field.
APRIL 19TH, SUNDAY.--It is now said Longstreet captured two transports,
instead of gun-boats, and 600 prisoners.
_Mr. Benjamin_ reports that the enemy's gun-boats, which passed
Vicksburg, have recaptured the Queen of the West! It must be so, since
he says so.
Mr. Baldwin, the other day, in Congress, asserted a fact, on his own
knowledge, that an innocent man had been confined in prison nearly two
years, in consequence of a mistake of one of Gen. Winder's subordinates
in writing his name, which was Simons; he wrote it Simmons!
APRIL 20TH.--We have nothing definite from Suffolk, or from Washington,
N. C.
But we have Northern accounts of their great disaster at Charleston. It
appears that during the brief engagement on the 7th inst., all their
monitors were so badly damaged that they were unable to prolong or to
renew the contest. They will have to be taken to New York for repairs;
and will not go into service again before autumn. Thus, after nearly a
year's preparation, and the expenditure of $100,000,000, all their
hopes, so far as Charleston is concerned, have been frustrated in a few
brief hours, under the fire of Beauregard's batteries. They complain
that England furnished us with the steel-pointed balls that penetrated
their iron turrets. To this there can be no objection; indeed it may be
productive of good, by involving the Abolitionists in a new quarrel: but
it is due to candor to state that the balls complained of were
manufactured in this city.
It was a Federal account of the retaking the Queen of the West, reported
by Mr. Benjamin; and hence, it is not generally believed.
It is thought by many that Hooker will change his base from the
Rappahannock to the Pamunky, embarking his army in transports. If this
be so, we shall again have the pleasure of hearing the thunders of
battle, this summer, in Richmond.
Gen. Lee has been quite ill, but is now recovering.
APRIL 21ST.--Gen. Longstreet lost, it is said, two 32-pounder guns
yesterday, with which he was firing on the enemy's gun-boats. A force
was landed and captured the battery.
Gen. Lee writes that his men have each, daily, but a quarter pound of
meat and 16 ounces of flour. They have, besides, 1 pound of rice to
every ten men, two or three times a week. He says this may keep them
_alive_; but that at this season they should have more generous food.
The scurvy and the typhoid fever are appearing among them. Longstreet
and Hill, however, it is hoped will succeed in bringing off supplies of
provision, etc.--such being the object of their demonstrations.
Gen. Wise has fallen back, being ordered by Gen. Elzey not to attempt
the capture of Fort Magruder--a feat he could have accomplished.
APRIL 22D.--The President is reported to be very ill to-day--dangerously
ill--with inflammation of the throat, etc. While this is a source of
grief to nearly all, it is the subject of secret joy to others. I am
sure I have seen some officers of rank to-day, not _fighting_ officers,
who sincerely hope the President will not recover. He has his faults,
but upon the whole is no doubt well qualified for the position he
occupies. I trust he will recover.
The destruction of the Queen of the West, and of another of our
steamers, is confirmed. Is not Pemberton and Blanchard responsible?
The loss of two guns and forty men the other day, on the Nansemond, is
laid at the door of Major-Gen. French, a Northern man! Can it be Gen.
Cooper (Northern) who procures the appointment of so many Northern
generals in our army?
I cut the following from the _Dispatch_ of yesterday:
_Produce, etc._--Bacon has further declined, and we now quote $1.25 to
$1.30 for hog-round; butter, $2.25 to $3 per pound; beans in demand at
$20 per bushel. Corn is lower--we quote at $6 to $6.50 per bushel; corn
meal, $7 to $9 per bushel--the latter figure for a limited quantity;
candles, $3.50 to $3.75 per pound; fruit--dried apples, $10 to $12;
dried peaches, $15 to $18 per bushel; flour--superfine, $31 to $32;
extra, $34; family, $36; hay is in very small supply--sales at $15 per
cwt.; lard, $1.65 to $1.70 per pound; potatoes--Irish, $3 to $10; sweet,
$10 to $11 per bushel; rice, 25 to 33 cents per pound; wheat, $6.50 to
$7 per bushel.
_Groceries._--Sugars have a declining tendency: we quote brown at $1.15
to $1.25; molasses, $9 to $10 per gallon; coffee, $4 to $4.50; salt, 45
cents per pound; whisky, $28 to $35; apple brandy, $24 to $25; French
brandy, $65 per gallon.
APRIL 23D.--The President's health is improving. His eye is better; and
he would have been in his office to-day (the first time for three weeks)
if the weather (raining) had been fine.
The expenses of the war amount now to $60,000,000 per month, or
$720,000,000 per annum. This enormous expenditure is owing to the absurd
prices charged for supplies by the farmers, to save whose slaves and
farms the war is waged, in great part. They are charging the government
$20 per hundred weight, or $400 per ton for hay! Well, we shall soon see
if they be reluctant to pay the taxes soon to be required of
them--one-tenth of all their crops, etc. If they refuse to pay, then
what will they deserve?
APRIL 24TH.--We lost five fine guns and over a hundred men on the
Nansemond; and we learn that more of the enemy's gun-boats and
transports have passed Vicksburg! These are untoward tidings. Gens.
Pemberton and French are severely criticised.
We had a tragedy in the street to-day, near the President's office. It
appears that Mr. Dixon, Clerk of the House of Representatives, recently
dismissed one of his under clerks, named Ford, for reasons which I have
not heard; whereupon the latter notified the former of an intention to
assault him whenever they should meet. About two P.M. they met in Bank
Street; Ford asked Dixon if he was ready; and upon an affirmative
response being given, they both drew their revolvers and commenced
firing. Dixon missed Ford, and was wounded by his antagonist, but did
not fall. He attempted to fire again, but the pistol missed fire. Ford's
next shot missed D. and wounded a man in Main Street, some seventy paces
beyond; but his next fire took effect in Dixon's breast, who fell and
expired in a few moments.
Many of our people think that because the terms of enlistment of so many
in the Federal army will expire next month, we shall not have an active
spring campaign. It may be so; but I doubt it. Blood must flow as freely
as ever!
APRIL 25TH.--We have bad news from the West. The enemy (cavalry, I
suppose) have penetrated Mississippi some 200 miles, down to the
railroad between Vicksburg and Meridian. This is in the rear and east
of Vicksburg, and intercepts supplies. They destroyed two trains. This
dispatch was sent to the Secretary of War by the President without
remark. The _Enquirer_ this morning contained a paragraph stating that
Gen. Pemberton was exchanging civilities with Gen. Sherman, and had sent
him a beautiful bouquet! Did he have any conception of the surprise the
enemy was executing at the moment? Well, Mississippi is the President's
State, and if he is satisfied with Northern generals to defend it, he is
as likely to be benefited as any one else.
Gen. Beauregard is urging the government to send more heavy guns to
Savannah.
I saw an officer to-day just from Charleston. He says none of the
enemy's vessels came nearer than 900 yards of our batteries, and that
the Northern statements about the monitors becoming entangled with
obstructions are utterly false, for there were no obstructions in the
water to impede them. But he says one of the monitors was directly over
a torpedo, containing 4000 pounds of powder, which we essayed in vain to
ignite.
APRIL 26TH.--This being Sunday I shall hear no news, for I will not be
in any of the departments.
There is a vague understanding that notwithstanding the repulse of the
enemy at Charleston, still the Federal Government collects the duties on
merchandise brought into that port, and, indeed, into all other ports.
These importations, although purporting to be conducted by British
adventurers, it is said are really contrived by Northern merchants, who
send hither (with the sanction of the Federal Government, by paying the
duty in advance) British and French goods, and in return ship our cotton
to Liverpool, etc., whence it is sometimes reshipped to New York. The
duties paid the United States are of course paid by the consumers in the
Confederate States, in the form of an additional per centum on the
prices of merchandise. Some suppose this arrangement has the sanction of
certain members of our government. The plausibility of this scheme (if
it really exists) is the fact that steamers having munitions of war
rarely get through the blockading fleet without trouble, while those
having only merchandise arrive in safety almost daily. Gen. D. Green
intimates that Mr. Memminger, and Frazer & Co., Charleston, are
personally interested in the profits of heavy importations.
APRIL 27TH.--A dispatch from Montgomery, Ala., states that the enemy
have penetrated as far as Enterprise, Miss., where we had a small body
of troops, conscripts. If this be merely a raid, it is an extraordinary
one, and I feel some anxiety to learn the conclusion of it. It is hard
to suppose a small force of the enemy would evince such temerity. But if
it be supported by an army, and the position maintained, Vicksburg is
doomed. We shall get no more sugar from Louisiana.
APRIL 28TH.--The enemy's raid in Mississippi seems to have terminated at
Enterprise, where we collected a force and offered battle, but the
invaders retreated. It is said they had 1600 cavalry and 5 guns, and the
impression prevails that but few of them will ever return. It is said
they sent back a detachment of 200 men some days ago with their booty,
watches, spoons, jewelry, etc. rifled from the habitations of the
non-combating people.
I saw Brig.-Gen. Chilton to-day, Chief of Gen. Lee's Staff. He says,
when the time comes, Gen. Lee will do us all justice. I asked him if
Richmond were safe, and he responded in the affirmative.
I am glad the Secretary of War has stopped the blockade-running
operations of Gen. Winder and Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of
War. Until to-day, Gen. W. issued many passports which were invariably
approved by Judge Campbell, but for some cause, and Heaven knows there
is cause enough, Mr. Secretary has ordered that no more passports be
granted Marylanders or foreigners to depart from the Confederacy. I hope
Mr. S. will not "back down" from this position.
To-day I returned to the department from the Bureau of Conscription,
being required at my old post by Mr. Kean, Chief of the Bureau of War,
my friend, Jacques, being out of town with a strangury. Thus it is; when
Congress meets I am detailed on service out of the department, and when
Congress adjourns they send for me back again. Do they object to my
acquaintance with the members?
A few weeks ago I addressed the President a letter suggesting that an
alphabetical analysis be made of letter and indorsement books, embracing
principles of decisions, and not names. This I did for the Bureau of
Conscription, which was found very useful. Precedents could thus be
readily referred to when, as was often the case, the names of parties
could not be recollected. It happened, singularly enough, that this
paper came into my hands with forty-nine others to-day, at the
department, where I shall wholly remain hereafter. The President seemed
struck with the idea, and indorsed a reference on it to the "State,
Treasury, War, and Navy Departments," and also to the Attorney General.
I shall be curious to know what the Secretary thinks of this plan. No
matter what the Secretary of War thinks of it; he declined my plan of
deriving supplies directly from the people, and then adopted it.
APRIL 29TH.--Gen. Beauregard is eager to have completed the "Torpedo
Ram," building at Charleston, and wants a "great gun" for it. But the
Secretary of the Navy wants all the iron for _mailing_ his gun-boats.
Mr. Miles, of South Carolina, says the ram will be worth two gun-boats.
The President of the Manassas Gap Railroad says his company is bringing
all its old iron to the city. Wherefore?
The merchants of Mobile are protesting against the impressment by
government agents of the sugar and molasses in the city. They say this
conduct will double the prices. So Congress did not and cannot restrain
the military authorities.
Gen. Humphrey Marshall met with no success in Kentucky. He writes that
none joined him, when he was led to expect large accessions, and that he
could get neither stock nor hogs. Alas, poor Kentucky! The brave hunters
of former days have disappeared from the scene.
The Secretary of War was not _permitted_ to see my letter which the
President referred to him, in relation to an alphabetical analysis of
the decisions of the departments. The _Assistant_ Secretary, Judge
Campbell, and the young Chief of the Bureau of War, sent it to the
Secretary of the Navy, who, of course, they knew had no decisions to be
preserved. Mr. Kean, I learn, indorsed a hearty approval of the plan,
and said he would put it in operation in the War Office. But he said
(with his concurrence, no doubt) that _Judge Campbell_ had suggested it
some time before. Well, that may be; but I first suggested it a year
ago, and before either Mr. K. or Judge Campbell were in office. Office
makes curious changes in men! Still, I think Mr. Seddon badly used in
not being permitted to see the communications the President sends him. I
have the privilege, and will use it, of sending papers directly to the
Secretary.
Gen. Lee telegraphs the President to-day to send troops to Gordonsville,
and to hasten forward supplies. He says Lt.-Gen. Longstreet's corps
might now be sent from Suffolk to him. Something of magnitude is on the
tapis, whether offensive or defensive, I could not judge from the
dispatch.
We had hail this evening as large as pullets' eggs.
The Federal papers have accounts of brilliant successes in Louisiana and
Missouri, having taken 1600 prisoners in the former State and defeated
Price at Cape Girardeau in the latter. Whether these accounts are
authentic or not we have no means of knowing yet. We have nothing
further from Mississippi.
It is said there is some despondency in Washington.
Our people will die in the last ditch rather than be subjugated and see
the confiscation of their property.
APRIL 30TH.--The enemy are advancing across the Rappahannock, and the
heavy skirmishing which precedes a battle has begun. We are sending up
troops and supplies with all possible expedition. Decisive events are
looked for in a few days. But if all of Longstreet's corps be sent up,
we leave the southern approach to the city but weakly defended. Hooker
must have overwhelming numbers, else he would not venture to advance in
the face of Lee's army! Can he believe the silly tale about our troops
being sent from Virginia to the Carolinas? If so, he will repent his
error.
We hear of fighting in Northwestern Virginia and in Louisiana, but know
not the result. The enemy have in possession all of Louisiana west of
the Mississippi River. This is bad for us,--sugar and salt will be
scarcer still. At Grand Gulf our batteries have repulsed their
gun-boats, but the battle is to be renewed.
The railroad presidents have met in this city, and ascertained that to
keep the tracks in order for military purposes, 49,500 tons of rails
must be manufactured per annum, and that the Tredegar Works here, and
the works at Atlanta, cannot produce more than 20,000 tons per annum,
even if engaged exclusively in that work! They say that neither
individual nor incorporated companies will suffice. The government must
manufacture iron or the roads must fail!
A cheering letter was received from Gov. Vance to-day, stating that,
upon examination, the State (North Carolina) contains a much larger
supply of meat and grain than was supposed. The State Government will,
in a week or so, turn over to the Confederate Government 250,000 pounds
of bacon, and a quantity of corn; and as speculators are driven out of
the market, the Confederate States agents will be able to purchase large
supplies from the people, who really have a considerable surplus of
provisions. He attributes this auspicious state of things to the
cessation of arbitrary impressments.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Lee snuffs a battle in the breeze.--Hooker's army supposed to be 100,000
men.--Lee's perhaps 55,000 efficient.--I am planting potatoes.--Part
of Longstreet's army gone up.--Enemy makes a raid.--Great victory at
Chancellorville.--Hot weather.--Our poor wounded coming in streams,
in ambulances and on foot.--Hooker has lost the game.--Message from
the enemy.--They ask of Lee permission to bury their dead.--Granted,
of course.--Hooker fortifying.--Food getting scarce again.--Gen.
Lee's thanks to the army.--Crowds of prisoners coming in.--
Lieut.-Gen. Jackson dead.--Hooker's raiders "hooked" a great many
horses.--Enemy demand 500,000 more men.--Beauregard complains that so
many of his troops are taken to Mississippi.--Enemy at Jackson,
Miss.--Strawberries.--R. Tyler.--My cherries are coming on finely.--
Ewell and Hill appointed lieutenant-generals.--President seems to
doubt Beauregard's veracity.--Hon. D. M. Lewis cuts his wheat
to-morrow, May 28th.--Johnston says our troops are in fine spirits
around Vicksburg.--Grant thunders on.--Plan of servile insurrection.
MAY 1ST.--Gov. Vance writes that Gen. Hill desires him to call out the
militia, believing the enemy, balked in the attempt on Charleston, will
concentrate their forces against North Carolina. But the Governor is
reluctant to call the non-conscripts from the plow in the planting
season. He thinks the defense of North Carolina has not been adequately
provided for by the government, and that his State has been neglected
for the benefit of others. He asks heavy guns; and says half the
armament hurled against Charleston would suffice for the capture of
Wilmington.
A protest, signed by the thousands of men taken at Arkansas Post, now
exchanged, against being kept on this side of the Mississippi, has been
received. The protest was also signed by the members of Congress from
Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri.
Capt. Causey, of the Signal Corps, writes that there are only a few
battalions of the enemy on the Peninsula; but that rations for 40,000
men are sent to Suffolk.
Gen. Lee announces the crossing of the Rappahannock at Port Royal (which
the Yankees pillaged) and at places above Fredericksburg. Gen. Stuart is
hovering on their flank. A great battle may happen any moment.
L. E. Harvey, president of Richmond and Danville Railroad, asks for
details to repair locomotives, else daily trains (freight) must be
reduced to tri-weekly trains--and then the army cannot be sustained in
Virginia.
Hon. Mr. Garnett asked (and obtained) permission for a Mr. Hurst (Jew?)
to pass our lines, and bring Northern merchandise to Richmond for sale.
He vouches for his loyalty to Virginia. Congress has before it a bill
rendering this traffic criminal.
MAY 2D.--The awful hour, when thousands of human lives are to be
sacrificed in the attempt to wrest this city from the Confederate
States, has come again. Now parents, wives, sisters, brothers, and
little children, both in the North and in the South, hold their breath
in painful expectation. At the last accounts the two armies, yesterday,
were drawn up in battle array, facing each other. No water flowed
between them, the Northern army being on this side of the Rappahannock.
We have no means of knowing their relative numbers; but I suspect Gen.
Hooker commands more than 100,000 men, while Gen. Lee's army, perhaps,
does not exceed 55,000 efficients.
Accounts by passengers, and reports from the telegraph operators at the
northern end of the line, some ten or twelve miles this side of the
armies, indicate that the battle was joined early this morning.
Certainly heavy cannonading was heard. Yet nothing important transpired
up to 3 P.M., when I left the department, else I should have known it.
Still, the battle may be raging, without, as yet, decisive result, and
the general may not have leisure to be dictating dispatches.
Yet the heavy artillery may be only the preliminary overture to the
desperate engagement; and it seems to me that several days might be
spent in manoeuvring into position before the shock of arms occurs,
which will lay so many heads low in the dust.
But a great battle seems inevitable. All the world knows the fighting
qualifications of Gen. Lee, and the brave army he commands; and Gen.
Hooker will, of course, make every effort to sustain his reputation as
"fighting Joe." Besides, he commands, for the first time, an army: and
knows well that failure to fight, or failure to win, will consign him to
the same disgrace of all his predecessors who have hitherto commanded
the "Army of the Potomac."
It is certain that a column of Federal cavalry, yesterday, cut the
Central Railroad at Trevillian's depot, which prevents communication
with Gordonsville, if we should desire to send heavy stores thither. And
some suppose Lee is manoeuvring to get in the rear of Hooker, which
would place the enemy between him and Richmond! He could then cut off
his supplies, now being drawn by wagons some twenty or thirty miles, and
spread alarm even to Washington. But, then, how would it be with
Richmond, if Hooker should accept the position, and if the force at
Suffolk should advance on the south side of the river, and gun-boats and
transports were to come, simultaneously, up the York and James? Has
Hooker the genius to conceive such a plan? Suppose it were so, and that
he has shipped his supplies from the Potomac--the supplies which Stuart
expects to capture--with the desperate resolution, abandoning his base
on the Rappahannock, to force a junction with the heavy detachments
south and east of this city? A Napoleon would get Richmond--_but then
Lee might get Washington_! Longstreet's corps is somewhere in transitu
between Petersburg and Gordonsville, and would no doubt be ordered here,
and it might arrive in time. Our defenses are strong; but at this moment
we have only Gen. Wise's brigade, and a few battalions at the batteries,
to defend the capital--some 5000 in all.
This is mere speculation, to be succeeded speedily by awful facts. The
inhabitants here do not doubt the result, although there is a feverish
anxiety to get intelligence. There is no such thing as fear, in this
community, of personal danger, even among the women and children; but
there is some alarm by the opulent inhabitants, some of whom, for the
sake of their property, would submit to the invader. One thing is pretty
certain, Richmond will not fall by assault without costing the lives of
50,000 men, which is about equal to its population in ordinary times.
Well, I am planting potatoes in my little garden, and hope to reap the
benefit of them. I pay 50 cts. per quart for seed potatoes, and should
be chagrined to find my expenditure of money and labor had been for the
benefit of the invader! Yet it may be so; and if it should be, still
there are other little gardens to cultivate where we might fly to. We
have too broad and too long a territory in the revolted States to be
overrun and possessed by the troops of the United States.
MAY 3D.--We have no further news from the army, except the usual
skirmishing. A number of our wounded arrived last evening. An officer
reports that, from what he could see of the enemy's conduct, the
soldiers do not come to the point with alacrity. He thinks they fight
with reluctance, and are liable to be routed any hour by inferior
numbers.
Troops were sent up in special trains last night, and also this morning.
These are some of the regiments which Gen. D. P. Hill had in North
Carolina; and hence the complaints of Gov. Vance, that his State did not
have its just proportion of the protection of the government. Of
Longstreet's movements, I am not advised. But there will be news enough
in a few days.
The President's health is still precarious, and he is still threatened
with the loss of his remaining eye.
The Vice-President was in my office yesterday, and told me his health is
quite as good as usual. One would suppose him to be afflicted with all
manner of diseases, and doomed to speedy dissolution; but, then, he has
worn this appearance during the last twenty years. His eyes are
magnificent, and his mind is in the meridian of intellectual vigor.
There has been some commotion in the city this afternoon and evening,
but no painful alarm, produced by intelligence that the enemy's cavalry,
that cut the road at Trevillian's depot, had reached Ashland and
destroyed the depot. Subsequent rumors brought them within eight miles
of the city; and we have no force of any consequence here. The account
was brought from Ashland by a Mr. Davis, who killed his horse in riding
eighteen miles in one hour and a half.
Later in the day a young man, sixteen years old (Shelton), reached the
city from Hanover on a United States horse, the enemy having foraged on
his father's farm and taken his blooded steed. He says, when he escaped
from them (having been taken prisoner this morning) 1500 were at his
father's place, and three times as many more, being 6000 in all, were
resting a short distance apart on another farm; but such ideas of
numbers are generally erroneous. They told him they had been in the
saddle five days, and had burnt all the bridges behind them to prevent
pursuit. It was after this that they cut the road at Ashland. They
professed to have fresh horses taken from our people, leaving their own.
I think they will disappear down the Pamunky, and of course will cut the
Central and York River Roads, and the wires. Thus communication with
Lee's army is interrupted!
The Fredericksburg train, of course, failed to arrive to-day at 6 P.M.;
and it is rumored there were 700 of our wounded in it, and that a great
battle was fought yesterday by Lee. These are rumors.
MAY 4TH.--This morning early the _tocsin_ sounded, and the din, kept up
for several hours, intensified the alarm. The presence of the enemy
would not have produced a greater effect. But, in truth, the enemy were
almost in sight of the city. Hon. James Lyons told me they were within a
mile and a half of his house, which is about that distance from the
city. Thousands of men, mostly old men and employees of the government,
were instantly organized and marched to the batteries.
But the alarm subsided about 10 A.M. upon information being received
that the enemy were flying before Gen. Wise down the Peninsula.
After this the following dispatch was received from Gen. Lee:
"MILFORD, May 3d, 1863.
"PRESIDENT DAVIS.
"Yesterday Gen. Jackson, with three of his divisions, penetrated to
the rear of the enemy, and drove him from all his positions, from
the Wilderness to within one mile of Chancellorville. He was
engaged at the same time, in front, by two of Longstreet's
divisions. This morning the battle was renewed. He was dislodged
from all his positions around Chancellorville, and driven back
toward the Rappahannock, over which he is now retreating.
"Many prisoners were taken, and the enemy's loss, in killed and
wounded, large.
"We have again to thank Almighty God for a great victory.
"I regret to state that Gen. Paxton was killed. Gen. Jackson
severely, and Generals Heth and A. P. Hill slightly, wounded.
"(Signed) R. E. LEE, _General_."
Enough is known to raise the spirits of all. Gen. Lee gives thanks to
God "for a great victory;" and he never misleads, never exaggerates.
My son Custis got a musket and marched in one of the companies--I have
not learned which--for the defense of the city. It is a sultry day, and
he will suffer.
The President was driven out in a light open carriage after the
reception of Gen. Lee's dispatch, and exhibited the finest spirits. He
was even diverted at the zeal of the old men and boys marching out with
heavy muskets to the batteries.
Brig.-Gen. Pryor, who has been under arrest (I know not for what
offense), volunteered in a company of horse, and galloped away with the
rest in pursuit of the enemy.
MAY 5TH.--To-day the excitement was quite as great as ever, for bodies
of the enemy are still in the vicinity. They are like frightened quails
when the hawks are after them, skurrying about the country in battalions
and regiments. Fitzhugh Lee defeated one of their parties, and reports
that the entire cavalry force of Hooker, in anticipation of certain
victory, had been detached in the rear of Lee's army. This force
comprises twenty-eight regiments, or 15,000 mounted men! Now that Hooker
is defeated--our operator at Guiney's station dispatches to-day that it
is reported there, and believed, that Hooker and his staff are
prisoners--it may be reasonably doubted whether one-half of this wild
cavalry will escape. It was the mad pranks of a desperate commander.
Hooker cast all upon the hazard of the die--and lost.
Among the mad pranks of the enemy, they sent a message over the wires
to-day from Louisa County, I believe, to this purport: "For Heaven's
sake, come and take us. We are broken down, and will surrender."
They captured an engine sent out yesterday to repair the road. The white
men escaped, leaving two free negroes. The Yankees made the negroes put
on a full head of steam, and run the locomotive into the river.
One of the enemy was taken sleeping at one of our city batteries near
the river.
My friend, Dr. Powell, on the Brooke Turnpike, sent his little son,
mounted on his finest horse, on an errand to a neighbor. The lad fell
in with, as he called, them, "some Yankee Dutchmen," who presented their
pistols and made him dismount. They took his horse and allowed him to
return.
At the hour we were dining yesterday, the enemy were within two and a
half miles of us on the Brooke road, and might have thrown shell into
this part of the city.
Col. D. J. Godwin writes a long letter to the Secretary of War, from
King and Queen Counties, concerning the great number of suspicious
persons continually passing our lines into those of the enemy, with
passports from this city; and the great injury done by the information
they give. Unquestionably they have not only given information, but have
furnished guides to the many regiments of cavalry now skurrying through
the country. But the Baltimore Plug Uglies, under the protection of Gen.
Winder, are the masters, now Mr. Secretary Seddon has yielded again.
A letter was received from Gen. J. E. Johnston to-day. He is too unwell
to take the field, and suggests, if it be desirable to be in regular
communication with Gen. Bragg, that the President send out a
_confidential_ officer. He says the army is suffering for meat, and if
it retires into East Tennessee, supplies must be obtained from its
flanks instead of from its rear, which would be dangerous. The letter
was dated a week ago, and gives no indications of a battle. The general
says he is exchanging sugar for bacon; but condemns the practice of
allowing our people to sell cotton to the enemy for supplies. In my
opinion none but government cotton should be exchanged for subsistence.
He says the people are subjugated by trade. He suggests that our men
when paroled, and not exchanged, may do duty otherwise than in arms--as
is practiced by the enemy.
H. D. Bird, general superintendent of the railroad, writes from
Petersburg that the movements of cars with ammunition, etc. are thrown
into confusion by the neglect of telegraph agents in giving timely
notice. _This_ is an unfortunate time for confusion. I sent the letter
to the Secretary, and know that it was not "filed" on the way to him.
A communication came in to-day from the Committee of Safety at Mobile,
Ala., charging that J. S. Clark, Wm. G. Ford, and ---- Hurt, have been
shipping cotton to New Orleans, after pretending to clear it for Nassau.
It says Mr. Clarke was an intimate crony of Gen. Butler's speculating
brother. It also intimates that the people believe the government here
winks at these violations of the act of Congress of April, 1862.
Very curiously, a letter came from the Assistant Secretary's room to-day
for "file," which was written April 22d, 1861, by R. H. Smith to Judge
Campbell--a private letter--warning him not to come to Mobile, as
nothing was thought of but secession, and it was believed Judge C. had
used his influence with Mr. Seward to prevent secession. The writer
deprecates civil war. And quite as curiously, the _Examiner_ to-day
contains what purports to be Admiral Buchanan's correspondence with the
Lincoln government, two letters, the first in April, 1861, tendering his
resignation, and the last on May 4th, begging, if it had not been done
already, that the government would not accept his resignation.
MAY 6TH.--The excitement has subsided, as troops come pouring in, and
many improvised cavalry companies go out in quest of the fox--who has
vanished we know not exactly whither.
It is believed we have taken 15,000 or 20,000 prisoners, and that the
enemy's killed, wounded, and prisoners must reach the appalling number
of 40,000.
On Sunday, the enemy opposite Fredericksburg sent over a flag, asking
permission to bury their dead. This was granted. But when they came--two
corps under Gen. Sedgwick came over and fell upon our few regiments in
the vicinity. So goes the story. Then, it is said, when Gen. Lee ordered
two of our divisions to drive Sedgwick back, the men, learning the enemy
with the flag of truce had given no quarter to their comrades, refused
to fight unless permitted to retaliate in _kind_. This was promised
them; and then their charge was irresistible, never pausing until the
Yankees were hurled back across the river. No prisoners were taken.
However this may be, Gen. Lee sends the following to the President:
"[Received by telegraph from Guiney's Depot.]
"HEADQUARTERS, 10 o'clock A.M.,
"May 5, 1863.
"TO HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT DAVIS.
"At the close of the battle of Chancellorville, on Sunday, the
enemy was reported advancing from Fredericksburg in our rear.
"Gen. McLaws was sent back to arrest his progress, and repulsed him
handsomely that afternoon. Learning that this force consisted of
two corps, under Gen. Sedgwick, I determined to attack it, and
marched back yesterday with Gen. Anderson, and uniting with Gens.
McLaws and Early in the afternoon, succeeded by the blessing of
Heaven in driving Gen. Sedgwick over the river. We have reoccupied
Fredericksburg, and no enemy remains south of the Rappahannock in
its vicinity.
"(Signed) R. E. LEE, _General_."
Another dispatch from Gen. Lee says Hooker is still on this side of the
river, at United States Ford, _fortifying_.
Gen. Longstreet is now closeted with the Secretary of War. No doubt his
entire corps will immediately rejoin Lee.
Jackson was wounded (his arm has been amputated) before the great battle
was fought, by our own men, in the gloom of the evening, supposing him a
Federal officer. He was reconnoitering in front of the line.
S. S. H---- writes to the department, proposing to send an emissary to
the North, to organize secret societies to destroy the enemy's stores,
ships, railroad bridges, etc. by an unexplained process.
Tillman, Griffin & Co. write to Judge Campbell to obtain them permission
to trade with Mexico. Does this mean trading cotton with the enemy? I
know not whether the request was granted.
Mr. Benjamin, Secretary of State, writes to the Secretary to-day for
permission for some of his Louisiana friends to leave the country in a
government steamer.
It is said that the government at Washington is ordering their troops
from North Carolina and other places on the Southern seaboard towards
Washington, and to reinforce Hooker--or Hooker's army. I think Hooker
himself will go the way of all general flesh that fails.
The President sent to the War Department fifty-five letters to-day,
written to him on various subjects, but mostly asking appointments. He
had read them, and several had indorsed on them, in his own hand, what
he wished done in the premises. So he has not lost his sight. He still
attends to business at his dwelling, and has not been in his office for
more than a month.
Secretary Seddon is gaunt and emaciated, with long straggling hair,
mingled gray and black. He looks like a dead man galvanized into
muscular animation. His eyes are sunken, and his features have the hue
of a man who had been in his grave a full month. But he is an orator,
and a man of fine education--but in bad health, being much afflicted
with neuralgia. His administrative capacity will be taxed by the
results.
MAY 7TH.--A scout came in to-day with the vexatious intelligence that a
body of hostile cavalry is still in Louisa County. And later in the day
we have information that the Mattapony bridge was burned last night!
Thus again is communication interrupted between Gen. Lee and the city!
Our wounded cannot be brought to the hospitals here, nor supplies sent
to them! It really does seem as if an organization of Union men here
were co-operating with the enemy, else they never could disappear and
reappear so often with impunity. Every one is asking what Gens. Elzey
and Winder are doing--and echo answers, WHAT?
There is a great pressure for passports to leave the country. Mr.
Benjamin writes an indignant letter to the Secretary against Gen.
Whiting, at Wilmington, for detaining a Mr. Flanner's steamer, laden
with cotton for some of the nationalities--Mr. B. intimates a foreign or
neutral power. But when once away from our shore, many of these vessels
steer for New York, depositing large sums "for those whom it may
concern."
Mr. J. B. Campbell, attorney for J. E. Hertz (Jew), writes a long letter
to "J. A. Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War," urging the payment of
the slight sum of $25,200 for ninety kegs of bicarbonate of soda seized
by the agent of the department! The true value is about $250!
At two o'clock this afternoon a note was received by the Secretary of
War from Lieut.-Gen. Longstreet (still in the city), stating that the
President last night desired him to go to Gen. Lee immediately; but the
general, during the day, has become convinced that he should not leave
the city until communications are re-established with Gen. Lee, and the
city in a condition of defense against the sudden dash of one or two
columns of the enemy--an event, he thinks, meditated by the Yankees! And
the persistency of the Federal cavalry in hanging round the city in
spite of all the generals here, and the many companies, battalions, and
regiments vainly sent out in quest of them, would seem to indicate such
purpose.
But the raids in the West don't seem to flourish so well. We have an
official dispatch from Gen. Bragg, stating that Gen. Forrest has
captured 1600 of the enemy's cavalry in a body, near Rome, Georgia.
There are amusing scenes among the horrors of war, as the following,
taken from a paper to-day, shows:
"_Taking the Oath under Protest._--A few weeks ago a laughable incident
occurred in the neighborhood of Nashville, which is worthy of record. A
saucy, dashing young girl, of the Southern persuasion, was, with a
number of other ladies, brought into the presence of Gen. Rosecrans, in
order that their Southern ardor might be checked by the administration
of the oath of loyalty. The bold, bright-eyed Juno in question, objected
to take the oath, saying that her mother had taught her that it was
unlady-like to swear; her sense of morality forbid her to swear, and
swear she could and would not. The officer insisted that the lady _must_
take an oath before she left his presence.
"'Well, general,' said bright eyes, 'if I must swear, I will; but all
sins of the oath must rest on your shoulders, for I swear on your
compulsion: "G--d d--m every Yankee to h--l!'"
"And the defiant beauty tossed her dark curls and swept out of the
presence unmolested."--_Nashville Union._
7 O'CLOCK P.M. The report that the bridge over the Mattapony had been
burned by the enemy was false--invented probably by a spy or emissary,
who has enjoyed the freedom of the city under the Dogberrys and Vergises
imported hither to preserve the government. A number of trains
containing our wounded men, guarded by a detachment of troops, have
arrived at the Fredericksburg depot. An officer just arrived from the
army says we have taken 15,000 prisoners. If this be so, the loss of the
enemy during the week in Virginia will not be less than 40,000. Our loss
in killed and wounded is estimated at from 8 to 10,000--we lost a few
hundred prisoners. We have taken, it is said, 53 guns, and lost 14.
I think the reports to-day of squadrons of the enemy's cavalry seen in
the surrounding counties are not reliable--they were probably our own
men in quest of the enemy.
MAY 8TH.--To-day the city is in fine spirits. Hooker had merely thrown
up defenses to protect his flight across the river. The following
dispatch was received last night from Gen. Lee:
"CHANCELLORVILLE, May 7th, 1863.
"TO HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT DAVIS.
"After driving Gen. Sedgwick across the Rappahannock, on the night
of the 4th inst., I returned on the 5th to Chancellorville. The
march was delayed by a storm, which continued all night and the
following day. In placing the troops in position on the morning of
the 6th, to attack Gen. Hooker, it was ascertained he had abandoned
his fortified position. The line of skirmishers was pressed forward
until they came within range of the enemy's batteries, planted
north of the Rappahannock, which, from the configuration of the
ground, completely commanded this side. His army, therefore,
escaped with the loss of a few additional prisoners.
"(Signed) R. E. LEE, _General_."
Thus ends the career of Gen. Hooker, who, a week ago, was at the head of
an army of 150,000 men, perfect in drill, discipline, and all the
muniments of war. He came a confident invader against Gen. Lee at the
head of 65,000 "butternuts," as our honest poor-clad defenders were
called, and we see the result! An active campaign of less than a week,
and Hooker is hurled back in disgrace and irreparable disaster! Tens of
thousands of his men will never live to "fight another day"--and
although the survivors did "run away," it is doubtful whether they can
be put in fighting trim again for many a month.
And the raiding cavalry have not been heard from to-day. If they be not
back on the north side of the Rappahannock by this time, it is probable
they will reach Richmond in a few days without arms, and on foot.
Gens. Hood's and Pickett's divisions (Longstreet's corps) are now
passing through the city--perhaps 15,000 of the best fighting men in the
South. Oh, what wisdom and foresight were evinced by Gen. Lee, when,
some ten days ago, he telegraphed the President to send him Longstreet's
corps, via Gordonsville! It was referred to the Secretary of War, who
consulted with Gen. Cooper--and of course it was not done. This corps
was not in the battle. If it had been on the field, Hooker's destruction
would have been speedy and complete; and his routed regiments would have
been followed to the very gates of the Federal capital. As it was, Lee
lost a day in driving Sedgwick back--and then Hooker "escaped," as Lee
expresses it.
I do not understand the Assistant Secretary of War's official
correspondence. He sent in the other day a letter addressed to him two
years ago to be filed--and to-day an envelope addressed to him as
Assistant Secretary by Mr. Benjamin, Secretary of State, merely covering
a letter (sealed) for R. S. Bunkee, Mobile, Alabama. Well, it is filed.
The pressure for permits to leave the Confederacy is not renewed to-day.
Judge Campbell will not have so many passports to "approve," and I trust
confidence in the permanency of the Confederacy will be unshaken. How
must they feel who, in anticipation of Lee's defeat, had received, in
advance, a pardon from the powers at Washington!
Col. Lay was in to-day; he thinks the North will be cheered a little by
their capture of Grand Gulf, in the West. But that is not Vicksburg, or
Charleston, or Richmond.
We have had short allowance of food yesterday and to-day; the country
people being afraid to come to market, lest their horses should be
seized to go in quest of the enemy's cavalry. My family dined to-day on
eight fresh herrings, which cost two dollars.
The trains from Fredericksburg brought down several hundred Federal
officers; among them was a general, a large number of colonels,
lieutenant-colonels, majors, captains, etc. These, when exchanged, as I
suppose they will be--for victory makes our government magnanimous--may,
if they choose, deny the report that the raiding cavalry destroyed the
railroad.
Now what will the _Tribune_ say? It did say, a few months ago, that if
the effort to crush the rebellion failed this spring, it would be
useless to prolong the war--and that peace should be made on the best
practicable terms. Since the beginning of the war, I doubt not 500,000
men have been precipitated upon Virginia. Where are they now? In the
third year of the war, we see "the finest army the world ever saw,"
overthrown by about half its numbers, and in full retreat toward its own
frontier. Perhaps 100,000 invaders have found bloody graves in
Virginia--and an equal number have died of their wounds, or from disease
contracted in this State. The number of maimed and disabled must also be
100,000--and yet Richmond is not taken, or likely to be. To invade and
subjugate a vast territory, inhabited by millions of warlike people, the
assailants must always have four times as many men as the assailed;
therefore we stand on an equal footing with the United States in this
war, and they may, if they be insane enough, protract it indefinitely,
and in the end reap no substantial benefit. On the contrary, the fortune
of war may shift the scene of devastation to their own homes. Perhaps
Lee may follow up this blow until he enters Pennsylvania.
MAY 9TH.--The papers contain the following order from Gen. Lee:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"May 7th, 1863.
"GENERAL ORDERS NO. 59.
"With heartfelt gratification, the General Commanding expresses to
the army his sense of the heroic conduct displayed by officers and
men, during the arduous operations in which they have just been
engaged.
"Under trying vicissitudes of heat and storm, you attacked the
enemy, strongly intrenched in the depths of a tangled wilderness,
and again on the hills of Fredericksburg, fifteen miles distant,
and by the valor that has triumphed on so many fields, forced him
once more to seek safety beyond the Rappahannock. While this
glorious victory entitles you to the praise and gratitude of the
nation, we are especially called upon to return our grateful thanks
to the only Giver of victory for the signal deliverance He has
wrought.
"It is, therefore, earnestly recommended that the troops unite on
Sunday next in ascribing to the Lord of hosts the glory due unto
His name.
"Let us not forget in our rejoicing the brave soldiers who have
fallen in defense of their country; and while we mourn their loss,
let us resolve to emulate their noble example.
"The army and the country alike lament the absence for a time of
one to whose bravery, energy, and skill they are so much indebted
for success.
"The following letter from the President of the Confederate States
is communicated to the army as an expression of his appreciation of
its success:
"'I have received your dispatch, and reverently unite with you in
giving praise to God for the success with which He has crowned our
arms.
"'In the name of the people, I offer my cordial thanks to yourself
and the troops under your command for this addition to the
unprecedented series of great victories which your army has
achieved.
"'The universal rejoicing produced by this happy result will be
mingled with a general regret for the good and the brave who are
numbered among the killed and wounded.'
"R. E. LEE, _General_."
The losses on either side are not yet relatively ascertained. Ours, in
killed, wounded, and prisoners, will probably reach 10,000. We have
taken about 10,000 prisoners; the enemy's killed and wounded is thought
to be 15,000 to 20,000. We have taken about fifty guns--and it is said
40,000 small arms, in good order. They did not have leisure to destroy
them as on former occasions. It was a complete and stunning defeat.
Gen. Jackson remains near Fredericksburg, and is doing well since the
amputation of his (left) arm. The wound was received, during the battle
by moonlight, from his own men, who did not recognize their beloved
general.
A letter was received to-day from Gen. Whiting at Wilmington, who
refuses to permit the "Lizzie" to leave the port, unless ordered to do
so. He intimates that she trades with the enemy. And yet Mr. Benjamin
urges the Secretary to allow her to depart! Commodore Lynch also writes
that the detention of the "Lizzie" is a prudential measure, as it is the
only steamer in port that could conduct our unfinished gun-boat to a
place of safety, should the enemy's fleet make a sudden attack on the
city.
The President (who still absents himself from the Executive Office, his
health being precarious) writes the Secretary to consult Gen. Lee before
detaching Gen. Jenkins's cavalry brigade from the West. It would have
been better if Gen. Lee's advice had been taken in regard to Gen.
Longstreet.
The men from the garrison at Drewry's Bluff, and the crew from the
steamer Richmond, were taken away to man the batteries around the city.
The President requests the Secretary to order them back at the earliest
moment practicable. It would be an ugly picture if our defenses at
Drewry's Bluff were surprised and taken by a sudden dash of the enemy up
James River.
The raid of the enemy's cavalry, after all, did little or no permanent
injury to the roads or canal. They are all in operation again.
It is said Lincoln has called for 500,000 more men. Numbers have now no
terror for the Southern people. They are willing to wage the war against
quadruple their number.
MAY 10TH.--Detachments of Federal troops are now marching into the city
every few hours, guarded by (mostly) South Carolinians, dressed in
home-spun, died yellow with the bark of the butternut-tree. Yesterday
evening, at 7 o'clock, a body of 2000 arrived, being marched in by way
of the Brooke Pike, near to my residence. Only 200 Butternuts had them
in charge, and a less number would have sufficed, for they were
extremely weary. Some of them, however, attempted to be humorous.
A young officer asked one of the spectators if the "Libby" (the prison)
was the best house in the city to put up at. He was answered that it was
the best _he_ would find.
Another passed some compliment on a mulatto wench, who replied: "Go
long, you nasty Abolition Yankee."
One of our soldiers taken at Arkansas Post, just exchanged, walked along
with the column, and kept repeating these words: "Now you know how _we_
felt when you marched us through your cities."
But generally a deep silence was maintained, and neither insult nor
indignity offered the fallen foe. Other columns are on the way--and how
they are to be subsisted is a vexatious question.
The Washington papers of the day preceding the first battle contain
Hooker's address to his army--how different from Lee's! It is short,
though:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,
"Camp near Falmouth, April 30th.
"GENERAL ORDERS NO. 47.
"It is with heartfelt satisfaction that the Commanding General
announces to the army that the operations of the last three days
have determined that our enemy must either ingloriously fly or come
out from behind his defenses and give us battle on our own ground,
where certain destruction awaits him. The operations of the 15th,
11th, and 12th corps have been a succession of splendid
achievements.
"By command of MAJ.-GEN. HOOKER.
"S. WILLIAMS, _Ass't. Adj't.-Gen._"
Another column of between twelve and fifteen hundred prisoners marched
in this afternoon. It is said a copy of the New York _Herald_ is in
town, which acknowledges Hooker's loss to be fully 40,000. There are
rumors, also, that our army in Tennessee has gained a great victory.
Rumors from the West have hitherto been so very unreliable, that I shall
wait patiently for the confirmation of any reports from that quarter.
MAY 11TH.--Lieut.-Gen. J. T. Jackson died at 3 P.M. yesterday. His
remains will arrive in the city at 5 P.M. this afternoon. The flags are
at half-mast, and all the government offices and even places of business
are closed. A multitude of people, mostly women and children, are
standing silently in the streets, awaiting the arrival of the hero,
destined never again to defend their homes and honor.
A letter from Gen. Lee says, emphatically, that if cavalry be not
brought from North Carolina and the South, the enemy's cavalry will be
enabled to make raids almost anywhere without molestation. I recollect
distinctly how he urged the Secretary of War (Randolph), months ago, to
send to Texas for horses, but it was not attended to--and now we see the
consequences.
The exchanged prisoners here, taken at Arkansas Post, are ordered to the
Mississippi. Gen. Longstreet urged the Secretary to send them off, if
that were their destination, without a moment's delay, several days
ago--else they would be too late to participate in the campaign.
Northern papers set down Hooker's loss at 20,000, a modest figure,
subject to revision.
The Federal Secretary of War has issued a statement to mollify the
panic. He is bound to acknowledge that, whereas Hooker advanced upon Lee
across the river, he is now, after the battle, back again, where he
started from. But he says not more than a third of the army was engaged;
and as 30,000 reinforcements have been sent from Washington, and as many
from Suffolk, the army will soon be as strong as ever, and in condition
for another advance--and defeat.
But what credit can we attach to such statements, since McClellan, under
oath, said that he had ninety odd thousand men at the battle of
Sharpsburg, 75,000 of whom only were actually engaged, while Lee had
100,000? We _know_ that he did not have 40,000 engaged!
Gen. Van Dorn is dead--being killed by a man whose peace he had ruined.
More applications for passports to leave the country are coming in--and
they are "allowed" by the Assistant Secretary of War. How could he
refuse, since his own family (at least a portion of it) have enjoyed the
benefits of sojourning in the North since the war began?
A letter was received to-day from Mr. Ranney, president of the N. C.,
Jackson, and Great Northern Railroad Co., asking the protection of
government from harm for violations of the Act of Congress of April
19th, 1862, prohibiting the transportation of cotton within the enemy's
lines. He incloses a number of peremptory orders from Lieut.-Gen.
Pemberton, dated January 19th, February 16th and 19th, to take large
amounts of cotton into the enemy's lines for S. J. Josephs (Jew?), and
for Messrs. Clarke, Ford, and Hust, etc. etc. He says Gen. P. threatened
to seize the road if he did not comply, and asserted that he had
authority from the Secretary of War to issue the orders. One of these
orders was from Gov. Pettus, for a small lot not more than fifty bales,
to be exchanged for salt. This was authorized by the President, who most
positively forbid the others. The letter from Gen. Johnston the other
day said this traffic was subjugating the people. Was that "allowed" to
reach the Secretary and the President? I know not; it has not yet passed
through my hands from the President back to the department.
MAY 12TH.--The departments and all places of business are still closed
in honor of Gen. Jackson, whose funeral will take place to-day. The
remains will be placed in state at the Capitol, where the people will be
permitted to see him. The grief is universal, and the victory involving
such a loss is regarded as a calamity.
The day is bright and excessively hot; and so was yesterday.
Many letters are coming in from the counties in which the enemy's
cavalry replenished their horses. It appears that the government has
sent out agents to collect the worn-down horses left by the enemy; and
this is bitterly objected to by the farmers. It is the corn-planting
season, and without horses, they say, they can raise no crops. Some of
these writers are almost menacing in their remarks, and intimate that
they are about as harshly used, in this war, by one side as the other.
To-day I observed the clerks coming out of the departments with chagrin
and mortification. Seventy-five per cent. of them ought to be in the
army, for they are young able-bodied men. This applies also to the
chiefs of bureaus.
The funeral was very solemn and imposing, because the mourning was
sincere and heartfelt. There was no vain ostentation. The pall bearers
were generals. The President followed near the hearse in a carriage,
looking thin and frail in health. The heads of departments, two and two,
followed on foot--Benjamin and Seddon first--at the head of the column
of young clerks (who ought to be in the field), the State authorities,
municipal authorities, and thousands of soldiers and citizens. The
war-horse was led by the general's servant, and flags and black feathers
abounded.
Arrived at the Capitol, the whole multitude passed the bier, and gazed
upon the hero's face, seen through a glass in the coffin.
Just previous to the melancholy ceremony, a very large body of prisoners
(I think 3500) arrived, and were marched through Main Street, to the
grated buildings allotted them. But these attracted slight
attention,--Jackson, the great hero, was the absorbing thought. Yet
there are other Jacksons in the army, who will win victories,--no one
doubts it.
The following is Gen. Lee's order to the army after the intelligence of
Gen. Jackson's death:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VA.,
"May 11th, 1863.
"GENERAL ORDERS NO. 61.
"With deep grief the Commanding General announces to the army the
death of Lieut.-Gen. T. J. Jackson, who expired on the 10th inst.,
at 3-1/2 P.M. The daring, skill, and energy of this great and good
soldier, by the decree of an all-wise Providence, are now lost to
us. But while we mourn his death, we feel that his spirit still
lives, and will inspire the whole army with his indomitable courage
and unshaken confidence in God as our hope and our strength. Let
his name be a watchword to his corps, who have followed him to
victory on so many fields. Let officers and soldiers emulate his
invincible determination to do everything in the defense of our
beloved country.
"R. E. LEE, _General_."
_The Letter of Gen. Lee to Gen. Jackson._
The letter written by Gen. Lee to Gen. Jackson before the death of the
latter is as follows:
"CHANCELLORVILLE, May 4th.
"GENERAL:--
"I have just received your note informing me that you were wounded.
I cannot express my regret at the occurrence. Could I have dictated
events, I should have chosen for the good of the country to have
been disabled in your stead.
"I congratulate you upon the victory which is due to your skill and
energy.
"Most truly yours,
"R. E. LEE.
"_To Gen. T. J. Jackson_."
"The nation's agony," as it is termed in a Washington paper, in an
appeal for 500,000 more men, now demands a prompt response from the
people. And yet that paper, under the eye and in the interest of the
Federal Government, would make it appear that "the Army of the Potomac"
has sustained no considerable disaster. What, then, constitutes the
"nation's agony"? Is it the imminency of war with England? It may be,
judging from the debates in Parliament, relating to the liberties the
United States have been taking with British commerce. But what do they
mean by the "_nation_?" They have nothing resembling a homogeneous race
in the North, and nearly a moiety of the people are Germans and Irish.
How ridiculous it would have been even for a Galba to call his people
the Roman _nation_! An idiot may produce a conflagration, but he can
never rise to the dignity of a high-minded man. Yet that word "Nation"
may raise a million Yankee troops. It is a "new thing."
The Northern papers say Charleston is to be assailed again immediately;
that large reinforcements are going to Hooker, and that they captured
_six or eight thousand prisoners_ in their flight on the Rappahannock.
All these fictions are understood and appreciated here; but they may
answer a purpose in the North, by deceiving the people again into the
belief that Richmond will certainly fall the next time an advance is
made. And really, where we see such extravagant statements in the
Federal journals, after a great battle, we are much rejoiced, because we
know them to be unfounded, and we are led to believe our victory was
even greater than we supposed it to be.
MAY 13TH.--Col. Gorgas, Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, sent in to-day
a report of the arms captured in the recent battle. It appears from his
statement that, so far, only eight guns have been found, taken from the
enemy, while we lost ten. Thus, it would appear, our papers have been
"lying," in regard to that item, as well as the Northern papers about
the number of prisoners lost and taken. But, so far, we have collected
12,000 of the enemy's small arms left upon the field, and 8000 of our
own, indicating the number of our killed and wounded. But the New York
journals say we captured only 1700 prisoners; whereas, up to this time,
more than 6000 have arrived in Richmond; 5000 of whom leave to-day,
paroled until exchanged. I doubt whether we lost 2000 prisoners in the
battle.
The Philadelphia _Press_, just received, charges the government at
Washington with circulating false reports, and is now convinced Hooker
met with a most crushing defeat.
It is rumored the enemy are disembarking troops at the White House, York
River. If this be so, it is to prevent reinforcements being sent to
Lee.
The Governor of Alabama declares that Mobile is neglected, and says he
will continue to protest against the failure of the government to make
adequate preparations for the defense of the city.
I saw Gen. Wise to-day. He seems weather-beaten, but hardy.
MAY 14TH.--We have been beaten in an engagement near Jackson, Miss.,
4000 retiring before 10,000. This is a dark cloud over the hopes of
patriots, for Vicksburg is seriously endangered. Its fall would be the
worst blow we have yet received.
Papers from New York and Philadelphia assert most positively, and with
circumstantiality, that Hooker recrossed the Rappahannock since the
battle, and is driving Lee toward Richmond, with which his
communications have been interrupted. But this is not all: they say Gen.
Keyes marched a column up the Peninsula, and took Richmond itself, over
the Capitol of which the Union flag "is now flying." These groundless
statements will go out to Europe, and may possibly delay our
recognition. If so, what may be the consequences when the falsehood is
exposed? I doubt the policy of any species of dishonesty.
Gov. Shorter, of Alabama, demands the officers of Forrest's captives for
State trial, as they incited the slaves to insurrection.
Mr. S. D. Allen writes from Alexandria, La., that the people despair of
defending the Mississippi Valley with such men as Pemberton and other
hybrid Yankees in command. He denounces the action also of
quartermasters and commissaries in the Southwest.
A letter from Hon. W. Porcher Miles to the Secretary of War gives an
extract from a communication written him by Gen. Beauregard, to the
effect that Charleston must at last fall into the hands of the enemy, if
an order which has been sent there, for nearly all his troops to proceed
to Vicksburg, be not revoked. There are to be left for the defense of
Charleston only 1500 exclusive of the garrisons!
MAY 15TH.--The Tredegar Iron Works and Crenshou's woolen factory were
mostly destroyed by fire last night! This is a calamity.
We have also intelligence of the occupation of Jackson, Miss., by the
enemy. Thus they cut off communication with Vicksburg, and that city may
be doomed to fall at last. The President is at work again at the
Executive Office, but is not fully himself yet. The Secretary of War
dispatched Gen. Lee a day or two ago, desiring that a portion of his
army, Pickett's division, might be sent to Mississippi. Gen. Lee
responds that it is a dangerous and doubtful expedient; _it is a
question between Virginia and Mississippi; he will send the division off
without delay, if still deemed necessary_. The President, in sending
this response to the Secretary, says it is just such an answer as he
expected from Lee, and he approves it. Virginia will not be abandoned.
Gens. Lee, Stuart, and French were all at the War Department to-day. Lee
looked thinner, and a little pale. Subsequently he and the Secretary of
War were long closeted with the President.
Gen. Schenck (Federal) has notified Gen. W. E. Jones, that our men taken
dressed in Federal uniform will not be treated as prisoners of war, but
will be tried and punished as spies, etc. The President directed the
Secretary of War to-day to require Gen. Lee to send an order to the
commander of the Federal army, that accouterments and clothing will be
deemed subjects of capture, and if our men are treated differently than
prisoners of war, when taken, we will retaliate on the prisoners in our
possession.
Gen. Longstreet censured Gen. French for his conduct before Suffolk, and
the Secretary of War proposed that French be relieved, and sent before a
court of inquiry. The President vetoed this, saying such courts were
nuisances, and would not have him molested at this critical moment.
Gen. D. H. Hill writes that desertions in North Carolina are alarmingly
frequent; that deserters will soon be in arms; that papers and factions
exist there in favor of reconstruction, laboring to convince the people
that the State has been neglected by the Confederate States Government,
and he suggests summary punishments. The President directs the Secretary
to correspond with Gov. Vance on the subject.
Mr. Benjamin has had some pretty passports printed. He sends one to
Assistant Secretary Campbell for a Mr. Bloodgood and son to leave the
Confederate States. I hope there is no _bad_ blood in this incessant
intercourse with persons in the enemy's country. Just at this crisis, if
so disposed, any one going thither might inflict incalculable injury on
the cause of Southern independence.
MAY 16TH.--It appears, after the consultation of the generals and the
President yesterday, it was resolved not to send Pickett's division to
Mississippi, and this morning early the long column march through the
city northward. Gen. Lee is now stronger than he was before the battle.
Gen. Pickett himself, with his long, black ringlets, accompanied his
division, his troops looking like fighting veterans, as they are. And
two fine regiments of cavalry, the 2d and 59th North Carolina Regiments,
passed through the city this morning likewise.
A letter was received from Gen. Beauregard to-day, again protesting
against the movement of so many of his troops to Mississippi; 5000 on
the 5th, and more than 5000 on the 10th instant. He makes an exhibit of
the forces remaining in South Carolina and Georgia--about 4000 infantry,
5000 cavalry, and 6000 artillery, some 15,000 in all. He says the enemy
is still on the coast, in the rivers, and on the islands, and may easily
cut his communications with Savannah; and they have sufficient numbers
to take Charleston, in all probability, without passing the forts. He
says information of his weakness is sure to be communicated to the
enemy--and I think so too, judging from the number of passports
"allowed" by Judge Campbell and Mr. Benjamin!
There is some purpose on the part of Gen. Lee to have a raid in the
enemy's country, surpassing all other raids. If he can organize two
columns of cavalry, 5000 each, to move in parallel lines, they may
penetrate to the Hudson River; and then the North will discover that it
has more to lose by such expeditions than the South. Philadelphia, even,
may be taken.
To-day, the regular train on the Fredericksburg road came back to the
city, the conductor being in a terrible fright, and reporting that the
enemy were again at Ashland. But it turned out that the troops there
were our men! It is not probable the enemy's cavalry will soon approach
Richmond again.
MAY 17TH.--The last few days have been cool and dry; fine weather for
campaigning. And yet we hear of no demonstrations apparently, though I
believe Lee's army is moving.
Mr. Lamar, of Savannah (formerly president of the Bank of the Republic,
New York), writes that he and others are organizing an Exporting and
Importing Company, and desires the government to take an interest in it.
So far the heads of bureaus decline, and of course the Secretary will do
nothing. But the Secretary has already engaged with Mr. Crenshaw in a
similar enterprise, and so informed Mr. Mason, at London.
About 10 A.M., some 2500 men of all arms arrived at "double quick,"
having left Ashland, eighteen miles distant, at 5 o'clock this morning.
That was brisk marching. The guns were sent down on the railroad. The
government has information that Gen. Keyes, with a full division of
infantry and a brigade of cavalry, had marched up to West Point, to
threaten Richmond. The troops, however, which arrived from Ashland, had
been taken from the batteries here, and did not belong to Gen. Lee's
army.
Messrs. Davenport & Co., Mobile, charge Gen. Buckner with permitting
1000 bales of cotton to be shipped to New Orleans.
The president of the Fredericksburg Road states, in a letter to the
Secretary, that, after the battle, by military authority, the cars were
appropriated by the Federal officers (prisoners), while our wounded
soldiers had to remain and await the return of the trains.
Hon. Mr. Dargin, of Alabama, writes to the Secretary, to procure from
the President a disavowal of the "organship" of the _Enquirer_, as that
paper, under the belief that it speaks for the government, is likely to
inflict much mischief on the country. He alluded to the bitter articles
against the Democrats and peace men of the North, who would soon have
been able to embarrass, if not to check the operations of the Republican
war party. He says now, that they will write against us, and deal
destruction wherever they penetrate the land.
MAY 19TH.--A dispatch from Gen. Johnston says a battle has been fought
between Pemberton and Grant, between Jackson and Vicksburg, Mississippi,
which lasted nine hours. Pemberton was _forced back_. This is all we
know yet.
Another letter, from Hon. W. Porcher Miles, remonstrating against the
withdrawal of Beauregard's troops, was received to-day. He apprehends
the worst consequences.
The government is buying 5000 bales of cotton for the Crenshaw scheme.
Jas. R. Crenshaw, of this city, is at Charleston on this business. Why
not arrange with Lamar?
Gov. Shorter forwards another strongly written memorial from Mobile,
against the traffic of cotton with the enemy, and, indeed, against all
blockade-running.
Gov. Jno. Milton, of Florida, also writes a powerful denunciation of the
illicit traffic, which it seems the policy of the government has been to
encourage. They all say this traffic is doing the work of subjugation
more effectually than the arms of the enemy.
The President is too ill again to come to the Executive Office. His
messenger, who brought me some papers this morning, says he is in a
"decline." I think he has been ill every day for several years, but this
has been his most serious attack. No doubt he is also worried at the
dark aspects in his own State--Mississippi.
If Vicksburg falls, and the Valley be held by the enemy, then the
Confederacy will be curtailed of half its dimensions. Texas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Arizona, New Mexico, all the Indian
country, Kentucky, half of Tennessee, one-third of Virginia, Eastern
North Carolina, and sundry islands, etc. of South Carolina, Georgia, and
Florida, will be wrested from us. What will remain of the Confederacy?
Two-thirds of Virginia, half of Tennessee, the greater part of North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and the whole of Alabama,--less than
six States! But still the war will go on, as long as we have brave
armies and great generals, whether the President lives or dies.
MAY 20TH.--Reports from the West say we lost 3000 and the enemy 6000 men
in the battle of the 15th inst., when Pemberton fell back over the Black
River. Our forces numbered only 12,000, Grant's three times that number.
Something decisive must occur before Vicksburg in a few days.
Mr. J. W. Henry writes from New's Ferry, that parties of cavalry, going
about the country, professing to belong to our Gen. Stuart's corps, are
probably Yankee spies making observations preparatory for another raid.
The city councils are organizing the citizens for local defense,
thinking it probable another dash may be made.
Gen. Dix threatens to hang the citizens of Williamsburg if they
co-operate with Gen. Wise in his frequent attacks on the Federals. Gen.
Wise replies, threatening to hang Gen. Dix if he carries his threat into
execution, and should fall into his hands, in a more summary manner than
John Brown was hung for making his raid in Virginia.
Butter is worth $4 per pound. A sheep is worth $50. A cow $500.
MAY 21ST.--There was a rumor on the street last night that Gen. Johnston
had telegraphed the President that it would be necessary to evacuate
Vicksburg. This has not been confirmed to-day, and I do not believe it.
It would be irremediably disastrous.
Mr. N. S. Walker writes from Bermuda, May 11th, 1863, that seventeen
additional British regiments have been ordered to Canada. A large amount
of ordnance and ordnance stores, as well as several war steamers, have
likewise been sent thither. He states, moreover, that United States
vessels are having their registers changed. Does this really mean war?
Strawberries were selling in market this morning at $4 for less than a
pint. Coal $25 per load, and wood $30 per cord.
MAY 22D.--A letter from Gen. Howell Cobb, declining the offer of the
Secretary of War, of the position of Quartermaster-General, was received
to-day. His wife is ill, and he prefers to remain with her; besides, he
doubts his qualifications--he, who was Secretary of the Treasury of the
United States! He says, moreover, referring to the imperfect ordnance
stores of his brigade, that there can be no remedy for this so long as
Col. G. is the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance. So Col. Myers is to be
disposed of at last, and Col. G. has but an uncertain tenure.
We have sad rumors from Vicksburg. Pemberton, it is said, was flanked by
Grant, and lost 30 guns, which he abandoned in his retreat. Where
Johnston is, is not stated. But, it is said, Vicksburg is closely
invested, and that the invaders are closing in on all sides. There is
much gloom and despondency in the city among those who credit these
unofficial reports. It would be a terrible blow, but not necessarily a
fatal one, for the war could be prolonged indefinitely.
I met with Robt. Tyler to-day, who offers to wager something that Gen.
Stuart will be in Philadelphia in a fortnight, and he said there was a
proposition to stop the publication of newspapers, if the President
would agree to it, as they gave information to the enemy, and at such a
time as this did no good whatever. He thinks they are on the eve of
revolution in the North, and referred to Gov. Seymour's letter, read at
a public meeting in New York.
MAY 23D.--The reports from Mississippi have not been confirmed by
official dispatches, and it is understood that the President remarked
yesterday, at dinner, that he was satisfied with the condition of
affairs in that State. If this be so, Vicksburg must not only be still
in our possession, but likely to be held by us at the end of this
campaign. The President, I know, feels a peculiar interest in that
State, and I learn by a letter from Tennessee, that on the 9th inst.
troops left McMinnville for the rescue of Vicksburg--a Texas brigade.
Cavalry continue to pass through this city from the south, while
infantry are passing to the south. These movements will puzzle the
spies, who are daily, and without difficulty, obtaining passports to
leave the Confederate States.
We have Northern papers to-day, containing Gen. Hooker's grandiloquent
address to his army, a few days after his flight. I preserve it here for
the inspection of the future generation, and to deter other generals
from the bad policy of publishing false statements.
"[Copy.]
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,
"May 6th, 1863.
"GENERAL ORDERS NO 49.
"The Major-General commanding tenders to this army his
congratulations on its achievements of the last seven days. If it
has not accomplished all that was expected, the reasons are well
known to the army. It is sufficient to say they were of a character
not to be foreseen or prevented by human sagacity or resources. In
withdrawing from the south bank of the Rappahannock, before
delivering a general battle to our adversaries, the army has given
renewed evidence of its confidence in itself, and its fidelity to
the principles it represents.
"In fighting at a disadvantage we would have been recreant to our
trust, to ourselves, our cause, and our country. Profoundly loyal
and conscious of its strength, the Army of the Potomac will give or
decline battle whenever its interest or honor may demand. It will
also be the guardian of its own history and its own honor. By our
celerity and secrecy of movement our advance and passage of the
rivers were undisputed, and on our withdrawal not a rebel returned
to follow. The events of the last week may swell with pride the
hearts of every officer and soldier of this army. We have added new
laurels to its former renown. We have made long marches, crossed
rivers, surprised the enemy in his intrenchments, and whenever we
have fought we have inflicted heavier blows than we have received.
"We have taken from the enemy five thousand prisoners and fifteen
colors, captured and brought off seven pieces of artillery, and
placed _hors du combat_ eighteen thousand of his chosen troops. We
have destroyed his depots filled with vast amounts of stores,
damaged his communications, captured prisoners within the
fortifications of his capital, and filled his country with fear and
consternation. We have no other regret than that caused by the
death of our brave companions; and in this we are consoled by the
conviction that they have fallen in the holiest cause ever
submitted to the arbitrament of battle.
"By command of
"(Signed) MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER.
"S. WILLIAMS, A.A.G."
To-day we have another official report from the Chief of Ordnance of the
fruits of our victory, as far as they have been gathered, though the
whole field has not been carefully gleaned, which I append as a
commentary on the statements of Hooker.
Five twelve-pounder Napoleons; 7 three-inch rifled guns; 1 Parrott gun,
ten-pounder; 9 caissons; 4 rear parts of caissons; 3 battery wagons; 2
forges; 1500 rounds artillery ammunition; large lot of artillery
harness; large lot of wheels, axles, ammunition chests, etc.; 16,500
muskets and rifles; 4000 cap pouches; 11,500 haversacks, and 300,000
rounds infantry ammunition. The report says thousand of our soldiers
helped themselves on the field to better arms, etc., which cannot be
computed.
Now for the prisoners. To-day the last lot taken by Hooker arrived by
flag of truce boat, making in all just 2700. We have already sent off
7000 prisoners taken from him, and 1000 are yet to go. Our killed,
wounded, and missing amount to but little over 8000. Hooker's killed and
wounded are admitted by the Northern papers to be 20,000, and some say
his entire loss was fully 40,000. So much for his march over the
Rappahannock and his flight back again. If he is not satisfied, Lee will
try him again.
MAY 24TH, SUNDAY.--We have had a fortnight of calm, dry, and warm
weather. There is a hazy atmosphere, and the sun rises and sets wearing
a blood-red aspect. At night the moon, dimly and indistinctly seen (now
a crescent), has a somber and baleful appearance. This is strange at
this season of the year; it is like Indian summer in May. The ground is
dry and crusted, and apprehensions are felt for the crops, unless we
have rain in a few days. My poor little garden has suffered for
moisture, but the area is so small I am enabled to throw water over it
in the evening. My beets, tomatoes, early potatoes, and lettuce look
pretty well, though not so far advanced, in consequence of the late
spring, as I have seen them in Burlington. But they are a great comfort
to me. I work them, water them, and look at them, and this is what the
French would call a _distraction_. I have abundance of roses,--this is
the city of roses. And my cherries are coming on finely,--I know not yet
what kind they are; but it relieves the eye to gaze on them. And then my
neighbor has a pigeon-house, and the birds come into my yard and are fed
by my daughters, being pretty and tame. I sit for hours watching them.
Alas! this cruel war! But independence will be ample compensation. Our
posterity will thank us for our sacrifices and sufferings. Yet all do
not suffer. The Gil Blases, by their servility and cringing to their
patrons, the _great_ men in power, and only great because they have
patronage to bestow, which is power, are getting rich. Even adroit
clerks are becoming wealthy. They procure exemptions, discharges, and
contracts for the speculators for heavy bribes, and invest the money
immediately in real estate, having some doubts as to its ultimate
redemption, and possibly indifferent as to the fate of the country, so
that their own prosperity be secure. After the war the rascals and
traitors will be rich, and ought to be marked and exposed.
MAY 25TH.--Dispatches from the West inform us that three attempts to
carry the city of Vicksburg by assault have been repulsed with heavy
loss. Johnston is on the enemy's flank and rear, engendering a new army
with rapidity, and if the garrison can hold out a little while, the city
may be safe.
Gens. Ewell and A. P. Hill have been made lieutenant-generals, and will
command Jackson's corps. It appears that the Senate has not yet
confirmed Hardee, Holmes, and Pemberton.
The Washington correspondent of the New York _Commercial Advertiser_
says Hooker's loss in killed and wounded amounted to "over 23,000 men,
and he left 24 guns on the other side of the Rappahannock." We got 8000
prisoners, which will make the loss 31,000 men, and it is said the
stragglers, not yet collected, amount to 10,000 men! Only 13 guns fell
into our hands, the rest fell--into the river!
MAY 26TH.--Reliable information of hard fighting at Vicksburg; but
still, so far as we know, the garrison of the invested city has repulsed
every assault made upon it. The enemy's losses are said to be very
heavy. Something decisive must occur there soon, and I hope something
calamitous to the enemy.
The President and the cabinet have been in council nearly all day. Can
they have intelligence from the West, not yet communicated to the
public?
We learn from Newbern, N. C., that gray-haired old men, women, and
children, who refused to take the oath of allegiance, have been driven
from their homes, on foot, despoiled of their property. Among these I
see the names of the Misses Custis, cousins of my wife. Gen. Daniels,
commanding our forces at Kinston, sent out wagons and ambulances to
convey them within our lines. They were on foot.
MAY 27TH.--Gen. Beauregard's statement of the number of his troops,
after 10,000 had been ordered to Mississippi, with urgent appeals for
the order to be countermanded, came back from the President to-day, to
whom it had been referred by Mr. Secretary Seddon. The President
indorsed, characteristically, that the statement did not agree in
numbers with a previous one, and asked the Secretary to note the
discrepancy! This was all.
The president of the Seaboard Railroad requests the Secretary to forbid
the common use of the bridge over the Roanoke at Weldon, the tracks
being planked, to be used in case of a hasty retreat; the loss might be
great, if it were rendered useless. It is 1760 feet long, and 60 feet
high.
Mr. John Minor Botts is here in difficulty, a negro being detected
bearing a letter from him to the enemy's camp. The letter asked if no
order had come from Washington, concerning the restoration of his slaves
taken away (he lives on the Rappahannock) by Hooker's men; and stating
that it was hard for him to be insulted and imprisoned by the
Confederate States--and deprived of his property by the United
States--he a _neutral_. Gen. F. Lee thought he ought not to be
permitted to remain in proximity to the enemy, and so sent him on to
Richmond. He was to see the Secretary to-day.
Hon. D. M. Lewis, Sparta, Ga., writes that he will cut his wheat on the
28th (to-morrow), and both for quality and quantity he never saw it
equaled. They have new flour in Alabama; and everywhere South the crops
are unprecedented in amount.
To-morrow is election day. For Congress, Col. Wickham, who voted against
secession, opposes Mr. Lyons. But he has _fought_ since!
We have a letter from Gen. Jos. E. Johnston, dated at Calhoun, Miss.,
16th inst. He says the enemy on the railroad at Clinton numbered 25,000.
We got our baggage out of Jackson before it was abandoned. Pemberton
marched to Edward's Station with 17,000 men. Gen. Johnston himself had
7500, and some 15,000 more were on the way to him. We had 3000 at Port
Hudson--being over 40,000 which he meant to concentrate immediately. I
think Vicksburg ought to be safe.
Our government has been notified that, if we execute the two officers
(selected by lot) in retaliation for the execution of two of our
officers in Kentucky, two men will be shot or hung by the enemy. Thus
the war will be still more terrible!
Vallandigham has been sent to Shellbyville, within our lines. I think
our people ought to give him a friendly greeting.
MAY 28TH.--There is some animation at the polls, this being election
day. It is said Mr. Wickham, who for a long time, in the Convention,
voted against the secession of Virginia, is leading Mr. Lyons, an
original secessionist, and will probably beat him. And Flournoy, an old
Whig politician, will probably be elected governor.
A dispatch from Gen. Johnston, dated yesterday, says in every fight, so
far, around Vicksburg, our forces have been successful, and that our
soldiers are in fine spirits.
Papers from the North have, in great headings, the word VICTORY, and
announce that the Stars and Stripes are floating over the City of
Vicksburg! They likewise said their flag was floating over the Capitol
in this city. If Vicksburg falls, it will be a sad day for us; if it
does not fall, it will be a sad day for the war party of the United
States. It may be decisive, one way or the other. If we beat them, we
may have peace. If they beat us--although the war will not and cannot
terminate--it may degenerate into a guerrilla warfare, relentless and
terrible!
MAY 29TH.--A dispatch from Gen. Johnston, dated 27th inst., says
fighting at Vicksburg had been in progress ever since the 19th instant,
and that our troops have been invariably successful in repulsing the
assaults. Other dispatches say the unburied dead of the enemy, lying in
heaps near our fortifications, have produced such an intolerable stench
that our men are burning barrels of tar without their works.
But still all is indefinite. Yet, from the persistent assaults of the
enemy it may be inferred that Grant is inspired with the conviction that
it is necessary for him to capture Vicksburg immediately, and before
Johnston collects an army in his rear. A few days may produce a decisive
result.
Hon. E. S. Dargan, Mobile, Ala., writes that it is indispensable for our
government to stipulate for aid from Europe at the earliest moment
practicable, even if we must agree to the gradual emancipation of the
slaves. He says the enemy will soon overrun the Southwestern States and
prevent communication with the East, and then these States (Eastern)
cannot long resist the superior numbers of the invaders. Better (he
thinks, I suppose) yield slavery, and even be under the protection of a
foreign government, than succumb to the United States.
The enemy, wherever they have possession in the South, have adopted the
policy of sending away (into the Confederate States) all the inhabitants
who refuse to take the oath of allegiance. This enables them to
appropriate their property, and, being destitute, the wanderers will aid
in the consumption of the stores of the Confederates. A Mr. W. E.
Benthuisen, merchant, sent from New Orleans, telegraphs the President
for passports for himself and family to proceed to Richmond. The
President intimates to the Secretary of War that many similar cases may
be looked for, and he thinks it would be better for the families to be
dispersed in the country than congregated in the city.
The following are the _wholesale_ prices to-day:
"PRODUCE, PROVISIONS, ETC.--The quotations given are wholesale.
Wheat--nothing doing--we quote it nominal at $6.50 to $7; corn, very
scarce, may be quoted at $9 to $10; oats, $6 to $6.50 per bushel;
flour--superfine, $32, extra, $34, family, $37 per barrel; corn-meal,
$11 per bushel; bacon, hoground, $1.45 to $1.50--a strictly prime
article a shade higher; butter, $2.50 to $3 per pound; lard, $1.50 to
$1.60; candles, $2.75 to $3 for tallow, $5 for adamantine; dried
fruit--apples, $10 to $12, peaches, $15 to $18 per bushel; eggs, $1.40
to $1.50 per dozen; beans, $18 to $20; peas, $15 to $18 per bushel;
potatoes, $8 to $10 per bushel; hay and sheaf-oats, $10 to $12 per cwt.;
rice, 18 to 20 cents per pound; salt, 45 to 50 cents per pound; soap, 50
to 60 cents per pound for hard country.
"LEATHER.--Market unsettled. We quote as follows: Sole, $3.50 to $4 per
pound; harness, $4 to $4.25; russett and wax upper, $5 to $5.50; wax kip
skins, $6 per pound; calf skins, $300 to $325 per dozen.
"LIQUORS.--We continue to quote apple brandy at $23 to $25; whisky, $28
to $32; French brandy--common, $45, genuine, $80 per gallon.
"GROCERIES.--Brown sugar, $1.40 to $1.55 per pound--no clarified or
crushed offering; molasses, $10.50 to $11 per gallon; coffee, $3.75 to
$4 per pound; tea, $8.50 to $10 per pound."
MAY 30TH.--The newspapers have a dispatch, to-day, from Jackson, Miss.,
which says the enemy have fallen back from the position lately occupied
by them in front of Vicksburg. It adds, that they will be forced to
retire to the Big Black River, for want of water. Gen. G. A. Smith, who
is here, and who resigned because he was not made lieutenant-general
instead of Pemberton, says he "don't know how to read this dispatch."
Nevertheless, it is generally believed, and affords much relief to those
who appreciate the importance of Vicksburg.
Mr. Botts was offered $500 in Confederate States notes, the other day,
for a horse. He said he would sell him for $250 in gold, but would not
receive Confederate notes, as the South would certainly be conquered,
and it was merely a question of time. This information was communicated
to the Secretary of War to-day, but he will attach no importance to it.
Among the papers sent in by the President, to-day, was a communication
from Gov. Vance, of North Carolina, inclosing a letter from Augustus S.
Montgomery, of Washington City, to Major-Gen. Foster, Newbern, N. C.,
found in a steamer, captured the other day by our forces, in Albemarle
and Chesapeake Canal. It informed Gen. F. that a plan of servile
insurrection had been adopted, and urged his co-operation. All the
Yankee generals in the South would co-operate: they were to send smart
negroes from the camps among the slaves, with instructions to rise
simultaneously at night on the 1st August. They were to seize and
destroy all railroad bridges, cut the telegraph wires, etc., and then
retire into the swamps, concealing themselves until relieved by Federal
troops. It is said they were to be ordered to shed no blood, except in
self-defense, and they were not to destroy more private property than
should be unavoidable. The writer said the corn would be in the
roasting-ear, and the hogs would be running at large, so that the slaves
could easily find subsistence.
The President thanked Gov. Vance for this information, and said our
generals would be made acquainted with this scheme; and he commended the
matter to the special attention of the Secretary of War, who sent it to
Gen. Lee.
MAY 31ST.--The commissioners, appointed for the purpose, have agreed
upon the following schedule of prices for the State of Virginia, under
the recent impressment act of Congress; and if a large amount of
supplies be furnished at these prices--which are fifty, sometimes one
hundred per cent. lower than the rates private individuals are
paying--it will be good proof that all patriotism is not yet extinct:
"Wheat, white, per bushel of 60 pounds, $4.50; flour, superfine, per
barrel of 196 pounds, $22.50; corn, white, per bushel of 56 pounds, $4;
unshelled corn, white, per bushel of 56 pounds, $3.95; corn-meal, per
bushel of 50 pounds, $4.20; rye, per bushel of 56 pounds, $3.20; cleaned
oats, per bushel of 32 pounds, $2; wheat-bran, per bushel of 17 pounds,
50 cents; shorts, per bushel of 22 pounds, 70 cents; brown stuff, per
bushel of 28 pounds, 90 cents; ship stuff, per bushel of 37 pounds,
$1.40; bacon, hoground, per pound, $1; salt pork, per pound, $1; lard,
per pound, $1; horses, first class, artillery, etc., average price per
head, $350; wool, per pound, $3; peas, per bushel of 60 pounds, $4;
beans, per bushel of 69 pounds, $4; potatoes, Irish, per bushel of 69
pounds, $4; potatoes, sweet, per bushel of 69 pounds, $5; onions, per
bushel of 60 pounds, $5; dried peaches, peeled, per bushel of 38 pounds,
$8; dried peaches, unpeeled, per bushel of 38 pounds, $4.50; dried
apples, peeled, per bushel of 28 pounds, $3."
CHAPTER XXVII.
Vicksburg refuses to surrender to Grant.--Spiritualism at the White
House.--Lee is pushing a little northward.--It, is said Grant has
lost 40,000 men.--He is still pounding Vicksburg.--Petty military
organizations.--Mr. Randolph busy.--Foolish passport rules.--Great
battle imminent, but speculation may defeat both sides.--Early's
victory.--We have only supplies of corn from day to day.--
Chambersburg struck.--Col. Whiting complains of blockade running
at Wilmington.--False alarm.--Grant still before Vicksburg.
JUNE 1ST.--Nothing decisive from Vicksburg. It is said Northern papers
have been received, of the 29th May, stating that their Gen. Grant had
been killed, and Vicksburg (though at first prematurely announced)
captured. We are not ready to believe the latter announcement.
Mr. Lyons has been beaten for Congress by Mr. Wickham.
It is said the brigade commanded by Gen. Barton, in the battle near
Vicksburg, broke and ran twice. If that be so, and their conduct be
imitated by other brigades, good-by to the Mississippi Valley!
Our people everywhere are alive to the expected raid of the enemy's
cavalry, and are organizing the men of non-conscript age for defense.
One of our pickets whistled a horse, drinking in the Rappahannock, and
belonging to Hooker's army, over to our side of the river. It was a very
fine horse, and the Federal Gen. Patrick sent a flag demanding him, as
he was not captured in battle. Our officer sent back word he would do so
with pleasure, if the Yankees would send back the slaves and other
property of the South not taken in battle. There it ended--but we shall
probably soon have stirring news from that quarter.
The Baltimore _American_ contains the proceedings of the City Council,
justifying the arrest of Vallandigham.
JUNE 2D.--We have a dispatch from Mississippi, stating that on Thursday
last Grant demanded the surrender of Vicksburg in three days. He was
answered that fifteen minutes were not asked; that the men were ready to
die--but would never surrender. This was followed by another assault, in
which the enemy lost great numbers, and were repulsed--as they have been
in every subsequent attempt to take the town.
A letter from our agent in London says H. O. Brewer, of Mobile, advanced
£10,000 in March last, to buy a steamer for the use of the Confederate
States.
Gen. Whiting writes from Wilmington, that a captured mail furnishes the
intelligence that the enemy have thirty-one regiments at Newbern, and he
apprehends they will cut the railroad at Goldsborough, as we have but
two small brigades to resist them. Then they may march against
Wilmington, where he has not now sufficient forces to man his batteries.
The general says he is quite sure that individual blockade-runners
inform the enemy of our defenseless points, and inflict incalculable
injury. He desires the Secretary to lay his letter before the President.
A circular from the Bureau of Conscription to the commandants of
conscripts says, the Assistant Secretary of War (Judge Campbell)
suggests that overseers and managers on farms be disturbed as little as
possible just at this time, for the benefit of the crops. But what good
will the crops do, if we be subjugated in the mean time? I thought every
man was needed, _just at this time_, on the field of battle.
The President rides out (on horse) every afternoon, and sits as straight
as an English king could do four centuries ago.
JUNE 3D.--Gen. Lee communicates to the department to-day his views of
the Montgomery letter to Gen. Forrest, a copy of which was sent him by
Governor Vance. He terms it "diabolical." It seems to have been an
official letter, superscribed by "C. Marshall, Major and A. A. G." Gen.
Lee suggests that it be not published, but that copies be sent to all
our generals.
Hon. R. M. T. Hunter urges the Secretary, in a lengthy letter, to send a
cavalry brigade into Essex and the adjacent counties, to protect the
inhabitants from the incursions of the "Yankees." He says a government
agent has established a commissary department within six miles of his
house, and it will be sure to be destroyed if no force be sent there
adequate to its defense. He says, moreover, if our troops are to operate
only in the great armies facing the enemy, a few hostile regiments of
horse may easily devastate the country without molestation.
Gov. Vance writes a most indignant reply to a letter which, it seems,
had been addressed to him by the Assistant Secretary of War, Judge
Campbell, in which there was an intimation that the judicial department
of the State government "lent itself" to the work of protecting
deserters, etc. This the Governor repels as untrue, and says the judges
shall have his protection. That North Carolina has been wronged by
calumnious imputations, and many in the army and elsewhere made to
believe she was not putting forth all her energies in the work of
independence. He declares that North Carolina furnished more than half
the killed and wounded in the two great battles on the Rappahannock, in
December and May last.
By the Northern papers we see the President of the United States, his
wife, and his cabinet are amusing themselves at the White House with
Spiritualism.
JUNE 4TH.--To-day we have characteristic unintelligible dispatches from
Mississippi. They say, up to third instant, yesterday, everything is
encouraging; but the Memphis papers say Grant's losses have not been so
large as was supposed. Then it is reported that Grant has retired to
Grand Gulf. Yet it is expected the town will be stormed in twenty-four
hours!
When Grant leaves Vicksburg, our generals will pursue, and assume the
aggressive in more directions than one. Lee has some occult object in
view, which must soon be manifest.
Major-Gen. D. H. Hill writes that if the enemy penetrates to the
railroad, a great many men in North Carolina will welcome them, and
return to their allegiance to the United States. The general wants
Ranseur's brigade sent him. He says Mr. Warren, one of the governor's
council, in a recent speech remarked, if the enemy got the railroad, it
would be a question whether they should adhere to the Confederate States
or to the United States. Does the general mean to alarm the authorities
here?
After a month of dry weather, we have just had a fine rain, most
refreshing to the poor kitchen vegetables in my little garden, which I
am cultivating with careful assiduity in hopes of saving some dollars in
the items of potatoes, tomatoes, beets, etc.
The crops of wheat, etc. south of Virginia, mature and maturing, are
_perfect_ in quality and unprecedented in quantity.
JUNE 5TH.--More unofficial dispatches from the Mississippi. It is said
Kirby Smith has defeated the enemy at Port Hudson; but how could his
army get over the river? It is also stated that Grant's losses have been
40,000, and ours 5000. Who could have computed them? But they go on to
say nothing has been heard from Vicksburg since Sunday, four days
previously; and that heavy firing was heard still on Thursday.
Lee's army is in motion--that means something; and it is generally
believed that Stuart is out on a raid into the enemy's country.
Mr. M. A. Malsby, a Georgian, disabled by a wound in the first battle of
Manassas, has published _one-half_ of my new "Wild Western Scenes;" the
balance to appear when he can get paper. He publishes 5000 copies of
about 130 pages. The paper costs nearly one dollar per pound, over $40
per ream. The printing costs $2 per 1000 ems. But then he retails the
pamphlet at $1.25, and pays me 12-1/2 cents copyright on each number
sold.
JUNE 6TH.--We have not even a rumor to-day from Mississippi. The
_Examiner_ has made a pretty severe attack on Judge Campbell, Assistant
Secretary of War, for the great number of persons he has "allowed" to
pass into the enemy's country. It does not attribute the best motives to
the Judge, who was late coming over to the Confederacy.
The British consul here, it seems, has been meddling with matters in
Mississippi, the President states, and has had his exequatur revoked.
Gen. D. H. Hill recommends the abandonment of the line of the
Blackwater, for Gen. Martin informs him that the enemy are preparing
their expeditions to cut our railroads in North Carolina. Gen. Hill
fears if the present line be held we are in danger of a great disaster,
from the inability to transport troops from so remote a point, in the
event of a sudden emergency. Gen. Lee refuses to let him have Ranseur's
brigade.
There are rumors of picket fighting near Fredericksburg, and Davis's
(the President's nephew) brigade, just from North Carolina, proceeded
through the city to-day in that direction. Shall we have _another_
great battle on the Rappahannock? I think it a ruse.
JUNE 7TH.--I saw yesterday a specimen of the President's elaborate
attention to the matter of appointments. Lieut.-Gen. A. P. Hill having
asked for a military court to his corps, and having recommended the
officers, the President, with his own hand, laid down the rule of
selection for the guidance of the Secretary, viz.: the State which had
the greatest number of regiments would be entitled to the choice of
positions, to be taken from the candidates of its citizens according to
qualifications, recommendations, etc. It appeared that North Carolina
stood first on the list, Virginia next, Georgia next, and so on.
Oh that we could get something decisive from Vicksburg! If Grant's and
Banks's armies should be destroyed, I think there would be some prospect
of peace at an early day. For, if Lincoln should persist in a
prolongation of the war, the probabilities would be the expulsion of the
enemy from the Mississippi Valley and the recovery of New Orleans. After
the fifteenth of this month, operations must cease on the Carolina and
Georgia coasts--Charleston and Wilmington being still in our possession.
But we should not be idle. Lee, in disdaining the sheltered army of the
invaders, would be likely to invade in turn; and the public demand of
retaliation for the cruelties and destruction of private property
perpetrated by the enemy could not be resisted. His men would probably
apply the torch to the towns and cities of the Yankees, destroying their
crops, farming utensils, etc., as the invaders have done in Virginia and
elsewhere.
To avoid these calamities, it is possible Lincoln would make peace.
Therefore we are so anxious to hear from Vicksburg, the turning-point of
the war.
Besides, we shall not please England by our treatment of her consuls;
and this may stimulate the United States to concentrate its wrath upon
its ancient foe.
JUNE 8TH.--Well, the enemy have thrown another column over the
Rappahannock, below Fredericksburg. This is probably a manoeuvre to
arrest Lee's advance in Culpepper County. But it won't do--Lee's plans
cannot be changed--and this demonstration was in his calculations. If
they think Richmond can be taken now, without Lee's army to defend it,
they may find their mistake.
The clerks and employees in the departments are organizing to man the
fortifications, should their aid be needed.
Hon. M. R. H. Garnett writes from Essex County that the enemy have had
Lawrence Washington, arrested in Westmoreland County, confined in a
prison-ship in the Potomac, until his health gave way. He is now in
Washington, on parole not to escape.
About 140,000 bushels of corn have been sent to Lee's army in May,
which, allowing ten pounds per day to each horse, shows that there are
over 20,000 horses in this army. But the report says not more than
120,000 bushels can be forwarded this month.
The press everywhere is opening its batteries on the blockade-runners,
who bring in nothing essential to the people, and nothing necessary for
the war.
The arrivals and departures of steamers amount to one per day, and most
of the goods imported are of Yankee manufacture. Many cargoes (unsold)
are now held in Charleston--and yet the prices do not give way.
JUNE 9TH.--There is rumor that the President has received bad news from
the West. This may be without foundation; but it is a little strange
that we are not in receipt of authentic accounts of transactions there.
Time, however, will reveal all things.
Lee is "marching on," Northward, utterly regardless of the
demonstrations of Hooker on the Lower Rappahannock. This is a good omen;
for no doubt the demonstrations are designed merely to arrest his
advance. Lee has, perhaps, 70,000 fighting men with him--leaving some
15,000 behind to defend Richmond.
The people in the "Northern Neck" have been much harassed by the
incursions of the invaders. I clip the following account from the _Whig_
of this date:
"Nearly every house was visited, and by deceptive artifices, such as
disguising themselves in Confederate gray clothes, stolen, or otherwise
surreptitiously obtained, they imposed themselves upon our credulous and
unsuspecting people; excited their sympathies by pretending to be
wounded Confederate soldiers--won their confidence, and offered to hide
their horses and take care of them for them, to prevent the Yankees
from taking them, who, they said, were coming on. They thus succeeded in
making many of our people an easy prey to their rapacity and cunning. In
this foray, they abducted about 1000 negroes, captured from 500 to 700
horses and mules, a large number of oxen, carriages, buggies and
wagons--stole meat, destroyed grain, and robbed gentlemen, in the public
road, of gold watches and other property. There are some instances
related of personal indignity and violence. They returned with their
spoils to camp, after a week devoted by them in the Northern Neck, among
our unhappy people, to the highly civilized, brave, and chivalrous
exploits of theft, robbery, and almost every species of felony committed
upon a defenseless, unarmed, and helpless population--chiefly consisting
of women and children! It was an easy achievement--a proud conquest--the
more glorious to the noble and heroic Yankee, because stained with crime
and won without danger to his beastly carcass."
This is but a fair specimen of their conduct whenever they have been
permitted to devastate the country with impunity.
A few days ago I addressed a letter to the Secretary of War, suggesting
that the department encourage voluntary organizations of non-conscripts
for local defense, and that they be armed with every superfluous musket
that the government may possess. If this be done, the army will not be
so much embarrassed by vehement calls to protect the people from raids
everywhere; and in the event of serious disaster, the people would still
make resistance. But an unarmed people would have no alternative but
submission. This plan would also effectually prevent servile
insurrections, etc.
To-day I received the reply, saying it would be done. But will the
_arms_ be distributed among them?
JUNE 10TH.--We have news of a fight on the Rappahannock yesterday, above
Fredericksburg, the enemy having crossed again. They were driven back.
There are also reports from Vicksburg, which still holds out. Accounts
say that Grant has lost 40,000 men so far. Where Johnston is, we have no
knowledge; but in one of his recent letters he intimated that the fall
of Vicksburg was a matter of time.
JUNE 11TH.--It appears that the enemy design to attack us. The following
is Lee's dispatch:
"CULPEPPER, June 9th, 1863.
"TO GENERAL S. COOPER.
"The enemy crossed the Rappahannock this morning at five o'clock
A.M., at the various fords from Beverly to Kelly's, with a large
force of cavalry, accompanied by infantry and artillery. After a
severe contest till five P.M., Gen. Stuart drove them across the
river. R. E. LEE."
We have not received the details of this combat, further than that it
was a surprise, not creditable to our officers in command, by which a
portion of ten regiments and 600 horses were taken by the enemy. We
lost, killed, also a number of cavalry colonels. We, too, captured
several hundred prisoners, which have arrived in the city. Of the killed
and wounded, I have yet obtained no information--but it is supposed
several hundred fell on both sides.
Still I do not think it probable this affair, coupled with the fact that
the enemy have effected a lodgment on this side of the Rappahannock
below Fredericksburg, and are still crossing, will frustrate any plan
conceived by Lee to invade their country. If, however, Lincoln
concentrates all his forces in the East for another attempt to capture
Richmond, and should bring 300,000 men against us--we shall have near
200,000 to oppose them.
The Northern Democratic papers are filled with the proceedings of
indignation meetings, denouncing the Republican Administration and
advocating peace.
JUNE 12TH.--A beautiful, bright warm summer day--and yet a little
somber.
The surprise of Stuart, on the Rappahannock, has chilled every heart,
notwithstanding it does not appear that we lost more than the enemy in
the encounter. The question is on every tongue--have our generals
relaxed in vigilance? If so, sad is the prospect!
But Vicksburg is the point of intensest interest and anxieties. Gen.
Johnston writes from Canton, Mississippi, on the 5th inst., in reply to
the Secretary, that he regrets such confidence is reposed in his ability
to save Vicksburg, and fears that such expectations will be
disappointed. Grant is receiving reinforcements daily--while he
(Johnston) is not to have more troops. He does not state the number he
has, but he says it seems to him that the relief of Vicksburg is
_impossible_. Pemberton will hold out as long as he can; but if Grant's
line be not broken, the fall of Vicksburg is only a question of time.
Grant's force (he continues) is more than treble his; and Grant has
constructed lines of circumvallation, and blocked up all the roads
leading to his position. To force his lines would be difficult with an
army twice as numerous as the one he (Johnston) commands. He will try to
do something in aid of the besieged--but it seems a _desperate case_. He
has not wagons and provisions enough to leave the railroads more than
four days. The track to Vicksburg is destroyed. It was his intention at
first to unite all the troops in his command--but it was impracticable.
So much for these lugubrious tidings. Nothing but a miracle can save
Vicksburg!
The Governors of Alabama and Mississippi unite in urging the government
to suppress both the foreign and border traffic. I fear it is too late!
There is a street rumor that the enemy have appeared on the
Chickahominy, and on the James River. If this be so, it may be to
embarrass Lee; or it may be a determined and desperate assault on this
city. We shall know very soon. But never before were we in such doubt as
to the designs of the enemy; and never before have they evinced such
apparent vigor and intrepidity. Yet, they know not what Lee is doing to
call them _home_.
JUNE 13TH.--Col. Baylor, of Arizona, has been heard from again. He
confesses that he issued the order to slaughter the Apaches in cold
blood, and says it is the only mode of dealing with such savages. The
President indorses on it that it is "a confession of an infamous crime."
Yesterday the enemy appeared on the Peninsula, in what numbers we know
not yet; but just when Gen. Wise was about to attack, with every
prospect of success, an order was received from Gen. Arnold Elzey to
fall back toward the city, pickets and all.
A letter from Gen. Holmes, containing an account from one of his scouts,
shows that the enemy's militia in Arkansas and Missouri are putting to
death all the men, young or old, having favored the Confederate cause,
who fall into their hands. These acts are perpetrated by order of Gen.
Prentiss. The President suggests that they be published, both at home
and abroad.
Mr. L. Heyliger, our agent at Nassau, sends an account of the firing
into and disabling the British steamer Margaret and Jessee by the United
States steamer Rhode Island, within a half mile of shore. Several
British subjects were wounded. This may make trouble.
Mr. J. S. Lemmon applied by letter to-day for permission to leave a
Confederate port for Europe. Major-Gen. Arnold Elzey indorsed on it:
"This young man, being a native of Maryland, is not liable to military
service in the Confederate States." Well, Arnold Elzey is also a native
of Maryland.
JUNE 14TH.--W----ll, one of the Winder _detectives_ that fled to
Washington last year, is back again. But the Mayor has arrested him as a
spy, and it is said a lady in the city can prove his guilt. Gen. Winder
wanted to bail him; but the Mayor was inexorable, and so W----ll is in
the jail, awaiting his trial. Two others, of Winder's police, have
likewise been arrested by the city authorities for some harsh treatment
of a citizen supposed to have a barrel of whisky in his house. The
justification offered is the jurisdiction of martial law, which Gen.
Winder still thinks exists, although annulled by Congress.
The company (of 104) organized in the War Department as independent
volunteers for local defense, being objected to by Gen. Elzey, because
they would not be subject to his command, was rejected by the President,
who insisted that the officers of the departments (civil) should be
mustered into the service under the act of August 21st, 1861, and are
subject to _his_ control, and liable to be attached to battalions,
regiments, etc., he appointing the field and staff officers. This was
communicated to the lieutenant of the company by the Secretary of War,
who stated also that the President required the names of all refusing to
reorganize on that basis _to be reported to him_.
There is an indefinable dread of conspiracy, and the President is right,
perhaps, to frown upon all military organizations not subject to his
orders. Mr. Randolph, late Secretary of War, has been very busy
organizing the second class militia of the city for "local defense,"
under the supposition that he would command them; but the President has
made a requisition for 8000 of this class of men, for the same purpose,
which will put them under Confederate orders, perhaps. A jealousy, I
fear, is growing up between Confederate and State authority. This when
the common enemy is thundering at all our gates!
JUNE 15TH.--The enemy have abandoned the vicinity of Fredericksburg,
falling back across the river, and probably retiring toward Alexandria,
or else they have taken to their transports, and intend making another
effort to capture Richmond. It is rumored that Gen. Ewell has taken
Winchester; but this, I think, is at least premature.
Certainly the government is taking steps to guard against a blow at
Richmond. All the civil officers (subordinates, only, of course) are
being mustered into the service for "local defense or special duty;" but
Gen. Elzey, the Marylander, it is reported, has said the "d----d clerks
have given me so much trouble, that I intend to keep them on duty in
such a way that they cannot perform their functions in the departments,
and so others must be appointed in their places." This would be in
violation both of the Constitution and several acts of Congress. Yet
they are to be mustered in this evening "for three years, or the war."
And the Secretary of the Treasury has announced that all who refuse to
volunteer are to be reported, by the President's command, and will be
removed. The President has intimated no such thing. Of course they will
_volunteer_. There is much censure of the President for "bad
faith"--most of the clerks being refugees, with families to support.
Mayor Mayo has refused to admit Gen. Winder's three policemen (all
imported) to bail, and they remain in prison; and Judge Meredith has
refused to discharge them on a writ of _habeas corpus_--resolving first
to test the validity of the martial law set up for them in their
defense.
I believe the government is acting on my suggestion to Col. Johnston,
A. D. C., in regard to searching blockade-runners, caught in the lines,
bearing sealed letters to the North. To-day the Attorney-General sent to
the department, for Mr. Seddon's approval, instructions to Confederate
Attorneys and Marshals to aid and co-operate with _M. Greenwood_, a
detective agent of the government. I think about the first men he
detects in treasonable practices will be Gen. Elzey and Gen. Winder's
detectives.
Mr. Vallandigham has been nominated for Governor of Ohio.
The following are the conditions upon which women and children can come
to the South, or go to the North, published in Washington and Baltimore:
"_First._--All applications for passes to go South must be made in
writing and verified by oath, addressed to Major L. C. Turner,
Judge Advocate, Washington, D. C., as follows:
"I, A---- B----, applicant for a pass to go to City Point,
Virginia, and now residing at ----, do solemnly swear that, if said
pass be granted, I will not take any property excepting my wearing
apparel, and that all the articles to be taken with me are
contained in the trunk or package delivered or to be delivered to
the quartermaster on the transport steamer on which I am to go to
City Point. That I have not been in any insurgent State, nor beyond
the military lines of the United States, within thirty days last
past. That I will not return within the military lines of the
United States during the present war, and that I have not in my
trunk nor on my person any papers or writings whatsoever, nor any
contraband articles.
"No person will be allowed to take more than one trunk or package
of female wearing apparel, weighing not over one hundred pounds,
and subject to inspection; and if anything contraband be found in
the trunk or on the person, the property will be forfeited and the
pass revoked.
"_Second._--A passenger boat will leave Annapolis, Md., on the
first day of July next, to deliver those permitted to go South at
City Point, and the baggage of each applicant must be delivered to
the quartermaster on said boat, at least twenty-four hours previous
to the day of departure for inspection.
"_Third._--Children will be allowed to accompany their mothers and
relatives, and take their usual wearing apparel; but the name and
age of each child must be given in the application.
"_Fourth._--Ladies and children desiring to come North will be
received on the boat at City Point and taken to Annapolis, and
every adult person coming North will be required to take and
subscribe to the oath of allegiance to the Government of the United
States before the boat leaves Fortress Monroe.
"L. C. TURNER, _Judge Advocate_."
JUNE 16TH.--We have nothing from the West to-day. But it is believed
that Hooker is retiring toward Manassas--that fatal field--where another
(and the third) battle may be fought. Lee's army is certainly on the
march, and a collision of arms cannot be averted many days. It is
believed Gen. Ewell, successor of Jackson, has beaten Milroy at
Winchester.
But, while terrible events are daily anticipated in the field, all the
civilians seem to have gone wild with speculation, and official
corruption runs riot throughout the land. J. M. Seixas, agent of the War
Department, writes from Wilmington that while the government steamers
can get no cotton to exchange abroad for ordnance stores, the steamers
of individuals are laden, and depart almost daily. This is said to be
partly the work of the "Southern Express Company," believed to be
Yankees (a portion of them), which contracts to deliver freight, and
bribes the railroads and monopolizes transportation. _This_ is the
company on whose application Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War,
granted so many exemptions and details! It takes a great number of
able-bodied men from the army, and then, by a peculiar process,
absolutely embarrasses, as Gen. Whiting says, the conduct of the war.
Judge Dargan, of Alabama, writes that private blockade-runners are
ruining the country--supplying the enemy with cotton, and bringing in
liquors and useless gew-gaws.
JUNE 17TH.--The city has been gladdened by the reception of this
dispatch from Gen. Lee:
"JUNE 15th, 1863.
"HIS EXCELLENCY, JEFFERSON DAVIS.
"God has again crowned the valor of our troops with success.
Early's division stormed the enemy's intrenchments at Winchester,
capturing their artillery, etc.
"(Signed) R. E. LEE, _General_."
Subsequent reports to the press state that we captured some 6000
prisoners, Gen. Milroy among them, 50 guns, and a large amount of
stores. If we caught Milroy, the impression prevails that he was hung
immediately, in accordance with the President's order some time since,
as a just punishment for the outrages inflicted by him on our helpless
old men, women, and children.
A sealed envelope came in to-day, addressed by the President to the
Secretary of War, marked "Highly important and confidential," which, of
course, I sent to the Secretary immediately without breaking the seal,
as it is my duty to do to all letters not private or confidential. I can
as yet only conjecture what it referred to. It may be of good, and it
may be of bad import. It may relate to affairs in the West; or it may be
a communication from abroad, several steamers having just arrived. _Can_
it be from the Government at Washington? I care not what it is, if we
hold Vicksburg.
The Commissary-General reports that he has some 8,000,000 pounds of
bacon, and quite as much salt and fresh beef at the various depots,
besides some 11,000 head of cattle. This is not a large amount for such
armies as we have in the field; but in the fall we shall have 10 per
cent. of all the products in the Confederate States as tax in kind. The
Commissary-General, however, recommends the following reduction of
rations: for men in garrison or batteries, a quarter pound of bacon per
day; in camp, one-third of a pound; and marching, half a pound.
Mr. James Spence, our financial agent in England, gives a somewhat
cheering account of money matters. He recommends the shipping of
$1,000,000 worth of cotton per week, which appears to be practicable. He
also advises the shipment of the few millions of gold the government
holds in this country to England; and Mr. Memminger approves it--in
boxes weekly, containing $75,000. If this were known, it could hardly be
accomplished, for such is the distrust of several members of the cabinet
that the people would revolt. They would believe the cabinet meant soon
to follow the gold. And some of our military commanders have no better
opinion of them than the people. Beauregard once stopped some bullion
ordered away by Mr. Memminger.
There is a rumor that Gen. Wise had a combat yesterday on the Peninsula.
But the operations beyond the Rappahannock, and approaching the capital
of the United States, must relieve Richmond of all immediate danger.
Mr. Lincoln says he is "making history;" forgetful of the execrable
figure he is likely to be in it. Our papers to-day contain the
following:
"_Yankee Cruelty; Forty-three Negroes Drowned._--One of the most
atrocious incidents of the whole war was yesterday related to us by a
gentleman of this city, who obtained the facts from Capt. Jas. G. White,
of King William County, who vouches for the accuracy of the statement.
Some days ago, when the Yankees made their raid to Aylett's, they
visited the place of Dr. Gregg, living in the neighborhood, and took
from their comfortable homes forty-three negroes, who were hurried off
to York River and placed on board a vessel bound Northward. Along with
these negroes, as a prisoner, was a gentleman named Lee, a resident and
highly respectable citizen of King William, who has since been released
and allowed to return to his home. He states that when the vessel
arrived in Chesapeake Bay, the small-pox made its appearance among the
negroes, that disease having existed to some extent among the same
family before they were dragged from their homes in King William. The
captain of the Yankee vessel and his crew were greatly alarmed at the
appearance of the disease on board, and very soon determined to rid the
vessel of the presence of the negroes. Without attempting to make the
shore, and not considering for an instant the inhumanity of the cruel
deed, the whole negro cargo was thrown into the bay, and every one left
to perish by drowning. Not one, perhaps, escaped the cruel fate visited
upon them by those who profess to be their earnest friends and warmest
sympathizers."
JUNE 18TH.--From Winchester we have many accounts, in the absence of
official reports (Gen. Lee being too busy in the saddle to write), which
have exalted our spirits most wonderfully. The number of prisoners
taken, by the lowest estimate is 5000,--the others say 9000,--besides 50
guns, and an immense amount of stores. Our own loss in storming the
fortifications was only 100 killed and wounded! Milroy, they say,
escaped by flight--but may not have gotten off very far, as it seems
certain that our one-legged Lieut.-Gen. Ewell (fit successor of Jackson)
pushed on to the Potomac and surrounded, if he has not taken, Harper's
Ferry, where there is another large depot of supplies. The whole valley
is doubtless in our possession--the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad--and the
way is open into Maryland and Pennsylvania. It is believed Hooker's army
is utterly demoralized, and that Lee is _going on_. This time, perhaps,
no Sharpsburg will embarrass his progress, and the long longed-for day
of retributive invasion may come at last.
Col. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance (Northern born), recommends that the
habit of issuing twenty cartridges extra to each of our men be
discontinued, and suggests that they be given three cartridges per
month, and all over that to be issued upon requisition of the commanding
general, on the eve of battle. But might they not, if this were adopted,
be liable to be caught sometimes without enough ammunition? He says
there is a deficiency of lead.
There is a rumor that the Secretary of the Navy sent an iron-clad out
yesterday, at Savannah, to fight two of the enemy's blockading squadron,
and that after an engagement of thirty minutes, our ship struck her
colors. If this be so, the people will wish that the Secretary had been
on the boat that surrendered.
A man by the name of Jackson a short time since obtained a passport
through our lines from Judge Campbell, and when a negro was rowing him
across the Potomac, drew a pistol and made him take him to a Federal
gun-boat in sight. He was heartily received, and gave such information
to the enemy as induced them to engage in a raid on the Northern Neck,
resulting in the devastation of several counties. These facts I got from
the President's special detective, Craddock. Craddock also informs me
that my communication to Col. Johnston was laid before the President,
who called in the Secretary of State and the Secretary of War, to
consult on some means of regulating the passport business, etc. He says
prompt measures will be adopted immediately.
Craddock also informs me that a Jew named Cohen, in this city, has been
co-operating with his brother living in the North, obtaining passports
both ways for bribes--and bribing the officials that granted them, much
to our detriment. This, perhaps, has alarmed the President; but if the
business of selling passports be lucrative, I despair of his being able
to put an end to it.
I see the enemy have destroyed the President's house, furniture, etc.,
in Mississippi.
I have good reason to suppose that the package marked "important," etc.,
sent from the President's office yesterday to the Secretary of War, was
the substance of a conversation which took place between Mr. Ould and
Mr. Vallandigham. What Mr. V. revealed to Mr. O., perhaps supposing the
latter, although employed here, friendly to ultimate reconstruction,
there is no means of conjecturing. But it was deemed "highly
important."
JUNE 19TH.--Gen. Lee telegraphs from _Culpepper Court House_ yesterday,
that Gen. Rhodes captured Martinsburg, Sunday, 14th inst., taking
several guns, over 200 prisoners, and a supply of ammunition and grain.
Our loss was only one killed and two wounded.
The Secretary of the Navy is in bad odor for ordering out the Atlanta at
Savannah to fight _two_ Federal steamers, to whom she surrendered.
There is nothing more definite or authentic from Winchester, except that
we certainly captured Milroy's army of not less than 5000 men.
To-day the government issued musket and ball-cartridges (forty to each)
to the volunteer companies raised in the departments for home defense.
If this does not signify apprehension of an immediate attack, it proves
at all events that Lee's army is not to be around the city as it was a
year ago--and that signifies his purpose to advance.
JUNE 20TH.--It has got out that the President intends to dispense with
the services of Mr. Myers, the Jew Quartermaster-General, and Mr. Miles,
member of Congress from South Carolina, who happens to be his friend, is
characteristically doing the part of a friend for his retention. But he
gives the President some severe raps for alleged contempt of the wishes
of Congress, that body having passed a bill (vetoed by the President)
conferring on Col. M. the rank and pay of brigadier-general.
The operations of Gen. Lee have relieved the depot here, which was
nearly empty. Since the capture of Winchester and Martinsburg, only
about 1500 bushels of corn are sent to the army daily, whereas 5000 were
sent before, and there were rarely more than a day's supply on hand.
To-day, about one o'clock, the city was thrown into a state of joyful
excitement, by the reception of news from the North. From this source it
was ascertained, what had hitherto been only a matter of conjecture,
that a portion of our forces, the same that captured Winchester and
Martinsburg, were in Pennsylvania! Gen. Jenkins, with his cavalry, had
taken Chambersburg on the 16th inst.--and the North, from the line of
Pennsylvania to the lakes, and from the seaboard to the western
prairies, was stricken with consternation. These are some of the
dispatches, as copied from Northern papers:
"The Governor of Ohio calls for 30,000 troops. The Governor of
Pennsylvania calls for 50,000, to prevent the invasion of each State.
"WASHINGTON, June 15th.--Lincoln has issued a proclamation for 100,000
men, to repel the invasion of Maryland, Northern Virginia, Pennsylvania,
and Ohio.
"HARRISBURG, June 15th.--Dispatches from Chambersburg and Hagerstown
state that the rebel cavalry are at Berryville and Martinsburg. A
dispatch dated 14th, says that hard fighting is going on. The rebels had
driven Reynolds from Berryville, and were advancing on the capital. The
towns and cities throughout Pennsylvania are in danger.
"LATER.--Private dispatches state that on the 16th the rebels were at
Chambersburg in force. The Federals were removing the railroad
machinery, stock, and stores. Great excitement and alarm pervaded the
entire country."
In the "hard fighting," Gen. Lee reports our loss as "one killed and two
wounded." Here's the second dispatch:
"SHELBYVILLE, TENN., June 18th.--Nashville papers of the 17th inst. have
been received here. They contain Lincoln's proclamation, calling for
100,000 militia, for six months' service, and the following highly
interesting telegrams:
"LOUDON, PA., June 16th.--The rebels are in heavy force in the
Cumberland Valley.
"BEDFORD, PA., June 16th.--Scouts report 6000 rebels at Cumberland,
Maryland. The inhabitants are flying for safety from Harper's Ferry.
"HARRISBURG, June 16th.--Business is suspended here. All the important
documents have been removed from the capital.
"Milroy telegraphs officially his repulse from the fortifications at
Winchester by 15,000 rebels, with the loss of 2900 men.
"Governor Curtin calls upon the people of Pennsylvania to defend the
State, saying that Philadelphia has not responded, while the enemy are
in Chambersburg. He reproaches Pennsylvania for sniffling about the
length of service when the exigency exists.
"Dispatches state that everything looks gloomy, and there is no saving
the country south of the Susquehanna.
"BALTIMORE, June 16th.--Governor Bradford calls on the people to rally
to the defense of Maryland.
"PROVIDENCE, R. I., June 16th.--Governor Smith convenes the Legislature
on Thursday for the purpose of raising troops.
"PHILADELPHIA, June 16th.--The Mayor has issued a proclamation closing
the stores in order that the occupants may join military organizations
to defend the city.
"NEW YORK, June 16th.--All the regiments are getting ready under arms.
The Brooklyn bells were rung at midnight, summoning the men to the
regiments, which were to leave immediately for Philadelphia.
"Governor Andrews, of Massachusetts, tenders Lincoln all the available
force of militia from that State."
Milroy's statement in relation to the number of prisoners taken by us is
pretty fair, when compared with Hooker's official statements on similar
occasions. Some of the prisoners will probably arrive in Richmond
to-day--and the Agent of Exchange has been notified that 7000 would be
sent on. So Gen. Milroy told nearly _half_ the truth.
Again:
THIRD DISPATCH.
"SHELBYVILLE, June 19th.--Other dispatches in the Nashville papers say
that the rebels advanced six miles beyond Chambersburg. On the 16th Gen.
Taylor telegraphs officially his retreat, and the capture of the Federal
forces at Winchester."
Later in the day the New York _Herald_ of the 17th inst. was received by
the flag of truce boat. I now quote from it:
"Fortifications are being rapidly erected all along the north bank of
the Susquehanna, and Gen. McClellan or Gen. Franklin has been called for
to head the State troops.
REPORTS FROM HARRISBURG.
"HARRISBURG, PA., June 16th.--Midnight.--Rebel cavalry to-day occupied
Littletown, eleven miles from Gettysburg, but at last accounts had not
advanced beyond that point.
"The rebel officers at Chambersburg stated that they were only waiting
for infantry to move forward. The authorities are inclined to believe,
however, that they will not move farther North.
"The farmers in the valley are sending their horses and cattle into the
mountains.
"The rebels are gathering up all the negroes that can be found.
"Private property has been respected.
"They burned the railroad bridge across Scotland Creek, six miles this
side of Chambersburg.
HARPER'S FERRY INVESTED.
"BALTIMORE, June 16th.--Fugitives from Hagerstown report the rebels
picketing all the roads and not permitting any one to pass.
"The force that passed through were all cavalry, under Jenkins and
Imboden, and did not exceed 2500.
"All was quiet at Frederick up to five o'clock this evening, though the
people were greatly excited and hundreds were leaving.
"HARRISBURG, June 17th.--The aspect of affairs, so far as can be judged
by the reports from the border, seems to be this:
"The rebel force occupy Hagerstown and such other points as leave them
free to operate either against Harrisburg or Baltimore.
"Apprehensions are entertained by the people of Altoona and other points
on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, that the rebels will strike
for the West, and then go back to their own soil by way of Pittsburg and
Wheeling.
"The fortifications constructed on the hills opposite Harrisburg are
considered sufficient protection for the city, and an offensive movement
on our part is not unlikely."
JUNE 21ST.--To-day we have an account of the burning of Darien, Ga. The
temptation is strong for our army to retaliate on the soil of
Pennsylvania.
JUNE 22D.--To-day I saw the memorandum of Mr. Ould, of the conversation
held with Mr. Vallandigham, for file in the archives. He says if we _can
only hold out_ this year that the peace party of the North would sweep
the Lincoln dynasty out of political existence. He seems to have thought
that our cause was sinking, and feared we would submit, which would, of
course, be ruinous to his party! But he advises strongly against any
invasion of Pennsylvania, for that would unite all parties at the North,
and so strengthen Lincoln's hands that he would be able to crush all
opposition, and trample upon the constitutional rights of the people.
Mr. V. said nothing to indicate that either he or the party had any
other idea than that the Union would be reconstructed under Democratic
rule. The President indorsed, with his own pen, on this document, that,
in regard to invasion of the North, experience proved the contrary of
what Mr. V. asserted. But Mr. V. is for restoring the Union, amicably,
of course, and if it cannot be so done, then possibly he is in favor of
recognizing our independence. He says any reconstruction which is not
voluntary on our part, would soon be followed by another separation, and
a worse war than the present one.
The President received a dispatch to-day from Gen. Johnston, stating
that Lt.-Gen. Kirby Smith had taken Milliken's Bend. This is important,
for it interferes with Grant's communications.
Gov. Shorter writes that a company near Montgomery, Ala., have invented
a mode of manufacturing cotton and woolen handcards, themselves making
the steel and wire, and in a few weeks will be turning out from 800 to
1000 pairs of cards per week. This will be a great convenience to the
people.
Gen. Whiting writes that the river at Wilmington is so filled with the
ships of private blockade-runners that the defense of the harbor is
interfered with. These steamers are mostly filled with Yankee goods, for
which they take them cotton, in the teeth of the law. He pronounces this
business most execrable, as well as injurious to the cause. He desires
the President to see his letter, and hopes he may be instructed to seize
the steamers and cargoes arriving belonging to Yankees and freighted
with Yankee goods.
It is a difficult matter to subsist in this city now. Beef is $1 and
bacon $1.65 per pound, and just at this time there are but few
vegetables. Old potatoes are gone, and the new have not yet come. A
single cabbage, merely the leaves, no head, sells for a dollar, and this
suffices not for a dinner for my family.
My little garden has produced nothing yet, in consequence of the
protracted dry weather. But we have, at last, abundant rains. To-day I
found several long pieces of rusty wire, and these I have affixed
horizontally to the wood-house and to the fence, intending to lead the
lima beans up to them by strings, which I will fasten to switches stuck
between the plants. My beets will soon be fit to eat, and so will the
squashes. But the potatoes do not yet afford a cheering prospect. The
tomatoes, however, are coming on finely, and the cherries are nearly
ripe. A lady has sent me 50 cabbage plants to set out, and two dozen red
peppers. Every foot of my ground is occupied, and there is enough to
afford me some exercise every afternoon.
JUNE 23D.--From the army on the Potomac we have a dispatch from Lee,
saying there have been several cavalry engagements during the last week,
wherein our arms were successful. Lee will soon electrify us with
another movement of his grand army,--such is the general belief.
From the West we learn that on Saturday last, Grant, no doubt driven to
desperation by our occupation of Milliken's Bend cutting off his
supplies and reinforcements, made a more furious attempt than ever to
take Vicksburg by assault, and was repulsed disastrously. His loss is
estimated at between 7000 and 10,000 men. Pemberton is now greatly
praised by many people, while some of our officers shake their heads and
say he is fighting with the halter around his neck, and that if he were
_not_ to fight and hold out to the last, his own men would hang him.
Notwithstanding the immense amount of goods brought in daily, the prices
keep high.
JUNE 24TH.--We have nothing additional from Vicksburg or from the
Potomac, but there is a rumor of fighting near Leesburg.
The first installment of Winchester prisoners reached the city
yesterday, 1600 in number, and there are over 4000 more on the way. So
much for Milroy's 2000 or 3000!
To-day the President desired the Secretary of War to send him all the
correspondence with Gen. Johnston, as he intends to write him a
confidential letter touching reinforcements, and he wishes to inform him
of the military situation of affairs everywhere.
This afternoon some excitement prevails in the city, caused by a
notification of the Governor placarded at the corner of the streets,
calling on the citizens to assemble at the Capitol Square at 7 o'clock
P.M., and announcing that reliable information has been received of the
landing of the enemy (how many is not stated) at Brandon, on the James
River, and at the White House, on the York, some thirty-five miles
below. There was also a meeting of the clerks of the departments, and
it was agreed that at the sounding of the tocsin they should assemble
(day or night) with arms at their respective offices.
This may be another Pawnee alarm of the government, and it may be the
wolf. If some 30,000 of the enemy's troops make a dash at Richmond now,
they may take it. But it will, of course, be defended with what means we
have, to the last extremity.
Still, I think it nothing more than a strategical movement to save
Washington or to embarrass Lee's operations, and it will fail to retard
his movement. We shall soon see what it is.
JUNE 25TH.--The excitement has subsided. No doubt small detachments of
the enemy were seen at the places indicated, and Gen. Elzey (who some
say had been drinking) alarmed the Governor with a tale of horror. The
reports came through Gen. Winder's detectives, one-half of whom would
rather see the enemy here than not, and will serve the side that pays
most. Yet, we should be prepared.
I saw an indorsement by the President to-day, that foreigners should
give guarantees of neutrality or be sent out of the city.
Nothing from Lee.
JUNE 27TH.--An officer of the Signal Corps reported, yesterday, the
force of Gen. Keyes, on the Peninsula, at 6000. To-day we learn that the
enemy is in possession of Hanover Junction, cutting off communication
with both Fredericksburg and Gordonsville. A train was coming down the
Central Road with another installment of the Winchester prisoners (some
4000 having already arrived, now confined on Belle Island, opposite the
city), but was stopped in time, and sent back.
Gen. Elzey had just ordered away a brigade from Hanover Junction to
Gordonsville, upon which it was alleged another raid was projected. What
admirable manoeuvring for the benefit of the enemy!
Gen. D. H. Hill wrote, yesterday, that we had no troops on the
Blackwater except cavalry. I hope he will come here and take command.
Gen. Whiting has arrested the Yankee crew of the Arabian, at Wilmington.
It appears that she is owned by New Yorkers, sailed from New York, and
has a Yankee cargo!
Capt. Maury writes from London that R. J. Walker, once a fire-and-fury
Mississippi Senator (but Yankee-born), is in Europe trying to borrow
£50,000,000 for the United States. Capt. Maury says the British
Government will not willingly let us have another "Alabama;" but that it
is also offended at the United States for the atrocities of Wilkes, and
this may lead to war. The war, however, would not be intended as a
diversion in our behalf.
Nothing is heard to-day from Lee, except what appears in Northern papers
several days old, when our troops were occupying Hagerstown, Cumberland,
etc., in Maryland, and foraging pretty extensively in Pennsylvania.
Nothing from Vicksburg.
Just as I apprehended! The brigade ordered away from Hanover to
Gordonsville, upon a wild-goose chase, had not been gone many hours
before some 1200 of the enemy's cavalry appeared there, and burnt the
bridges which the brigade had been guarding! This is sottishness, rather
than generalship, in our local commanders.
A regiment was sent up when firing was heard (the annihilation of our
weak guard left at the bridges) and arrived just two hours too late. The
enemy rode back, with a hundred mules they had captured, getting under
cover of their gun-boats.
To-day, it is said, Gen. Elzey is relieved, and Gen. Ransom, of North
Carolina, put in command; also, that Custis Lee (son of Gen. R. E. Lee)
has superseded Gen. Winder. I hope this has been done. Young Lee has
certainly been commissioned a brigadier-general. His brother, Brig.-Gen.
W. H. F. Lee, wounded in a late cavalry fight, was taken yesterday by
the enemy at Hanover Court House.
Gen. Whiting's letter about the "Arabian" came back from the President,
to-day, indorsed that, as Congress did not prohibit private
blockade-running, he wouldn't interfere. So, this is to be the settled
policy of the government.
This morning the President sent a letter to the Secretary of War,
requesting him to direct all mounted officers--some fifty A. A. G.'s and
A. D.'s--to report to him for duty around the city. Good! These
gentlemen ought to be in the saddle instead of being sheltered from
danger in the bureaus.
3 O'CLOCK P.M.--Three proclamations have just been issued! One (a joint
one) from the President and the Governor, calling upon everybody to
organize themselves into companies, battalions, and regiments, when they
will be armed. They say "no time is to be lost, the danger is great."
The Mayor, in his document, warns the people in time to avoid the fate
of New Orleans. He says the enemy is advancing on the city, and may
assail it before Monday morning. This is Saturday. The third
proclamation is by E. B. Robinson, one of my printers, twenty years ago,
at Washington. He calls upon all natives of Maryland and the District of
Columbia to report to him, and he will lead them against the enemy, and
redeem them from the imputation of skulking or disloyalty cast upon poor
refugees by the flint-hearted Shylocks of Richmond, who have extorted
all their money from them.
Besides these inflammatory documents, the militia colonels have out
notices for all men under forty-five years of age to meet in Broad
Street to-morrow, Sunday.
I learn, however, that there are some 25,000 or 30,000 of the enemy at
Yorktown; but if we can get together 12,000 fighting men, in the next
twenty-four hours, to man the fortifications, there will not be much use
for the militia and the clerks of the departments, more than as an
internal police force. But I am not quite sure we can get that number.
JUNE 28TH.--By order of Brig.-Gen. G. W. Custis Lee, the department
companies were paraded to-day, armed and equipped. These, with the
militia in the streets (armed by the government to-day), amounted to
several thousand efficient men for the batteries and for guard duty.
They are to rendezvous, with blankets, provisions, etc., upon the
sounding of the tocsin. I learn that 8000 men in the hospitals within
convenient reach of the city, including those in the city, can be
available for defense in an emergency. They cannot march, but they can
fight. These, with Hill's division, will make over 20,000 men; an ample
force to cope with the enemy on the Peninsula. It has been a cool,
cloudy day (we have had copious rains recently), else the civilians
could not have stood several hours exercise so well. A little practice
will habituate them by degrees to the harness of war. No one doubts that
they will fight, when the time for blows arrives. Gen. Jenkins has just
arrived, with his brigade, from the south side of the James River.
I was in the arsenal to-day, and found an almost unlimited amount of
arms.
We get not a word from Gen. Lee. This, I think, augurs well, for bad
news flies fast. No doubt we shall soon hear something from the Northern
papers. They are already beginning to magnify the ravages of our army on
_their_ soil: but our men are incapable of retaliating, to the full
extent, such atrocities as the following, on the Blackwater, near
Suffolk, which I find in the Petersburg _Express_:
"Mr. Smith resided about one mile from the town, a well-to-do farmer,
having around him an interesting family, the eldest one a gallant young
man in the 16th Virginia Regiment. When Gen. Longstreet invested Suffolk
a sharp artillery and infantry skirmish took place near Mr. Smith's
residence, and many balls passed through his house. The Yankees finally
advanced and fired the houses, forcing the family to leave. Mrs. Smith,
with her seven children, the youngest only ten months old, attempted to
escape to the woods and into the Confederate lines, when she was fired
upon by the Yankee soldiers, and a Minié-ball entering her limb just
below the hip, she died in thirty minutes from the loss of blood. The
children, frightened, hid themselves in the bushes, while Mr. Smith sat
down upon the ground by his wife, to see her breathe her last. After she
had been dead for some time, the Yankee commander permitted him to take
a cart, and, with no assistance except one of his children, he put the
dead body in the cart and carried it into the town. On his arrival in
town, he was not permitted to take the remains of his wife to her
brother's residence until he had first gone through the town to the
Provost Marshal's office and obtained permission. On his arrival at the
Provost Marshal's office, he was gruffly told to take his wife to the
graveyard and bury her. He carried her to her brother's, John R. Kilby,
Esq., and a few friends prepared her for burial; Mr. Kilby not being
allowed to leave the house, or to attend the remains of his sister to
the graveyard.
"Nor did the cruelty of the fiends stop here. Mr. Smith was denied the
privilege of going in search of his little children, and for four days
and nights they wandered in the woods and among the soldiers without
anything to eat or any place to sleep. The baby was taken up by a
colored woman and nursed until some private in the Yankee army, with a
little better heart than his associates, took it on his horse and
carried it to town. Mr. Smith is still in the lines of the enemy, his
house and everything else he had destroyed, and his little children
cared for by his friends.
"Will not the Confederate soldiers now in Pennsylvania remember such
acts of cruelty and barbarism? Will not the Nansemond companies remember
it? And will not that gallant boy in the 16th Regiment remember his
mother's fate, and take vengeance on the enemy? Will not such a cruel
race of people eventually reap the fruit of their doings? God grant that
they may."
SUNDAY AFTERNOON.--There are two reports of important events current in
the streets: first, that Lee's army has taken and destroyed Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania; and second, that Vicksburg has fallen. I am not prepared
to credit either, although the first is said to be true by no less a
person than Gov. Letcher. And yet one or both may be confirmed
to-morrow; and if so, that is, if Vicksburg has fallen, and Lee should
retire, as he must sooner or later, there will be a dark and desponding
season in the Confederacy. But the war will go on.
JUNE 29TH.--There is no confirmation of the report of the fall of
Vicksburg, but it may be so; nor is it certain that we have advanced to
Harrisburg, but it is probable.
Gen. D. H. Hill writes (on Saturday) from Petersburg that 40,000 of the
enemy could not take Richmond; but this may be fishing for the command.
He says if Gen. Dix comes this way, he would make him a subject of the
cartel of exchange which he (Dix) had a hand in negotiating.
J. M. Botts writes, from his farm in Culpepper, that our men are
quartered on his premises, and do as much injury as _a_ hostile army
could. _He_ is neutral. They pay him ten cents per day for the grazing
of each horse.
The Commissary-General is again recommending the procuring of bacon from
within the enemy's lines, in exchange for cotton. Why not get meat from
the enemy's country for nothing?
Hon. R. M. T. Hunter writes to the Secretary of War to let the
Quartermaster-General alone, that he is popular with Congress, and that
his friends are active. It might be dangerous to remove him; the
President had better commission him a brigadier-general. He says Judge
Campbell wants the President to go to Mississippi; this, Mr. H. is
opposed to. Mr. H. is willing to trust Johnston, has not lost confidence
in him, etc. And he tells the Secretary to inform the President how
much he (H.) esteems him (the President).
The New York _Times_ publishes an account of one of their raids on the
Peninsula, below this city, as follows:
"Within the past three days a most daring raid has been made into one of
the richest portions of the enemy's country, and the success was equal
to the boldness of the undertaking.
"The expedition, which was conducted by both land and water, was
commanded by Col. Kilpatrick. It started from the headquarters of Gen.
Keyes on Wednesday, and returned yesterday. In the interim the Counties
of Matthews and Gloucester were scoured. All the warehouses containing
grain were sacked, the mills burned, and everything that could in any
way aid the rebels were destroyed or captured. Three hundred horses, two
hundred and fifty head of cattle, two hundred sheep, and one hundred
mules, together with a large number of contrabands, were brought back by
the raiders.
"The rebel farmers were all taken by surprise. They had not expected a
demonstration of the kind. Not only were they made to surrender
everything that could be of the least use to us, but they were compelled
to be silent spectators to the destruction of their agricultural
implements."
No doubt we shall soon have some account in the Northern papers of _our_
operations in this line, in their country.
JUNE 30TH.--Dispatches from the West show that we still held Vicksburg
at the last dates; and, moreover, Gen. Taylor (son of Zachary Taylor)
had stormed and taken the enemy's fortifications at Berwick's Bay, with
the bayonet. We took 1000 prisoners, 10 large cannon, and many stores.
Also that we had taken Thibbodauxville, and have thus cut off Banks from
New Orleans.
5 O'CLOCK P.M.--The city is now in good humor, but not wild with
exultation. We have what seems pretty authentic intelligence of the
taking of HARRISBURG, the capital of Pennsylvania, the City of YORK,
etc. etc. This comes on the flag of truce boat, and is derived from the
enemy themselves. Lee will not descend to the retaliation instigated by
petty malice; but proclaim to the inhabitants that all we desire is
PEACE, not conquest.
From Vicksburg we have further information that, in springing his mine,
Grant destroyed hundreds of his own men, and did us no injury. Also
that a battery we have above Vicksburg had fired into some passing
transports, doing great damage to life and boats. The troops landed, and
failed to take the battery by assault, losing hundreds in addition.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Enemy threatening Richmond.--The city is safe.--Battle of Gettysburg.--
Great excitement.--Yankees in great trouble.--Alas! Vicksburg has
fallen.--President is sick.--Grant marching against Johnston at
Jackson.--Fighting at that place.--Yankees repulsed at Charleston.--
Lee and Meade facing each other.--Pemberton surrenders his whole
army.--Fall of Port Hudson.--Second class conscripts called for.--
Lee has got back across the Potomac.--Lincoln getting fresh troops.--
Lee writes that he cannot be responsible if the soldiers fail for
want of food.--Rumors of Grant coming East.--Pemberton in bad odor.--
Hon. W. L. Yancey is dead.
JULY 1ST.--The intelligence of the capture of Harrisburg and York, Pa.,
is so far confirmed as to be admitted by the officers of the Federal
flag of truce boat that came up to City Point yesterday.
Of the movements of Hooker's army, we have the following information:
"HEADQUARTERS, CAVALRY DIVISION,
"June 27th, 1863.
"GENERAL:--I took possession of Fairfax C. H. this morning at nine
o'clock, together with a large quantity of stores. The main body of
Hooker's army has gone toward Leesburg, except the garrison of
Alexandria and Washington, which has retreated within the
fortifications.
"Very respectfully,
"Your obedient servant,
"J. E. B. STUART, _Major-General_."
The Northern papers say that our cruiser Tacony, taken from them, has
destroyed twenty-two of their vessels since the 12th inst.; but that our
men burnt her at last. Her crew then entered Portland, Maine, and cut
out the steam cutter Caleb Cushing, which they subsequently blew up, and
then were themselves taken prisoner.
The President has decided that the obstructions below the city shall not
be opened for the steam iron-clad Richmond to go out, until another
iron-clad be in readiness to accompany her.
Capt. Maury, at Mobile, writes that the two iron-clads, Trent and
Nashville, now ready for sea, might take New Orleans and _keep it_. The
President directs the Secretary of War to consult the Secretary of the
Navy, and if they agreed, the attempt should be made without loss of
time. So, probably, we shall have news from that quarter soon.
The militia and Department Guard (soon to be called the National Guard,
probably) were notified to-day to be in readiness at a minute's warning.
It is said positively that Dix is advancing toward the city. Well, let
him come.
JULY 2D.--The President is unwell again; to what extent I have not
learned. But the Vice-President is ready, no doubt, to take his place in
the event of a fatal result; and some would rejoice at it. Such is the
mutability of political affairs!
The Attorney-General Watts, being referred to, sends in a written
opinion that foreigners sojourning here, under the protection of the
Confederate States, are liable to military duty, in defense of their
homes, against any government but the one to which they claim to owe
allegiance. This I sent in to the Secretary of War, and I hope he will
act on it; but the Assistant Secretary and Mr. Benjamin were busy
to-day--perhaps combating the Attorney-General's opinion. Will Mr.
Seddon have the nerve to act? It is a trying time, and every man is
needed for defense.
The enemy were drawn up in line of battle this morning below the
fortifications. The Department Guard (my son Custis among them) were
ordered out, and marched away; and so with the second class militia. A
battle is looked for to-morrow; and there has been skirmishing to-day. A
dispatch from Hanover Court House says the enemy is approaching likewise
from the north in large force--and 15 guns. This is his great blunder.
He cannot take Richmond, nor draw back Lee, and the detachment of so
many of his men may endanger Baltimore and Washington, and perhaps
Philadelphia.
JULY 3D.--My son Custis stayed out all night, sleeping on his arms in
the farthest intrenchments. A little beyond, there was a skirmish with
the enemy. We lost eight in killed and wounded. What the enemy suffered
is not known, but he fell back, and ran toward the White House.
This morning, Mr. Ould, agent for exchange of prisoners, reported that
"not a Yankee could be found on the face of the earth." And this induced
a general belief that the enemy had retired, finally, being perhaps
ordered to Washington, where they may be much needed.
The Secretary of War, believing the same thing, intimated to Gen. Elzey
(who for some cause is unable to ride, and therefore remains in the
city) a desire to send several regiments away to some menaced point at a
distance. In response, Elzey writes that none can be spared with safety;
that the enemy had apparently divided his force into two bodies, one for
Hanover, and the other for the Chickahominy, and both _strong_; and he
advised against weakening the forces here. He said he had not yet
completed the manning of the batteries, the delay being in arming the
men--and he hoped "Hill could hold out."
We have 3400 convalescents at Camp Lee, and as many more may be relied
on for the defense of the city; so we shall have not less than 22,000
men for the defense of Richmond. The enemy have perhaps 35,000; but it
would require 75,000 to storm our batteries. Let this be remembered
hereafter, if the 35,000 sent here on a fool's errand might have saved
Washington or Baltimore, or have served to protect Pennsylvania--and
then let the press of the North bag the administration at Washington!
Gen. Lee's course is "right onward," and cannot be affected by events
here.
My friend Jacques (clerk) marched out yesterday with the Department
Guard; but he had the diarrhoea, and was excused from marching as far
as the company. He also got permission to come to town this morning,
having slept pretty well, he said, apart from the company. No doubt he
did good service in the city to-day, having his rifle fixed (the ball, I
believe, had got down before the powder), and procuring a basket of
edibles and a canteen of strong tea, which he promised to share with the
mess. He said he saw Custis this morning, looking well, after sleeping
on the ground the first time in his life, and without a blanket.
We have nothing further from the North or the West.
JULY 4TH.--The Department Guard (my son with them) were marched last
night back to the city, and out to Meadow Bridge, on the Chickahominy,
some sixteen miles! The clerks, I understand, complain of bad meat (two
or three ounces each) and mouldy bread; and some of them curse the
authorities for fraudulent deception, as it was understood they would
never be marched beyond the city defenses. But they had no
alternative--the Secretaries would report the names of all who did not
_volunteer_. Most of the poor fellows have families dependent on their
salaries for bread--being refugees from their comfortable homes, for the
cause of _independence_. If removed, their wives and little children, or
brothers and sisters, must perish. They would be conscribed, and receive
only $12 per month.
My friend Jacques did not return to the company yesterday, after all,
although I saw him get into an ambulance with a basket of food. He got
out again, sending the basket to Mr. K., the young chief of the bureau,
and Judge Campbell allowed him to remain.
Mr. Myers the lawyer is much with Judge Campbell, working for his Jew
clients, who sometimes, I am told, pay $1000 each to be got out of the
army, and as high as $500 for a two months' detail, when battles are to
be fought. Mr. M. thinks he has law for all he does.
A letter from Gen. D. H. Hill shows that it was his intention to bring
on a battle on the 2d inst., but the enemy fled. It was only a feint
below; but we may soon hear news from Hanover County.
Col. Gorgas (ordnance) writes that as his men are marched out to defend
the city, he can't send much ammunition to Gen. Lee!
A letter from Lieut.-Gen. E. Kirby Smith, dated June 15th, shows he was
at Shreveport, La., at that date.
The poor militia were allowed to return to their homes to-day; but an
hour after the tocsin sounded, and they were compelled to assemble and
march again. This is the work of the Governor, and the Secretary of War
says there was no necessity for it, as Confederate troops here now can
defend the city, if attacked.
JULY 5TH.--This morning the wires refused to work, being cut, no doubt,
in Hanover County.
The presence of the enemy in this vicinity, I think, since they refuse
to fight, is designed to prevent us from sending more troops into
Pennsylvania. I trust the President will think of this matter, if he is
well enough; some of his generals here are incapable of thinking at all.
_We have just received intelligence of a great battle at Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania._ I have not heard the day; but the news was brought by
flag of truce boat to City Point last night. The Yankee papers, I am
told, claim a victory, but acknowledge a loss of five or six generals,
among them Meade, commander-in-chief (vice Hooker), mortally wounded.
_But we still held the town_, and "_actions speak louder than words_."
More troops are marching up into Hanover County.
JULY 6TH.--Yesterday evening we received Baltimore and New York papers
with accounts (and loose ones) of the battle of Gettysburg. The Governor
of Pennsylvania says it was "_indecisive_," which means, as we read it,
that Meade's army was defeated.
The forces (Federal) are withdrawing from the neighborhood of this city,
another indication that Lee has gained a victory. Dix has done but
little damage. In retreating from Hanover County, he burnt the bridges
to retard pursuit.
The "War Department Guard" have returned, my son among them, sun-burnt
and covered with dust. They were out five days and four nights, sleeping
on the ground, without tents or blankets, and with little or nothing to
eat, although the Commissary-General had abundance. The President,
however, is better to-day, and able to get out of bed; but his health is
apparently gone, and it may be doubtful whether he will ever be quite
well again.
The Vice-President went down to the flag of truce boat on Saturday, some
say to Fortress Monroe, and others to Washington. It is surmised that he
is authorized by the President to have a definitive understanding with
the Federal authorities, whether or not private property is to be
respected hereafter in the future progress of the war. If not, Gen. Lee
will have orders to desolate the Northern States, where he has the
power. Some, however, think he goes to Washington, to propose terms of
peace, etc.
There is a rumor in the city, generally credited, that another battle
was fought in Pennsylvania on Friday, and that the enemy was
annihilated; these rumors sometimes assume form and substance, and this
one, as if by some sort of magnetism, is credited by many. It is certain
that Mr. Morris, superintendent of the telegraph office, has called upon
his friends for the largest Confederate flag in the city to hang out of
his window. He says nothing more; but he may have sent dispatches to the
President, which he is not at liberty to divulge. There may be later
news from Lee; or Vicksburg may be relieved; or New Orleans taken; or an
armistice; or nothing.
I am glad my son's company were ordered in to-day; for, after a week of
fine fair weather, it is now raining furiously. This would have
prostrated the _tender_ boys with illness.
JULY 7TH.--It appears that the fighting near Gettysburg began on
Wednesday, July 1st, continued until Sunday, the 5th, and perhaps
longer. Up to Friday the Northern papers claim the advantage.
This morning at 1 P.M. another dispatch was received from the same
(unofficial) source, stating that on Sunday the enemy made a stand, and
A. P. Hill's corps fell back, followed by the enemy, when Longstreet's
and Ewell's corps closed in their rear and captured 40,000
prisoners--who are now guarded by Pickett's division. It states that the
prisoners refused to be paroled. This might possibly be true.
This account is credited. Col. Custis Lee, from the President's office,
was in my office at half-past two P.M. to-day, and said nothing had been
received from his father yet--but he did not deny that such accounts
might be substantially true.
The President still keeps his eye on Gen. Beauregard. A paper from the
general to Gen. Cooper, and, of course, referred to the President, in
relation to the means of defense in his department, and a call for more
guns, was sent back to-day, indorsed by the President, that by an
examination of the report of Gen. Huger, he thought some discrepancies
would appear in the statements of Gen. B. Thus, it would seem, from a
repetition of similar imputations, the President has strong doubts of
Gen. B.'s accuracy of statements. He is quick to detect discrepancies.
Gen. D. H. Hill sends in a characteristic letter. He says the rivers are
all swollen, and he can make no movement to-day in pursuit of Dix's army
of the Pamunky--or rather "the monkey army." He says that the Brooke
Pike outer defenses are so defective in design, that a force there
could be driven off in five minutes by the enemy's sharpshooters. He
wants them amended, and a certain grove cut down--and recommends that
engineers be put to work, with orders to leave their "kid gloves
behind." He thinks more is to be apprehended from an attack on
Petersburg than Richmond; and requests that Gen. Wise be ordered to
march thither from Chaffin's Bluff, on the first alarm. He had not heard
of the reported victory of Lee.
JULY 8TH.--I am glad to copy the following order of Gen. Lee:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"CHAMBERSBURG, PA., June 27th, 1863.
"GENERAL ORDERS NO. 73.
"The commanding general has observed with marked satisfaction the
conduct of the troops on the march, and confidently anticipates
results commensurate with the high spirit they have manifested. No
troops could have displayed greater fortitude, or better performed
the arduous marches of the past ten days. Their conduct in other
respects has, with few exceptions, been in keeping with their
character as soldiers, and entitles them to approbation and praise.
"There have, however, been instances of forgetfulness on the part
of some, that they have in keeping the yet unsullied reputation of
the army, and that the duties exacted of us by civilization and
Christianity are not less obligatory in the country of the enemy
than in our own.
"The commanding general considers that no greater disgrace could
befall the army, and through it, our whole people, than the
perpetration of the barbarous outrages upon the innocent and
defenseless, and the wanton destruction of private property, that
have marked the course of the enemy in our own country. Such
proceedings not only disgrace the perpetrators and all connected
with them, but are subversive of the discipline and efficiency of
the army and destructive of the ends of our present movements. It
must be remembered that we make war only upon armed men, and that
we cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered
without lowering ourselves in the eyes of all whose abhorrence has
been excited by the atrocities of our enemy, and offending against
Him to whom vengeance belongeth, without whose favor and support
our efforts must all prove in vain.
"The commanding general, therefore, earnestly exhorts the troops to
abstain with most scrupulous care from unnecessary or wanton injury
to private property; and he enjoins upon all officers to arrest and
bring to summary punishment all who shall in any way offend against
the orders on this subject.
"R. E. LEE, _General_."
We have no additional news from the battle-field, except the following
dispatch from Winchester:
"Our loss is estimated at 10,000. Between 3000 and 4000 of our wounded
are arriving here to-night. Every preparation is being made to receive
them.
"Gens. Scales and Pender have arrived here wounded, this evening. Gens.
Armistead, Barksdale, Garnett, and Kemper are reported killed. Gens.
Jones, Heth, Anderson, Pettigrew, Jenkins, Hampton, and Hood are
reported wounded.
"The Yankees say they had only two corps in the fight on Wednesday,
which was open field fighting. The whole of the Yankee force was engaged
in the last three days' fighting. The number is estimated at 175,000.
"The hills around Gettysburg are said to be covered with the dead and
wounded of the Yankee Army of the Potomac.
"The fighting of these four days is regarded as the severest of the war,
and the slaughter unprecedented; especially is this so of the enemy.
"The New York and Pennsylvania papers are reported to have declared for
peace."
But the absence of dispatches from Gen. Lee himself is beginning to
create distrust, and doubts of decisive success at Gettysburg. His
couriers may have been captured, or he may be delaying to announce
something else he has in contemplation.
The enemy's flag of truce boat of yesterday refused to let us have a
single paper in exchange for ours. This signifies something--I know not
what. One of our exchanged officers says he heard a Northern officer
say, at Fortress Monroe, that Meade's loss was, altogether, 60,000 men;
but this is not, of course, reliable. Another officer said Lee was
retiring, which is simply impossible, now, for the flood.
But, alas! we have sad tidings from the West. Gen. Johnston telegraphs
from Jackson, Miss., that Vicksburg capitulated on the 4th inst. This is
a terrible blow, and has produced much despondency.
The President, sick as he is, has directed the Secretary of War to send
him copies of all the correspondence with Johnston and Bragg, etc., on
the subject of the relief of Pemberton.
The Secretary of War has caught the prevailing alarm at the silence of
Lee, and posted off to the President for a solution--but got none. If
Lee falls back again, it will be the darkest day for the Confederacy we
have yet seen.
JULY 9TH.--The sad tidings from Vicksburg have been confirmed by
subsequent accounts. The number of men fit for duty on the day of
capitulation was only a little upwards of 7000. Flour was selling at
$400 per barrel! This betrays the extremity to which they had been
reduced.
A dispatch to-day states that Grant, with 100,000 men (supposed), is
marching on Jackson, to give Johnston battle. But Johnston will
retire--he has not men enough to withstand him, until he leads him
farther into the interior. If beaten, Mobile might fall.
We have no particulars yet--no comments of the Southern generals under
Pemberton. But the fall of the place has cast a gloom over everything.
The fall of Vicksburg, alone, does not make this the darkest day of the
war, as it is undoubtedly. The news from Lee's army is appalling. After
the battle of Friday, the accounts from Martinsburg now state, he fell
back toward Hagerstown, followed by the enemy, fighting but little on
the way. Instead of 40,000 we have only 4000 prisoners. How many we have
lost, we know not. The Potomac is, perhaps, too high for him to pass
it--and there are probably 15,000 of the enemy immediately in his rear!
Such are the gloomy accounts from Martinsburg.
Our telegraph operators are great liars, or else they have been made the
dupes of spies and traitors. That the cause has suffered much, and may
be ruined by the toleration of disloyal persons within our lines, who
have kept the enemy informed of all our movements, there can be no
doubt.
The following is Gen. Johnston's dispatch announcing the fall of
Vicksburg:
"JACKSON, July 7th, 1863.
"HON. J. A. SEDDON, SECRETARY OF WAR.
"Vicksburg capitulated on the 4th inst. The garrison was paroled,
and are to be returned to our lines, the officers retaining their
side-arms and personal baggage.
"This intelligence was brought by an officer who left the place on
Sunday, the 5th.
"J. E. JOHNSTON, _General_."
We get nothing from Lee himself. Gen. Cooper, the Secretary of War, and
Gen. Hill went to the President's office about one o'clock. They seemed
in haste, and excited. The President, too, is sick, and ought not to
attend to business. It will kill him, perhaps.
There is serious anxiety now for the fate of Richmond. Will Meade be
here in a few weeks? Perhaps so--but, then, Lee may not have quite
completed his raid beyond the Potomac.
The _Baltimore American_, no doubt in some trepidation for the
quiescence of that city, gets up a most glowing account of "Meade's
victory"--if it should, indeed, in the sequel, prove to have been one.
That Lee fell back, is true; but how many men were lost on each side in
killed, wounded, and prisoners--how many guns were taken, and what may
be the result of the operations in Pennsylvania and Maryland--of which
we have as yet such imperfect accounts--will soon be known.
JULY 10TH.--This is the day of fate--and, without a cloud in the sky,
the red sun, dimly seen through the mist (at noonday), casts a baleful
light on the earth. It has been so for several days.
Early this morning a dispatch was received from Gen. Beauregard that the
enemy attacked the forts in Charleston harbor, and, subsequently, that
they were landing troops on Morris Island. Up to 3 o'clock we have no
tidings of the result. But if Charleston falls, the government will be
blamed for it--since, notwithstanding the remonstrances of Gen. B., the
government, members of Congress, and prominent citizens, some 10,000 of
his troops were away to save Vicksburg.
About one o'clock to-day the President sent over to the Secretary of War
a dispatch from an officer at Martinsburg, stating that Gen. Lee was
still at Hagerstown awaiting his ammunition--(has not Col. Gorgas, Chief
of Ordnance, been sufficiently vigilant?)--which, however, had arrived
at the Potomac. That all the prisoners (number not stated), except those
paroled, were at the river. That _nothing was known of the enemy_--but
that cavalry fighting occurred every day. He concluded by saying he did
not know whether Lee would advance _or recross the river_. If he does
the latter, in my opinion there will be a great revulsion of feeling in
the Confederate States and in the United States.
Another dispatch, from Gen. J. E. Johnston, dated yesterday, at Jackson,
Miss., stated that Grant's army was then within _four_ miles of him,
with numbers double his own. But that he would hold the city as long as
possible, for its fall would be the loss of the State. I learn a
subsequent dispatch announced that fighting had begun. I believe
Johnston is intrenched.
To-day Mr. Secretary Seddon requested Attorney-General Watts, if he
could do so consistent with duty, to order a _nolle prosequi_ in the
District Court of Alabama in the case of Ford, Hurd & Co. for trading
with the enemy. Gen. Pemberton had made a contract with them, allowing
them to ship cotton to New Orleans, and to bring back certain supplies
for the army. But Mr. Attorney-General Watts replied that it was not
consistent with his duty to comply, and therefore he demurred to it, as
the act they were charged with was in violation of the act of Congress
of April 19th, 1862.
We lost twelve general officers in the fall of Vicksburg--one
lieutenant-general, four major-generals, and seven brigadiers.
Dispatches from Jackson, Miss., say the battle began yesterday, but up
to the time of the latest accounts it had not become general. Johnston
had destroyed the wells and cisterns, and as there are no running
streams in the vicinity, no doubt Grant's army will suffer for water, if
the defense be protracted.
From Charleston we learn that we lost in yesterday's combat some 300
men, killed and wounded--the enemy quite as many. This morning the
Yankees assaulted the battery on Morris Island, and were repulsed in two
minutes, with a loss of 95 killed and 130 wounded, besides prisoners.
Our loss was five, killed and wounded. Nothing further was heard up to 7
o'clock P.M.
From Lee we have no news whatever.
A letter from Governor Vance, of North Carolina, complains of an insult
offered by Col. Thorburn (of Virginia), and asking that he be removed
from the State, and if retained in service, not to be permitted to
command North Carolinians. The Governor, by permission of Gen. Whiting,
proceeded down the river to a steamer which had just got in (and was
aground) from Europe, laden with supplies for the State; but when
attempting to return was stopped by Col. T., who said it was against the
rules for any one to pass from the steamer to the city until the
expiration of the time prescribed for quarantine. The Governor informed
him of his special permission from Gen. Whiting and the Board of
Navigation--and yet the colonel said he should not pass for fifteen
days, "if he _was_ Governor Vance or Governor Jesus Christ." The
President indorsed on this letter, as one requiring the Secretary's
attention, "if the case be as stated."
Again the blockade-runners are at their dirty work, and Judge Campbell
is "allowing" them. To-day Col. J. Gorgas, who is daily in receipt of
immense amounts of ordnance stores from Europe by government steamers,
recommends that passports be given N. H. Rogers and L. S. White to
proceed _North_ for supplies. This is a small business. It is no time to
apply for passports, and no time to grant them.
We now know all about the mission of Vice-President Stephens under flag
of truce. It was ill-timed for success. At Washington news had been
received of the defeat of Gen. Lee--which may yet prove not to have been
"all a defeat."
JULY 12TH.--There is nothing additional this morning from Charleston,
Mississippi, or Maryland. Telegraphic communication is still open to
Jackson, where all was quiet again at the last accounts; but battle,
then, must occur immediately. From Charleston we learn that Beauregard
had repulsed every assault of the enemy. It is rumored that Lee's
account of the battle of Gettysburg will be published to-morrow, showing
that it was the "most brilliant and successful battle of the war." I
hope he may say so--for then it will be so.
Our papers are publishing Milroy's papers captured at Winchester.
JULY 13TH.--The _Enquirer_ says the President has got a letter from
Gen. Lee (why not give it to the people?) stating that his operations in
Pennsylvania and Maryland have been successful and satisfactory, and
that we have now some 15,000 to 18,000 prisoners, besides the 4000 or
5000 paroled. Nonsense!
Lee and Meade have been facing each other two or three days, drawn up in
battle array, and a decisive battle may have occurred ere this. The
wires have been cut between Martinsburg and Hagerstown.
Not another word have we from either Charleston or Jackson; but we learn
that monitors, gun-boats, and transports are coming up the James River.
Altogether, this is another dark day in our history. It has been
officially ascertained that Pemberton surrendered, with Vicksburg,
22,000 men! He has lost, during the year, not less than 40,000! And
Lovell (another Northern general) lost Fort Jackson and New Orleans.
When _will_ the government put "none but Southerners on guard?"
Letters to-day from the Governors of South Carolina, Alabama, and North
Carolina show that all are offended at the Confederate government. Judge
Campbell's judicial profundity (and he is the department's
correspondent) is unfortunate at this crisis, when, not great
principles, but quick and successful fighting, alone can serve.
It appears that President Lincoln has made a speech in Washington in
exultation over the fall of Vicksburg, and the defeat of an army
contending against the principle that all men were created equal. He
means the negro--we mean that white men were created equal--that we are
equal to Northern white people, and have a right, which we do not deny
to them, of living under a government of our own choice.
JULY 14TH.--To-day we have tidings of the fall of Port Hudson, on the
Mississippi River, our last stronghold there. I suppose some 10,000 or
12,000 of our men had to surrender, unconditionally. Thus the army of
Gen. Pemberton, first and last, some 50,000 strong, has been completely
destroyed. There is sadness and gloom throughout the land!
The enemy are established on Morris Island, and the fate of Charleston
is in doubt.
We have nothing authentic from Gen. Lee; but long trains of the slightly
wounded arrived yesterday and to-day.
It has been raining, almost every day, for nearly two weeks.
The President is quite amiable now. The newspaper editors can find easy
access, and he welcomes them with smiles.
A letter was received to-day from a Major Jones, saying he was
authorized to state that the Messrs. ------, engine-makers in
Philadelphia, were willing to remove their machinery to the South, being
Southern men. The President indorsed that authority might be given for
them to come, etc.
Gen. Beauregard writes for a certain person here skilled in the
management of torpedoes--but Secretary Mallory says the enemy's
gun-boats are in the James River, and he cannot be sent away. I hope
both cities may not fall!
A heavy thunder-storm, accompanied with a deluging rain, prevails this
afternoon at 5-1/2 o'clock P.M.
JULY 15TH.--There was a rumor of another battle beyond the Potomac, this
morning, but it has not been confirmed.
From Charleston we have no news; but from Jackson there has been
considerable fighting, without a general engagement.
The _Enquirer_ and _Sentinel_ to-day squint at a military dictatorship;
but President Davis would hardly attempt such a feat at such a time.
Gen. Samuel Jones, Western Virginia, has delayed 2000 men ordered to
Lee, assigning as an excuse the demonstrations of the enemy in the
Kanawha Valley. "Off with his head--so much for Buckingham!"
There is some gloom in the community; but the spirits of the people will
rebound.
A large crowd of Irish, Dutch, and Jews are daily seen at Gen. Winder's
door, asking permission to go North on the flag of truce boat. They fear
being forced into the army; they will be compelled to aid in the defense
of the city, or be imprisoned. They intend to leave their families
behind, to save the property they have accumulated under the protection
of the government.
Files of papers from Europe show that Mr. Roebuck and other members of
Parliament, as well as the papers, are again agitating the question of
recognition. We shall soon ascertain the real intentions of France and
England. If they truly desire our success, and apprehend danger from the
United States in the event of a reconstruction of the Union, they will
manifest their purposes when the news of our recent calamities shall be
transported across the ocean. And if such a thing as reconstruction were
possible, and were accomplished (in such a manner and on such terms as
would not appear degrading to the Southern people), then, indeed, well
might both France and England tremble. The United States would have
_millions_ of soldiers, and the Southern people would not owe either of
them a debt of gratitude.
JULY 16TH.--This is another blue day in the calendar. Nothing from Lee,
or Johnston, or Bragg; and no news is generally bad news. But from
Charleston we learn that the enemy are established on Morris Island,
having taken a dozen of our guns and howitzers in the sand hills at the
lower end; and that the monitors had passed the bar, and doubtless an
engagement by land and by water is imminent, if indeed it has not
already taken place. Many regard Charleston as lost. I do not.
Again the _Enquirer_, edited by Mitchel, the Irishman, is urging the
President to seize arbitrary power; but the _Examiner_ combats the
project defiantly.
Mr. Secretary Seddon, who usually wears a sallow and cadaverous look,
which, coupled with his emaciation, makes him resemble an exhumed corpse
after a month's interment, looks to-day like a galvanized corpse which
had been buried two months. The circles round his eyes are absolutely
black! And yet he was pacing briskly backward and forward between the
President's office and the War Department. He seems much affected by
disasters.
The United States agent of exchange has sent a notice to our agent that
the negroes we capture from them in battle must be exchanged as other
soldiers are, according to the cartel, which said nothing about color;
and if the act of Congress in relation to such soldiers be executed, the
United States would retaliate to the utmost extremity.
Captains H. W. Sawyer and John Flinn, having been designated by lot for
execution in retaliation for two of our captains executed by Gen.
Burnside for recruiting in Kentucky, write somewhat lugubriously, in bad
grammar and execrable chirography, that, as they never served under
Burnside, they should not be made to suffer for his deed. They say we
have two of Burnside's captains at Atlanta (and they give their names)
who would be the proper victims.
I saw a paper to-day, sent to the department, with a list of the United
States officers at Memphis who are said to have taken bribes; among them
is Col. H----r, of Illinois, Provost Marshal General (Grant's staff);
Col. A----, Illinois, ex-Provost Marshal; Capt. W----, Illinois,
Assistant Provost Marshal; Capt. C---- (Gen. Herbert's staff), and "Dan
Ross," citizen of Illinois, _procurer_.
On the 9th instant Gen. D. H. Hill (now lieutenant-general, and assigned
to Mississippi) asks if troops are to be sent to cover Lee's _retreat_;
and fears, if the enemy establish themselves at Winchester, they will
starve Lee to death. Speaking of the raid of the enemy to the North
Carolina Railroad, he said they would do the State infinite service by
dashing into Raleigh and capturing all the members of the legislature.
He also hits at the local newspapers here. Their mention of his name,
and the names of other officers in the campaign round Richmond, informed
the enemy that we had no troops at Goldsborough and Weldon, and hence
the raid. And, after all, he says the enemy were not more numerous than
our forces in the recent dash at Richmond. He says it was no feint, but
a faint.
To-day an order was issued for the local troops to deliver up their
ammunition. What does that mean?
And to-day the President calls for the second class of conscripts, all
between eighteen and forty-five years of age. _So our reserves must take
the field!_
JULY 17TH.--At last we have the authentic announcement that Gen. Lee has
recrossed the Potomac! Thus the armies of the Confederate States are
recoiling at all points, and a settled gloom is apparent on many weak
faces. The fall of Charleston is anticipated. Subjugation is not
apprehended by the government; for, if driven to an interior line of
defense, the war may be prolonged indefinitely, or at least until the
United States becomes embroiled with some European power.
Meantime we are in a half starving condition. I have lost twenty pounds,
and my wife and children are emaciated to some extent. Still, I hear no
murmuring.
To-day, for the second time, ten dollars in Confederate notes are given
for one in gold; and no doubt, under our recent disasters, the
depreciation will increase. Had it not been for the stupidity of our
Dutch Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Memminger, there would have been
no financial difficulties. If he had recommended (as he was urged to do)
the purchase by the government of all the cotton, it could have been
bought at 7 cents per pound; and the _profits_ alone would have defrayed
the greater portion of the expenses of the war, besides affording
immense _diplomatic_ facilities and advantages. But red-tape etiquette,
never violated by the government, may prove our financial ruin beyond
redemption. It costs this government five times as much to support an
army as it does the United States; and the call for conscripts is a
farce, since the speculators (and who is not one now?) will buy
exemptions from the party who, strangely, have the authority to grant
them.
The last accounts from Jackson state that Burnside is reinforcing Grant,
and that heavy skirmishing is going on daily. But all suppose that
Johnston must retreat. And Bragg is in no condition to face Rosecrans.
Whether Lee will come hither or not, no one knows; but some tremble for
the fate of Richmond. Lee possibly may cross the Potomac again, however,
if Meade detaches a heavy force to capture Richmond.
What our fate would be if we fall into the hands of the invader, may be
surmised from the sufferings of the people in New Orleans.
JULY 18TH.--Lee has got over the Potomac with a loss, in crossing, of
1500; and Johnston has abandoned Jackson, Miss.
But we have _awful_ good news from New York: an INSURRECTION, the loss
of many lives, extensive pillage and burning, with a suspension of the
conscription!
Gen. Morgan is in the enemy's country.
JULY 19TH.--We have no news this morning. But a rumor prevails, which
cannot be traced to any authentic source, that Texas has put herself
under the protection of France. It is significant, because public
sentiment seems to acquiesce in such a measure; and I have not met with
any who do not express a wish that it may be so. Texas, Louisiana, and
Arkansas are now isolated, and no protection or aid can be given them by
the government here; and it is natural, after the fall of New Orleans
and Vicksburg, for the people to hope that the invaders may be deprived
of their prey just at the moment when they anticipated a realization of
its enjoyment.
Hon. Wm. Porcher Miles writes that, after consultation, the officers
have decided that it would be impracticable to hold Morris Island, even
if the enemy were driven from it at the point of the bayonet. Therefore
they call loudly for Brooke guns of long range, and guns of large
calibre for Sumter, so that the fort may prevent the enemy from erecting
batteries in breaching distance. They say, in their appeal, that since
the fall of Vicksburg there is no other place (but one) to send them.
They are now idle in Richmond. I understand the Secretary of War, etc.
are in consultation on the subject, and I hope the President will, at
last, yield to Gen. Beauregard's demands.
Gen. Maury also writes for guns and ordnance stores for the defense of
Mobile, which may be attacked next. He will get them.
If the insurrection in New York lives, and resistance to conscription
should be general in the North, our people will take fresh hope, and
make renewed efforts to beat back the mighty armies of the
foe--suffering, and more than decimated, as we are.
But if not--if Charleston and Richmond and Mobile should fall, a peace
(submission) party will spring up. Nevertheless, the _fighting_
population would still resist, retiring into the interior and darting
out occasionally, from positions of concentration, at the exposed camps
of the enemy.
JULY 20TH.--Nothing from Lee or from Johnston, except that the latter
has abandoned Jackson. From Bragg's army, I learn that a certain number
of regiments were moving from Chattanooga toward Knoxville--and I
suspect their destination is Lee's army.
But we have a dispatch from Beauregard, stating that he has again
repulsed an attack of the enemy on the battery on Morris Island with
heavy loss--perhaps 1500--while his is trifling.
A thousand of the enemy's forces were in Wytheville yesterday, and were
severely handled by 130 of the home guards. They did but little injury
to the railroad, and burned a few buildings.
An indignant letter has been received from the Hon. W. Porcher Miles,
who had applied for a sub-lieutenancy for Charles Porcher, who had
served with merit in the 1st South Carolina Artillery, and was his
relative. It seems that the President directed the Secretary to state
that the appointment could not be given him because he was not 21 years
of age. To this Mr. M. replies that several minors in the same regiment
have been appointed. I think not.
Governor Brown writes a long letter, protesting against the decision of
the Confederate States Government, that the President shall appoint the
colonel for the 51st Georgia Regiment, which the Governor says is
contrary to the Confederate States Constitution. He will resist it.
A Mrs. Allen, a lady of wealth here, has been arrested for giving
information to the enemy. Her letters were intercepted. She is confined
at the asylum _St. Francis de Sales_. The surgeon who attends there
reports to-day that her mental excitement will probably drive her to
madness. Her great fear seems to be that she will be soon sent to a
common prison. There is much indignation that she should be assigned to
such comfortable quarters--and I believe the Bishop (McGill) protests
against having criminals imprisoned in his religious edifices. It is
said she has long been sending treasonable letters to Baltimore--but the
authorities do not have the names of her letter-carriers published. No
doubt they had passports.
A letter from Lee's army says we lost 10,000 in the recent battle,
killed, wounded, and prisoners. We took 11,000 prisoners and 11 guns.
Thank Heaven! we have fine weather after nearly a month's rain. It may
be that we shall have better fortune in the field now.
Some of the bankers had an interview with the government to-day. Unless
we can achieve some brilliant success, they cannot longer keep our
government notes from depreciating, down to five cents on the dollar.
They are selling for only ten cents now, in gold. In vain will be the
sale of a million of government gold in the effort to keep it up.
Gen. Morgan, like a comet, has shot out of the beaten track of the army,
and after dashing deeply into Indiana, the last heard of him he was in
Ohio, _near Cincinnati_. He was playing havoc with steam-boats, and
capturing fine horses. He has some 3000 men we cannot afford to
lose--but I fear they will be lost.
JULY 21ST.--We have intelligence to-day, derived from a New York paper
of the 18th inst., that the "insurrection" in New York had subsided,
under the menacing attitude of the military authority, and that Lincoln
had ordered the conscription law to be enforced. This gives promise of a
long war.
Mr. Mallory sent a note to the Secretary of War to-day (which of course
the Secretary did not see, and will never hear of) by a young man named
Juan Boyle, asking permission for B. to pass into Maryland as an agent
of the Navy Department. Judge Campbell indorsed on the back of it (to
Brig.-Gen. Winder) that permission was "allowed" by "order." But what is
this "agent" to procure in the United States which could not be had by
our steamers plying regularly between Wilmington and Europe?
JULY 22D.--Col. Northrop, Commissary-General, sends in a paper to-day
saying that only a quarter of a pound of meat per day can be given the
soldiers, except when marching, and then only half a pound. He says no
more can be derived from the trans-Mississippi country, nor from the
State of Mississippi, or Tennessee, and parts of Georgia and Alabama;
and if more than the amount he receives be given the soldiers, the
negroes will have to go without any. He adds, however, that the peasants
of Europe rarely have any meat, and in Hindostan, never.
Col. Bradley T. Johnson, who commanded a brigade at Gettysburg, writes
that on the first day we carried everything before us, capturing 8000
prisoners and losing but few men; the error was in not following up the
attack with all our forces immediately, and in not having sufficient
ammunition on the field.
The newspapers to-day contain pretty accurate accounts of the battle.
JULY 23D.--We have the following dispatch from Gen. Beauregard, which is
really refreshing in this season of disasters:
"CHARLESTON, July 22d, 1863.
"The enemy recommenced shelling again yesterday, with but few
casualties on our part. We had, in the battle of the 18th inst.,
about 150 killed and wounded. The enemy's loss, including
prisoners, was about 2000. Nearly 800 were buried under a flag of
truce.
"Col. Putnam, acting brigadier-general, and Col. Shaw, commanding
the negro regiment, were killed.
"(Signed) G. T. BEAUREGARD, _General_."
It is said the _raiders_ that dashed into Wytheville have been taken;
but not so with the raiders that have been playing havoc with the
railroad in North Carolina.
Another letter from J. M. Botts, Culpepper County, complains of the
pasturing of army horses in his fields before the Gettysburg campaign,
and asks if his fields are to be again subject to the use of the
commander of the army, _now returning to his vicinity_. If _he_ knows
that Gen. Lee is fallen back thither, it is more than any one here seems
to know. We shall see how accurate Mr. B. is in his conjecture.
A letter from Mr. Goodman, president of Mobile and Charleston Railroad,
says military orders have been issued to destroy, by fire, railroad
equipments to the value of $5,000,000; and one-third of this amount of
destruction would defeat the purpose of the enemy for a long time. The
President orders efforts to be made to bring away the equipments by
sending them down the road.
Col. Preston, commandant of conscripts for South Carolina, has been
appointed Chief of the Bureau of Conscription; he has accepted the
appointment, and will be here August 1st. The law will now be honestly
executed--if he be not too indolent, sick, etc.
Archbishop Hughes has made a speech in New York to keep down the Irish.
JULY 24TH.--Nothing from Lee, or Johnston, or Beauregard, or Bragg--but
ill luck is fated for them all. Our ladies, at least, would not despair.
But a day may change the aspect; a brilliant success would have a
marvelous effect upon a people who have so long suffered and bled for
freedom.
They are getting on more comfortably, I learn, on the Eastern Shore of
Virginia. Only about 25 of the enemy's troops are said to be there,
merely to guard the wires. In the Revolutionary war, and in the war of
1812, that peninsula escaped the horrors of war, being deemed then, as
now, too insignificant to attract the cupidity of the invaders.
The Secretary of the Treasury sent an agent a few weeks ago with some
$12,000,000 for disbursement in the trans-Mississippi country, but he
has returned to this city, being unable to get through. He will now go
to Havana, and thence to Texas; and hereafter money (if money it can be
called) will be manufactured at Houston, where a paper treasury will be
established.
Gen. Jos. E. Johnston has recently drawn for $20,000 in gold.
A letter from the Commissary-General to Gen. Lee states that we have but
1,800,000 pounds of bacon at Atlanta, and 500,000 pounds in this city,
which is less than 30 days' rations for Bragg's and Lee's armies. He
says all attempts to get bacon from Europe have failed, and he fears
they will fail, and hence, if the ration be not reduced to 1/4 pound we
shall soon have no meat on hand. Gen. Lee says he cannot be responsible
if the soldiers fail for want of food.
JULY 25TH.--Gen. Beauregard telegraphs that preparations should be made
to withstand a bombardment at Savannah, and authority is asked, at the
instance of Gov. Brown, to impress a sufficient number of slaves for the
purpose.
Gen. Jos. B. Johnston telegraphs the President that Grant has fallen
back to Vicksburg, and, from information in his possession, will not
stay there a day, _but will proceed up the river_. Gen. Johnston asks if
this eccentric movement does not indicate a purpose to concentrate the
enemy's forces for the reduction of Richmond.
Grant's men, no doubt, objected to longer service at this season in the
Southwest; perhaps Lincoln thinks Grant is the only general who can take
Richmond, or it may be necessary for the presence of the army in the
North to enforce the draft, to overawe conspirators against the
administration, etc. We shall soon know more about it.
Misfortunes come in clusters. We have a report to-day that Gen. Morgan's
command has been mostly captured in Ohio. The recent rains made the
river unfordable.
It appears that Gen. Pemberton had but 15 days' rations to last 48 days,
that the people offered him a year's supply for nothing if he would have
it, and this he would not take, red tape requiring it to be delivered
and paid for, so it fell into the hands of the enemy. He had a six
months' supply of ammunition when he surrendered, and often during the
siege would not let his men reply to the enemy's guns.
Advertisers in the papers offer $4000 for substitutes. One offers a farm
in Hanover County, on the Central Railroad, of 230 acres, for a
substitute. There is something significant in this. It was so in France
when Napoleon had greatly exhausted the male population.
JULY 26TH.--Letters were received to-day from Gens. Beauregard, Mercer,
Whitney, and S. Jones.
It appears that Beauregard has some 6000 men of all arms, and that the
enemy's force is estimated to be, or to have been (before losing some
3000), about 10,000. It is true the enemy has the benefit of his
floating batteries, but we have our stationary ones. I think Charleston
safe.
Gen. Mercer _squeaks_ for the fate of Savannah, unless the government
impresses slaves to work on the fortifications. All our generals
_squeak_ when an attack is apprehended, for the purpose of alarming the
government, and procuring more men and material, so as to make success
doubly sure.
And Gen. Whiting is squeaking loudly for the impressment of a thousand
slaves, to complete his preparations for defense; and if he does not get
them, he thinks the fall of Wilmington a pretty sure thing.
And Gen. Jones squeaks from the West, asking that the 3000 infantry he
was at last compelled to send to Gen. Lee, near Winchester, be returned
to him to oppose the enemy's raids. But what were they sent to Lee for,
unless he meant to give battle? Such may be his intention, and a victory
now is demanded of him to place him _rectus in curio_.
Beauregard says Fort Wagner, which has made such a successful defense on
Morris Island, was located by Gen. Pemberton, and this is evidence of
some military skill. But all the waters of Lethe will not obliterate the
conviction of the people that he gave his army in the West to the enemy.
If he had not been Northern born, they would have deemed him merely
incompetent. Hence the impolicy of the government elevating Northern
over Southern generals. All generals are judged by the degree of success
they achieve, for success alone is considered the proof of merit, and
one disaster may obliterate the memory of a dozen victories. Even Lee's
great name is dimmed somewhat in the estimation of fools. He must beat
Meade before Grant comes up, or suffer in reputation.
Gov. Bonham has demanded the free negroes taken on Morris Island, to be
punished (death) according to the State law.
JULY 27TH.--Nothing but disasters to chronicle now. Natchez and Yazoo
City, all gone the way of Vicksburg, involving a heavy loss of boats,
guns, and ordnance stores; besides, the enemy have got some twenty
locomotives in Mississippi.
Lee has retreated as far as Culpepper Court House.
The President publishes another proclamation, fixing a day for the
people to unite in prayer.
The weather is bad. With the exception of one or two bright days, it has
been raining nearly a month. Superadded to the calamities crowding upon
us, we have a rumor to-day that Gen. Lee has tendered his resignation.
This is false. But it is said he is opposed to the retaliatory
executions ordered by the President, which, if persisted in, must
involve the life of his son, now in the hands of the enemy. Our officers
executed by Burnside were certainly recruiting in Kentucky within the
lines of the enemy, and Gen. Lee may differ with the President in the
equity of executing officers taken by us in battle in retaliation.
JULY 28TH.--The rumor that Gen. Lee had resigned was simply a
fabrication. His headquarters, a few days ago, were at Culpepper C. H.,
and may be soon this side of the Rappahannock. A battle and a victory
may take place there.
Col. J. Gorgas, I presume, is no friend of Pemberton; it is not often
that Northern men in our service are exempt from jealousies and
envyings. He sends to the Secretary of War to-day a remarkable statement
of Eugene Hill, an ordnance messenger, for whom he vouches, in relation
to the siege and surrender of Vicksburg. It appears that Hill had been
sent here by Lieut.-Gen. Holmes for ammunition, and on his way back to
the trans-Mississippi country, was caught at Vicksburg, where he was
detained until after the capitulation. He declares that the enemy's
mines did our works no more injury than our mines did theirs; that when
the surrender took place, there were an abundance of caps, and of all
kinds of ordnance stores; that there were 90,000 pounds of bacon or salt
meat unconsumed, besides a number of cows, and 400 mules, grazing within
the fortifications; and that but few of the men even thought of such a
contingency as a surrender, and did not know it had taken place until
the next day (5th of July), when they were ordered to march out and lay
down their arms. He adds that Gen. Pemberton kept himself very close,
and was rarely seen by the troops, and was never known to go out to the
works until he went out to surrender.
Major-Gen. D. Maury writes from Mobile, to the President, that he
apprehends an attack from Banks, and asks instructions relative to the
removal of 15,000 non-combatants from the city. He says Forts Gaines and
Morgan are provisioned for six months, and that the land fortifications
are numerous and formidable. He asks for 20,000 men to garrison them.
The President instructs the Secretary, that when the purpose of the
enemy is positively known, it will be time enough to remove the women,
children, etc.; but that the defenses should be completed, and
everything in readiness. But where the 20,000 men are to come from is
not stated--perhaps from Johnston.
JULY 29TH.--Still raining! The great fear is that the crops will be
ruined, and famine, which we have long been verging upon, will be
complete. Is Providence frowning upon us for our sins, or upon our
cause?
Another battle between Lee and Meade is looked for on the Upper
Rappahannock.
Gov. Harris, in response to the President's call for 6000 men, says
Western and Middle Tennessee are in the hands of the enemy, and that
about half the people in East Tennessee sympathize with the North!
Some two or three hundred of Morgan's men have reached Lynchburg, and
they believe Morgan himself will get off, with many more of his men.
The New York _Herald's_ correspondent, writing from Washington on the
24th inst., says the United States ministers in England and France have
informed the government of the intention of those powers to intervene
immediately in our behalf; and that they will send iron-clad fleets to
this country without delay. Whereupon the _Herald_ says Mr. Seward is in
favor of making peace with us, and reconstructing the Union--pardoning
us--but keeping the slaves captured, etc. It is a cock-and-bull story,
perhaps, without foundation.
JULY 30TH.--Raining still! Lee's and Meade's armies are manoeuvring
and facing each other still; but probably there will be no battle until
the weather becomes fair, and the gushing waters in the vales of
Culpepper subside.
From Charleston we learn that a furious bombardment is going on, the
enemy not having yet abandoned the purpose of reducing the forts and
capturing the city. Mr. Miles calls loudly for reinforcements and heavy
cannon, and says the enemy was reinforced a few days since.
An indignant letter was received from Gov. Vance to-day, in response to
the refusal of the government and Gen. Lee to permit him to send with
the army a newspaper correspondent to see that justice was done the
North Carolina troops. He withdraws the application, and appeals to
history for the justice which (he says) will never be done North
Carolina troops in Virginia by their associates. He asserts also that
Gen. Lee refused furloughs to the wounded North Carolinians at the
battle of Chancellorville (one-half the dead and wounded being from
North Carolina), for fear they would not return to their colors when fit
for duty!
Hon. Wm. L. Yancey is dead--of disease of the kidney. The _Examiner_,
to-day, in praising him, made a bitter assault on the President, saying
he was unfortunately and hastily _inflicted_ on the Confederacy at
Montgomery, and when fixed in position, banished from his presence the
heart and brain of the South--denying all participation in the affairs
of government to the great men who were the authors of secession, etc.
JULY 31ST.--Hon. E. S. Dargan, member of Congress, writes from Mobile
that Mississippi is nearly subdued, and Alabama is almost exhausted. He
says our recent disasters, and Lee's failure in Pennsylvania, have
nearly ruined us, and the destruction must be complete unless France and
England can be induced to interfere in our behalf. He never believed
they would intervene unless we agreed to abolish slavery; and he would
embrace even that alternative to obtain their aid. He says the people
are fast losing all hope of achieving their independence; and a slight
change of policy on the part of Lincoln (pretermitting confiscation, I
suppose) would put an end to the revolution and the Confederate States
Government. Mr. D. has an unhappy disposition.
Mr. L. Q. Washington recommends Gen. Winder to permit Mr. Wm. Matthews,
just from California, to leave the country. Gen. W. sends the letter to
the Assistant Secretary of War, Judge Campbell, who "allows" it; and the
passport is given, without the knowledge of the President or the
Secretary of War.
The news from Mexico (by the Northern papers) is refreshing to our
people. The "notables" of the new government, under the auspices of the
French General, Forey, have proclaimed the States an Empire, and offered
the throne to Maximilian of Austria; and if he will not accept, they
"implore" the Emperor of France to designate the one who shall be their
Emperor. Our people, very many of them, just at this time, would not
object to being included in the same Empire.
The President is still scrutinizing Beauregard. The paper read from the
general a few days since giving a statement of his forces, and the
number of the enemy, being sent to the President by the Secretary of
War, was returned to-day with the indorsement, that he hoped "a clearer
comprehension of the cause," in the promised further report of the
general, would be given "why the enemy approached Morris Island before
being observed." So, omitting all notice of the defense (so far) of the
batteries, etc., the attention of the President seems fixed on what the
general omitted to do; or what he might, could, or should have done.
END OF VOL. I.
A REBEL WAR CLERK'S DIARY.
VOL. II.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Some desertion.--Lee falling back.--Men still foolishly look for foreign
aid.--Speculators swarming.--God helps me to-day.--Conscripts.--
Memminger shipping gold to Europe.--Our women and children making
straw bonnets.--Attack on Charleston.--Robert Tyler as a financier.--
Enemy throw large shells into Charleston, five and a half miles.--
Diabolical scheme.--Gen. Lee has returned to the army.
AUGUST 1ST.--The President learns, by a dispatch from Gen. Hardee, of
Mississippi, that information has reached him, which he considers
authentic, that Gen. Taylor has beaten Banks in Louisiana, taking 6000
prisoners; but then it is said that Taylor has _fallen back_.
I see by Mr. Memminger's correspondence that he has been sending
$1,000,000 in sterling exchange, with the concurrence of the President
and the Secretary of War, to Gen. Johnston and Gov. Pettus. What can
this mean? Perhaps he is buying stores, etc.
Gen. Pemberton, it is said, has proclaimed a thirty days' furlough to
all his paroled army--a virtue of necessity, as they had all gone to
their homes without leave.
Gen. Lee writes that fifty men deserted from Scale's Regiment, North
Carolina (a small regiment), night before last, being incited thereto by
the newspapers. He wants pickets placed at certain places to catch them,
so that some examples may be made.
Gov. Vance urges the War Department to interdict speculation on the part
of officers of the government and army, as it tempts them to embezzle
the public funds, enhances prices, and enrages the community.
Peter V. Daniel, Jr., President of the Central Railroad, is anxious for
the defense of the four bridges near Hanover Junction, which, if
destroyed by the enemy, could not be replaced for months, and Lee would
have to fall back to Richmond, if not farther, as all his supplies must
be transported by the road. He indicates the places where troops should
be stationed, and says from those places, if needed in battle, 10,000
men could be transported in twenty-four hours to either Fredericksburg
or Richmond.
Gen. Bragg is hurt, because one of his captains has been given an
independent Command, without consulting him, to defend Atlanta, in his
department. He says the captain has no merit, and Atlanta and Augusta
are in great danger--the newspapers having informed the enemy of the
practicability of taking them. He intimates an inclination to be
relieved.
Mr. Plant, President of the Southern Express Company, was "allowed" to
leave the Confederate States to-day by the Assistant Secretary of War,
subject to the discretion of Gen. Whiting at Wilmington. I suppose his
fortune is made.
AUGUST 2D.--We have warm, fair weather now; but the momentary gloom,
hanging like the pall of death over our affairs, cannot be dispelled
without a decisive victory somewhere, or news of speedy foreign
intervention. The letters which I read at the department this morning,
contain no news whatever. I have suggested to the government to prohibit
the exchange of newspapers in the flag of truce boat; but I doubt if
they will act upon it. It is a manifest injury to us.
The exchange of prisoners is practically resumed; the Federal boat
delivering yesterday 750 of _our sick and wounded_; and we returned 600
of their sick and wounded.
AUGUST 3D.--The President issued a proclamation to-day, calling upon all
absentees to return to the ranks without delay, etc.
Hon. D. M. Barringer writes from Raleigh, N. C, that the State is in a
ferment of rage against the administration for appointing Marylanders
and Virginians, if not Pennsylvanians, quartermasters, to collect the
war tax within its limits, instead of native citizens.
Mr. W. H. Locke, living on the James River, at the Cement and Lime
Works, writes that more than a thousand deserters from Lee's army have
crossed at that place within the last fortnight. This is awful; and they
are mainly North Carolinians.
AUGUST 4TH.--The partial gloom continues. It is now ascertained that
Gen. Morgan is a prisoner; only some 250 of his men, out of 3000, having
escaped.
Lee is falling back on this side of the Rappahannock. His army has been
diminished by desertions; but he has been reinforced pretty considerably
since leaving Pennsylvania. The President's address may reinforce him
still more; and then it may be possible a portion of Bragg's and
Johnston's armies may be ordered hither. If this should be done, the
next battle may be fatal to Meade. Our people are thirsting for another
victory; and may expect too much.
Confederate notes are now given for gold at the rate of $12 or $15 for
$1. Flour is $40 per barrel; bacon, $1.75 per pound; coal, $25 per
cart-load; and good wood, $30 per cord. Butter is selling at $3 per
pound, etc. etc.
Nevertheless, most men look for relief in the foreign complications the
United States are falling into. England _will not_ prohibit the selling
of steamers to the Confederate States, and the United States say it
shall not be done; and France has taken possession of Mexico, erecting
it into an Empire, upon the throne of which will be seated some European
ruler. We think recognition of our government is not far behind these
events; when we shall have powerful navies to open the blockade. We are
used to wounds and death; but can hardly bear starvation and nakedness.
AUGUST 5TH.--A letter from Hon. W. Porcher Miles to the Secretary of
War, received the 15th July, urging the government to send some
long-range Brooke guns for the salvation of Charleston, and saying that
the President had once promised him that they should be sent thither,
being sent by the Secretary to the President, was, to-day, August 5th,
returned by the President, with a paper from the Secretary of the Navy,
showing that, at the time Mr. Miles says he was promised the Brooke
guns, there _were really none on hand_. Thus Mr. Miles has been _caught_
by the President, after the lapse of twenty days! It is not denied, even
by the Secretary of the Navy, that long-range guns were on hand at the
time--but there were no Brooke guns, simply. Thus, while Charleston's
fate hangs trembling in the balance, and the guns are idle here, twenty
days are fruitlessly spent. Mr. Miles appears to be a friend of
Beauregard. Every letter that general sends to the department is sure
to put twenty clerks at work in the effort to pick flaws in his accuracy
of statement.
A report of the ordnance officers of Bragg's army shows that in the late
retreat (without a battle) from Shelbyville to Chattanooga, the army
lost some 6000 arms and between 200,000 and 300,000 cartridges!
Our naval commanders are writing that they cannot get seamen--and at
Mobile half are on the sick list.
Lee writes that his men are in good fighting condition--if he only had
enough of them. Of the three corps, one is near Fredericksburg (this
side the river), one at Orange C. H., and one at Gordonsville. I doubt
if there will be another battle for a month.
Meantime the Treasury notes continue to depreciate, and all the
necessaries of life advance in price--but they do not rise in
_proportion_.
The _Examiner_ had a famous attack on the President to-day (from the
pen, I think, of a military man, on Gen. Scott's staff, when Mr. Davis
was Secretary of War), for alleged stubbornness and disregard of the
popular voice; for appointing Pemberton, Holmes, Mallory, etc., with a
side fling at Memminger.
AUGUST 6TH.--A dispatch from Gen. Lee shows that he is still falling
back (this side the Rapidan), but gradually concentrating his forces.
There _may_ be another battle speedily--and if our army does not gain a
_great_ victory, there will be great disappointment.
There are some gun-boats in the James as high up as Aiken's Landing. Two
torpedoes, badly ignited, failed to injure either of them.
Capt. Kay, of Mobile, in conjunction with several other parties, has a
scheme for the destruction of the enemy in the Mississippi Valley. What
it is, I know not--but I know large sums of money are asked for.
After all, it appears that twenty-two transports of Grant's troops have
descended the Mississippi River--Mobile, no doubt, being their
destination.
It is now believed that only a portion of Grant's army has been ordered
here; also that Rosecrans's army will operate with Meade; the object
being to besiege Richmond. Well, we shall, in that event, have Johnston
and Bragg--altogether 200,000 men around the city, which _ought_ to
suffice for its safety. A grand battle may take place this fall, in
which half a million of men may be engaged. That ought to be followed by
a decisive result. Let it come!
The speculators have put up the price of flour to $50 per barrel. To the
honor of Messrs. Warwick, they are selling it at their mills for
$35--not permitting any family to have more than one barrel. This looks,
however, like an approaching siege.
My good friend Dr. Powell, almost every week, brings my family
cucumbers, or corn, or butter, or something edible from his farm. He is
one in ten thousand! His son has been in sixteen battles--and yet the
government refuses him a lieutenancy, because he is not quite twenty-one
years of age. He is manly, well educated, brave, and every way
qualified.
AUGUST 7TH.--Nothing new from Lee's army--only that his troops are eager
for another battle, when they are resolved to gain the day. There will
probably not be so many prisoners taken as usual, since the alleged
cruel treatment of our men now taken at Gettysburg, and the sending of
Gen. Morgan to the Ohio Penitentiary, and shaving his head, by order of
Gen. Burnside.
A dispatch from Beauregard, to-day, states that the enemy are getting
large reinforcements, and are at work on their island batteries. There
was a slow firing--and but one man killed.
It is believed that Governor Letcher will, reluctantly, call the
Legislature together; but he says the members will exhibit only the _bad
spirit of the people they represent_. What that means, I know not.
The Governor elect--commonly called "Extra-Billy Smith"--has resigned
his brigadiership. But he is a candidate for a major-generalship, until
inauguration day, 1st January. He has had an interview with the
President, and proposes to take command of the troops defending the
city--that Gen. Elzey may take the field. Smith would undoubtedly have a
strong motive in defending the capital--but then he knows nothing of
military affairs, yet I think he will be appointed.
Gen. Wise's batteries crippled and drove off the enemy's monitor and
gun-boats day before yesterday. The monitor was towed down the James
River in a disabled condition.
To-day, for the third time since the war began, I derived some money
from our farm. It was another interposition of Providence. Once before,
on the very days that money was indispensable, a Mr. Evans, a
blockade-runner to the Eastern Shore of Virginia, came unexpectedly with
$100 obtained from my agent, who has had the management of the farm for
many years, and who is reported to be a Union man. To-day, just when my
income is wholly insufficient to pay rent on the house--$500 per annum
and $500 rent for the furniture, besides subsisting the family--at the
very moment when my wife was about to part with the last of her little
store of gold, to buy a few articles of furniture at auction, and save a
heavy expense ($40 per month), the same Evans came to me, saying that
although he had no money from my agent, if I would give him an order on
the agent for $300, he would advance that amount in Treasury notes. I
accepted the sum on his conditions. This is the work of a beneficent
Providence, thus manifested on three different occasions,--and to doubt
it would be to deserve damnation!
AUGUST 8TH.--There is nothing new from any of the armies, except that my
old friend, Gen. Rains, sent to Mississippi, stopped and stampeded
Grant's army, after Johnston retreated from Jackson, with his "subterra
batteries." It appears that hundreds of the enemy and their horses were
killed and wounded by the shells planted by him beneath the surface of
the earth, and which ignited under the pressure of their weight. They
knew not where to go to avoid them, and so they retreated to Vicksburg.
This invention may become a terror to all invading.
A letter received some days ago from a Mr. Bible, in Georgia, proposing
to contribute one-quarter of his slaves as teamsters, cooks, etc. for
the army, came back from the President, to-day, approved, with
directions to quartermasters to employ in such capacities all that could
be procured.
Col. Myers, the Quartermaster-General, who is charged with saying "Let
them suffer," when the soldiers wanted blankets last winter, is to go
out of office at last--to be succeeded by Brig.-Gen. Lawton.
Oak-wood is selling to-day for $35 per cord; coal, $25 per cart-load;
and flour, $45 per barrel. Mr. Warwick, however, sells any family one
barrel for $34. I got one from him, and the promise of another for
$33--from Commissary Warner; and I hope to get two loads of coal, under
the navy contract, at $20 each. There is much excitement against the
speculators in food and fuel--and some harsh proceeding may ensue.
The _Tribune_ (New York) now says no terms will be listened to so long
as we are in arms. We will not yield our arms but with life--and this
insures independence.
AUGUST 9TH.--No news from the armies.
Mrs. ex-President Tyler, who has already been permitted to visit her
native State, New York, once or twice during the war--and indeed her
plantation has been within the enemy's lines--has applied for passage in
a government steamer (the Lee) to Nassau, and to take with her "a few
bales of cotton." I suppose it will be "allowed."
We have fine hot August weather now, and I hope my tomatoes will mature,
and thus save me two dollars per day. My potatoes have, so far, failed;
but as they are still green, perhaps they may produce a crop later in
the season. The lima beans, trailed on the fence, promise an abundant
crop; and the cabbages and peppers look well. Every inch of the ground
is in cultivation--even the ash-heap, covered all over with
tomato-vines.
AUGUST 10TH.--No army news of immediate importance.
South Carolina has set an example in the prices of supplies for the
army, under the Impressment Act, fixed by the Commissioners. By this
schedule (for August, and it will be less in succeeding months) bacon is
to be from 65 to 75 cents per pound; beef, 25 cents; corn, $2 per
bushel; flour $20; pork, 35 cents; hay, $1.50 per 100 pounds; oats, $2
per bushel; potatoes, $3; rice, 10 cents; sugar, 80 cents; soap, 40
cents; and wheat, $3.50 per bushel.
Gen. Lee writes that the railroad brings him but 1000 bushels of corn
per day; not enough to bring up his exhausted cavalry and artillery
horses; and he suggests that passenger cars be occasionally left behind
for the purpose of supplying the army--an indispensable measure.
Gen. Lee also writes that he has 1700 unarmed men in his army; in two
weeks there will be 5000, and in a month 10,000. He suggests that the
troops for local defense here, and even the militia, be disarmed, to
supply his men. This indicates that Lee is to have an _immense_ army,
and that Richmond is to be defended. But the Central and Fredericksburg
Railroads must be repaired immediately, and at any expense to the
government, or else all will fail!
AUGUST 11TH.--After all the applications of the railroad companies when
Gen. Lee was in Pennsylvania, and the enemy had withdrawn from this side
of the Potomac, it appears that the fine iron on the road from
Fredericksburg to Aquia Creek was not removed! Mr. Seddon's subordinates
must answer for this. The iron was wanted more than anything else but
men. The want of men cannot be alleged for not securing it, because the
railroad companies would have procured negroes enough for its removal.
Well, the first of August has passed, and the grand scheme of the War
Office at Washington of a general servile insurrection did not take
place. On the contrary, a large army of slaves might be organized to
fight for their masters.
To-day, it must be confessed, I saw some of the booty (if, indeed, it
was not fairly bought) of the recent invasion of the North. A number of
boxes of fine stationery, brought from Carlisle, Chambersburg, etc.,
were opened at the War Department.
There is a controversy between the Secretary of War, Assistant
Secretary, and Attorney-General on one side, and the Commissary-General,
Col. L. B. Northrop, on the other. It appears that one of the assistant
commissaries exchanged sugar for flour and rice in Alabama with a
merchant or speculator, and then, after the lapse of a month or so,
_impressed the sugar_. The party got the Attorney-General's opinion in
his behalf, which was approved by the Assistant Secretary of War, and
the Secretary issued an order for the release of the sugar. In response
to this, Col. N. rebuts the arguments of the whole three (lawyers) by
saying it is not _good sense_ to exempt anything, under any
circumstances, from impressment, when needed to carry on the war; and
that the way to success is to do justice to the whole country--and not
to please the people. A palpable hit at the politicians. He says if the
Secretary insists on the sugar being released, it will be done against
his (N.'s) judgment.
AUGUST 12TH.--Letters from Georgia to-day assure the government that the
grain crops of that State will afford a surplus sufficient for the army,
cavalry and all, for 12 months.
Also one from P. Clayton, late Assistant Secretary of the Treasury,
censuring the commissary agents in Georgia, who are sent thither from
other States, who insult the farmers and encourage speculation.
Mr. Memminger is shipping gold from Wilmington, $20,000 by each steamer,
to Bermuda and Nassau. Why is this? Cotton is quite as good as gold, and
there are thousands of millions worth of that in the country, which Mr.
Memminger might buy, certainly might have bought for Confederate notes,
but, in his peculiar wisdom, he would not. And now, the _great
financier_ is shipping gold out of the country, thinking, perhaps, it
may arrest the depreciation of paper money!
Col. Northrop, Commissary-General, is still urging a diminution of
rations, and as our soldiers taken by the enemy fare badly in the North,
and as the enemy make a point of destroying all the crops they can when
they invade us, and even destroy our agricultural implements and teams,
he proposes, in retaliation, to stop meat rations altogether to
prisoners in our hands, and give them instead oat gruel, corn-meal
gruel, and pea soup, soft hominy, and bread. This the Secretary will not
agree to, because the law says they shall have the same as our troops.
I read to-day Gen. Lee's report of his operations (an outline) in June
and July, embracing his campaign in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The enemy could not be attacked advantageously opposite Fredericksburg,
and hence he determined to draw him out of his position by relieving the
lower valley of the Shenandoah, and, if practicable, transfer the scene
of hostilities north of the Potomac.
The movement began on the 3d of June. The divisions of McLaws and Hood
(Longstreet's) marched for Culpepper C. H. They were followed on the 4th
and 5th by Ewell's corps, A. P. Hill's still occupying our lines at
Fredericksburg.
When the enemy discovered the movement (on the 5th), he sent an army
corps across the Rappahannock, but this did not arrest Longstreet and
Ewell, who reached Culpepper C. H. on the 8th, where they found Gen.
Stuart and his cavalry. On the 9th the enemy's cavalry and a strong
force of infantry crossed the Rappahannock and attacked Gen. Stuart, but
they were beaten back, after fighting all day, with heavy loss,
including 400 prisoners, 3 pieces artillery, and several colors.
Gens. Jenkins and Imboden had been sent in advance, the latter against
Romney, to cover the former's movement against Winchester, and both were
in position when Ewell left Culpepper C. H. on the 16th.
Gen. Early stormed the enemy's works at Winchester on the 14th, and the
whole army of Milroy was captured or dispersed.
Gen. Rhodes, on the same day, took Martinsburg, Va., capturing 700
prisoners, 5 pieces artillery, and a large supply of stores.
More than 4000 prisoners were taken at Winchester; 29 pieces artillery;
270 wagons and ambulances; 400 horses, besides a large amount of
military stores.
Precisely at this time the enemy disappeared from Fredericksburg,
seemingly designing to take a position to cover Washington.
Gen. Stuart, in several engagements, took 400 more prisoners, etc.
Meantime, Gen. Ewell, with Gen. Jenkins's cavalry, etc., penetrated
Maryland, and Pennsylvania as far as Chambersburg.
On the 24th, Lt.-Gens. Longstreet and Hill marched to the Potomac, the
former crossing at Williamsport and the latter at Shepherdstown, uniting
at Hagerstown, Md., advancing into Pennsylvania, and encamping near
Chambersburg on the 27th.
Ewell's corps advanced as far as York and Carlisle, to keep the enemy
out of the mountains, and to keep our communications open.
Gen. Imboden destroyed all the important bridges of the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad from Martinsburg to Cumberland, damaging the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal.
Preparations were made to march upon Harrisburg, when information was
received of the approach of the army of the enemy, menacing
communications with the Potomac, necessitating a concentration of our
army at Gettysburg.
Hill became engaged with a superior force of the enemy on the 1st July,
but Ewell, coming up by the Harrisburg road, participated in the
engagement, and the enemy were driven through Gettysburg with heavy
loss, including about 5000 prisoners and several pieces of artillery.
The enemy retired to a high range of hills, south and east of the town.
On the 2d, Gen. Ewell occupied the left, Gen. Hill the Center, and Gen.
Longstreet the right.
Longstreet got possession of the enemy's position in front of his corps
after a severe struggle; Ewell also carried some strong positions. The
battle ceased at dark.
The next day, 3d July, our batteries were moved forward to the positions
we had gained, and it was determined to renew the attack.
Meantime the enemy had strengthened his line. The battle raged with
great violence in the afternoon, until sunset. We got possession of some
of the enemy's batteries, but our ammunition failing, our troops were
compelled to relinquish them, and fall back to their original position
with severe loss.
Our troops (the general says) behaved well in the protracted and
sanguinary conflict, accomplishing all that was practicable.
The strong position of the enemy, and reduction of his ammunition,
rendered it inexpedient for Gen. Lee to continue longer where he was.
Such of the wounded as could be moved, and part of the arms collected on
the field, were ordered to Williamsport.
His army remained at Gettysburg during the 4th, and began to retire at
night, taking with it about 4000 prisoners, nearly 2000 having been
previously paroled. The enemy's wounded that fell into his hands were
left behind.
He reached Williamsport without molestation, losing but few wagons,
etc., and arrived at Hagerstown 7th July.
The Potomac was much swollen by recent rains, that had fallen
incessantly ever since he had crossed it, and was unfordable.
The enemy had not yet appeared, until the 12th, when, instead of
attacking, Meade fortified his lines.
On the 13th Gen. Lee crossed at Falling Waters, the river subsiding, by
fords and a bridge, without loss, the enemy making no interruption. Only
some stragglers, sleeping, fell into the hands of the enemy.
AUGUST 13TH.--No news. It turns out that Gen. Taylor got only 500
prisoners at Donaldsonville, La., instead of 4000.
A writer in the New York _Tribune_ says the Northern troops burnt
Jackson, Miss.
Lincoln has marked for close confinement and hostages three of our men
for three free negroes taken on Morris Island.
The government here has, at last, indicated blockade-goods (U. S.) which
are to be seized; also sent circular letters to the generals at
Wilmington, Charleston, and Mobile to impose restrictions on blockade
running steamers belonging to private parties. The government must first
have such articles as its necessities require, at fair prices, before
the merchandise can be offered to the public, and the vessels must be
freighted out partly with government cotton. This is a good arrangement,
even if it is "locking the stable after the horse is stolen."
AUGUST 14TH.--The enemy is not idle. He knows the importance of
following up his recent advantages, and making the utmost use of his
veteran troops now in the field, because his new levies, if indeed the
draft be submitted to, will not be fit for use this year, probably, if
ever, for they will consist of the riff-raff of the Northern population.
On the other hand, he suspects we will soon have larger armies in the
field than ever before, and our accessions will consist of our bravest
men, who will make efficient soldiers in a month. If our armies be not
broken before October, no doubt the tide of success will turn again
fully in our favor.
Major Wm. Norris, Signal Corps, reports that many transports and troops
have been going down from Washington and Annapolis to Fortress Monroe
during the whole week, and that 5000 men embarked at Fortress Monroe, on
Monday, for (as they said themselves) Charleston. Among these was a
negro regiment of 1300.
T. C. Reynolds, confidential agent of the government in the
trans-Mississippi States, sends copy of a circular letter from
Lieut.-Gen. Kirby Smith to the "representative men" of Missouri,
Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, to meet him in convention, 15th August,
at Marshall, Texas. Mr Reynolds says he and others will exert themselves
to prevent the meeting from taking a dangerous political direction. Gen.
Smith is popular, and opposed to the States named setting up for
themselves, although he plainly says in the circular that they must now
adopt self-sustaining measures, as they cannot look for aid from the
East. Mr. Reynolds says something, not clearly understood by me, about
an equipoise among the _political_ generals. Has he been instructed on
that point in reference to Gen. Price?
Letters from Mr. Crenshaw, in England, and the correspondence forwarded
by him, might seem to implicate Major Caleb Huse, Col. J. Gorgas's
ordnance agent, in some very ugly operations. It appears that Major H.
has contracted for 50,000 muskets at $4 above the current price,
leaving $200,000 commission for whom? And that he really seems to be
throwing obstacles in the way of Mr. C., who is endeavoring to procure
commissary stores in England. Mr. C. has purchased £40,000 worth of
bacon, but Major Huse, he apprehends, is endeavoring to prevent its
shipment. Can this be so?
The _Charleston Mercury_ that came to-day contains an editorial
broadside against the President, Mr. Benjamin, Mr. Mallory, and
Commissary-General Northrop.
Mr. Gilmer, lawyer, remarked to me to-day that some grave men (!) really
believed Davis and Lincoln had an understanding, and were playing into
each other's hands to prolong the war, knowing that peace would be the
destruction of both! I think there is more danger to both in war. The
blood of a brave people could not be trifled with without the utmost
danger. Let peace come, even if the politicians be shorn of all their
power.
AUGUST 15TH.--I learn an order has been issued to conscribe all
commissary and quartermasters' clerks liable to military service. There
will be, and ought to be, some special cases of exemption, where men
have lost everything in the war and have women and children depending on
their salaries for subsistence; but if this order be extended to the
ordnance and other bureaus, as it must be, or incur the odium of
injustice, and the thousand and one A. A. G.'s, there will soon be a
very important accession to the army.
Major Joseph B----, who was lately confined with over 1000 of our
officers, prisoners, on Johnson Island, Lake Erie, proposes a plan to
the Secretary of War whereby he is certain the island can be taken, and
the prisoners liberated and conveyed to Canada. He proposes that a dozen
men shall seize one of the enemy's steamers at Sandusky, and then
overpower the guards, etc. It is wild, but not impracticable.
We hear nothing to-day from the enemy on the Rappahannock or at Fortress
Monroe.
Our army in Western Louisiana captured some forty Yankee
cotton-planters, who had taken possession of the plantations after
driving their owners away. The account states that they were "sent to
Texas." Were they not sent into eternity?
AUGUST 16TH.--The President rides out with some of the female members
of his family every afternoon, his aids no longer accompanying him. In
this he evinces but little prudence, for it is incredible that he should
be ignorant of the fact that he has some few deadly enemies in the city.
Everywhere the ladies and children may be seen plaiting straw and making
bonnets and hats. Mrs. Davis and the ladies of her household are
frequently seen sitting on the front porch engaged in this employment.
Ostentation cannot be attributed to them, for only a few years ago the
Howells were in humble condition and accustomed to work.
My wife borrowed $200 of Mr. Waterhouse, depositing $20 in gold as
security--worth $260--which, with the $300 from Evans on account of
rent, have been carefully applied to the purchase of sundry housekeeping
articles. After the 1st September we shall cease to pay $40 per month
rent on furniture, but that amount for house-rent, so that in the item
of rent my expenses will be less than they were the preceding year. So
far, with the exception of crockery-ware and chairs, the purchases (at
auction) have been at low prices, and we have been fortunate in the time
selected to provide indispensable articles.
I often wonder if, in the first struggle for independence, there was as
much suffering and despondency among certain classes of the people as we
now behold. Our rich men are the first to grow weary of the contest.
Yesterday a letter was received by the Secretary of War from a Mr.
Reanes, Jackson, Mississippi, advising the government to lose no time in
making the best terms possible with the United States authorities, else
all would be lost. He says but a short time ago he was worth $1,250,000,
and now nothing is left him but a shelter, and that would have been
destroyed if he had not made a pledge to remain. He says he is an old
man, and was a zealous secessionist, and even now would give his life
for the independence of his country. But that is impracticable--numbers
must prevail--and he would preserve his wife and children from the
horrors threatened, and inevitable if the war be prolonged. He says the
soldiers that were under Pemberton and Lovell will never serve under
them again, for they denounce them as traitors and tyrants, while, as
they allege, they were well treated by the enemy when they fell into
their hands.
Yet it seems to me that, like the Israelites that passed through the
Red Sea, and Shadrach and his brethren who escaped unscorched from the
fiery furnace, my family have been miraculously sustained. We have
purchased no clothing for nearly three years, and had no superabundance
to begin with, but still we have decent clothes, as if time made no
appreciable change in them. I wear a hat bought four years ago, and
shoes that cost me (government price then) $7.50 more than a year ago,
and I suppose they would sell now for $10; new ones are bringing $50.
My tomatoes are maturing slowly, but there will be abundance, saving me
$10 per week for ten weeks. My lima beans are very full, and some of
them will be fit to pull in a few days. My potatoes are as green as
grass, and I fear will produce nothing but vines; but I shall have
cabbages and parsnips, and red peppers. No doubt the little garden, 25
by 50, will be worth $150 to me. Thank Providence, we still have health!
But the scarcity--or rather high prices, for there is really no scarcity
of anything but meat--is felt by the cats, rats, etc., as well as by the
people. I have not seen a rat or mouse for months, and lean cats are
wandering past every day in quest of new homes.
What shall we do for sugar, now selling at $2 per pound? When the little
supply this side of the Mississippi is still more reduced it will
probably be $5! It has been more than a year since we had coffee or tea.
Was it not thus in the trying times of the Revolution? If so, why can we
not bear privation as well as our forefathers did? We must!
AUGUST 17TH.--No news, except that the bombardment at Charleston is
getting hotter--but the casualties are few.
The chief ordnance officer of Gen. Lee's army writes that the ammunition
from Richmond has always to be tested before they can venture to use it.
The shells for the Parrott guns are often too large--and of course would
be useless in the hour of battle!
The _Examiner_ to-day has an attack on the President for removing A. C.
Myers, the Quartermaster-General.
AUGUST 18TH.--There is heavy firing, day and night, on Wagner's battery
and Fort Sumter. The enemy use 15-inch guns; but Sumter is 4000 yards
distant, and it may be hoped will not be reduced.
After all, the enemy did not, durst not, shave the head of Gen. Morgan,
and otherwise maltreat him, as was reported.
The Secretary of War is, I believe, really in earnest in his
determination to prevent future blockade-running on private account; and
is resolved to send out cotton, tobacco, etc. by every steamer, so that
funds and credit may be always available in Europe. The steamers go and
come every week, in spite of the cruisers, and they bring munitions of
war, equipments, provisions, iron, etc. etc. So long as this continues,
the war can be maintained; and of late very few captures have been made
by the enemy.
There are rumors of some manoeuvres of Gen. Lee, which may indicate an
approaching battle.
AUGUST 19TH.--A _scout_, from Washington, has reported to Major Norris,
signal corps, that 10,000 New York troops have recently left Meade's
army, their term of service having expired; and that 30,000 men have
been sent from his army against Charleston. This accounts for the
falling back of Meade--and the detachment never would have been made
without.
This intelligence has been in the possession of the government four
days; and if Charleston should fall now for want of men or material,
there will be great culpability somewhere.
All the non-combatants have been requested to leave Charleston--and none
are allowed to enter the city.
We have just got information from Charleston of a furious assault. So
far the casualties are not very great, nor the Island batteries
materially injured; but Sumter, it is feared, is badly shattered, yet is
in no great danger. Much apprehension for the result is felt and
manifested here. Six or eight large columbiads have been lying idle at
the Petersburg depot for a month, although the prayers of the people of
Charleston for heavy guns have been incessant!
Col. Preston, Chief of the Bureau of Conscription, sent in a long
communication to-day, asking for enlarged powers and exclusive
jurisdiction in the conscription business, and then, he says, he will
have all the conscripts (not exempted) in the army in six months. But
more are exempted than conscribed!
Robert Tyler publishes a long and hopeful letter on our finances.
If Mr. Memminger read and approved the manuscript, it is well; but if
not, _good-by_, my friend! It is well done, however, even though
_aspiring_. But it is incredible there should be no more Treasury notes
in circulation--and no more indebtedness.
AUGUST 20TH.--A few weeks ago Gen. Cooper wrote to Bragg, suggesting
that he advance into Middle Tennessee, reinforced by Gen. Johnston, and
attack Rosecrans; Gen. Bragg replied (8th inst.) that with all the
reinforcements he could get from Johnston, he would not have more than
40,000 effective men, while Rosecrans has 60,000, and will be reinforced
by Burnside with 30,000 more--making 90,000 against 40,000--and as a
true patriot he was opposed to throwing away our armies in enterprises
sure to terminate disastrously. He said, moreover, that the enemy could
starve him out, if he were to advance to the place designated, and thus
destroy his army without a battle. Gen. Cooper sent this response to the
President, asking if Bragg should not be _ordered_ to fight under such
circumstances. But the President paused, in following the guidance of
this Northern man at the head of all our Southern generals--and to-day
sent back the paper indorsed that "only a suggestion could be given to a
commanding general to fight a battle; but to order him to fight when he
predicted a failure in advance, would be unwise."
A paper from Beauregard intimates that even if batteries Wagner and
Gregg should be taken by the enemy, he has constructed another which
will render that part of Morris Island untenable. But he relied upon
holding Sumter; and there is a vague rumor to-day that Sumter must
surrender--if indeed it has not already been reduced.
Hon Wm. Porcher Miles writes another most urgent letter, demanding
reinforcements of seasoned troops. He says Charleston was stripped of
troops against the remonstrances of Beauregard to send to
Mississippi--to no avail--which invited this attack; and now he asks
that Jenkins's brigade of South Carolinians be sent to the defense; that
South Carolinians are fighting in Virginia, but are not permitted to
defend their native soil in the hour of extremity; and that if the
enemy, with overwhelming numbers, should take James's Island, they
would, from thence, be able to destroy the city. We are looking with
anxiety for further news from Charleston.
Gen. Maury writes from Mobile that he has seized, in the hands of
Steever (who is he?), receipts for 4000 bales of cotton--orders for 150
bonds, each £225 sterling, and two bags of coin, $10,000. The President
indorses on the paper that the money had better be turned over to the
Secretary of the Treasury. What is all this?
The Secretary sent a paper to the President relating to some novel
action performed or proposed, asking his "instructions." The President
returned it to-day indorsed, "The Secretary's advice invited." How in
the mischief can such non-committalists ever arrive at a conclusion?
Hon. E. S. Dargan writes that if Pemberton be restored to command (as he
understands this to be the government's purpose), our cause is ruined
beyond redemption. I say so too. When he made up his mind to surrender,
it is unpardonable that he did not destroy the 50,000 stand of arms
before he made any overture. I shall never forgive him!
The signal officers report that three large ocean steamers passed down
the Potomac day before yesterday, having on board 1000 men each; and
that many large steamers are constantly going up--perhaps for more.
Brig.-Gen. Roger A. Pryor, after dancing attendance in the ante-rooms
for six months, waiting assignment to a command, has resigned, and his
resignation has been accepted. He says he can at least serve in the
ranks as a private. The government don't like aspiring political
generals. Yet Pryor was first a colonel, and member of
Congress--resigned his seat--resigned his brigadier-generalship, and is
now a private.
Our cause is dim in Europe, if it be true, as the Northern papers
report, that the Confederate loan has sunken from par to 35 per cent.
discount since the fall of Vicksburg.
AUGUST 21ST, FRIDAY.--This is a day appointed by the President for
humiliation, fasting, and prayer. Yet the Marylanders in possession of
the passport office report the following in the _Dispatch_ of this date:
"_Passports._--The passport office was besieged yesterday and last night
by large crowds of persons soliciting permission to leave the city, in
order that some relaxation might be had from its busy scenes. Among
those who obtained them were His Excellency Jefferson Davis and his
Honor Joseph Mayo, both designing to pay a short visit to the
neighboring County of Chesterfield."
We fast, certainly--and feel greatly humiliated at the loss of New
Orleans and Vicksburg--and we pray, daily.
Yesterday Fort Sumter suffered much from the enemy's batteries, and much
apprehension is felt for its fate.
Gen. Lee, it is said, is not permitted to follow Meade, who is
retrograding, being weakened by detachments. A few weeks hence the fall
campaign will open in Virginia, when the very earth may tremble again
with the thunders of war, and the rivulets may again spout human blood.
There were no letters to-day, for the reason that last night the clerks
in the post-office resigned, their salaries not being sufficient to
support them. I hope a force will be detailed, to-morrow, to distribute
the letters.
I met Prof. A. T. Bledsoe to-day as he was ambling toward the passport
office. He said he was just about to start for London, where he intended
publishing his book--on slavery, I believe. He has a free passage on one
of the government steamers, to sail from Wilmington. He asked me if I
fasted to-day; I answered yes, as _usual_! He then bid me good-by, and
at parting I told him I hoped he would not find us all hanged when he
returned. I think it probable he has a mission from the President, as
well as his book to publish.
AUGUST 22D.--All the guns of Fort Sumter on the south face have been
silenced by the land batteries of the enemy on Morris Island; and this
account is two days old. What has taken place since, none here but Gen.
Cooper and the President know. But our battery, Wagner, dismounted one
of the enemy's Parrott guns and blew up two magazines. It is rumored
to-day that Sumter has been abandoned and blown up; also that 20,000 of
_Grant's_ men have been ordered to New York to quell a new _émeute_.
Neither of these rumors are credited, however, by reflecting men. But
they may be true, nevertheless.
Passengers from Bermuda say two monster guns were on the steamer, and
were landed at Wilmington a few days ago, weighing each twenty-two tons;
carriages, _sixty tons_; the balls, 15 inches in diameter, length not
stated, weighing 700 pounds; the shells, not filled, weigh 480 pounds;
and 40 pounds of powder are used at each discharge. They say these guns
can be fired with accuracy and with immense effect seven miles. I wonder
if the President will send them to Charleston? They might save the
city.
The balls fired by the enemy are eight inches in diameter, and two feet
in length; 2000 of these, solid and filled, have struck the southern
face of Sumter.
It is now positively asserted that Morgan's head was shaved, when they
put him in the penitentiary.
Night before last all the clerks in the city post-office resigned,
because the government did not give them salaries sufficient to subsist
them. As yet their places have not been filled, and the government gets
no letters--some of which lying in the office may be of such importance
as to involve the safety or ruin of the government. To-morrow is Sunday,
and of course the mails will not be attended to before Monday--the
letters lying here four days unopened! This really looks as if we had no
Postmaster-General.
AUGUST 23D.--Dispatches from Charleston, yesterday, brought the
melancholy intelligence that Fort Sumter is but little more than a pile
of rubbish. The fall of this fort caused my wife a hearty cry--and she
cried when Beauregard reduced it in 1861; not because he did it, but
because it was the initiation of a terrible war. She hoped that the
separation would be permitted to pass without bloodshed.
To-day we have a dispatch from Beauregard, stating the _extraordinary
fact that the enemy's batteries, since the demolition of Sumter, have
thrown shell, from their Parrott guns, into the city--a distance of five
and a half miles_! This decides the fate of Charleston; for they are
making regular approaches to batteries Wagner and Gregg, which, of
course, will fall. The other batteries Beauregard provided to render the
upper end of the island untenable, cannot withstand, I fear, the
enginery of the enemy.
If the government had sent the long-range guns of large caliber when so
urgently called for by Beauregard, and if it had _not_ sent away the
best troops against the remonstrances of Beauregard, the people are
saying, no lodgment could have been made on Morris Island by the enemy,
and Sumter and Charleston would have been saved for at least another
year.
At all events, it is quite probable, now, that all the forts and cities
on the seaboard (Mobile, Savannah, Wilmington, Richmond) must succumb to
the mighty engines of the enemy; and our gun-boats, built and in process
of completion, will be lost. Richmond, it is apprehended, must fall when
the enemy again approaches within four or five miles of it; and
Wilmington can be taken from the rear, as well as by water, for no forts
can withstand the Parrott guns.
Then there will be an end of blockade-running; and we must flee to the
mountains, and such interior fastnesses as will be impracticable for the
use of these long-range guns. Man must confront man in the deadly
conflict, and the war can be protracted until the government of the
North passes out of the hands of the Abolitionists. We shall suffer
immensely; but in the end we shall be free.
AUGUST 24TH.--We have nothing further from Charleston, except that
Beauregard threatened retaliation (how?) if Gilmore repeated the
offense, against humanity and the rules of civilized war, of shelling
the city before notice should be given the women and children to leave
it. To-day, at 11 A.M., it is supposed the shelling was renewed.
This day week, I learn by a letter from Gen. Whiting, two 700-pounder
Blakely guns arrived in the Gladiator. If these could only be
transported to Charleston, what a _sensation_ they would make among the
turreted monitors! But I fear the railroad cannot transport them.
The Secretary of the Treasury asks transportation for 1000 bales of
cotton to Wilmington. What for?
To-day I saw a copy of a dispatch from Gen. Johnston to the President,
dated at Morton, Miss., 22d August, stating that he would send forward,
the next day, two divisions to reinforce Gen. Bragg in Tennessee. This
signifies battle.
The Secretary of the Treasury notified the Secretary of War, to-day,
that the appropriation of fifty millions per month, for the expenditure
of the War Department, was greatly exceeded; that already this month
(August) the requisitions on hand amounted to over $70,000,000, and they
could not be met--some must lie over; and large sums for contracts, pay
of troops, etc. will not be paid, immediately.
Exchange on London, I learn by a letter written by Mr. Endus to his
agent in London, detained by Gen. Whiting and sent to the Secretary of
War, is selling in Richmond at a premium of fifteen hundred per cent.
The post-office clerks have returned to duty, the Postmaster-General
promising to recommend to Congress increased compensation.
AUGUST 25TH.--Hon. A. R. Boteler, after consultation with Gen. Stuart
and Capt. Moseby, suggests that the Secretary of War send up some of
Gen. Rains's subterra torpedoes, to place under the track of the Orange
and Alexandria Railroad, in possession of the enemy. Gen. Stuart
suggested that a man familiar with their use be sent along with them, as
they are dangerous weapons.
We have a report, to-day, that our expedition from this city has
succeeded in boarding and capturing two of the enemy's gun-boats in the
Rappahannock.
AUGUST 26TH.--H. C. ----, a mad private, and Northern man, in a Georgia
Regiment, writes to the President, proposing to take some 300 to 500 men
of resolution and assassinate the leading public men of the United
States--the war Abolitionists, I suppose. The President referred the
paper, without notice, to the Secretary of War.
Gen. Whiting writes that Wilmington is in imminent danger from a _coup
de main_, as he has but one regiment available in the vicinity. He says
he gives the government fair warning, and full information of his
condition; asking a small brigade, which would enable him to keep the
enemy at bay until adequate reinforcements could arrive. He also wants
two Whitworth guns to keep the blockaders at a more respectful distance,
since they captured one steamer from us, recently, nine miles below the
city, and blew up a ship which was aground. He says it is _tempting
Providence_ to suffer that (now) most important city in the Confederate
States to remain a day liable to sudden capture, which would effectually
cut us off from the rest of the world.
Gen. Beauregard telegraphs for a detail of 50 seamen for his iron-clads,
which he intends shall support Sumter, if, as he anticipates, the enemy
should make a sudden attempt to seize it--or rather its debris--where he
still has some guns, _still under our flag_. None of his vessels have
full crews. This paper was referred to the Secretary of the Navy, and he
returned it with an emphatic _negative_, saying that the War Department
had failed to make details from the army to the navy, in accordance with
an act of Congress, and hence none of our war steamers had full crews.
AUGUST 27TH.--There is trouble in the Conscription Bureau. Col.
Preston, the new superintendent, finds it no bed of roses, made for him
by Lieut.-Col. Lay--the lieutenant-colonel being absent in North
Carolina, sent thither to _compose_ the discontents; which may
complicate matters further, for they don't want Virginians to meddle
with North Carolina matters. However, the people he is sent to are
supposed to be _disloyal_. Gen. Pillow has applied to have Georgia in
the jurisdiction of his Bureau of Conscription, and the Governors of
Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee unite in the request; also Generals
Johnston and Bragg. Gen. Pillow already has Mississippi, Tennessee,
Alabama, etc.--a much larger jurisdiction than the bureau here. Col.
Preston, of course, protests against all this, and I believe the
Secretary sympathizes with him.
Prof. G. M. Richardson, of the Georgia Military Institute, sends some
interesting statistics. That State has furnished the army 80,000,
between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years. Still, the average
number of men in each county between sixteen and eighteen and forty-five
and sixty is 462, and there are 132 counties: total, 60,984. He deducts
30 per cent, for the infirm, etc. (18,689), leaving 42,689 men able to
bear arms still at home. Thus, after putting some 500,000 in the field
(if we could put them there), there would yet remain a reserve for home
defense against raids, etc. in the Confederate States, of not less than
250,000 men.
Gen. Winder sent to the Secretary of War to-day for authority to appoint
a clerk to attend exclusively to the mails to and from the United
States--under Gen. Winder's sole direction.
Major Quantrel, a Missouri guerrilla chief, has dashed into Lawrence,
Kansas, and burnt the city--killing and wounding 180. He had Gen. Jim
Lane, but he escaped.
Gen. Floyd is dead; some attribute his decease to ill treatment by the
government.
I saw Mr. Hunter yesterday, bronzed, but bright. He is a little thinner,
which improves his appearance.
Gen. Lee is in town--looking well. When he returns, I think the fall
campaign will open briskly.
A dispatch received to-day says that on Tuesday evening another assault
on Battery Wagner was in progress--but as yet we have no result.
Lieut. Wood captured a third gun-boat in the Rappahannock, having eight
guns.
The prisoners here selected to die, in retaliation for Burnside's
execution of our officers taken while recruiting in Kentucky, will not
be executed.
Nor will the officers taken on Morris Island, serving with the negroes,
suffer death in accordance with the act of Congress and the President's
proclamation. The Secretary referred the matter to the President for
instruction, and the President invited the advice of the Secretary. The
Secretary advised that they be held indefinitely, without being brought
to trial, and in this the President acquiesces.
AUGUST 28TH.--Another letter, from Gen. Whiting, calls vehemently for
reinforcements, artillery, cavalry, and infantry--or else the city and
harbor are soon to be at the mercy of the enemy. He is importunate.
After all, Morgan's head was _not_ shaved--but his beard, and that of
his officers, was cut, and their hair made _short_. This I learn from a
letter at the department from Morgan's Assistant Adjutant-General.
The tocsin was ringing in my ears when I awoke this morning. Custis
packed his haversack, and, taking blanket, etc. etc., joined his
department comrades, and they were all marched out the Brooke turnpike.
Yesterday the enemy in considerable force came up the Peninsula and
attacked the guard (70 men) at Bottom's Bridge, killing, so report says,
Lieut. Jetu, of South Carolina, and some twelve or fifteen others. But I
believe the attacking party have recrossed the Chickahominy. We shall
know in a few hours. Gen. Lee is still here. Gen. Wise's brigade, with
the militia, the department companies, and the convalescents from the
hospitals, must number some 8000 men in this vicinity. If the enemy be
in formidable numbers, we shall soon be reinforced.
We have nothing from Charleston since Tuesday evening, when, it is said,
the "_first_ assault" was repulsed. It is strange we get nothing later.
AUGUST 29TH.--After all, it appears that only a few hundred of the
enemy's cavalry came up the Peninsula as far as Bottom's Bridge, from
whence they quickly fell back again. And this alarm caused Gen. Elzey,
or the government, to put in movement nearly 20,000 men! But something
else may be behind this demonstration; it may be the purpose of the
enemy to strike in another direction, perhaps at Hanover
Junction--where, fortunately, we have nearly a division awaiting them.
The Hon. Mr. Dargan's letter, received at the department a few days ago,
saying that the reinstatement of Gen. Pemberton in command would be the
ruin of the cause, was referred by the Secretary to the President, with
some strong remarks, to the effect that popular opinion was almost
universal against Pemberton. It came back to-day, with the following
indorsement of the President: "_The justice or injustice of the opinion
will be tested by the investigation ordered_.--J. D." If the President
desires it, of course Pemberton will be exonerated. But even if he be
honorably and fairly acquitted, the President ought not to forget that
he is not a ruler by Divine right to administer justice merely, but the
servant of the people to aid in the achievement of their independence;
and that their opinions and wishes, right or wrong, must be respected,
or they can deprive him of honor, and select another leader.
AUGUST 30TH.--The department companies and militia returned yesterday,
through a heavy shower, from the wild-goose chase they were rushed into
by Gen. Elzey's order.
Mr. Reagan, the Postmaster-General, informed me to-day (the government
will not allow bad news to transpire) that at the _second_ assault on
Battery Wagner, Morris Island, the enemy captured and held the
rifle-pits. This, perhaps, involves the loss of the battery itself--and
indeed there is a report, generally believed, that it fell subsequently.
I fear that the port of Charleston is closed finally--if indeed, as I
hope, the city will be still held by Beauregard.
Letters from Wilmington, dated 21st instant, urgently ask the Secretary
of War to have one of the Great Blakely guns for the defense of that
city--and protesting against both being sent to Charleston. From this, I
infer that one or both have been ordered to Beauregard.
Gen. Samuel Jones has had a small combat with the enemy in Western
Virginia, achieving some success. His loss was about 200, that of the
enemy much greater. This is a grain of victory to a pound of disaster.
The owners of several fast blockade-running steamers, in anticipation of
the closing of all the ports, are already applying for letters of marque
to operate against the commerce of the United States as privateers, or
in the "volunteer navy"--still with an eye to gain.
Gen. Lee has returned to the Army of Northern Virginia--and we shall
probably soon hear of interesting operations in the field. Governor
Vance writes for a brigade of North Carolinians to collect deserters in
the western counties of that State.
There must be two armies in Virginia this fall--one for defense, and one
(under Lee) for the aggressive--150,000 men in all--or else the losses
of the past will not be retrieved during the ensuing _terrible_
campaign.
Some good may be anticipated from the furious and universal outcry in
the Confederate States against the extortioners and speculators in food
and fuel. Already some of the millers here are selling new flour at $27
to families; the speculators paid $35 for large amounts, which they
expected to get $50 for! But meat is still too high for families of
limited means. My tomatoes are now maturing--and my butter-beans are
filling rapidly, and have already given us a dinner. What we shall do
for clothing, the Lord knows--but we trust in Him.
AUGUST 31ST.--Governor Vance writes that large bodies of deserters in
the western counties of North Carolina are organized, with arms, and
threaten to raise the Union flag at the court-house of Wilkes County on
next court-day. The Governor demands a brigade from Virginia to quell
them. Lieut.-Col. Lay has been sent thither, by the new good-natured
chief of the Bureau of Conscription, to cure the evil. We shall see what
good this mission will effect. Col. Preston writes to the Secretary
to-day that disorders among the conscripts and deserters are now
occurring in South Carolina for the first time--and proposes shortly to
visit them himself. The best thing that can be done is to abolish the
Bureau of Conscription, and have the law enforced by the military
commanders in the field.
I saw to-day a letter to the Secretary of War, written by Mr. Benjamin,
Secretary of State, on the 18th inst., referring to a Mr. Jno.
Robertson, an artist, whom the Secretary of War promised a free passage
in a government steamer to Europe. Mr. B. says the promise was made in
the President's room, and he asks if Mr. Seddon could not spare an hour
in his office, for Mr. R. to take his portrait. He says Mr. R. has the
heads of the President, all the heads of departments (except Mr. Seddon,
I suppose), and the principal generals. It does not appear what was done
by Mr. Seddon, but I presume everything asked for by Mr. Benjamin was
granted. But this matter has not exalted the President and his "heads of
departments" in my estimation. If it be not "fiddling while Rome is
burning," it is certainly _egotizing_ while the Confederacy is
crumbling. On that day Sumter was falling to pieces, and some 40
locomotives and hundreds of cars were burning in Mississippi, and
everywhere our territory passing into the hands of the invader!
Mr. Robertson, I believe, is a stranger and an Englishman, and a _free
passage_ in a government ship is equivalent to some $2000, Confederate
States currency. Almost every day passages are denied to refugees,
natives of the South, who have lost fortunes in the cause, and who were
desirous to place their children and non-combatants in a place of
security, while they fight for liberty and independence. The privileged
passage is refused them, even when they are able and willing to pay for
the passage, and this refusal is recommended by Col. Gorgas, a Northern
man. They do not propose to immortalize "the President, the heads of
departments, and the principal generals." But Mr. Benjamin has nothing
else to do. Washington would accept no meed of praise until his great
work was accomplished.
CHAPTER XXX.
Situation at Wilmington.--Situation at Charleston.--Lincoln thinks there
is hope of our submission.--Market prices.--Ammunition turned over
to the enemy at Vicksburg.--Attack on Sumter.--Stringent conscription
order.--Disaffection in North Carolina.--Victory announced by Gen.
Bragg.--Peril of Gen. Rosecrans.--Surrender of Cumberland Gap.--
Rosecrans fortifying Chattanooga.--Mr. Seward on flag-of-truce
boat.--Burnside evacuating East Tennessee.--The trans-Mississippi
army.--Meade sending troops to Rosecrans.--Pemberton in Richmond.--
A suggestion concerning perishable tithes.
SEPTEMBER 1ST.--Another letter from Gen. Whiting, urging the government
by every consideration, and with all the ingenuity and eloquence of
language at his command, to save Wilmington by sending reinforcements
thither, else it must be inevitably lost. He says it will not do to rely
upon what now seems the merest stupidity of the enemy, for they already
have sufficient forces and means at their command and within reach to
capture the fort and city. He has but one regiment for its defense!
I saw to-day a telegraphic correspondence between the Secretary of War
and Gen. Buckner in regard to the invasion of Kentucky, the general
agreeing to it, being sure that with 10,000 men he could compel
Rosecrans to fall back, etc. But I suppose the fall of Vicksburg, and
the retreat from Pennsylvania, caused its abandonment.
Hon. Wm. Capeton, C. S. Senate, writes the Secretary on the subject of
compelling those who have hired substitutes now to serve themselves, and
he advocates it. He says the idea is expanding that the rich, for whose
benefit the war is waged, have procured substitutes to fight for them,
while the poor, who have no slaves to lose, have not been able to
procure substitutes. All will be required to fight, else all will be
engulfed in one common destruction. He will endeavor to get an
expression of opinion from the Legislature, about to assemble, and after
that he will advocate the measure in Congress, intimating that Congress
should be convened at an early day.
SEPTEMBER 2D.--We have no news of any importance from any of the armies.
Gen. Bragg, however, telegraphs, August 31st, that he is concentrating
his forces to receive the enemy, reported to be on the eve of assailing
his position. He says he has sent our paroled men to Atlanta (those
taken at Vicksburg), and asks that arms be sent them by the _eastern
road_. Col. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, says this is the first intimation
he has had as to the disposition of the paroled prisoners. Does he
understand that they are to fight before being exchanged?
Brig.-Gen. G. J. Rains writes from Charleston that the grenades reported
by the enemy to have been so destructive in their repulse at Battery
Wagner, were his subterra shells, there being no hand-grenades used.
The other night Beauregard sent a steamer out with a torpedo to destroy
the _Ironsides_, the most formidable of the enemy's iron-clads. It ran
within forty yards of the Ironsides, which, however, was saved by
swinging round. The torpedo steamer's engine was so imperfect that it
could not be worked when stopped, for several minutes, to readjust the
arrangements for striking the enemy in his altered position. When
hailed, "What steamer is that?" the reply was, "The Live Yankee," and
our adventurers got off and back to the city without injury--and without
inflicting any.
There has been much shelling the last few days, but Sumter and Battery
Wagner are still under the Confederate flag. How long this will continue
no one knows. But it is hoped the great Blakely guns are there by this
time, and that Gen. Rains's torpedoes may avail something for the
salvation of the city.
SEPTEMBER 3D.--Night before last the heavens were illuminated, it is
said, by the terrific bombardment of the batteries and forts in the
vicinity of Charleston, and earth and sea trembled with the mighty
vibrations. Yet no material injury was done our works, and there were
not more than a dozen casualties. On the side of the enemy there is no
means of ascertaining the effect.
N. S. Walker, Confederate States agent, Bermuda, writes that the steamer
R. E. Lee was chased, on her last trip out, twelve hours, and was
compelled to throw 150 bales government cotton overboard. He says the
British crown officers have decided that British bottoms, with British
owners of cargo, running out of blockaded ports, are liable to seizure
anywhere on the high seas.
Some of the papers say Knoxville is in the hands of the enemy, and
others deny it.
Hon. F. S. Lyon writes from Demopolis, Ala., that the Vicksburg army
have not reported upon the expiration of the thirty days' leave, in
large numbers, and that the men never can be reorganized to serve again
under Pemberton.
Gen. Jos. E. Johnston writes from Morton, Miss., that he is disposing
his force to oppose any raids of the enemy, and that he shall keep the
Vicksburg troops (when exchanged) in Eastern Mississippi.
Gov. Jos. E. Brown telegraphs that the men (militia) in Georgia cannot
be _compelled_ to leave the State; but if the government will send them
5000 arms, he thinks he can _persuade_ them to march out of it, provided
he may name a commander. The President indorses on this: "If they are
militia, I have no power to appoint; if C. S. troops, I have no power to
delegate the authority to appoint."
Gen. Lee is still here (I thought he had departed), no doubt arranging
the programme of the fall campaign, if, indeed, there be one. He rode
out with the President yesterday evening, but neither were greeted with
cheers. I suppose Gen. Lee has lost some popularity among idle street
walkers by his retreat from Pennsylvania. The President seeks seclusion.
A gentleman who breakfasted with him this morning, tells me the
President complained of fatigue from his long ride with Gen. Lee.
SEPTEMBER 4TH.--There is a rumor that Gen. Lee (who is still here) is to
take the most of his army out of Virginia, to recapture the Southern
territory lost by Loring, Pemberton, and Bragg. I doubt this; for it
might involve the loss of Richmond, and indeed of the whole State of
Virginia. It would be a sad blow to the extortionate farmers, it is
true; but we cannot afford to lose the whole country, and sacrifice the
cause, to punish the speculators. It may be, however, that this is a
_ruse_, and if so, Lee is preparing for another northern campaign.
The project of the Hon. Mr. Boteler to place Rains's subterra shells
under the Orange and Alexandria Railroad used by the enemy, was referred
by the Secretary to Col. J. Gorgas, the Northern Chief of Ordnance, who
says he can furnish the shells, but advises _against the use of them_,
as they will "only irritate the enemy, and not intimidate them." For
this presumptuous advice, which was entirely gratuitous, I do not learn
that the Secretary has rebuked him.
Letters from Western North Carolina show that the defection is
spreading. In Wilkes County, Gideon Smoot is the commander of the
insurgents, and has raised the United States flag. I have not learned,
yet, whether Lieut.-Col. Lay, of the Bureau of Conscription, reached
that far; and I was amazed when the good nature of Col. Preston yielded
to his solicitations to go thither. What possible good could he, a
Virginian, and formerly an aid of Gen. Scott, effect in that quarter?
SEPTEMBER 5TH.--It is believed that Lee, with a large portion of his
army, will proceed immediately to Tennessee against Rosecrans; and it is
ascertained that Meade is sending reinforcements thither. But I fear for
Virginia when Lee is away! Meade must have a large army left behind,
else he would not send reinforcements to Rosecrans. This move will
excite the fear of the extortionate farmers, at all events, and make
them willing to sell their surplus produce. But if Richmond should fall,
and the State be overrun, it is possible it would secede from the
Confederacy, which would be a virtual dissolution of it. She would then
form alliances with other Southern States on a new basis, and create a
new provisional government, and postpone the formation of a permanent
one until independence be achieved. However, I am incredulous about the
abandonment of Virginia.
Meantime, I hope France will intervene, and that Mexico will recognize
the independence of the Southern Government.
Another letter from Hon. Mr. Miles, of Charleston, in reply, as it
seems, to a pretty severe rebuke by the Secretary of War, for asking
Jenkins's brigade of South Carolinians for the defense of South
Carolina, was received to-day. Knowing the honorable gentleman's
intimate relations with Beauregard, the Secretary criticises the conduct
of the general in permitting the enemy to establish himself on the lower
end of Morris Island--allowing a grove to remain, concealing the
erection of batteries, etc. etc. Mr. Miles in reply asserts the fact
that Gen. B. did the utmost that could be accomplished with the force
and means left at his disposal by the government; and that the grove
would have been felled, if he had been authorized to impress labor, etc.
It is sad to read these criminations and recriminations at such a time
as this; but every Secretary of War is apt to come in conflict with
Beauregard.
Gen. Whiting asks, as second in command, Brig.-Gen. Herbert, and
reiterates his demand for troops, else Wilmington will be lost. This
letter came open--having been broken on the way. If a spy did it, which
is probable, the army will soon learn what an easy conquest awaits them.
Mr. C. C. Thayer, clerk in the Treasury Department, leaves on the 9th,
with $15,000,000 for the trans-Mississippi Department; another clerk has
already gone with $10,000,000.
After all, I am inclined to think our papers have been lying about the
barbarous conduct of the enemy. A letter was received to-day from C. N.
Hubbard, a respectable farmer of James City County, stating that when
Gen. Keyes came up the Peninsula about the 1st of July, he sent guards
for the protection of the property of the people living along the line
of march; and they remained, faithfully performing that duty, until the
army retired. Mr. H. complains that these guards were made prisoners by
our troops, and, if exchanges be demanded for them, he fears the next
time the hostile army approaches Richmond, their request for a guard
will be refused. What answer the Secretary will make to this, I have no
means of conjecturing; but Mr. Hubbard recommends him to come to some
understanding with the enemy for the mutual protection of the persons
and property of non-combating civilians; and he desires an answer
directed to the care of Col. Shingler, who, indeed, captured the guard.
The Secretary consented to the exchange.
SEPTEMBER 6TH.--Northern papers received yesterday evening contain a
letter from Mr. Lincoln to the Illinois Convention of Republicans, in
which I am told (I have not seen it yet) he says if the Southern people
will first lay down their arms, he will then listen to what they may
have to say. Evidently he has been reading of the submission of Jack
Cade's followers, who were required to signify their submission with
ropes about their necks.
This morning I saw dispatches from Atlanta, Ga., stating that in one of
the northern counties the deserters and tories had defeated the Home
Guard which attempted to arrest them. In Tennessee, North Carolina,
Mississippi, and Georgia, we have accounts of much and growing
defection, and the embodying of large numbers of deserters. Indeed, all
our armies seem to be melting away by desertion faster than they are
enlarged by conscription. They will return when there is fighting to do!
A letter from Col. Lay, dated North Carolina, to the Chief of the Bureau
of Conscription, recommends the promotion of a lieutenant to a
captaincy. The colonel is _great_ in operations of this nature; and Col.
Preston is sufficiently good natured to recommend the recommendation to
the Secretary of War, who, good easy man, will not inquire into his age,
etc.
Gold is worth from 1000 to 1500 per cent. premium; and yet one who has
gold can buy supplies of anything, by first converting it into
Confederate notes at low prices. For instance, coal at $30 is really
bought for $3 per load. A fine horse at $1000 for $100. Bacon, at $2 per
pound is only 20 cents; boots at $100 is only $10, and so on.
Thank Heaven! the little furniture, etc. we now have is our own--costing
less to buy it than the rent we paid for that belonging to others up to
the beginning of the month. A history of the household goods we possess
would, no doubt, if it could be written, be interesting to haberdashers.
I think we have articles belonging in their time to twenty families.
The following list of prices is cut from yesterday's paper:
"_Produce, provisions, etc._--Apples, $30 to $35 per barrel; bacon is
firm at $2 to $2.10 for hoground. Butter is advancing; we quote at $2.50
to $3 by the package. Cheese has advanced, and now sells at $1.50 to $2
per pound; corn, $8 to $9 per bushel; corn-meal, $9 per bushel, in
better supply. Flour, at the Gallego Mills, new superfine, uninspected,
is sold at $25 per barrel; at commission houses and in second hands, the
price of new superfine is from $35 to $40; onions, $40 to $50 per
barrel; Irish potatoes, $5 to $6 per bushel, according to quality; oats
firm at $6 per bushel. Wheat--the supply coming in is quite limited. The
millers refuse to compete with the government, and are consequently
paying $5 per bushel. It is intimated, however, that outside parties are
buying on speculation at $6 to $6.50, taking the risk of impressment.
Lard, $1.70 to $1.75 per pound; eggs, $1.25 to $1.50 per dozen; seeds,
timothy, $8 to $10; clover, $40 to $45 per bushel.
"_Groceries._--Sugars: the market is active; we hear of sales of prime
brown at $2 to $2.15; coffee, $4.25 to $4.75 per pound; molasses, $15
per gallon; rice, 25 cents per pound; salt, 45 cents per pound; soap, 50
cents to 80 cents, as to quality; candles, $2.75 to $3 per pound.
"_Liquors._--We quote corn whisky at $20 to $25 per gallon; rye whisky,
$38 to $40, according to quality; apple brandy, $25 to $30; rum, $28 per
gallon."
SEPTEMBER 7TH.--Batteries Wagner and Gregg and Fort Sumter have been
evacuated! But this is not _yet_ the capture of Charleston. Gen.
Beauregard telegraphed yesterday that he was preparing (after thirty-six
hours' incessant bombardment) to evacuate Morris Island; which was done,
I suppose, last night. He feared the loss of the garrisons, if he
delayed longer; and he said Sumter was silenced. Well, it is understood
the great Blakely is in position on Charleston wharf. If the enemy have
no knowledge of its presence, perhaps we shall soon have reports from
it.
Gen. Lee, it is said, takes _two corps d'armée_ to Tennessee, leaving
_one_ in Virginia. But this can be swelled to 50,000 men by the militia,
conscripts, etc., which ought to enable us to stand a protracted
_siege_, provided we can get subsistence. Fortune is against us now.
Lieut.-Col. Lay reports great defection in North Carolina, and even says
half of _Raleigh_ is against "the Davis Government."
The Secretary of War has called upon the Governor _for all the available
slave labor in the State, to work on the defenses, etc._
The United States flag of truce boat came up to City Point last night,
_bringing no prisoners_, and nothing else except some dispatches, the
nature of which has not yet transpired.
SEPTEMBER 8TH.--We have nothing further from Charleston, to-day, except
that the enemy is not yet in possession of Sumter.
Mr. Seddon, Secretary of War, said to Mr. Lyons, M. C., yesterday, that
he had heard nothing of Gen. Lee's orders to march a portion of his army
to Tennessee. That may be very true; but, nevertheless, 18,000 of Lee's
troops (a corps) is already marching thitherward.
A report on the condition of the military prisons, sent in to-day,
shows that there is no typhoid fever, or many cases of other diseases,
among the prisoners of war. Everything is kept in cleanliness about
them, and they have abundance of food, wholesome and palatable. The
prisoners themselves admit these facts, and denounce their own
government for the treatment alleged to be inflicted on our men confined
at Fort Delaware and other places.
An extra session of the legislature is now sitting. The Governor's
message is defiant, as no terms are offered; but he denounces as unjust
the apportionment of slaves, in several of the counties, to be impressed
to work on the defenses, etc.
SEPTEMBER 9TH.--Troops were arriving all night and to-day (Hood's
division), and are proceeding Southward, per railroad, it is said for
Tennessee, via Georgia Road. It may be deemed impracticable to send
troops by the western route, as the enemy possesses the Knoxville Road.
The weather is excessively dry and dusty again.
Gen. Jos. E. Johnston, Morton, Miss., writes that such is the facility
of giving information to the enemy, that it is impossible to keep up a
ferry at any point on the Mississippi; but he will be able to keep up
communications, by trusty messengers with small parcels, with
Lieut.-Gen. E. Kirby Smith's trans-Mississippi Department. He says if he
had another cavalry brigade, he could make the navigation too dangerous
for merchant steamers between Grand Gulf and Natchez.
Two letters were received to-day from privates in North Carolina
regiments, demanding to be transferred to artillery companies in the
forts of North Carolina, or else they would _serve no more_. This is
very reckless!
Ordnance officer J. Brice transmitted to the Secretary to-day, through
the Ordnance Bureau, an OFFICIAL account of the ammunition, etc. at
Vicksburg during the siege and at the evacuation. He says all the
ordnance stores at Jackson were hastily removed to Vicksburg, and of
which he was unable, in the confusion, to get an accurate account,
although he accompanied it. He detained and held 9000 arms destined for
the trans-Mississippi Department, and issued 120 rounds to each man in
the army, before the battle of Baker's Creek. Much _ammunition_ was
destroyed on the battle-field, by order of Gen. Pemberton, to keep it,
as he alleged, from falling into the hands of the enemy. During the
siege, he got 250,000 percussion caps from Gen. Johnston's scouts, and
150,000 _from the enemy's pickets_, for a _consideration_. There was
abundance of powder. The ammunition and small arms turned over to the
enemy, on the surrender, consisted as follows: 36,000 cartridges for
Belgian rifles; 3600 Brunswick cartridges; 75,000 rounds British rifled
muskets; 9000 shot-gun cartridges; 1300 Maynard cartridges; 5000 Hall's
carbine cartridges; 1200 holster pistol cartridges; 35,000 percussion
caps; 19,000 pounds of cannon powder.
All this was in the ordnance depots, and exclusive of that in the hands
of the troops and in the ordnance wagons, doubtless a large amount. He
says 8000 defective arms were destroyed by fires during the bombardment.
The troops delivered to the enemy, on marching out, 27,000 arms.
The Governor demanded the State magazine to-day of the War Department,
in whose custody it has been for a long time. What does this mean? The
Governor says the State has urgent use for it.
Gen. Cooper visited the President _twice_ to-day, the Secretary not
_once_. The _Enquirer_, yesterday, attacked and ridiculed the Secretary
of War on his passport system in Richmond.
The Northern papers contain the following letter from President Lincoln
to Gen. Grant:
"EXECUTIVE MANSION,
"WASHINGTON, July 13th, 1863.
"MAJOR-GENERAL GRANT.
"MY DEAR GENERAL:--I do not remember that you and I ever met
personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the
almost inestimable service you have done the country. I wish to say
a word further. When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg I
thought you should do what you finally did--march the troops across
the neck, run the batteries with the transports, and thus go below;
and I never had any faith, except a general hope that you knew
better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition and the like could
succeed. When you got below and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf, and
vicinity, I thought you should go down the river and join Gen.
Banks; and when you turned northward, east of the Big Black, I
feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the personal
acknowledgment that you were right and I was
wrong. A. LINCOLN."
If Pemberton had acted differently, if the movement northward had been
followed by disaster, then what would Mr. Lincoln have written to Grant?
Success is the only standard of merit in a general.
SEPTEMBER 10TH.--A Mr. J. C. Jones has addressed a letter to the
President asking permission to run the blockade to confer with Mr.
Bates, of President Lincoln's cabinet, on terms of peace, with, I
believe, authority to assure him that none of the Northwestern States,
or any other free States, will be admitted into the Confederacy. Mr. J.
says he has been on intimate terms with Mr. B., and has conceived the
idea that the United States would cease the war, and acknowledge the
independence of the South, if it were not for the apprehension of the
Northwestern States seceding from the Union. If his request be not
granted, he intends to enter the army immediately. He is a refugee from
Missouri. He assures the President he is his friend, and that a
"concentration of power" in his hands is essential, etc. The President
refers this paper, with a gracious indorsement, to the Secretary of War,
recommending him either to see Mr. Jones, or else to institute
inquiries, etc.
S. Wyatt, Augusta, Ga., writes in favor of appeals to the patriotism of
the people to counteract what Mr. Toombs has done. What has he done? But
he advises the President, to whom he professes to be very friendly, to
order a discontinuance of seizures, etc.
A. Cohen (Jew name), purser of the blockade-running steamer "Arabia" at
Wilmington, has submitted a notable scheme to Gen. Winder, who submits
it to the Secretary of War, establishing a police agency at _Nassau_.
Gen. W. to send some of his detectives thither to examine persons coming
into the Confederate States, and if found "all right," to give them
passports. It was only yesterday that a letter was received from Gen.
Whiting, asking authority to send out a secret agent on the "Arabia," to
see what disposition would be made of her cargo, having strong
suspicions of the loyalty of the owners and officers of that vessel.
Gov. Z. B. Vance complains indignantly of Marylanders and Virginians
appointed to office in that State, to the exclusion of natives; he says
they have not yet been recalled, as he had a right to expect, after his
recent interview with the President. He says he is disgusted with such
treatment, both of his State and of himself. Alas! what is behind?
Night before last some thirty of the enemy's barges, filled with men,
attempted to take the ruins of Sumter by assault. This had been
anticipated by Beauregard, and every preparation had been made
accordingly. So the batteries at Forts Moultrie, Bee, etc. opened
terrifically with shell and grape; the amount of execution by them is
not ascertained: but a number of the barges reached the debris of
Sumter, where a battalion of infantry awaited them, and where 115 of the
Yankees, including more than a dozen officers, begged for quarters and
were taken prisoners. No doubt the casualties on the side of the
assailants must have been many, while the garrison sustained no loss.
This is substantially the purport of a dispatch from Beauregard to Gen.
Cooper, which, however, was published very awkwardly--without any of the
niceties of punctuation a fastidious general would have desired.
Nevertheless, Beauregard's name is on every tongue.
The clerks in the departments were startled to-day by having read to
them an order from Brig.-Gen. Custis Lee (son of Gen. R. E. Lee), an
order to the captains of companies to imprison or otherwise punish all
who failed to be present at the drills. These young gentlemen, not being
removable, according to the Constitution, and exempted from conscription
by an act of Congress, volunteered some months ago for "local defense
and special service," never supposing that regular drilling would be
obligatory except when called into actual service by the direction of
the President, in the terms of an act of Congress, which provided that
such organizations were not to receive pay for military service, unless
summoned to the field by the President in an emergency. They receive no
pay now--but yet the impression prevails that this order has the
approbation of the President, as Gen. G. W. Custis Lee is one of his
special aids, with the rank and pay of a colonel of cavalry. As an aid
of the President, he signs himself colonel; as commander of the city
brigade, he signs himself brigadier-general, and has been so
commissioned by the President. How it can be compatible to hold both
positions and commissions, I do not understand--but perhaps the
President does, as he is well versed in the rules and regulations of the
service. Some of the clerks, it is said, regard the threat as
unauthorized by law, and will resist what they deem a usurpation, at the
hazard of suffering its penalties. I know not what the result will be,
but I fear "no good will come of it." They are all willing to fight,
when the enemy comes (a probable thing); but they dislike being _forced_
out to drill, under threats of "punishment." This measure will not add
to the popularity of Col. (or Gen.) Lee.
SEPTEMBER 11TH.--A dispatch from Raleigh informs us of a mob yesterday
in that city. Some soldiers broke into and partially destroyed the
office of the _Standard_, alleged to be a disloyal paper; after that,
and when the soldiers had been dispersed by a speech from Governor
Vance, the citizens broke into and partially destroyed the _Journal_, an
ultra-secession paper. These were likewise dispersed by a speech from
the Governor.
Gen. Whiting writes that the enemy is making demonstrations against
Lockwood's Folly, 23 miles from Wilmington. He says if 3000 were to pass
it, the forts and harbor would be lost, as he has but one regiment--and
it is employed on picket service. He says in ten nights the enemy can
come from Charleston--and that Wilmington was never so destitute of
troops since the beginning of the war, and yet it was never in such
great peril. It is the only port remaining--and to lose it after such
repeated warning would be the grossest culpability.
The officers of the signal corps report that Gen. Meade has been ordered
to advance, for it is already known in Washington that a large number of
troops are marching out of Virginia. Lee, however, it is now believed,
will not go to Tennessee. They also report that a Federal army of
6400--perhaps they mean 64,000--is to march from Arkansas to the Rio
Grande, Texas. If they do, they will be lost.
The engineer corps are to fortify Lynchburg immediately.
The clerks of the Post-office Department have petitioned the Secretary
of War to allow them (such as have families) commissary stores at
government prices, else they will soon be almost in a state of
starvation. Their salaries are utterly inadequate for their support. The
clerks in all the departments are in precisely the same predicament. The
Postmaster-General approves this measure of relief--as relief must come
before Congress meets--and he fears the loss of his subordinates.
It is said by western men that the enemy is organizing a force of 25,000
mounted men at Memphis, destined to penetrate Georgia and South
Carolina, as far as Charleston! If this be so--and it may be so--they
will probably fall in with Longstreet's corps of 20,000 now passing
through this city.
SEPTEMBER 12TH.--Lieut.-Col. Lay, "Inspector," reports from North
Carolina that some twenty counties in that State are "disaffected;" that
the deserters and "recusants" are organized and brigaded; armed, and
have raised the flag of the United States. This is bad enough to cause
the President some loss of sleep, if any one would show it to him.
Gen. Wise, it is said, is ordered away from the defense of Richmond with
his brigade. I saw him to-day (looking remarkably well), and he said he
did not know where he was going--waiting orders, I suppose.
C. J. McRae, agent of the loan in Europe, writes July 24th, 1863, that
the bad news of Lee's failure in Pennsylvania and retreat across the
Potomac, caused the loan to recede 3-1/2 per cent., and unless better
news soon reaches him, he can do nothing whatever with Confederate
credits. He says Capt. Bullock has contracted for the building of two
"iron-clads" in France, and that disbursements on account of the navy,
hereafter, will be mostly in France. I fear the reports about a whole
fleet of Confederate gun-boats having been built or bought in England
are not well founded. Major Ferguson has also (several have done so
before him) made charges against Major Huse, the agent of Col. Gorgas,
Chief of Ordnance. Mr. McRae thinks the charges cannot be substantiated.
We have tidings of the bursting of the Blakely gun at Charleston. I fear
this involves the fall of Charleston. Still Beauregard is there.
Gen. Pickett's division (decimated at Gettysburg) is to remain in this
vicinity--and Jenkins's and Wise's brigades will leave. The hour now
seems a dark one. But we must conquer or die.
It is said a deserter has already gone over from our lines and given
information to the enemy of the large number of troops detached from the
Army of Virginia. No doubt Gen. Meade will take advantage of their
absence, and advance on Richmond again. Yet I am told the very _name_ of
Richmond is a terror to the foe.
SEPTEMBER 13TH.--A letter from Gen. J. E. Johnston, Atlanta--whither he
had repaired to attend a Court of Inquiry relating to Pemberton's
operations, but which has been postponed under the present peril--repels
indignantly the charge which seems to have been made in a letter from
the Secretary of War, that in executing the law of conscription in his
command, he had acted hastily, without sufficient attention to the
rights of exemption under the provisions of the act. He says the law was
a dead letter when he charged Gen. Pillow with its execution; that Gen.
Pillow has now just got his preparations made for its enforcement; and,
of course, no appeals have as yet come before him. He hopes that the
Secretary will re-examine the grounds of his charge, etc. He is amazed,
evidently, with the subject, and no doubt the "Bureau" here will strain
every nerve to monopolize the business--providing as usual for its
favorites, and having appointed to snug places a new batch of A. A.
G.'s--men who ought to be conscribed themselves.
Col. Preston, under the manipulations of Lieut.-Col. Lay, is getting on
swimmingly, and to-day makes a requisition for arms and equipments of
2500 cavalry to _force_ out conscripts, arrest deserters, etc. I think
they had better popularize the army, and strive to reinspire the
enthusiasm that characterized it at the beginning; and the only way to
do this is to restore to its ranks the wealthy and educated class, which
has abandoned the field for easier employments. I doubt the policy of
shooting deserters in this war--better shoot the traitors in high
positions. The indigent men of the South will fight, shoulder to
shoulder with the wealthy, for Southern independence; but when the
attempt is made to debase them to a servile condition, they will
hesitate.
Gen. Pickett's division, just marching through the city, wears a
different aspect from that exhibited last winter. Then it had 12,000
men--now 6000; and they are dirty, tattered and torn.
The great Blakely gun has failed.
We have reports of the evacuation of Cumberland Gap. This was to be
looked for, when the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was suffered to
fall into the enemy's hands. When will this year's calamities end?
Gen. Lee is at Orange Court House, and probably will not leave Virginia.
He will still have an army of 50,000 men to oppose Meade; and Richmond
may possibly be held another winter.
Congress will not be called, I think; and the Legislature, now in
session, I am told, will accomplish no good. It will not be likely to
interfere with the supreme power which resolves to "rule or ruin,"--at
least this seems to be the case in the eyes of men who merely watch the
current of events.
SEPTEMBER 14TH.--The report from Lt.-Col. Lay of the condition of
affairs in North Carolina, received some days ago, was indorsed by Judge
Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War, and father-in-law of Col. Lay,
that the destruction of the government was imminently menaced, does not
seem to have alarmed the President; on the contrary, he sends the paper
back to the Secretary, Mr. Seddon, suggesting that he had better
correspond with Gov. Vance on the subject, and if military force should
be required, he might call in the aid of Brig.-Gen. Hoke, thus ending
hopes of a conscription officer here obtaining a command.
And so with rumors from Eastern Tennessee; the President takes matters
coolly, saying the "locals," meaning home guards, or companies for local
defense, should be on the alert against raiders. If large bodies of the
enemy come in, Jenkins's brigade, and one from Pickett's division, might
be temporarily detached to punish them.
Bragg is falling back toward Atlanta, and Burnside says, officially,
that he has taken Cumberland Gap, 1200 prisoners, with 14 guns, without
a fight. All of Tennessee is now held by the enemy.
There has been another fight (cavalry) at Brandy Station, and our men,
for want of numbers, "fell back." When will these things cease?
SEPTEMBER 15TH.--Gov. Vance writes that he has reliable information that
the 30,000 troops in New York, ostensibly to enforce the draft, are
intended for a descent on North Carolina, and Gen. Whiting has said
repeatedly that 3000 could take Wilmington. The Governor says if North
Carolina be occupied by the enemy, Virginia and the whole Confederacy
will be lost, for all communication now, by rail, is through that State.
Gen. Sam. Jones writes from Abingdon, Va., that from his information he
does not doubt Cumberland Gap and its garrison capitulated on the 9th
inst. He calls lustily for reinforcements, and fears the loss of
everything, including the salt works, if he be not reinforced. Well, he
_will_ be reinforced!
Gov. (just elected) R. L. Caruthers (of Tennessee) begs that 20,000 men
from Lee's army be sent out on Rosecrans's left flank to save Tennessee,
which alone can save the Confederacy. Well, they _have_ been sent!
There must be a "fight or a foot-race" soon in Northern Georgia, and
also in Virginia, on the Rappahannock. May God defend the right! If we
deserve independence, I think we shall achieve it. If God be not for us,
we must submit to His will.
Major Huse is buying and shipping 2000 tons saltpetre, besides millions
of dollars worth of arms and stores. If we can keep Wilmington, we can
send out cotton and bring in supplies without limit.
SEPTEMBER 16TH.--The enemy advanced yesterday, and, our forces being
unequal in numbers, captured Culpepper C. H. Our cavalry fell back
several miles, and a battle is looked for immediately, near Orange C. H.,
where Gen. Lee awaits the foe in an advantageous position.
From the Southwest also a battle is momentarily looked for. If the enemy
be beaten in these battles, they will suffer more by defeat than we
would.
Gov. Vance has written a pointed letter to the President in regard to
the mob violence in Raleigh. He says, when the office of the _Standard_
was sacked, the evil was partially counterbalanced by the sacking of the
_Journal_,--the first, moderate Union, the last, ultra-secessionist. He
demands the punishment of the officers present and consenting to the
assault on the _Standard_ office, part of a Georgia brigade, and avers
that another such outrage will bring back the North Carolina troops from
the army for the defense of their State.
From Morton, Miss., Gen. Hardee says, after sending reinforcements to
Bragg, only three brigades of infantry remain in his department. Upon
this the President made the following indorsement and sent it to the
Secretary of War:
"The danger to Atlanta has probably passed."
While the army of Gen. Taylor threatens the southwestern part of
Louisiana, troops will not probably leave New Orleans. The movement to
White River is more serious at this time than the preparations against
Mobile.
"Efforts should be made to prevent the navigation of the Mississippi by
commercial steamers, and especially to sink transports."
The letter of Gov. Vance in relation to the 30,000 men destined for
North Carolina being referred to the President, he sent it back indorsed
as follows:
"Gov. V.'s vigilance will discover the fact if this supposition be true,
and in the mean time it serves to increase the demand for active
exertions, as well to fill up the ranks of the army as to organize
'local defense' troops."
The letter of Lt.-Col. Lay, Inspector of Conscripts, etc., was likewise
referred to the President, who suggests that a general officer be
located with a brigade near where the States of North Carolina, South
Carolina, etc. meet.
And the President indorses on Gen. Whiting's earnest calls for aid at
Wilmington, that Gen. Martin be sent him, with the "locals," as he calls
them, and a brigade from Pickett's division, _when filled up_. But
suppose that should be too late? He says Ransom's troops should also be
in position, for it is important to hold Wilmington.
Calico is selling now for $10 per yard; and a small, dirty, dingy,
dilapidated house, not near as large as the one I occupy, rents for
$800. This one would bring $1200 now; I pay $500, which must be
considered low. Where are we drifting? I know not; unless we have a crop
of victories immediately.
SEPTEMBER 17TH.--Lee and Meade have their armies daily drawn up in
battle array, and an engagement may be expected.
It is said the enemy is evacuating East Tennessee; concentrating, I
suspect, for battle with Bragg.
It is now said that Brigadier and Col. Lee, A. D. C. to the President,
etc. etc., is going to call out the civil officers of the government who
volunteered to fight in defense of the city, and encamp them in the
country. This will make trouble.
A Mr. Mendenhall, New Garden, N. C., Quaker, complains of the treatment
two of his young Friends are receiving at Kinston from the troops. They
won't fight, because they believe it wrong, and they won't pay the tax
(war) of $500, because they cannot do it conscientiously. And Gov. Vance
says the treatment referred to will not be tolerated.
SEPTEMBER 18TH.--Nothing new from the Rappahannock, but a battle is
looked for soon. Rosecrans, who had advanced into Georgia, has fallen
back on Chattanooga, which he is fortifying. If he be not driven from
thence, we shall lose our mines, and the best country for commissary
supplies. But Bragg had from 60,000 to 70,000 men on the 5th inst., when
he had not fallen back far from Chattanooga; since then he has received
more reinforcements from Mississippi, and Longstreet's corps, arrived by
this time, will swell his army to 90,000 men, perhaps. Johnston will
probably take command, for Bragg is becoming unpopular. But Bragg will
fight!
The equinoctial storm has commenced, and the monitors are not in view of
Charleston, having sought quiet waters.
The _Enquirer_ has again assailed Mr. Benjamin, particularly on account
of the retention of Mr. Spence, financial agent in England (appointed by
Mr. Memminger), an anti-slavery author, whose books advocate Southern
independence. To-day a letter was sent to the Secretary of War, from Mr.
Benjamin, stating the fact that the President had changed the whole
financial programme for Europe. Frazer, Trenholm, & Co., Liverpool, are
to be the custodians of the treasure in England, and Mr. McRae, in
France, etc., and they would keep all the accounts of disbursements by
the agents of departments, thus superseding Mr. Spence. I think this
arrangement will somewhat affect the operations of Major Huse (who is a
little censured in the letter, purporting to be dictated by the
President, but really written by the President) and Col. Gorges.
If Wilmington continues in our possession, the transactions in Europe
will be large, and the government will derive more of its supplies from
thence.
SEPTEMBER 19TH.--The reports from Western North Carolina indicate that
much bad feeling prevails there still; and it is really something more
than a military trick to obtain a command. But I think the government
had better keep out of the field its assistant adjutant-generals, and
especially those in the Bureau of Conscription, unless they are put in
subordinate positions. Some of them have sought their present positions
to keep aloof from the fatigues and dangers of the field; and they have
contributed no little to the disaffection in North Carolina. Gen.
Whiting suggests that one of Gen. Pickett's brigades be sent to Weldon;
and then, with Ransom's brigade, he will soon put down the deserters
and tories. The Governor approves this plan, and I hope it will be
adopted.
The Northern papers say President Lincoln, by proclamation, has
suspended the writ of _habeas corpus_ throughout the United States. This
is good news for the South; for the people there will strike back
through the secret ballot-box.
They also say an expedition is about to sail up the Rio Grande, where it
will come in collision with the French, now occupying Matamoras.
And it appears that Lord John Russell will _not_ prevent the sailing of
our monitor-rams from British ports without evidence of an intention to
use them against the United States. He will do nothing on suspicion; but
must have affidavits, etc.
A young lady, Miss Heiskell, applied yesterday, through the Hon. A. H.
H. Stuart, for a passport to Philadelphia, to be married to a young
merchant of that city. Her father was a merchant of that city, though a
native of Virginia. I believe it was granted.
The country is indignant at the surrender of Cumberland Gap by
Brig.-Gen. Frazier, without firing a gun, when his force was nearly as
strong as Burnside's. It was too bad! There must be some examples of
generals as well as of deserting poor men, whose families, during their
absence, are preyed upon by the extortioners, who contrive to purchase
exemption from military service. The country did not know there was such
a general until his name became famous by this ignominious surrender.
Where did Gen. Cooper find him?
SEPTEMBER 20TH.--We have nothing to-day from any of the seats of war;
but I saw several hundred head of cattle driven through the city this
morning, marked "C. S.," which I learned had come from Essex and King
and Queen Counties, which may indicate either a raid from the Lower
Rappahannock, or another advance on Richmond.
There was a meeting called for mechanics, etc. last night, to consider
the grievance of the times. I have not learned what was done, or rather
said; but I hear citizens on the street to-day talking about subverting
the government. I believe they have no _plan_; and as yet it amounts to
nothing.
SEPTEMBER 21ST.--The President was called out of church yesterday, and
was for three hours closeted with the Secretary of War and Gen. Cooper.
It appears that the enemy were occupying Bristol, on the line between
Virginia and Tennessee, with seven regiments, and Carse's brigade was
ordered (by telegraph) to reinforce Gen. S. Jones. But to-day a dispatch
from Gen. Jones states that the enemy had been driven back at
Zollicoffer, which is beyond Bristol. This dispatch was dated yesterday.
It is unintelligible.
But to-day we have a dispatch from Gen. Bragg, announcing a great battle
on the 19th and 20th insts. He says, "after two days' engagement, we
have driven the enemy, after a desperate resistance, from several
positions; we hold the field, but the enemy still confronts us. The
losses on both sides are heavy, and especially so among our officers. We
have taken more than twenty guns, and 2500 prisoners." We await the
sequel--with fear and trembling, after the sad experience of Western
victories. The Secretary of War thinks Longstreet's corps had not yet
reached Bragg; then why should he have commenced the attack before the
reinforcements arrived? We must await further dispatches. If Bragg beats
Rosecrans utterly, the consequences will be momentous. If beaten by him,
he sinks to rise no more. Both generals are aware of the consequences of
failure, and no doubt it is a sanguinary field. Whether it is in Georgia
or over the line in Tennessee is not yet ascertained.
SEPTEMBER 22D.--Another dispatch from Bragg, received at a late hour
last night, says the _victory_ is _complete_. This announcement has
lifted a heavy load from the spirits of our people; and as successive
dispatches come from Gov. Harris and others on the battle-field to-day,
there is a great change in the recent elongated faces of many we meet in
the streets. So far we learn that the enemy has been beaten back and
pursued some eleven miles; that we have from 5000 to 6000 prisoners,
some 40 guns, besides small arms and stores in vast quantities. But Gen.
Hood, whom I saw at the department but a fortnight ago, is said to be
dead! and some half dozen of our brigadier-generals have been killed and
wounded. The loss of the enemy, however, has been still greater than
ours. At last accounts (this morning) the battle was still raging--the
enemy having made a stand (temporarily, I presume) on a ridge, to
protect their retreat. They burnt many commissary stores, which they may
need soon. Yet, this is from the West.
The effects of this great victory will be electrical. The whole South
will be filled again with patriotic fervor, and in the North there will
be a corresponding depression. Rosecrans's position is now one of great
peril; for his army, being away from the protection of gun-boats, may be
utterly destroyed, and then Tennessee and Southern Kentucky may fall
into our hands again. To-morrow the papers will be filled with accounts
from the field of battle, and we shall have a more distinct knowledge of
the magnitude of it. There must have been at least 150,000 men engaged;
and no doubt the killed and wounded on both sides amounted to tens of
thousands!
Surely the Government of the United States must now see the
impossibility of subjugating the Southern people, spread over such a
vast extent of territory; and the European governments ought now to
interpose to put an end to this cruel waste of blood and treasure.
My little garden has been a great comfort to me, and has afforded
vegetables every day for a month past. My potatoes, however, which
occupied about half the ground, did not turn out well. There were not
more than a dozen quarts--worth $10, though--in consequence of the
drought in June and July; but I have abundance of tomatoes, and every
week several quarts of the speckled lima bean, which I trailed up the
plank fence and on the side of the wood-house--just seven hills in all.
I do not think I planted more than a gill of beans; and yet I must have
already pulled some ten quarts, and will get nearly as many more, which
will make a yield of more than 300-fold! I shall save some of the seed.
The cabbages do not head, but we use them freely when we get a little
bacon. The okra flourishes finely, and gives a flavor to the soup, when
we succeed in getting a shin-bone. The red peppers are flourishing
luxuriantly, and the bright red pods are really beautiful. The parsnips
look well, but I have not yet pulled any. I shall sow turnip seed, where
the potatoes failed, for spring salad. On the whole, the little garden
has compensated me for my labor in substantial returns, as well as in
distraction from painful meditations during a season of calamity.
SEPTEMBER 23D.--We have nothing additional up to three P.M. to-day; but
there is an untraceable rumor on the street of some undefinable disaster
somewhere, and perhaps it is the invention of the enemy. We still pause
for the sequel of the battle; for Rosecrans has fallen back to a strong
position; and at this distance we know not whether it be practicable to
flank him or to cut his communications. It is said Gen. Breckinridge
commanded only 1600 men, losing 1300 of them! Gen. Cooper and the
Secretary of War have not been permitted to fill up his division; the
first probably having no desire to replenish the dilapidated command of
an aspiring "political general."
A Mr. G. Preston Williams, of Eden, Chatham County, Ga., writes to the
President, Sept. 7th, 1863, saying he has lost three sons in the war,
freely given for independence. His fourth son is at home on furlough,
but he shall not return unless the President gives up his _obstinacy_,
and his favorites--_Bragg_, Pemberton, Lovell, etc. He charges the
President with incapacity, if not wickedness, and says our independence
would have been won ere this, but for the obstacles thrown by him in the
way. He threatens revolution within a revolution, when Congress meets,
unless the President reforms, which will cause him to lose his office,
and perhaps his _head_. To which the President replies thus, in an
indorsement on the envelope:
"SECRETARY OF WAR.--This is referred to you without any knowledge of the
writer. If it be a genuine signature, you have revealed to you a
deserter, and a man who harbors him, as well as _incites_ to desertion,
and opposition to the efforts of the government for public defense.
Sept. 19th, 1863.--J. D."
The indorsement was written to-day, since hearing of Bragg's victory.
SEPTEMBER 24TH.--A dispatch from Gen. Bragg, received to-day, three
miles from Chattanooga, and dated yesterday, says the enemy occupies a
strong position, and confronts him in great force, but he is sending
troops round his flanks. No doubt he will cross the river as soon as
possible. Only a small portion of Longstreet's corps has been engaged,
so Bragg will have a fresh force to hurl against the invader. We learn
to-day that Gen. Hood is not dead, and will recover.
The President sent over to the Secretary of War to-day some extracts
from a letter he has just received from Mobile, stating that a large
trade is going on with the enemy at New Orleans. A number of vessels,
laden with cotton, had sailed from Pascagoula Bay, for that destination.
Some one or two had been stopped by the people, as the traffic is
expressly prohibited by an act of Congress. But upon inquiry it was
ascertained that the trade was authorized by authority from
Richmond--the War Department. I doubt whether Mr. Seddon authorized it.
Who then? Perhaps it will be ascertained upon investigation.
Mr. Kean, the young Chief of the Bureau, is a most fastidious civil
officer, for he rebukes older men than himself for mistaking an
illegible K for an R, and puts _his_ warning on record in pencil marks.
Mr. K. came in with Mr. Randolph, but declined to follow his patron any
further.
SEPTEMBER 25TH.--The latest dispatch from Gen. Bragg states that he has
7000 prisoners (2000 of them wounded), 36 cannon, 15,000 of the enemy's
small arms, and 25 colors. After the victory, he issued the following
address to his army:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF TENNESSEE,
"FIELD OF CHICKAMAUGA, Sept. 22, 1863.
"It has pleased Almighty God to reward the valor and endurance of
our troops by giving our arms a complete victory over the enemy's
superior numbers. Thanks are due and are rendered unto Him who
giveth not the battle to the strong.
"Soldiers! after days of severe battle, preceded by heavy and
important outpost affairs, you have stormed the barricades and
breastworks of the enemy and driven him before you in confusion,
and destroyed an army largely superior in numbers, and whose
constant theme was your demoralization and whose constant boast was
your defeat. Your patient endurance under privations, your
fortitude, and your valor, displayed at all times and under all
trials, have been meetly rewarded. Your commander acknowledges his
obligations, and promises to you in advance the country's
gratitude.
"But our task is not ended. We must drop a soldier's tear upon the
graves of the noble men who have fallen by our sides, and move
forward. Much has been accomplished--more remains to be done,
before we can enjoy the blessings of peace and freedom.
"(Signed) BRAXTON BRAGG."
The President has received an official report of Gen. Frazer's surrender
of Cumberland Gap, from Major McDowell, who escaped. It comprised 2100
men, 8 guns, 160 beef cattle, 12,000 pounds of bacon, 1800 bushels of
wheat, and 15 days' rations. The President indorsed his opinion on it as
follows:
"This report presents a shameful abandonment of duty, and is so
extraordinary as to suggest that more than was known to the major must
have existed to cause such a result.--J. D. Sept. 24."
The quartermasters in Texas are suggesting the impressment of the cotton
in that State. The President indorses as follows on the paper which he
returned to the Secretary of War:
"I have never been willing to employ such means except as a last
resort.--J. D."
The Secretary of War is falling into the old United States fashion. He
has brought into the department two broad-shouldered young relatives,
one of whom might serve the country in the field, and I believe they are
both possessed of sufficient wealth to subsist upon without $1500
clerkships.
SEPTEMBER 26TH.--Nothing additional has been received from Gen. Bragg,
but there is reason to believe Rosecrans is fortifying Chattanooga,
preparatory to crossing the river and retreating northward with all
possible expedition.
From the Upper Rappahannock there is much skirmishing, the usual
preliminary to a battle; and Kemper's brigade, of Pickett's division,
went up thither last night, and it may be probable that a battle is
imminent. Lee is apt to fight when the enemy is present facing him. The
victory of Bragg has lifted a mountain from the spirits of the people,
and another victory would cast the North into the "slough of despond."
Gen. C. J. McRae, and another gentleman, have been directed to
investigate the accounts of Major Caleb Huse, the friend and agent of
Col. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance. Gen. McR. writes from Folkestone,
England, to Col. G. that the other gentleman not having appeared, he is
undertaking the work himself, and, so far, the accounts are all right.
Messrs Isaac, Campbell & Co. (Jews), with whom the Ordnance Bureau has
had large transactions, have afforded (so far) every facility, etc.
SEPTEMBER 27TH.--Nothing additional has been heard from either Bragg's
or Lee's army. But the positions of both seem quite satisfactory to our
government and people. How Rosecrans can get off without the loss of
half his army, stores, etc., military authorities are unable to
perceive; and if Meade advances, there is a universal conviction that he
will be beaten.
But there _is_ an excitement in the city. It is reported that the United
States flag of truce steamer is down the river, having on board no less
a personage than Mr. Seward, United States Secretary of State, and that
Mr. Benjamin, and other dignitaries of the Confederate States, are going
off this morning to meet him. Of course it is conjectured that terms of
peace will be discussed, and an infinite variety of opinions are
expressed in relation to them. Some suppose the mission grows out of
foreign complications, of which, as yet, we can have no knowledge, and
that, to maintain the vantage ground of France or England, or both, Mr.
Seward may have a scheme of recognition and alliance, etc., looking to
the control of affairs on this continent by the United States and
Confederate States in conjunction, with commercial arrangements, etc.
Both Seward and Benjamin are regarded by their uncharitable enemies as
alike destitute of principle, and of moral or physical courage, and
hence that they would have no hesitation in agreeing to any terms likely
to be mutually advantageous--to themselves. They are certainly men of
great intellectual power, and if they are not strictly honest, as much
may be said of the greatest diplomats who have played conspicuous parts
in the field of diplomacy during the last century. They may sacrifice
men, and castles, etc., as skillful players do chessmen, with no
particle of feeling for the pieces lost, for equivalents, etc.
Nevertheless, nothing can be finally consummated without the concurrence
of all the co-ordinate branches of both governments, and the
acquiescence of the people. But these gentlemen are fully aware of the
anxiety of both peoples (if so they may be called) for peace, and they
may, if they choose, strike a bargain which will put an end to the
manslaughter which is deluging the land with blood. Then both
governments can go into bankruptcy. It may be a humbug.
SEPTEMBER 28TH.--All is reported quiet on the Rappahannock, the enemy
seeming to be staggered, if not stupefied, by the stunning blows dealt
Rosecrans in the West.
Burnside's detachment is evacuating East Tennessee; we have
Jonesborough, and are pursuing the enemy, at last accounts, toward
Knoxville. Between that and Chattanooga he may be intercepted by the
right wing of Bragg.
The President had his cabinet with him nearly all day. It is not yet
ascertained, precisely, whether Mr. Seward was really on the flag of
truce steamer yesterday, but it is pretty certain that Mr. Benjamin went
down the river. Of course the public is not likely to know what
transpired there--if anything.
The trans-Mississippi army is getting large amounts of stores, etc., on
the Rio Grande River. Major Hart, Quartermaster, writes from San
Antonio, Texas, on the 13th of July, that three large English steamers,
"Sea Queen," "Sir Wm. Peel," and the "Gladiator," had arrived, were
discharging, etc. Also that two large schooners were hourly expected
with 20,000 Enfield rifles on board. He says Gen. Magruder is impressing
cotton to freight these vessels.
So far, 260 Quakers, non-combatants, have been reported, mostly in North
Carolina. A few cannot pay the $500--conscientiously.
The papers begin to give the details of the great battle of
Chickamauga--the "_river of death_."
SEPTEMBER 29TH.--We have nothing additional from Bragg, except
confirmation of his victory from Northern journals; and it is reported
that Meade is sending two more army corps to the Southwest, for the
purpose of extricating Rosecrans from his perilous predicament. It is
believed our cavalry is in his rear, and that we have the road below
Chattanooga, cutting him off from his supplies.
The President sent for the Secretary of War and Gen. Cooper just before
3 P.M. to-day, having, it is supposed, some recent intelligence of the
movements of the enemy. It is possible we shall send troops, etc., with
all possible expedition, to reinforce Bragg, for the purpose of insuring
the destruction of Rosecrans's army, and thus to Tennessee may be
transferred the principal military operations of the fall campaign.
Young Mr. Kean has taken friend Jacques's place at the door of the
Secretary, and put him to abstracting the recorded letters containing
decisions, the plan I suggested to the President, but which was claimed
as the invention of the Assistant Secretary of War.
Some one has written a flaming article on the injurious manner in which
impressments have been conducted in Mississippi--the President's
State--and sent it to him. This being referred to Col. Northrop, the
Commissary-General, the latter splutters over it in his angular
chirography at a furious rate, saying he did not authorize it, he
doubted if it were done, and lastly, if done, he was sure it was done by
agents of the Quartermaster-General.
SEPTEMBER 30TH.--Still nothing additional from Lee's or Bragg's army;
but from abroad we learn that the British Government has prevented the
rams built for us from leaving the Mersey.
Gen. Pemberton is here, and was closeted for several hours to-day with
the Secretary of War.
Capt. J. H. Wright, 56th Georgia, gives another version of the surrender
of Cumberland Gap. He is the friend of Gen. Frazer, and says he was
induced to that step by the fear that the North Carolina regiments (62d
and 63d) could not be relied on. Did he try them?
A Mr. Blair, Columbus, Miss., applies for permission to bring drugs from
_Memphis_, and refers, for respectability, to President Davis and Gov.
Letcher. His letter gives a list of prices of medicines in the
Confederate States. I select the following: Quinine, per oz., $100;
calomel, $20; blue mass, $20; Opium, $100; S. N. bismuth, $100; soda,
$5; borax, $14; oil of bergamot, per lb., $100; indigo, $35; blue-stone,
$10.
Boots are selling in this city at $100 per pair, and common shoes for
$60. Shuck mattresses, $40. Blankets, $40 each; and sheets, cotton, $25
each. Wood is $40 per cord.
I submitted a proposition to the Secretary (of a quartermaster) to use
some idle government wagons and some negro prisoners, to get in wood for
the civil officers of the government, which could be done for $8 per
cord; but the quartermasters opposed it.
But to-day I sent a letter to the President, suggesting that the
perishable tithes (potatoes, meal, etc.) be sold at reasonable rates to
the civil officers and the people, when in excess of the demand of the
army, and that transportation be allowed, and that a government store be
opened in Richmond. I told him plainly, that without some speedy measure
of relief there would be much discontent, for half the families here are
neither half-fed nor half-clad. The measure, if adopted in all the
cities, would be a beneficent one, and would give popular strength to
the government, while it would be a death-blow to the speculators and
extortioners. It will be seen what heed the government will give it.
Gen. Wise has his brigade in South Carolina.
"_The markets._--The quantity of produce in our markets continues large,
and of good quality, but the prices remain as high as ever, as the
following quotations will show: butter, $4; bacon, $2.75 to $3 per
pound; lard, $2.25 per pound; beef, $1 to $1.25; lamb, $1 to $1.25;
veal, $1 to $1.50; shote, $1.25 to $1.75; sausage, $1; chickens, $2.50
to $7 per pair; ducks, $5 per pair; salt herrings, $4 per dozen;
cabbage, $1 to $1.50; green corn, $1.50 to $2 per dozen; sweet potatoes,
$21 to $26 per bushel; Irish potatoes, 50 to 75 cts. per quart; snaps,
$1 per quart; peas, 75 cts. to $1.25 per quart; butter-beans, $1 to
$1.50 per quart; onions, $1.25 per quart; egg-plant, $1 to $2 a piece;
tomatoes, 50 cts. to $1 per quart; country soap, $1 to $1.50 per pound."
CHAPTER XXXI.
Suffering of our wounded at Gettysburg.--Prisoners from the battle of
Chickamauga.--Charleston.--Policy in the Southwest.--From Gen.
Bragg.--Letter from President Davis.--Religious revival.--Departure
of the President for the Southwest.--About General Bragg.--Movement
of mechanics and non-producers.--About "French" tobacco.--The
markets.--Outrage in Missouri.---Speculations of government agents.--
From Gen. Lee.--Judge Hastings's scheme.--Visit to our prisons.--
Letter from Gen. Kirby Smith.--President Davis at Selma.--Gen.
Winder's passports.--The markets.--Campbellites and Methodists.--From
Gen. Lee.--From the Southwest.
OCTOBER 1ST.--We have a rumor to-day that Meade is sending heavy masses
of troops to the West to extricate Rosecrans, and that Gen. Hooker is to
menace Richmond from the Peninsula, with 25,000 men, to keep Lee from
crossing the Potomac.
We have absolutely nothing from Bragg; but a dispatch from Gen. S.
Jones, East Tennessee, of this date, says he has sent Gen. Ranseur after
the rear guard of the enemy, near Knoxville.
A letter from W. G. M. Davis, describes St. Andrew's Bay, Florida, as
practicable for exporting and importing purposes. It may be required, if
Charleston and Wilmington fall--which is not improbable.
Nevertheless, Bragg's victory has given us a respite in the East, and
soon the bad roads will put an end to the marching of armies until next
year. I doubt whether the Yankees will desire another winter campaign in
Virginia.
The papers contain the following account of sufferings at Gettysburg,
and in the Federal prisons:
"A lady from the vicinity of Gettysburg writes: 'July 18th--We have been
visiting the battle-field, and have done all we can for the wounded
there. Since then we have sent another party, who came upon a camp of
wounded Confederates in a wood between the hills. Through this wood
quite a large creek runs. This camp contained between 200 and 300
wounded men, in every stage of suffering; two well men among them as
nurses. Most of them had frightful wounds. A few evenings ago the rain,
sudden and violent, swelled the creek, and 35 of the unfortunates were
swept away; 35 died of starvation. No one had been to visit them since
they were carried off the battle-field; they had no food of any kind;
they were crying all the time "bread, bread! water, water!" One boy
without beard was stretched out dead, quite naked, a piece of blanket
thrown over his emaciated form, a rag over his face, and his small, thin
hands laid over his breast. Of the dead none knew their names, and it
breaks my heart to think of the mothers waiting and watching for the
sons laid in the lonely grave on that fearful battle-field. All of those
men in the woods were nearly naked, and when ladies approached they
tried to cover themselves with the filthy rags they had cast aside. The
wounds themselves, unwashed and untouched, were full of worms. God only
knows what they suffered.
"'Not one word of complaint passed their lips, not a murmur; their only
words were "Bread, bread! water, water!" Except when they saw some of
our ladies much affected, they said, "Oh, ladies, don't cry; we are used
to this." We are doing all we can; we served all day yesterday, though
it was Sunday.' This lady adds: 'There were two brothers--one a colonel,
the other a captain--lying side by side, and both wounded. They had a
Bible between them.' Another letter from Philadelphia says: 'There are
over 8000 on the island (Fort Delaware), the hospitals crowded, and
between 300 and 400 men on the bare floor of the barracks; not even a
straw mattress under them. The surgeon says the hundred pillows and
other things sent from here were a God-send. Everything except gray
clothing will be thankfully received, and can be fully disposed of. It
is very difficult to get money here. I write to you in the hope that you
may be able to send some comforts for these suffering men. Some two or
three thousand have been sent to an island in the East River, most of
them South Carolinians, and all in great destitution. Your hearts would
ache as mine does if you knew all I hear and know is true of the
sufferings of our poor people.'
"Another writes: Philadelphia, July 20th, 1863. 'I mentioned in my last
the large number of Southern prisoners now in the hands of the Federal
Government in Fort Delaware, near this city. There are 8000, a large
portion of whom are sick and wounded; all are suffering most seriously
for the want of a thousand things. Those in the city who are by birth or
association connected with Southern people, and who feel a sympathy for
the sufferings of these prisoners, are but few in number, and upon these
have been increasing calls for aid. Their powers of contribution are now
exhausted. I thought it my duty to acquaint you and others in Europe of
this state of things, that you might raise something to relieve the
sufferings of these prisoners. I believe the government has decided that
any contributions for them may be delivered to them. There is scarcely a
man among them, officers or privates, who has any money or any clothes
beyond those in which they stood when they were captured on the
battle-field. You can, therefore, imagine their situation. In the
hospitals the government gives them nothing beyond medicines and
soldier's rations. Sick men require much more, or they perish; and these
people are dying by scores. I think it a matter in which their friends
on the other side should take prompt and ample action.'"
OCTOBER 2D.--Our 5000 prisoners taken at the battle of Chickamauga have
arrived in this city, and it is ascertained that more are on the way
hither. Gen. Bragg said he had 5000 besides the wounded, and as none of
the wounded have arrived, more must have been taken since his dispatch.
Every effort is being made on our part to capture the army of
Rosecrans--and everything possible is done by the enemy to extricate
him, and to reinforce him to such an extent that he may resume offensive
operations. Without this be done, the campaign must close disastrously
in the West, and then the peace party of the North will have a new
inspiration of vitality.
It is now said that Gen. Lee, despairing of being attacked in his chosen
position, has resolved to attack Meade, or at least to advance
somewhere. It is possible (if Meade has really sent two corps of his
army to the West) that he will cross the Potomac again--at least on a
foraging expedition. If he meets with only conscripts and militia he may
penetrate as far as Harrisburg, and then let Europe perpend! The Union
will be as difficult of reconstruction, as would have been the
celebrated Campo Formio vase shivered by Napoleon. It is much easier to
destroy than to construct. The emancipation and confiscation measures
rendered reconstruction impracticable--unless, indeed, at a future day,
the Abolitionists of the United States should be annihilated and
Abolitionism abolished.
To-day I got an excellent pair of winter shoes from a quartermaster here
for $13--the retail price for as good an article, in the stores, is $75;
fine boots have risen to $200!
The enemy's batteries on Morris Island are firing away again at Sumter's
ruins, and at Moultrie--but they have not yet opened on the city.
The newspapers continue to give accounts of the Chickamauga battle.
OCTOBER 3D.--Nothing from the armies; but from Charleston it is
ascertained that the enemy's batteries on Morris Island have some of the
guns pointing _seaward_. This indicates a provision against attack from
that quarter, and suggests a purpose to withdraw the monitors, perhaps
to use them against Wilmington. I suppose the opposite guns in the
batteries will soon open on Charleston.
Thomas Jackson, Augusta, Ga., writes that he can prove the president of
the Southern Express Company, who recently obtained a passport to visit
Europe, really embarked for the United States, taking a large sum in
gold; that another of the same company (which is nothing more than a
branch of Adams's Express Company of New York) will leave soon with more
gold. He says this company has enough men detailed from the army, and
conscripts exempted, to make two regiments.
J. M. Williams writes from Morton, Miss., that his negroes have been
permitted to return to his plantation, near Baton Rouge, and place
themselves under his overseer. During their absence some ten or twelve
died. This is really wonderful policy on the part of the enemy--a policy
which, if persisted in, might ruin us. _Mr. Williams asks permission to
sell some fifty bales of cotton to the enemy for the support of his
slaves._ He says the enemy is getting all the cotton in that section of
country--and it may be inferred that all the planters are getting back
their slaves. The moment any relaxation occurs in the rigorous measures
of the enemy, that moment our planters cease to be united in resistance.
OCTOBER 4TH.--The major-quartermasters and the acting
quartermaster-generals (during the illness or absence of Gen. Lawton)
are buffeting the project some of us set on foot to obtain wood at cost,
$8, instead of paying the extortioners $40 per cord. All the wagons and
teams of Longstreet's corps are here idle, while the corps itself is
with Bragg--and the horses are fed by the government of course. These
wagons and teams might bring into the city thousands of cords of wood.
The quartermasters at first said there were no drivers; but I pointed
out the free Yankee negroes in the prisons, who beg employment. Now Col.
Cole, the quartermaster in charge of transportation, says there is a
prospect of getting teamsters--but that hauling should be done
exclusively for the army--and the quartermaster-general (acting)
indorses on the paper that if the Secretary will _designate the class of
clerks_ to be benefited, some little wood might be delivered them. This
concession was obtained, because the Secretary himself sent my _second_
paper to the quartermaster-general--the _first_ never having been seen
by him, having passed from the hands of the Assistant Secretary to the
file-tomb.
Another paper I addressed to the President, suggesting the opening of
government stores for the sale of perishable tithes,--being a blow at
the extortioners, and a measure of relief to the non-producers, and
calculated to prevent a riot in the city,--was referred by him
yesterday to the Secretary of War, for his special notice, and for
_conference_, which may result in good, if they adopt the plan
submitted. That paper the Assistant Secretary _cannot_ withhold, having
the President's mark on it.
OCTOBER 5TH.--It is now said that Meade's army has not retired, and that
two corps of it have not been sent to Rosecrans. Well, we shall know
more soon, for Lee is preparing for a movement. It may occur this week.
In the West it is said Gen. Johnston is working his way, with a few
brigades, from Meridian towards _Nashville._
Lieut.-Gen. E. Kirby Smith writes for authority to make appointments and
promotions in the trans-Mississippi Army, as its "communications with
Richmond are permanently interrupted." The President indorses that he
has no authority to delegate the power of appointing, as that is fixed
by the constitution; but he will do anything in his power to facilitate
the wishes of the general. The general writes that such delegation is a
"military necessity."
The _Enquirer_ and the _Dispatch_ have come out in opposition to the
fixing of maximum prices for articles of necessity, by either the
Legislature of the State or by Congress. It is charged against these
papers, with what justice I know not, that the proprietors of both are
realizing profits from speculation.
To-day I got a fine shin-bone (for soup) for $1. I obtained it at the
government shop; in the market I was asked $5.50 for one. We had a good
dinner, and something left over for to-morrow.
OCTOBER 6TH.--Gen. Bragg and others recommend Gen. Hood for promotion to
a lieutenant-generalcy; but the President says it is impossible, as the
number authorized by Congress is full. And Gen. Bragg also gives timely
notice to the Commissary-General that the supplies at Atlanta will
suffice for but a few weeks longer. This, Commissary-General Northrop
took in high dudgeon, indorsing on the paper that there was no necessity
for such a message to him; that Bragg knew very well that every effort
had been and would be made to subsist the army; and that when he
evacuated Tennessee, the great source of supplies was abandoned. In
short, the only hope of obtaining ample supplies was for Gen. Bragg to
recover Tennessee, and drive Rosecrans out of the country.
The President has at last consented to send troops for the protection of
Wilmington--Martin's brigade; and also Clingman's, from Charleston, if
the enemy should appear before Wilmington.
I read to-day an interesting report from one of our secret agents--Mr.
A. Superviele--of his diplomatic operations in Mexico, which convinces
me that the French authorities there favor the Confederate States cause,
and anticipate closer relations before long. When he parted with
Almonte, the latter assured him that his sympathies were with the South,
and that if he held any position in the new government (which he does
now) he might say to President Davis that his influence would be exerted
for the recognition of our independence.
Mr. Jeptha Fowlkes, of Aberdeen, Miss., sends a proposition to supply
our army with 200,000 suits of clothing, 50,000 pairs of shoes, etc.
etc. from the United States, provided he be allowed to give cotton in
return. Mr. Randolph made a contract with him last year, of this nature,
which our government revoked afterward. We shall see what will be done
now.
It is positively asserted that Gen. Bragg has arrested Lieut.-Gen.
(Bishop) Polk and Brig.-Gen. Hindman, for disobedience of orders in the
battle of Chickamauga.
LETTER FROM PRESIDENT DAVIS--The Mobile papers publish the following
letter from President Davis to the "Confederate Society," of Enterprise,
Miss.:
"RICHMOND, VA., Sept. 17th, 1863.
"J. W. HARMON, ESQ., SECRETARY OF THE CONFEDERATE SOCIETY,
ENTERPRISE, MISS.
"SIR:--I have received your letter of the 22d ult., inclosing a
copy of an address to the people of the Confederate States, calling
upon them to unite in an effort to restore and maintain the par
value of the currency with gold by forming societies of citizens
who will engage to sell and buy only at reduced prices. The object
of the address is most laudable, and I sincerely hope for it great
success in arousing the people to concerted action upon a subject
of the deepest importance. The passion for speculation has become a
gigantic evil. It has seemed to take possession of the whole
country, and has seduced citizens of all classes from a determined
prosecution of the war to a sordid effort to amass money. It
destroys enthusiasm and weakens public confidence. It injures the
efficiency of every measure which demands the zealous co-operation
of the people in repelling the public enemy, and threatens to bring
upon us every calamity which can befall freemen struggling for
independence.
"The united exertions of societies like those you propose should
accomplish much toward abating this evil, and infusing a new spirit
into the community.
"I trust, therefore, that you will continue your labors until their
good effect becomes apparent everywhere.
"Please accept my thanks for the comforting tone of your patriotic
letter. It is a relief to receive such a communication at this
time, when earnest effort is demanded, and when I am burdened by
the complaining and despondent letters of many who have stood all
the day idle, and now blame anybody but themselves for reverses
which have come and dangers which threaten.
"Very respectfully,
"Your fellow-citizen,
"JEFFERSON DAVIS."
There is a revival in the city among the Methodists; and that suggests a
recent expiring. In my young days I saw much of these sensational
excitements, and partook of them; for how can the young resist them? But
it is the Cæsarean method of being born again, violating reason, and
perhaps outraging nature. There was one gratifying deduction derived
from my observation to-night, at the Clay Street meeting-house--the
absence of allusion to the war. I had supposed the attempt would be made
by the exhorters to appeal to the fears of the soldiery, composing more
than half the congregation, and the terrors of death be held up before
them. But they knew better; they knew that every one of them had made up
his mind to die, and that most of them expected either death or wounds
in this mortal struggle for independence. The fact is they are familiar
with death in all its phases, and there is not a coward among them. They
look upon danger with the most perfect indifference, and fear not to
die. Hence there was no allusion to the battle-field, which has become a
scene divested of novelty. But the appeals were made to their
sympathies, and reliance was placed on the force of example, and the
contagion of ungovernable emotions.
OCTOBER 7TH.--We have not a particle of news from the army to-day. It
may be an ominous calm.
A Mr. Livingstone, from Georgia I believe, has been extensively engaged
in financial transactions during the last week. He drew upon the house
of North & Co., Savannah, and purchased some $35,000 in gold. After
obtaining some $350,000 from the brokers here, he obtained a passport
(of course!) and fled into the enemy's lines.
OCTOBER 8TH.--The President, accompanied by two of his aids, set off
quietly day before yesterday for the Southwest--to Bragg's army, no
doubt, where it is understood dissensions have arisen among the
chieftains.
By telegraph we learn that one of Bragg's batteries, on Lookout
Mountain, opened fire on the Federals in Chattanooga on the 5th inst.,
which was replied to briskly.
Night before last an attempt was made to destroy the enemy's steamer
Ironsides at Charleston, but failed. The torpedo, however, may have done
it some injury.
From Lee and Meade we have nothing.
A rather startling letter was read by the Secretary of War to-day from
----, Lieut.-Gen. Bragg's ----d in command. It was dated the 26th of
September, and stated that Chickamauga was one of the most complete
victories of the war, but has not been "followed up." On the 21st (day
after the battle), Gen. Bragg asked Gen. ----'s advice, which was
promptly given: "that he should immediately strike Burnside a blow; or
if Burnside escaped, then to march on Rosecrans's communications in the
rear of Nashville." Gen. Bragg seemed to adopt the plan, and gave orders
accordingly. But the right wing had not marched more than eight or ten
miles the next day, before it was halted, and ordered to march toward
Chattanooga, after giving the enemy two and a half days to strengthen
the fortifications. Bragg's army remains in front of the enemy's
defenses, with orders not to assault him. The only thing Bragg has done
well (says Gen. ----) was to order the attack on the 19th of September;
everything else has been wrong: and now only God can save us or help
us--while Bragg commands. He begs that Gen. Lee be sent there, while the
Army of Virginia remains on the defensive, to prosecute offensive
measures against Rosecrans. He says Bragg's army has neither
organization nor mobility; and B. cannot remedy the evil. He cannot
adopt or adhere to any course, and he invokes the government to
interpose speedily. This letter is on file in the archives.
The question now is, who is right? If it be ----, Bragg ought certainly
to be relieved without delay; and the President cannot arrive in the
field a moment too soon. As it is, while others are exulting in the
conviction that Rosecrans will be speedily destroyed, _I_ am filled with
alarm for the fate of Bragg's army, and for the cause! I am reluctant to
attribute the weakness of personal pique or professional jealousy to
----; yet I still hope that events will speedily prove that Bragg's plan
was the best, and that he had really adopted and advised to the wisest
course.
OCTOBER 9TH.--From the West we have only unreliable reports of
movements, etc.; but something definite and decisive must occur shortly.
Gen. Lee's army crossed the Rapidan yesterday, and a battle may be
looked for in that direction any day. It is said Meade has only 40,000
or 50,000 men; and, if this be so, Lee is strong enough to assume the
offensive.
To-morrow the departments will be closed for a review of the clerks,
etc., a piece of nonsense, as civil officers are under no obligation to
march except to fight, when the city is menaced.
The mechanics and non-producers have made a unanimous call (in placards)
for a mass meeting at the City Hall to-morrow evening. The ostensible
object is to instruct Mr. Randolph and other members of the Legislature
(now in session) to vote for the bill, fixing maximum prices of
commodities essential to life, or else to resign. Mr. Randolph has said
he would not vote for it, unless so instructed to do. It is apprehended
that these men, or the authors of the movement, have ulterior objects in
view; and as some ten or twelve hundred of them belong to the militia,
and have muskets in their possession, mischief may grow out of it. Mr.
Secretary Seddon ought to act at once on the plan suggested for the sale
of the perishable tithes, since the government is blamed very much, and
perhaps very justly, for preventing transportation of meat and bread to
the city, or for impressing it in transitu.
Capt. Warner, who feeds the prisoners of war, and who is my good "friend
in need," sent me yesterday 20 odd pounds of bacon sides at the
government price. This is not exactly according to law and order, but
the government loses nothing, and my family have a substitute for
butter.
OCTOBER 10TH.--The enemy is undoubtedly falling back on the
Rappahannock, and our army is pursuing. We have about 40,000 in Lee's
army, and it is reported that Meade has 50,000, of whom many are
conscripts, altogether unreliable. We may look for stirring news soon.
About 2500 of the "local" troops were reviewed to-day. The companies
were not more than half filled; so, in an emergency, we could raise 5000
fighting men, at a moment's warning, for the defense of the capital. In
the absence of Custis Lee, Col. Brown, the English aid of the President,
commanded the brigade, much to the disgust of many of the men, and the
whole were reviewed by Gen. Elzey, still more to the chagrin of the
ultra Southern men.
The Secretary seems unable to avert the storm brewing against the
extortioners; but permits impressments of provisions coming to the city.
It is said the President and cabinet have a large special fund in
Europe. If they should fall into the hands of Lincoln, they might suffer
death; so in the event of subjugation, it is surmised they have provided
for their subsistence in foreign lands. But there is no necessity for
such provision, provided they perform their duty here. I cut the
following from the papers:
"The Vicomte de St. Romain has been sent by the French Government to
ours to negotiate for the exportation of the tobacco bought for France
by French agents.
"The Confederate States Government has at last consented to allow the
tobacco to leave the country, provided the French Government will send
its own vessels for it.
"The latter _will_ send French ships, accompanied by armed convoys.
"To this the United States Government objects _in toto_.
"Vicomte de St. Romain is now making his way to New York to send the
result of his mission, through the French Consul, to the Emperor.
"The French frigates in New York are there on this errand."
OCTOBER 11TH.--I attended a meeting of "mechanics" and citizens at the
City Hall last night. The prime mover of this organization is E. B.
Robinson, some twenty years ago one of my printers in the _Madisonian_
office. It was fully attended, and although not so boisterous as might
have been expected, was, nevertheless, earnest and determined in its
spirit. Resolutions instructing Mr. Randolph (State Senator, and late
Secretary of War) to vote for a bill before the General Assembly
reducing and fixing the prices of the necessities of life, were passed
unanimously; also one demanding his resignation, in the event of his
hesitating to obey. He was bitterly denounced by the speakers.
I understood yesterday, from the butchers, that they have been buying
beef cattle, not from the producers, but from a Mr. Moffitt (they say a
commissary agent), at from 45 to 55 cents gross; and hence they are
compelled to retail it (net) at from 75 cents to $1.25 per pound to the
people. If this be so, and the commissary buys at government prices, 18
to 22 cents, a great profit is realized by the government or its agent
at the expense of a suffering people. How long will the people suffer
thus? This community is even now in an inflammable condition, and may be
ignited by a single spark. The flames of insurrection may at any moment
wrap this slumbering government in its destructive folds; and yet the
cabinet cannot be awakened to a sense of the danger. Mr. Seddon (who may
be better informed than others), deeply sunken in his easy chair, seems
perfectly composed; but he cannot know that his agents are permitted to
prey upon the people: and the complaints and charges sent to him are
acted upon by his subordinates, who have orders not to permit business
of secondary importance to engage his attention; and his door-keepers
have instructions to refuse admittance to persons below a certain rank.
Nothing but the generous and brave men in the army could have saved us
from destruction long ago, and nothing else can save us hereafter. If
our independence shall be achieved, it will be done in _spite_ of the
obstructions with which the cause has been burdened by the stupidity or
mismanagement of incompetent or dishonest men.
"THE SUFFERINGS OF THE BORDER MISSOURIANS.--The people of Missouri, on
the Kansas border, are being slaughtered without mercy under the
authority of the Yankee commander of that department, Schofield. A
letter to the St. Louis _Republican_ (Yankee) says:
"On Sunday last the desire for blood manifested itself in the
southeastern part of Jackson County, not far from the village of Lone
Jack. Although it was Sunday, the people of that region, alarmed and
terror-stricken by threats from Kansas, and cruel edicts from
headquarters of the district, were hard at work straining every nerve to
get ready to leave their homes before this memorable 9th day of
September, 1863.
"One party of these unfortunate victims of a cruel order had almost
completed their preparations, and within half an hour's time would have
commenced their weary wanderings in search of a home. It consisted of
Benjamin Potter, aged seventy-five; John S. Cave, aged fifty; William
Hunter, aged forty-seven; David Hunter, aged thirty-five; William C.
Tate, aged thirty; Andrew Owsley, aged seventeen; and Martin Rice and
his son. While thus engaged in loading their wagons with such effects as
they supposed would be most useful to them, a detachment of Kansas
troops (said to be part of the Kansas 9th, though this may be a
mistake), under command of Lieut.-Col. Clark and Capt. Coleman, came up
and took them all prisoners.
"After a little parleying, Mr. Rice and his son were released and
ordered to leave; which they did, of course. They had not gone much over
three-fourths of a mile before they heard firing at the point at which
they had left the soldiers with the remaining prisoners. In a short time
the command moved on, and the wives and other relatives of the prisoners
rushed up to ascertain their fate. It was a horrid spectacle.
"There lay six lifeless forms--mangled corpses--so shockingly mangled
that it was difficult, my informant stated, to identify some of them.
They were buried where they were murdered, without coffins, by a few
friends who had expected to join them on that day, with their families,
and journey in search of a home.
"These are the unvarnished facts with reference to an isolated
transaction. There are many, very many others of a similar character
that I might mention, but I will not. The unwritten and secret history
of our border would amaze the civilized world, and would stagger the
faith of the most credulous. In the case just mentioned, we find an old
man who had passed his threescore and ten, and a youth who had not yet
reached his score, falling victims to this thirsty cry for blood.
"The world will doubtless be told that six more bushwhackers have been
cut off, etc. But believe it not, sir; it is not true. These six men
never were in arms, neither in the bush or elsewhere, I have been told
by one who has known them for years past. The widows and orphans of some
of them passed through this city yesterday, heart-broken, homeless
wanderers."
OCTOBER 12TH.--Hon. G. A. Henry, Senator from Tennessee, writes to the
Secretary that it is rumored that Gen. Pemberton is to command Gen.
Polk's corps in Tennessee. He says if this be true, it will be
disastrous; that the Tennessee troops will not serve under him, but will
mutiny and desert.
It is reported to-day by Gen. Elzey (on what information I know not)
that Meade's army has been reduced to 30,000 or 40,000 men, by the heavy
reinforcements sent to extricate Rosecrans. Be this as it may, there is
no longer any doubt that Lee is advancing toward the Potomac, and the
enemy is retreating. This must soon culminate in something of interest.
I saw Commissary-General Northrop to-day, and he acknowledges that Mr.
Moffitt, who sells beef (gross) to the butchers at from 45 to 55 cents,
is one of his agents, employed by Major Ruffin, to purchase beef for the
army! The schedule price is from 16 to 20 cents, and he pays no more,
for the government--and if he buys for himself, it is not likely he pays
more--and so we have a government agent a speculator in meat, and
co-operating with speculators! Will Mr. Secretary Seddon permit this?
OCTOBER 13TH.--Gen. Lee's cavalry are picking up some prisoners, several
hundreds having already been sent to Richmond. It is said the advance of
his army has been delayed several weeks for want of commissary stores,
while Commissary-General Northrop's or Major Ruffin's agent Moffitt, it
is alleged, has been selling beef (gross) to the butchers at 50 cents
per pound, after buying or impressing at from 16 to 20 cents.
Gen. Lee writes that a scout (from Washington?) informs him that Gen.
Gilmore has been ordered to take Charleston at all hazards, and, failing
in the attempt, to make a flank movement and seize upon Branchville;
which he (Gen. Lee) deems an unlikely feat.
What a change! The young professors and tutors who shouldered their pens
and became clerks in the departments are now resigning, and seeking
employment in country schools remote from the horrid sounds of war so
prevalent in the vicinity of the Capitol, and since they were ordered to
volunteer in the local companies, which will probably have some sharp
practice in the field. They are intent, however, on "teaching the young
_idea_ how to shoot." The young chiefs of bureaus, being fixed "for
life," did not _volunteer_.
OCTOBER 14TH.--A letter from Gen. Lee to the Secretary of War, dated
11th inst. at Madison C. H., complains of the injury done by the
newspapers of Richmond, which contain early accounts of his movements,
and are taken quickly (by flag of truce? or Gen. Winder's corps of
rogues and cut-throats?) to the enemy. He says he is endeavoring to
strike at Meade, and has already captured, this week, some 600 of the
enemy (cavalry), including that number of horses. The Secretary sent the
requisite notice to the editors.
Gen. Gilmer, at Charleston, suggests the removal of the guns on the
boats in that harbor to land batteries, to be commanded by officers of
the navy.
An order has been sent to Gen. S. Jones, West Virginia, for the 8th and
14th Regiments Virginia Cavalry.
OCTOBER 15TH.--To-day, at 12 M., I saw a common leatherwing bat flying
over the War Department. What this portends I do not pretend to say,
perhaps nothing. It may have been dislodged by the workmen building
chimneys to the offices of the department.
The order of the government conscribing all foreign residents who have
acquired homes in this country, and the expulsion of the British
consuls, will immediately be followed by another exodus of that class of
residents. Already passports are daily applied for, and invariably
granted by Mr. Assistant Secretary Campbell. The enemy, of course, will
reap great benefit from the information conveyed by these people, and
the innumerable brood of blockade-runners.
Gen. Lee has sent down between 600 and 700 prisoners captured in recent
cavalry engagements. He took their horses and equipments also. And there
is an account of an engagement in the West, near Memphis, in which the
Confederate troops inflicted injury on the enemy, besides destroying the
railroad in several places.
OCTOBER 16TH.--No battle had occurred in Northern Virginia up to 10
o'clock yesterday morning, although there is a constant stream of
prisoners being sent to this city daily, taken by our cavalry. At last
accounts Meade's army was retreating toward Washington City, hotly
pursued by Lee. They were near Manassas, the first battle-field of the
war.
There is nothing new from the West, except some skirmishing of cavalry
in Central and Western Tennessee, wherein our men have had the
advantage, though sometimes falling back before superior numbers.
At Charleston a brisk cannonading is kept up between the batteries; and
it is said more hostile transports are arriving, which may indicate
active operations on land. Our 700-pounder Blakely No. 2 is there.
Judge Campbell is giving passports rapidly, sometimes binding the Jews
not to engage in private operations, but to confine themselves, while in
the United States, to the purchase of supplies for the Confederate
States service! Some, however, are willing to go on these terms to avoid
conscription, but will realize profit by selling information to the
enemy.
Judge Hastings, of California, proposes to return thither and publish a
pamphlet describing newly discovered gold mines, and organizing
companies to work them, which shall be secessionists; and when
organized, he will fall upon and destroy the United States troops, march
into Arizona, and from thence pour reinforcements into Texas. The
Secretary, in the absence of the President, sends a copy of this scheme
to Lieut.-Gen. E. K. Smith, trans-Mississippi Department, and gives some
encouragement to the judge; abstaining, however, for the present, from
devoting any money to the project.
OCTOBER 17TH.--We hear to-day that a battle has taken place near
Manassas, and that Lee has taken some 9000 prisoners and many wagons. At
3 P.M. there was no official intelligence of this event, and it was not
generally credited.
Gen. Wise writes from Charleston, that it is understood by the French
and Spanish Consuls there that the city will not be bombarded.
In Eastern North Carolina the people have taken the oath of allegiance
to the United States, to be binding only so long as they are within the
military jurisdiction of the enemy; and they ask to be exempt from the
Confederate States tithe tax, for if they pay it, the enemy will despoil
them of all that remains.
OCTOBER 18TH.--No authentic information of a battle near Manassas has
been received at the War Department, although it is certain there has
been some heavy skirmishing on the Rappahannock. We have several
brigadier-generals wounded, and lost five guns; but, being reinforced,
continued the pursuit of the enemy, picking up many prisoners--they say
1500. The pursuit was retarded by the swelling of the streams.
A letter from Major-Gen. Jones, at Dublin Depot, Va., Oct. 14th, leads
me to think danger is apprehended in that quarter, the objective point
being the Salt Works; and it may be inferred, from the fact that
Burnside is still there, that Rosecrans is considered safe, by reason of
the heavy reinforcements sent from other quarters.
While I write, the government is having the tocsin sounded for
volunteers from the militia to go to the rescue of the Salt Works, which
is absurd, as the enemy will either have them before aid can be received
from Richmond, or else he will have been driven off by the local troops
near that vicinity.
Captain Warner took me in his buggy this morning to the military
prisons. He did not lead me into the crowded rooms above, where he said
I would be in danger of vermin, but exhibited his cooking apparatus,
etc.--which was ample and cleanly. Everywhere I saw the captives peeping
through the bars; they occupy quite a number of large
buildings--warehouses--and some exhibited vengeful countenances. They
have half a pound of beef per day, and plenty of good bread and
water--besides vegetables and other matters furnished by themselves.
Several new furnaces are in process of erection, and most of the
laborers are Federal prisoners, who agree to work (for their own
convenience) and are paid for it the usual wages. There are baths to the
prisons; and the conduits for venting, etc. have cost some $10,000.
To-day the weather is as warm as summer, and no doubt the prisoners sigh
for the open air (although all the buildings are well ventilated), and
their distant homes in the West--most of them being from the field of
Chickamauga.
OCTOBER 19TH.--After all the rumors from Northern Virginia, I have seen
nothing official. I incline to the belief that we have achieved no
success further than an advance toward Washington, and a corresponding
retreat of the enemy. It is to be yet seen whether Lee captured more
prisoners than Meade captured. It is said we lost _seven_ guns. But how
can Lee achieve anything when the enemy is ever kept informed not only
of his movements in progress, but of his probable intentions? I observe
that just about the time Lee purposes a movement, several Jews and
others of conscript age are seen to apply for passports through the
lines, for ordnance and medical stores, and Judge Campbell is certain to
"allow" them. The letter-book, for they are now recorded, shows this.
These men bring supplies from Maryland, if they ever return, in
saddle-bags, while the same kind are landed every week at Wilmington by
the cargo!
A recent letter from Lieut.-Gen. E. Kirby Smith, trans-Mississippi,
fills me with alarm. He says the property-holders in Arkansas and
Louisiana--which States we are evacuating--are willing to return to
their allegiance to the United States if that government should modify
its policy. He says we have but 32,500 in Texas, Louisiana, and
Arkansas--all told--and the enemy twice that number.
Gen. D. H. Hill has been relieved in the West, and ordered to report in
this city to Gen. Cooper. It was necessary perhaps to have a scape-goat.
Bragg will _probably_ be sustained by the President--but then what will
become of ------, who is so inimical to Bragg?
The President has published, in the West, an eloquent address to the
soldiers.
It appears from Gen. K. Smith's letter that the French captured a vessel
having on board, for the Confederate States, 12,000 stand of arms, which
were taken to Vera Cruz. It is presumed that the French commander
supposed these arms were sent over for the use of the Mexicans, probably
by the United States. If this be so, it is reasonable to suppose they
will be restored us, and so far I do not learn that this government has
taken umbrage at the capture. It may be that they were taken to keep
them from falling into the possession of the United States cruisers.
There are one or two French war steamers now at Charleston,
interchanging courtesies with the Confederate States authorities there.
It also appears by Gen. Smith's letter that a large amount of arms for
the trans-Mississippi Department were deposited at Vicksburg, and fell
into the hands of the enemy. The President indorsed on the back of the
letter that this was a blunder, and asks by whose order the deposit was
made. Col. Gorgas must answer.
OCTOBER 20TH.--Nothing definite from Lee. I fear his little campaign
from the Rapidan to Bull Run was not a glorious one, although Meade did
run to the fortifications at Centreville. He may possibly have had a
counter-plot, which is not yet developed. Our papers are rejoicing over
thousands of prisoners "picked up;" but Captain Warner, who furnishes
the prisoners their rations, assures me that they have not yet arrived;
while our papers acknowledge we lost 1000 men, killed and wounded,
besides several guns.
The Secretary of War received a dispatch to-day from Gen. Barton,
Kinston, N. C., stating that a number of Federal regiments were
embarking for (he thinks) South Carolina. This, the Secretary, of
course, sends to Gen. Beauregard, but doubts, however, the destination
of the troops. He thinks they are to menace Richmond again, and says
there are indications of this purpose on the York River. Is Hooker
really there? The public knows nothing, as yet, of what is going on down
that river. What if Meade retreated to entice Lee away from Richmond,
having in preparation an expedition against this city? I should not
wonder at anything, since so many equivocal characters are obtaining
passports to the United States. Gen. Winder and Judge Campbell are busy
signing passports--one granted by the latter yesterday (recorded) also
allows the bearer to take with him 2000 pounds tobacco!
A letter was received to-day from the President, ordering certain
concessions to Governor Brown, relating to exemptions and details.
Letters have been received justifying the belief (notwithstanding the
forebodings of Lieut.-Gen. E. K. Smith) that we have taken Little Rock,
Ark., again. This is Price's work; also that Quantrell and other bold
raiders in Missouri have collected some thousands of desperate men, and
_killed_ several regiments of the enemy. They have burned a number of
towns (Union), and taken the large town of Boonville. These are the men
against whom Kansas Abolitionists have sworn vengeance--no quarter is
to be granted them. I suspect they are granting no quarter!
Yesterday I saw a Captain Commissary on Broad Street give his dog a
piece of beef for which I would have given a dollar. Many little
children of soldiers stood by with empty baskets. He would not sell a
shank!
Dispatch from Alabama:
"SELMA, October 18th, 1863.
"President Davis arrived here this evening, and was welcomed by the
citizens _en masse_. An immense crowd gathered in front of the
hotel. The President congratulated the people on meeting them under
such favorable circumstances, and spoke in glowing terms of the
gallantry of Alabamians on every battle-field. He said if the
non-conscripts of Alabama would gather their guns and go to the
rescue, by guarding Courtland and other points, thereby relieving
regular soldiers who are now, from necessity, discharging that sort
of duty, such blows would be dealt the enemy as he would find it
difficult to recover from. In this way most effective aid could be
given the gallant men and officers who are carrying out the plans
of the noble Longstreet, under the supervision of the heroic Bragg.
"In this way the President was confident that Rosecrans could be
crushed to dust. It was only by force of arms that the Yankees
could be brought to reason and their plans for our subjugation
defeated. Self-reliance and energy were now our only duty. We
should not look to Europe for aid, for such is not to be expected
now. Our only alternative was to sustain ourselves with renewed
energy and determination, and a little more sacrifice upon the part
of the people, and the President firmly believed that next spring
would see the invader driven from our borders. Then farmers, who
are now refugees, could return to their families and pursue their
business undisturbed as heretofore. In fact, he believed that the
defeat of Rosecrans would practically end the war."
Mr. Randolph has signified his purpose to vote for the bill reducing
prices, rather than resign; but Mr. Wyndham Robertson, the delegate, has
resigned. Nearly all the papers have taken ground against the "Maximum
Bill." To-night a mass meeting is called, to urge the passage of the
bill.
The "mass meeting" to-night was a small affair. Mr. Robinson, my old
compositor, made a speech, abusing the editors; but the editors have
succeeded in putting down for the present the cry for bread. I fear,
however, it is but the work of Sisyphus, and it may destroy them; for,
if the measure fails before the Legislature, the prices will be sure to
advance, and then the people will attribute their woes to those who were
instrumental in the defeat of the plan of relief. It is a dangerous
thing to array one's self against a famishing people, even when the
remedy they demand is not calculated to alleviate their distresses. I
saw flour sell at auction to-day for $61 per barrel. This, too, when
there is an abundant crop of new grain but recently harvested. It is the
result of the depreciation of a redundant currency, and not of an
ascertained scarcity. Timber and coal are as abundant as ever they were;
and the one sells at $32 per cord, and the other at $30 per load of 25
bushels. And cotton is abundant, while brown domestic is bringing $3.00
per yard. Many are becoming very shabby in appearance; and I can get no
clothes for myself or my family, unless the government shall very
materially increase our salaries.
OCTOBER 21ST.--Gen. Lee telegraphed last night that our cavalry had
routed the enemy's horse on Monday, capturing some 200, etc. etc.
The Legislature passed a series of resolutions yesterday, requesting the
Secretary of War to impress free negroes for the public works; to detail
the 2d class militia (over 45); and to order into the ranks the
thousands of detailed soldiers and conscripts seen everywhere. The
report of a committee states that conscripts and soldiers pay bonuses to
contractors to have them detailed, and then they furnish negroes as
substitutes to perform the work, engaging themselves in speculation.
Also that one-third of the conscripts of one county have been detailed
to get wood for certain iron works which have a year's supply on hand!
Surely the Secretary will attend to this.
There is a row about passports. It appears that Judge Campbell and Gen.
Winder are competitors in the business. Judge C. yesterday remarked
that, at Gen. Winder's office, he understood a passport could be bought
for $100; and this was repeated by Mr. Kean, the young Chief of the
Bureau, and it somehow reached the ears of Gen. Winder. Perhaps Judge
C. reported the fact of his belief to Mr. Secretary Seddon, who had
ceased to grant any himself (to the United States), and of course was
not aware of the great number his assistant, much less Gen. W., issued;
and if so, it is probable he called Gen. W. to an account. The general,
in a rage, charged Mr. Kean with the propagation of a damaging report.
Mr. K. said he heard Mr. Chapman (a clerk) say so--and so off they
started in pursuit of Chapman, who could not be found up to 3 P.M. By
to-morrow Gen. W. may hear of Judge Campbell's remarks and agency, and a
pretty kettle of fish they will have, if Judge C.'s record be brought to
the notice of the Secretary! It is all wrong, and if the business be not
better regulated or terminated, it will terminate the government. Gen.
Lee's reputation as a great captain will be ruined, if the
blockade-runners be allowed to continue to give information to the enemy
of all his movements.
OCTOBER 22D.--Gen. Wheeler has taken 700 of the enemy's cavalry in East
Tennessee, 6 cannon, 50 wagons, commissary stores, etc. _Per contra_,
the steamer Venus, with bacon, from Nassau, got aground trying to enter
the port of Wilmington, and ship and cargo were lost. There is a rumor
that Gen. Taylor, trans-Mississippi, has captured Gen. Banks, his staff,
and sixteen regiments. This, I fear, is not well authenticated.
A poor woman yesterday applied to a merchant in Carey Street to purchase
a barrel of flour. The price he demanded was $70.
"My God!" exclaimed she, "how can I pay such prices? I have seven
children; what shall I do?"
"I don't know, madam," said he, coolly, "unless you eat your children."
Such is the power of cupidity--it transforms men into demons. And if
this spirit prevails throughout the country, a just God will bring
calamities upon the land, which will reach these cormorants, but which,
it may be feared, will involve all classes in a common ruin.
Beef, to-day, sold in market at $1.50 per pound. There is no bacon for
sale, or corn-meal. But we shall not starve, if we have faith in a
beneficent Providence. Our daughter Anne, teaching in Appomattox County,
writes that she will send us a barrel of potatoes, some persimmons, etc.
next Wednesday. And we had a good dinner to-day: a piece of fat
shoulder Capt. Warner let me have at $1 per pound--it is selling for
$2.50--and cabbage from my garden, which my neighbor's cow overlooked
when she broke through the gate last Sunday. Although we scarcely know
what we shall have to-morrow, we are merry and patriotic to-day.
Last night I went to hear Rev. Dr. Hobson, Reformed Baptist, or
Campbellite, preach. He is certainly an orator (from Kentucky) and a man
of great energy and fertility of mind. There is a revival in his
congregation too, as well as among the Methodists, but he was very
severe in his condemnation of the emotional or sensational practices of
the latter. He said, what was never before known by me, that the word
pardon is not in the New Testament, but remission was. His point against
the Methodists was their fallacy of believing that conversion was sudden
and miraculous, and accompanied by a happy feeling. Happy feeling, he
said, would naturally _follow_ a consciousness of remission of sins, but
was no evidence of conversion, for it might be produced by other things.
It was the efficacy of the Word, of the promise of God, which
obliterated the sins of all who believed, repented, and were baptized.
He had no spasmodic extravagances over his converts; but, simply taking
them by the hand, asked if they believed, repented, and would be
baptized. If the answers were in the affirmative, they resumed their
seats, and were soon after _immersed_ in a pool made for the purpose in
the church.
I pray sincerely that this general revival in the churches will soften
the hearts of the extortioners, for this class is specifically denounced
in the Scriptures. There is abundance in the land, but "man's inhumanity
to man makes countless thousands mourn." I hope the extortioners may all
go to heaven, first ceasing to be extortioners.
The Legislature has broken up the gambling establishments, for the time
being, and the furniture of their gorgeous saloons is being sold at
auction. Some idea of the number of these establishments may be formed
from an estimate (in the _Examiner_) of the cost of the entertainment
prepared for visitors being not less than $10,000 daily. Their agents
bought the best articles offered for sale in the markets, and never
hesitated to pay the most exorbitant prices. I hope now the absence of
such customers may have a good effect. But I fear the currency, so
redundant, is past remedy.
OCTOBER 23D.--Gen. Lee has retired to the south side of the Rappahannock
again, while Meade remains in the intrenchments at Centreville. Gen.
Imboden occupies Winchester.
From the West we have only newspaper reports, which may not be true.
OCTOBER 24TH.--To-day we have a cold northwest storm of wind and rain,
and we have our first fire in the parlor.
The elections in Ohio and Pennsylvania have gone for the Republican
(War) candidates. We rely on ourselves, under God, for independence. It
is said Gen. Lee learned that 15,000 Republican voters were sent from
Meade's army into Pennsylvania to vote, and hence he advanced and drove
back the Federal army. Yet he says that Meade's army is more numerous
than his. It is not known what our losses have been, but the following
dispatch from Lee gives an accurate account of the enemy's loss in
prisoners.
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"October 23d, 1863.
"GEN. S. COOPER, A. and I. General.
"Gen. Imboden, on the 18th, attacked the garrison at Charlestown,
Shenandoah Valley, captured 434 prisoners, with their arms,
transportation, and stores. To these, add prisoners already
forwarded, makes 2462.
"(Signed) R. E. LEE.
"Official: JOHN WITHERS, A. A. General."
And Capt. Warner says he is now feeding them.
Gen. Lee writes on the 19th inst., that it is doubtful whether Gen.
Meade will remain where he is, behind his fortifications along Bull Run,
or make another movement on Richmond. A few days will decide this
matter. He says Meade has superior numbers. If he remains, Gen. Lee will
advance again, provided he can get quartermaster supplies for his army.
But at present, thousands of his men are barefooted, without overcoats,
blankets, etc. He says it was the sublimest spectacle of the war to see
men in such condition move forward with such cheerfulness and alacrity,
in the recent pursuit of the enemy. He deprecates sending any of his
regiments to West Virginia and East Tennessee, and thinks Gen. Sam Jones
has not evinced sufficient energy and judgment in that quarter. He says
it would be better to send reinforcements to Chattanooga, where it is
practicable to conduct a winter campaign. He could drive the enemy from
the Peninsula, Gloucester Point, Williamsburg, and Yorktown, but to keep
them away Lee would have to station an army there. If North Carolina be
menaced, he advises that the troops at Richmond and Petersburg be sent
thither, and he will replace them with troops from his army. He thinks
it the best policy not to disperse troops in Virginia.
From this letter it is easy to perceive that the Secretary of War, in
the absence of the President, has been making suggestions to Gen. Lee,
none of which does he deem it good policy to adopt, the Secretary not
being versed in military matters.
A private note from Gen. Lee, dated the 13th inst., which I saw to-day,
informs the Secretary of War that much of the benefits he anticipated
from his movement, then in progress, must be lost, from the fact that
the enemy had been informed of his purposes. This it was the duty of the
government to prevent, but Mr. Seddon, like his predecessors, cannot be
convinced that the rogues and cut-throats employed by Gen. Winder as
detectives, have it in their power to inflict injury on the cause and
the country. The cleaning of the Augean stables here is the work which
should engage the attention of the Secretary of War, rather than
directing the movements of armies in the field, of which matter he knows
nothing whatever.
The Secretary of War wrote a long and rather rebuking letter to-day to
Mr. Sheffey, chairman of the Committee on Confederate Relations, of the
General Assembly, who communicated a report and resolutions of the House
of Delegates, in relation to details of conscripts, and the employment
in civil offices of robust young men capable of military service, and
urging the department to appoint men over forty-five years of age to
perform such services, and to impress free negroes to do the labor that
soldiers are detailed for. The Secretary thinks the Confederate
Government knows its duties, and ought not to be meddled with by State
Governments. It touched Mr. Seddon nearly.
By the last Northern papers I see President Lincoln has issued a
proclamation calling for 300,000 more volunteers, and if they "do not
come when he calls for them," that number will be _drafted_ in January.
This is very significant; either the draft has already failed, or else
about a million of men per annum are concerned in the work of
suppressing this "rebellion." We find, just at the time fixed for the
subjugation of the South, Rosecrans is defeated, and Meade is driven
back upon Washington!
OCTOBER 25TH.--We have nothing new this morning; but letters to the
department from North and South Carolina indicate that while the troops
in Virginia are almost perishing for food, the farmers are anxious to
deliver the tithes, but the quartermaster and commissary agents are
negligent or designedly remiss in their duty. The consequence will be
the loss of the greater portion of these supplies, and the enhancement
of the price of the remainder in the hands of the monopolists and
speculators.
The _Southern_ Express Co. has monopolized the railroads, delivering
cotton for speculators, who send it to the United States, while the
Confederate States cannot place enough money in Europe to pay for the
supplies needed for the army.
OCTOBER 26TH.--No news from our armies. The President was in Mobile two
days ago.
Gen. Rosecrans has been removed from his command, and Grant put in his
place. Meade, it is said in Northern papers, will also be decapitated,
for letting Lee get back without loss. Also Dalgren, at Charleston, has
been relieved. And yet the Northern papers announce that Richmond will
soon and suddenly be taken, and an unexpected joy be spread throughout
the North, and a corresponding despondency throughout the South.
The weather is cloudy and cold. The papers announce that all clerks
appointed since October 11th, 1862, by order of the Secretary of War,
are liable to conscription. This cannot be true; for I know a Secretary
who has just appointed two of his cousins to the best clerkships in the
department--both of conscript age. But Secretaries know how to evade the
law, and "whip the devil round the stump."
How long will it be after peace before the sectional hatred intensified
by this war can abate? A lady near by, the other night, while surveying
her dilapidated shoes, and the tattered sleeping-gowns of her children,
burst forth as follows: "I pray that I may live to see the United States
involved in a war with some foreign power, which will make refugees of
her people, and lay her cities in ashes! I want the people ruined who
would ruin the South. It will be a just retribution!"
OCTOBER 27TH.--Nothing from the North or West to-day. But Beauregard
telegraphs that the enemy's batteries and monitors opened this morning
heavily on his forts and batteries, but, as yet, there were no
casualties.
The Commissary-General to-day, in a communication to the department,
relating to the necessity of impressment to subsist our armies, says
"the armies in Virginia muster 150,000 men." If this be so, then let
Meade come! It may be possible that instead of exaggerating, a policy
may have been adopted calculated to conceal the actual strength of
armies.
Nevertheless, it is understood that one of the cabinet is offering his
estates, lands, and negroes for sale. Will he convert the money into
European funds? If so, he should not let it be known, else it will
engender the terrible idea that our affairs are in a desperate
condition. The operations of the next thirty days may be decisive of our
fate. Hundreds of thousands of Southern men have yet to die before
subjugation can be effected; and quite that number of invaders must fall
to accomplish it!
OCTOBER 28TH.--No news from the army. We have some 13,000 prisoners
here, hungry; for there is not sufficient meat for them.
Mr. Memminger, Secretary of the Treasury, is said to be transporting his
private fortune (very large) to Europe.
OCTOBER 29TH.--Gen. Lee writes (a few days since), from Brandy Station,
that Meade seems determined to advance again; that troops are going up
the Potomac to Washington, and that volunteers from New York have been
ordered thither. He asks the Secretary to ascertain if there be really
any Federal force in the York River; for if the report be correct of
hostile troops being there, it may be the enemy's intention to make
another raid on the railroad. The general says we have troops enough in
Southwestern Virginia; but they are not skillfully commanded.
After all, I fear we shall not get the iron from the Aquia Creek
Railroad. In the summer the government was too slow, and now it is
probably too slow again, as the enemy are said to be landing there. It
might have been removed long ago, if we had had a faster Secretary.
Major S. Hart, San Antonio, Texas, writes that the 10,000 (the number
altered again) superior rifles captured by the French off the Rio
Grande last summer, were about to fall into the hands of United States
cruisers; and he has sent for them, hoping the French will turn them
over to us.
Gen. Winder writes the Secretary that the Commissary-General will let
him have no meat for the 13,000 prisoners; and he will not be answerable
for their safe keeping without it. The Quartermaster-General writes that
the duty of providing for them is in dispute between the two bureaus,
and he wants the Secretary to decide between them. If the Secretary
should be very _slow_, the prisoners will suffer.
Yesterday a set (six) of cups and saucers, white, and not china, sold at
auction for $50.
Mr. Henry, Senator from Tennessee, writes the Secretary that if Ewell
were sent into East Tennessee with a corps, and Gen. Johnston were to
penetrate into Middle Tennessee, forming a junction north of
Chattanooga, it would end the war in three months.
OCTOBER 30TH.--We have nothing new to-day, except the continued
bombardment of Charleston. That city has been besieged over one hundred
days.
OCTOBER 31ST.--Letters came to-day from the President (or rather
_copies_ in his own handwriting), relieving Lieut.-Gen. Hardee, in
Mississippi, and assigning him to a command under Gen. Bragg. He also
writes a friendly letter (from Meridian, Miss.) to Gen. Bragg, informing
him that Gen. Hardee had been ordered to report to him without delay,
and that two brigades might go with him, if needed. This indicates that
the President means to sustain Bragg, notwithstanding the clamor against
him; and that Bragg must have an immense army. Lieut.-Gen. Polk (whom
the President will always sustain) is assigned to the Mississippi
Department.
The latest accounts from Chattanooga show that the enemy are stirring a
little, and trying to flank Bragg's left wing.
The bombardment at Charleston is still without decisive result.
CHAPTER XXXII.
Letters from various sections.--The President and Gen. Bragg.--State of
the markets.--Causes of the President's tour.--Gen. Duff Green--
Return of the President.--Loss of Hoke's and Haye's brigades.--Letter
from Gen. Howell Cobb.--Dispatch from Gen. Lee.--State of the
markets.--Letter from A. Moseley.--Mrs. Todd in Richmond.--
Vice-President Stephens on furloughs.--About Gen. Bragg and the
battle of Lookout Mountain.
NOVEMBER 1ST.--No news from any of the armies this morning. But Gen.
Whiting writes that he is deficient in ordnance to protect our steamers
and to defend the port. If Wilmington should fall by the neglect of the
government, it will be another stunning blow.
However, our armies are augmenting, from conscription, and if we had
honest officers to conduct this important business, some four or five
hundred thousand men could be kept in the field, and subjugation would
be an impossibility. But exemptions and details afford a tempting
opportunity to make money, as substitutes are selling for $6000 each;
and the rage for speculation is universal.
The President is looked for to-morrow, and it is to be hoped that he has
learned something of importance during his tour. He will at once set
about his message, which will no doubt be an interesting one this year.
How we sigh for peace, on this beautiful Sabbath day! But the suffering
we have endured for nearly three years is no more than was experienced
by our forefathers of the Revolution. We must bear it to the end, for it
is the price of liberty. Yet we sigh for peace--God knows I do--while at
the same time we will endure the ordeal for years to come, rather than
succumb to the rule of an oppressor. We must be free, be the cost what
it may. Oh, if the spirit of fanaticism had been kept down by the good
sense of the people of the United States, the Union would have been
preserved, and we should have taken the highest position among the
great powers of the earth. It is too late now. Neither government may,
for a long series of years, aspire to lead the civilized nations of the
earth. Ambition, hatred, caprice and folly have combined to snap the
silken cord, and break the golden bowl. These are the consequences of a
persistency in sectional strife and domination, foreseen and foretold by
me in the "_Southern Monitor_," published in Philadelphia; no one
regarded the warning. Now hundreds of thousands are weeping in sackcloth
and ashes over the untimely end of hundreds of thousands slain in
battle! And thousands yet must fall, before the strife be ended.
NOVEMBER 2D.--A refugee from Portsmouth reports the arrival of 6000
Federal troops at Newport News, and that Richmond is to be menaced
again.
Brig.-Gen. H. W. Allen, Alexandria, La., reports 8000 deserters and
skulking conscripts in that vicinity, and a bad state of things
generally.
Gen. Lee has written three letters to the department, dated 30th and
31st October. 1st, complaining of the tardiness of the Bureau of
Examination, and the want of efficient officers; 2d, complaining of the
furloughs given Georgia officers as members of the legislature, causing
a brigade to be commanded by a lieutenant-colonel, etc.; 3d, relating to
an order from the Secretary to respite certain deserters, condemned to
execution. He says executions are necessary to keep the army together,
but he _feels_ the painfulness of the sad necessity.
Mr. H. D. Whitcomb, Superintendent Central Railroad, applied for and
obtained passports for his mother and sister to return to the United
States. He is a Northern man.
Brig.-Gen. S. A. Meredith (United States) writes from Fortress Monroe,
proposing that prisoners west of the Mississippi be exchanged at
Galveston. Mr. Ould, our agent of exchange, indorses on it that there is
no necessity for immediate action, for the United States are not
exchanging any prisoners at all at this time.
Mr. Memminger writes for troops to be sent to Ashville, West North
Carolina, which is menaced by the traitors, tories, and Federals. His
family is there, having fled from South Carolina. Hon. Jas. Farron also
writes that a bad state of things exists in that section, and
communication is kept open with the enemy in East Tennessee.
From St. Helena Parish, Ark., we have letters stating that all restraint
is thrown off, and everybody almost is trading with the enemy. Some 1500
bales of cotton per week is taken to the Yankees from that region. They
say most of the parties have permits from the government or from
commanding generals to trade with the enemy.
Gen. Whiting writes that his men are suffering for shoes, and as 15,000
pairs are in that town, asks if he shall not impress them. The Secretary
is reluctant to do this, and asks the Quartermaster-General what he
shall do. The Quartermaster-General advises that the shoes be bought at
a fair price, and paid for in cotton. He says blankets may be had in the
same way.
NOVEMBER 3D.--Gen. Lee writes that he will endeavor to protect the
workmen while removing the iron at Aquia Creek, but he fears the work
has been too long delayed. The government has been too slow.
Gen. Sam Jones writes from Abingdon that his cavalry was at Jonesborough
on the 30th ult., although the enemy's raiding parties were on this
side. He says if he had a little more infantry, he could soon clear East
Tennessee of the foe; and asks that an order from Gen. Cooper (A. and I.
G.), calling for two of his best regiments of cavalry, be revoked.
In Gen. Lee's recent campaign beyond the Rappahannock, our losses in
killed, wounded, and missing amounted to 1740; the enemy's losses must
have been three times that number.
The President made a speech in Charleston on the 1st instant. We have
copies from him to-day of his correspondence with Gen. Bragg since he
left Chickamauga field. Gen. B. says he will immediately call for
Hardee's brigades, promised him, and without delay commence operations
on the enemy's left (it is too wet on the right), and drive Burnside out
of East Tennessee. But he complains of Gen. Buckner, who assumes to have
an independent command in East Tennessee and West Virginia. The
President replies that neither Bragg nor Buckner has jurisdiction over
Gen. Jones in West Virginia, but that he gets his orders from Richmond.
He does not promise to remove Buckner, whom he deems only _impatient_,
but says he must be subject to Bragg's orders, etc.
Gen. Bragg has applied for Gen. Forrest (who went some time since to
Mobile and tendered his resignation, in a pet with Gen. Bragg) to
command a cavalry force in North Mississippi and West Tennessee. In
short, the President is resolved to sustain Gen. Bragg at the head of
the army in Tennessee in spite of the tremendous prejudice against him
in and out of the army. And unless Gen. Bragg does something more for
the cause before Congress meets a month hence, we shall have more clamor
against the government than ever. But he has quashed the charges (of
Bragg) against Gen. Polk, and assigned him, without an investigation, to
an important command.
NOVEMBER 4TH.--Mr. M------, Major Ruffin's commissary agent, denies
selling _government_ beef to the butchers; of course it was his own. But
he has been ordered not to sell any more, while buying for the
government.
Mr. Rouss, of Winchester, merchant, has succeeded in getting some brown
cotton from the manufacturer, in Georgia, at cost, which he sells for
cost and carriage to refugees. My wife got 20 yards to-day for $20. It
is brown seven-eighth cotton, and brings in other stores $3 per yard.
This is a saving of $40. And I bought 24 pounds of bacon of Capt.
Warner, Commissary, at $1 per pound. The retail price is $2.50--and this
is a saving of $36. Without such "short cuts" as these, occasionally, it
would be impossible to maintain my family on the salaries my son Custis
and myself get from the government, $3000.
How often have I and thousands in our youth expressed the wish to have
lived during the first Revolution, or rather to have partaken of the
excitements of war! Such is the romance or "enchantment" which "distance
lends" "to the view." Now we see and feel the horrors of war, and we are
unanimous in the wish, if we survive to behold again the balmy sunshine
of peace, that neither we nor our posterity may ever more be spectators
of or participants in another war. And yet we know not how soon we might
plunge into it, if an adequate necessity should arise. Henceforth, in
all probability, we shall be a military people. But I shall seek the
peaceful haunts of quiet seclusion, for which I sigh with great
earnestness. O for a garden, a vine and fig-tree, and my library!
Among the strange events of this war, not the least is the position on
slavery (approving it) maintained by the Bishop of Vermont.
NOVEMBER 5TH.--The President has not yet returned, but was inspecting
the defenses of Charleston. The Legislature has adjourned without fixing
a maximum of prices. _Every night troops from Lee's army are passing
through the city._ Probably they have been ordered to Bragg.
Yesterday flour sold at auction at $100 per barrel; to-day it sells for
$120! There are 40,000 bushels of sweet potatoes, taken by the
government as tithes, rotting at the depots between Richmond and
Wilmington. If the government would wake up, and have them brought
hither and sold, the people would be relieved, and flour and meal would
decline in price. But a lethargy has seized upon the government, and no
one may foretell the consequences of official supineness.
The enemy at Chattanooga have got an advantageous position on Bragg's
left, and there is much apprehension that our army will lose the ground
gained by the late victory.
The Commissary-General (Northrop) has sent in his estimate for the
ensuing year, $210,000,000, of which $50,000,000 is for sugar,
exclusively for the hospitals. It no longer forms part of the rations.
He estimates for 400,000 men, and takes no account of the tithes, or tax
in kind, nor is it apparent that he estimates for the army beyond the
Mississippi.
A communication was received to-day from Gen. Meredith, the Federal
Commissioner of Exchange, inclosing a letter from Gov. Todd and Gen.
Mason, as well as copies of letters from some of Morgan's officers,
stating that the heads of Morgan and his men are not shaved, and that
they are well fed and comfortable.
NOVEMBER 6TH.--The President was to have returned to-day, but did not.
Various conjectures are made as to the object of his month's tour of
speech-making. Some deem the cause very desperate, others that the
President's condition is desperate. If the first, they say his purpose
was to reanimate the people by his presence, and to cultivate a renewal
of lost friendships, and hence he lingered longest at Charleston, in
social intercourse with Gens. Beauregard and Wise, who had become
estranged. The latter is the oldest brigadier-general in the service,
and still they have failed to promote him. The President's power is felt
in the army, and his patronage being almost unlimited, it was natural,
they say, that he should be received with cheers. From a lieutenant up
to a general, all are dependent on his favor for promotion. At all
events, his austerity and inflexibility have been relaxed, and he has
made popular speeches wherever he has gone. I hope good fruits will
ensue. But he returns to find the people here almost in a state of
starvation in the midst of plenty, brought on by the knavery or
incompetency of government agents.
What is remarkable is the estimate of $50,000,000 by the
Commissary-General for the purchase of sugar, exclusively for the sick
and wounded in hospitals, the soldiers in the field being refused any
more. One-fourth of the whole estimates ($210,000,000) for sugar, and
not an ounce to go to the army! And this, too, when it is understood
nearly all the sugar in the Confederacy has been impressed by his agents
at from 50 cts. to $1 per pound. It is worth $2.50 now, and it is
apprehended that a large proportion of the _fifty millions_ asked for
will go into the pockets of commissaries. No account whatever is taken
of the _tithe_ in the Commissary-General's estimates.
Flour sold at $125 per barrel to-day. There must be an explosion of some
sort soon. Certainly Confederate notes have fallen very low indeed.
Another solution of the President's tour, by the uncharitable or
suspicious, is a preparatory or a preliminary move to assuming all power
in his own hands. They say the people are reduced by distress to such an
extremity that, if he will only order rations to be served them, they
will not quarrel with him if he assumes dictatorial powers. Legislation
has failed to furnish remedies for the evils afflicting the community;
and, really, if the evils themselves were not imputed to the government,
and the President were ambitious--and is he not?--he might now, perhaps,
play a successful Cromwellian rôle. But can he control the State
governments? The government of _this_ State seems like potter's clay in
his hands, the Legislature being as subservient as the Congresses have
hitherto been. It is observed--independence _first_--then let Cromwells
or Washingtons come.
My wife, to-day, presented me with an excellent under-shirt, made of one
of her dilapidated petticoats. A new shirt would cost $30. Common brown
cotton (and in a cotton country!) sells for $3 per yard. I saw common
cotton shirts sell at auction to-day for $40 per pair. Beef is $1.50
per pound, and pork $2. But these prices are paid in Confederate
Treasury notes, and they mark the rapid depreciation of paper money.
The enemy, however, in spreading over the Southern territory, are not
completing the work of subjugation. It would require a million of
bayonets to keep this people in subjection, and the indications are that
the United States will have difficulty in keeping their great armies up.
It is a question of endurance.
NOVEMBER 7TH.--No news from any quarter, except the continued
bombardment of the debris of Fort Sumter, and the killing and wounding
of some 10 or 12 men there--but that is not news.
There is a pause,--a sort of holding of the breath of the people, as if
some event of note was expected. The prices of food and fuel are far
above the purses of all except speculators, and an explosion must happen
soon, of some sort. People will not perish for food in the midst of
plenty.
The press, a portion rather, praises the President for his carefulness
in making a tour of the armies and ports south of us; but as he retained
Gen. Bragg in command, how soon the tune would change if Bragg should
meet with disaster!
Night before last some of the prisoners on Belle Isle (we have some
13,000 altogether in and near the city) were overheard by the guard to
say they must escape immediately, or else it would be too late, as
cannon were to be planted around them. Our authorities took the alarm,
and increasing the guard, did plant cannon so as to rake them in every
direction in the event of their breaking out of their prison bounds. It
is suspected that this was a preconcerted affair, as a full division of
the enemy has been sent to Newport News, probably to co-operate with the
prisoners. Any attempt now must fail, unless, indeed, there should be a
large number of Union sympathizers in the city to assist them.
Several weeks ago it was predicted in the Northern papers that Richmond
would be taken in some mysterious manner, and that there was a plan for
the prisoners of war to seize it by a _coup de main_, may be probable.
But the scheme was impracticable. What may be the condition of the city,
and the action of the people a few weeks hence, if relief be not
afforded by the government, I am afraid to conjecture. The croakers say
five millions of "greenbacks," and cargoes of provisions, might be more
effectual in expelling the Confederate Government and restoring that of
the United States than all of Meade's army. And this, too, they allege,
when there is abundance in the country. Many seem to place no value on
the only money we have in circulation. The grasping farmers refuse to
get out their grain, saying they have as much Confederate money as they
want, and the government seems determined to permit the perishable
tithes to perish rather than allow the famishing people to consume them.
Surely, say the croakers, such a policy cannot achieve independence. No,
it must be speedily changed, or else worse calamities await us than any
we have experienced.
Old Gen. Duff Green, after making many fortunes and losing them, it
seems, is to die poor at last, and he is now nearly eighty years old.
Last year he made a large contract to furnish the government with iron,
his works being in Tennessee, whence he has been driven by the enemy.
And now he says the depreciation of the money will make the cost of
producing the iron twice as much as he will get for it. And worse, he
has bought a large lot of sugar which would have realized a large
profit, but the commissary agent has impressed it, and will not pay him
cost for it. All he can do is to get a small portion of it back for the
consumption of his employees, provided he returns to Tennessee and
fulfills his iron contract.
NOVEMBER 8TH.--At this late day the Secretary of War is informed by Col.
Gorgas that, in consequence of the enemy's possessing the coal mines in
Tennessee, he shall not be able to supply orders for heavy shot, etc.,
for the defense of Charleston harbor, if the fleet of monitors were to
pass the forts. Why, this has been daily looked for any time during the
last three months! And information from the Western army indicates that
only about one shell in twenty, furnished by Col. Gorgas, will explode.
This reminds me of the doubts expressed by Gen. Cobb of the fitness of
Col. G. for his position.
This is a bleak November day, after some days of pleasant autumnal
sunshine. I still gather a few tomatoes from the little garden; a bushel
of green ones on the vines will never mature. The young turnips look
well, and I hope there may be abundance of salad in the spring.
Yesterday two tons of Northern anthracite coal in this city sold for
$500 per ton, to a church! We hope for relief when Congress meets, a
month hence; but what can Congress do? The money is hopelessly
depreciated. Even victories and peace could not restore it to par.
NOVEMBER 9TH.--The President returned Saturday evening, looking pretty
well. Yesterday, Sunday, he was under the necessity of reading a
dispatch from Gen. Lee, _announcing the surprise and capture of two
brigades on the Rappahannock_!
This is a dark and gloomy day, spitting snow; while not a few are
despondent from the recent disasters to our arms. It is supposed that we
lost 3000 or 4000 men on Saturday. A day or two before, Gen. Echols had
his brigade cut up at Lewisburg! _Per contra_, Brig.-Gen. W. E. Jones
captured, on Saturday, at Rogerville, 850 prisoners, 4 pieces of
artillery, 2 stands of colors, 60 wagons, and 1000 animals. Our loss, 2
killed and 8 wounded. So reads a dispatch from "R. Ransom, Major-Gen."
There is some excitement in the city now, perhaps more than at any
former period. The disaster to the "Old Guard" has put in the mouths of
the croakers the famous words of Napoleon at Waterloo: "_Sauve qui
peut._" We have out our last reserves, and the enemy still advances.
They are advancing on North Carolina, and there was some danger of the
President being intercepted at Weldon. Thousands believe that Gen. Bragg
is about to retire from before Grant's army at Chattanooga. And to-day
bread is selling at 50 cents per loaf--small loaf!
And now the Assistant Secretary of War, Judge Campbell, is "allowing"
men to pass to Maryland, through our lines. First, is a Rev. Mr. A. S.
Sloat, a chaplain in the army. He was degraded for some offense by his
own church, and his wife and children having preceded him (all being
Northern born), as stated in his letter on file, he is allowed a
passport to follow them. Recommended by Mr. S. R. Tucker. Second, Mr.
J. L. White and Mr. Forrester are "allowed" passports to go to Maryland
for ordnance stores. Recommended by Col. Gorgas. Third and lastly, "Tom
Wash. Smith" is "allowed," by the Assistant Secretary, to take fifteen
boxes of tobacco to Maryland, and promises to bring back "medical
stores." Recommended by B. G. Williams, one of Gen. Winder's detectives,
and by Capt. Winder, one of the general's sons. They bring in stores,
when they return, in saddle-bags, while whole cargoes are landed at
Wilmington!
NOVEMBER 10TH.--It is supposed our loss in the surprise on Saturday did
not exceed 1500, killed, wounded, and taken. It is thought that a battle
will occur immediately, if it be not already in progress.
There is no news of moment from any quarter, except the loss of our
steamer Cornubia, taken by the blockaders at Wilmington. She was laden
with government stores. For months nearly all ships with arms or
ammunition have been taken, while those having _merchandise on board get
in safely_. _These bribe their way through!_
Col. Gorgas gave notice to-day that our supply of saltpeter will be
exhausted in January, unless we can import a large quantity.
Another blue day!
NOVEMBER 11TH.--No news. I saw, to-day, Gen. Lee's letter of the 7th
instant, simply announcing the capture of Hoke's and Haye's brigades.
They were on the north side of the river, guarding the _pont de tete_.
There is no excuse, no palliation. He said it was likely Meade's entire
army would cross. This had been sent by the Secretary to the President,
who indorsed upon it as follows: "If it be possible to reinforce, it
should be done promptly. Can any militia or local defense men be made
available?--J. D."
Gen. Whiting writes that he has refused to permit Mr. Crenshaw's
correspondence with Collie & Co. to pass uninspected, from a knowledge
of the nature of previous correspondence seen by him.
The Northern papers state that Mr. Seward has authorized them to publish
the fact that the French Government has seized the Confederate rams
building in the ports of France.
I have written Custis Lee, the President's aid, that but one alternative
now remains: for the President, or some _one_ else, to assume all power,
temporarily, and crush the speculators. This I think is the only chance
of independence. I may be mistaken--but we shall see.
Capt. Warner, who feeds the 13,000 prisoners here, when he has the means
of doing so, says Col. Northrop, the Commissary, does not respond to his
requisitions for meat. He fears the prisoners will take or destroy the
city, and talks of sending his family out of it.
I condemned the reign of martial law in this city, in 1862, as it was
not then necessary, and because its execution was intrusted to improper
and obnoxious men. But now I am inclined to think it necessary not only
here, but everywhere in the Confederacy. Many farmers refuse to get out
their grain, or to sell their meat, because they say they have enough
Confederate money! money for the redemption of which their last negro
and last acre are responsible. So, if they be permitted to maintain this
position, neither the army nor the non-producing class of the population
can be subsisted; and, of course, all classes must be involved in a
common ruin. A Dictator might prevent the people from destroying
themselves, and it seems that nothing short of extreme measures can
prevent it. But, again, suppose the Federal Government were to propose a
sweeping amnesty, and exemption from confiscation to all who should
subscribe to a reconstruction of the Union--and this, too, at a time of
suffering and despondency--and so large a body were to embrace the terms
as to render a prolongation of the war impracticable? What would the
money the farmers now possess be worth? And what would become of the
slaves, especially in Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri?
NOVEMBER 12TH.--No accounts of any fighting, but plenty of battles
looked for.
A. A. Little writes to the Secretary of War from Fredericksburg, that
the attempt to remove the iron from the Aquia Railroad by the government
having failed, now is the time for private enterprise to effect it. If
the Secretary "will say the word," it can be done. He says the iron is
worth "millions, its weight in gold!" Will Mr. Seddon let it be saved?
Yes, indeed.
Mr. Heyliger, agent at Nassau, writes on the 3d instant (just a week
ago), that he is shipping bacon by every steamer (three or four per
week), leather, percussion caps, and a large amount of quartermaster's
stores. But the supply of lead and saltpeter is exhausted, and he hopes
the agents in Europe will soon send more. About one in every four
steamers is captured by the enemy. We can afford that.
The President sent over to-day, for the perusal of the Secretary of War,
a long letter from Gen. Howell Cobb, dated at Atlanta, on the 7th
instant. He had just returned from a visit to Bragg's army, and reports
that there is a better feeling among the officers for Gen. Bragg, who
is regaining their confidence. However, he says it is to be wished that
more cordiality subsisted between Generals Bragg and ------, his ---- in
command. He thinks Generals B------ and C------ might be relieved
without detriment to the service, if they cannot be reconciled to Bragg.
He hints at some important movement, and suggests co-operation from
Virginia by a demonstration in East Tennessee.
It is generally believed that France has followed the example of
England, by seizing our rams. Thus the whole world seems combined
against us. And Mr. Seward has made a speech, breathing fire and
destruction unless we submit to Lincoln as our President. He says he was
fairly elected President for four years of the whole United States, and
there can be no peace until he is President of all the States, to which
he is justly entitled. A war for the President!
NOVEMBER 13TH.--No news of battles yet. But we have a rumor of the
burning of the fine government steamer R. E. Lee, chased by the
blockaders. That makes two this week.
Gen. Lee dispatched the President, yesterday, as follows:
"Orange C. H., Nov. 12th.--For the last five days we have only received
three pounds of corn per horse, from Richmond, per day. We depend on
Richmond for corn. At this rate, the horses will die, and cannot do hard
work. The enemy is very active, and we must be prepared for hard work
any day.--R. E. LEE."
On the back of which the President indorsed: "Have the forage sent up in
preference to anything else. The necessity is so absolute as to call for
every possible exertion.--JEFFERSON DAVIS."
Perhaps this may rouse the department. Horses starving in the midst of
corn-fields ready for gathering! Alas, what mismanagement!
I cut the following from the _Dispatch_:
"FLOUR.--We heard yesterday of sales of flour at $110 per barrel. We do
not, however, give this as the standard price; for, if the article was
in market, we believe that even a higher figure would be reached. A few
days since a load of flour was sent to an auction-house on Cary Street
to be sold at auction. The proprietors of the house very properly
declined to receive it, refusing to dispose of breadstuffs under the
hammer, where men of money, and destitute of souls, would have an
opportunity of buying it up and withdrawing it from market.
"CORN-MEAL.--This article is bringing from $18 to $20 per bushel, and
scarce at that.
"COUNTRY PRODUCE AND VEGETABLES.--We give the following as the wholesale
rates: Bacon, hoground, $2.75 to $3; lard, $2.25 to $2.30; butter, $3.75
to $4; eggs, $2 to $2.25; Irish potatoes, $7.50 to $8; sweet potatoes,
$10.50 to $12; tallow candles, $4 per pound; salt, 45 cents per pound.
"GROCERIES.--Coffee--wholesale, $9 per pound, retail, $10; sugar, $2.85
to $3.25; sorghum molasses, wholesale, $10, and $14 to $15 at retail;
rice, 30 to 35 cents.
"LIQUORS.--Whisky, $55 to $70 per gallon, according to quality, apple
brandy, $50; high proof rum, $50; French brandy, $80 to $100.
"In the city markets fresh meats are worth $1.25 to $1.50 for beef and
mutton, and $2 for pork; chickens, $6 to $8 per pair; ducks, $7 to $8
per pair; butter, $4.50 to $5 per pound; sweet potatoes, $2.50 per half
peck; Irish potatoes, $2 per half peck.
"LEATHER.--Sole leather, $6.50 to $7.50 per pound; upper leather, $7.50
to $8; harness leather, $5.50 to $6; hides are quoted at $2.50 to $2.75
for dry, and $1.50 for salted green; tanners' oil, $4 to $5 per gallon.
"TOBACCO.--Common article, not sound, $1 to $1.25; medium, pounds, dark,
$1.30 to $2; good medium bright, $2 to $2.75; fine bright, $2 to $4;
sweet 5's and 10's scarce and in demand, with an advance."
My friend Capt. Jackson Warner sent me, to-day, two bushels of meal at
government price, $5 per bushel. The price in market is $20. Also nine
pounds of good beef, and a shank--for which he charged nothing, it being
part of a present to him from a butcher.
NOVEMBER 14TH.--Some skirmishing between Chattanooga and Knoxville. From
prisoners we learn that the enemy at both those places are on half
rations, and that Grant intends to attack Bragg soon at Lookout
Mountain. Either Grant or Bragg must retire, as the present relative
positions cannot long be held.
Mr. A. Moseley, formerly editor of the _Whig_, writes, in response to a
letter from the Secretary of War, that he deems our affairs in a rather
critical condition. He is perfectly willing to resume his labor, but can
see no good to be effected by him. He thinks, however, that the best
solution for the financial question would be to cancel the indebtedness
of the government to all except foreigners, and call it ($800,000,000) a
contribution to the wars--and the sacrifices would be pretty equally
distributed. He suggests the formation of an army, quietly, this winter,
to invade Pennsylvania next spring, leaving Lee still with his army on
this side of the Potomac. Nevertheless, he advises that no time should
be lost in securing foreign aid, while we are still able to offer some
equivalents, and before the enemy gets us more in his power. Rather
submit to terms with France and England, or with either, than submission
to the United States. Such are the opinions of a sagacious and
experienced editor.
Another letter from Brig.-Gen. Meredith, Fortress Monroe, was received
to-day, with a report of an agent on the condition of the prisoners at
Fort Delaware. By this report it appears our men get meat three times a
day--coffee, tea, molasses, chicken soup, fried mush, etc. But it is not
stated _how much_ they get. The agent says they confess themselves
satisfied. Clothing, it would appear, is also issued them, and they have
comfortable sleeping beds, etc. He says several of our surgeons propose
taking the oath of allegiance, first resigning, provided they are
permitted to visit their families. Gen. M. asks for a similar report of
the rations, etc. served the Federal prisoners here, with an avowed
purpose of retaliation, provided the accounts of their condition be
true. I know not what response will be made; but our surgeon-general
recommends an inspection and report. They are getting sweet potatoes
now, and, generally they get bread and beef daily, when our
Commissary-General Northrop has them. But sometimes they have little or
no meat for a day or so at a time--and occasionally they have bread only
once a day. It is difficult to feed them, and I hope they will be
exchanged soon. But Northrop says our own soldiers must soon learn to do
without meat; and but few of us have little prospect of getting enough
to eat this winter. My family had a fine dinner to-day--the only one for
months. As for clothes, we are as shabby as Italian lazzaronis--with no
prospect whatever of replenished wardrobe, unless some European power
will come and take us, as the French have done Mexico.
NOVEMBER 15TH.--After a fine rain all night, it cleared away
beautifully this morning, cool, but not unseasonable. There is no news
of importance. The Governor of Georgia recommends, in his message, that
the Legislature instruct their representatives in Congress to vote for a
repeal of the law allowing substitutes, and also to put the enrolling
officers in the ranks, leaving the States to send conscripts to the
army. The Georgia Legislature have passed a resolution, unanimously,
asking the Secretary of War to revoke the appointments of all impressing
agents in that State, and appoint none but civilians and citizens. I
hope the Secretary will act upon this hint. But will he?
The papers contain the following:
"_Arrived in Richmond._--Mrs. Todd, of Kentucky, the mother of Mrs.
Lincoln, arrived in this city on the steamer Schultz, Thursday night,
having come to City Point on a flag of truce boat. She goes South to
visit her daughter, Mrs. Helm, widow of Surgeon-General Helm, who fell
at Chickamauga. Mrs. Todd is about to take up her residence in the
South, all her daughters being here, except the wife of Lincoln, who is
in Washington, and Mrs. Kellogg, who is at present in Paris."
"TO THE POOR.--C. Baumhard, 259 Main Street, between Seventh and Eighth,
has received a large quantity of freshly-ground corn-meal, which he will
sell to poor families at the following rates: one bushel, $16; half
bushel, $8; one peck, $4; half peck, $2."
NOVEMBER 16TH.--Governor Brown, Georgia, writes the Secretary that he is
opposed to impressments, and that the government should pay the market
price--whatever that is. And the Rhett politicians of South Carolina are
opposed to raising funds to pay with, by taxing land and negroes. So
indicates the _Mercury_.
We have news to-day of the crossing of the Rapidan River by Meade's
army. A battle, immediately, seems inevitable.
NOVEMBER 17TH.--A cold, dark day. No news. It was a mistake about the
enemy crossing the Rapidan--only one brigade (cavalry) came over, and it
was beaten back without delay.
Vice-President Stephens writes a long letter to the Secretary, opposing
the routine policy of furloughs, and extension of furloughs; suggesting
that in each district some one should have authority to grant them. He
says many thousands have died by being hastened back to the army
uncured of their wounds, etc.--preferring death to being advertised as
deserters.
Captain Warner sent me a bag of sweet potatoes to-day, received from
North Carolina. We had an excellent dinner.
NOVEMBER 18TH.--We have no news whatever, except some damage reported at
Charleston, done to two monitors yesterday. The bombardment has assumed
no new phase.
A letter from Gen. J. E. Johnston, Meridian, Miss., indicates that the
Secretary has been writing him and saying that he was responsible for
the outrages of the impressing agents in his department. Gen. J.
disclaims the responsibility, inasmuch as the agents referred to act
under orders from the Commissary-General or Secretary of War.
NOVEMBER 19TH.--Miss Harriet H. Fort, of Baltimore, has arrived via
Accomac and Northampton Counties, with a complete drawing of all the
defenses of Baltimore.
The Medical Purveyor's Guards have petitioned the Secretary for higher
pay. They get now $1500 per annum, and say the city watchmen get $2300.
Gens. Banks and Taylor in the West are corresponding and wrangling about
the exchange of prisoners--and the cartel is to be abrogated, probably.
The Governor of Mississippi (Clark) telegraphs the President that the
Legislature (in session) is indignant at the military authorities for
impressing slaves. The President telegraphs back that the order was to
prevent them falling into the lines of the enemy, and none others were
to be disturbed.
NOVEMBER 20TH.--We have reports of some successes to-day. Gen. Hampton,
it appears, surprised and captured several companies of the enemy's
cavalry, a day or two since, near Culpepper Court House. And Gen.
Wheeler has captured several hundred of the enemy in East Tennessee,
driving the rest into the fortifications of Knoxville. Gen. Longstreet,
at last accounts, was near Knoxville with the infantry. We shall not be
long kept in suspense--as Longstreet will not delay his action; and
Burnside may find himself in a "predicament."
A private soldier writes the Secretary to-day that his mother is in
danger of starving--as she failed to get flour in Richmond, at $100 per
barrel. He says if the government has no remedy for this, he and his
comrades will throw down their arms and fly to some other country with
their families, where a subsistence may be obtained.
Every night robberies of poultry, salt meats, and even of cows and hogs
are occurring. Many are desperate.
NOVEMBER 21ST.--We have further reports from the West, confirming the
success of Longstreet. It is said he has taken 2200 prisoners, and is
probably at Knoxville.
The President left the city this morning for Orange Court House, on a
visit to Gen. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia.
We are a shabby-looking people now--gaunt, and many in rags. But there
is food enough, and cloth enough, if we had a Roman Dictator to order an
equitable distribution.
The Secretary of War is destined to have an uncomfortable time. After
assuring the Legislature and the people that provisions in _transitu_
would not be impressed, it is ascertained that the agents of the
Commissary-General are impressing such supplies, and the Secretary is
reluctant to interfere, the Commissary-General being understood to have
the support of the President.
A committee of the Grand Jury yesterday submitted a paper to the
President, on the subject of provisions--indicating the proximity of
famine, and deprecating impressments. The President sent it to the
Secretary, saying Mr. Seddon would no doubt take measures to keep the
people of Richmond from starving; and directing the Secretary to
"confer" with him. But to-day he is off to the army, and perhaps some
may starve before any relief can be afforded.
A genteel suit of clothes cannot be had now for less than $700. A pair
of boots, $200--if good. I saw to-day, suspended from a window, an
opossum dressed for cooking, with a card in its mouth, marked "price,
$10." It weighed about four pounds. I luxuriated on parsnips to-day,
from my own little garden.
A dollar in gold sold for $18 Confederate money, to-day. Our paper is
constantly depreciating; and I think it is past redemption, unless we
adopt Mr. Moseley's plan, and cause some six or eight hundred millions
to be canceled, and fix a maximum price for all commodities necessary
for the support of life. Congress will never agree upon any measure of
relief. But if the paper money be repudiated, nevertheless we shall
have our independence, unless the Southern people should become mad,
divided among themselves. Subjugation of a united people, such as ours,
occupying such a vast extent of territory, is impossible. The tenure of
its occupation by an invading army would always be uncertain, and a
million would be required to hold it.
A hard rain commenced falling this evening, and continued in the night.
This, I suppose, will put an end to operations in Virginia, and we shall
have another respite, and hold Richmond at least another winter. But
such weather must cause severe suffering among the prisoners on Belle
Isle, where there are not tents enough for so large a body of men. Their
government may, however, now consent to an exchange. Day before
yesterday some 40,000 rations were sent them by the United States
flag-boat--which will suffice for three days, by which time I hope many
will be taken away. Our Commissary-General Northrop has but little meat
and bread for them, or for our own soldiers in the field. It must be
confessed they have but small fare, and, indeed, all of us who have not
been "picking and stealing," fare badly. Yet we have quite as good
health, and much better appetites than when we had sumptuous living.
NOVEMBER 22D.--We have nothing additional to-day, except another attempt
to take Fort Sumter by assault, which was discovered before the crews of
the boats landed, and of course it was defeated. Since then some shells
have been thrown into the city of Charleston, doing little damage.
This morning was bright and warm, the clouds having passed away in the
night.
NOVEMBER 23D.--Nothing of moment from the armies, although great events
are anticipated soon.
On Saturday, Gen. Winder's or Major Griswold's head of the passport
office, Lieut. Kirk, was arrested on the charge of selling passports at
$100 per man to a Mr. Wolf and a Mr. Head, who transported passengers to
the Potomac. W. and H. were in prison, and made the charge or
confession. This passport business has been our bane ever since Gen.
Winder got control of it under Mr. Benjamin. Lieut. K. is from
Louisiana, but originally from New York.
Mr. Benjamin sent over to-day extracts from dispatches from Mr. Slidell
and a Mr. Hotze, agent, showing how the government is swindled in Europe
by the purchasing agents of the bureaus here. One, named Chiles, in the
purchase of $650,000, Mr. Slidell says, was to realize $300,000 profit!
And Mr. Hotze (who is he?) says the character and credit of the
government are ruined abroad by its own agents! Mr. Secretary Seddon
will soon see into this matter.
Capt. Warner says the Federal prisoners here have had no meat for three
days, Commissary-General Northrop having none, probably, to issue. One
hundred tons rations, however, came up for them yesterday on the flag
boat.
Exchange on London sells at $1 for $18.50, and gold brings about the
same. Our paper money, I fear, has sunk beyond _redemption_. We have
lost _five_ steamers lately; and it is likely the port of Wilmington
(our last one) will be hermetically sealed. Then we shall soon be
destitute of ammunition, unless we retake the mineral country from the
enemy.
Mr. Memminger has sent a press to the trans-Mississippi country, to
issue paper money there.
Mr. Slidell writes that all our shipments to and from Matamoras ought to
be under the French flag. There may be something in this.
The President was expected back to-day; and perhaps came in the evening.
He is about to write his message to Congress, which assembles early in
December, and perhaps he desired to consult Gen. Lee.
Everywhere the people are clamorous against the sweeping impressments of
crops, horses, etc. And at the same time we have accounts of corn, and
hay, and potatoes rotting at various depots! Such is the management of
the bureaus.
The clerks are in great excitement, having learned that a proposition
will be brought forward to put all men under forty-five years of age in
the army. It will be hard to carry it; for the heads of departments
generally have nephews, cousins, and pets in office, young and rich, who
care not so much for the salaries (though they get the best) as for
exemption from service in the field. And the editors will oppose it, as
they are mostly of conscript age. And the youthful members of Congress
could not escape odium if they exempted themselves, unless disabled by
wounds.
NOVEMBER 24TH.--The President is expected back to-day. A letter from
Gen. Lee indicates that the Commissary-General has been suggesting that
he (the general) should impress supplies for his army. This the general
deprecates, and suggests that if supplies cannot be purchased, they
should be impressed by the agents of the Commissary Department; and that
the burden should be laid on the farmers equally, in all the States.
Gen. Lee does not covet the odium. But it is plain, now, that the
extortionate farmers, who were willing to see us non-producing people
starve, unless we paid them ten prices for their surplus products, will
be likely to get only the comparatively low schedule price fixed by the
government. Instead of $20 per bushel for potatoes, they will receive
only $2 or $3. This will be a good enough maximum law. But the
government _must_ sell to us at cost, or I know not what may be the
consequences.
NOVEMBER 25TH.--We have an unintelligible dispatch from Gen. Bragg,
saying he had, yesterday, a prolonged contest with the enemy for the
possession of Lookout Mountain, during which one of his divisions
suffered severely, and that the manoeuvring of the hostile army was
for position. This was the purport, and the language, as well as I
remember. There is no indication of the probable result--no intimation
whether the position was gained. But the belief is general that Bragg
will retreat, and that the enemy may, if he will, penetrate the heart of
the South! To us it _seems_ as if Bragg has been in a fog ever since the
battle of the 20th of September. He refused to permit ---- to move on
the enemy's left for nearly two months, and finally consented to it when
the enemy had been reinforced by 30,000 from Meade, and by Sherman's
army from Memphis, of 20,000, just when he could not spare a large
detachment! In other words, lying inert before a defeated army, when
concentrated; and dispersing his forces when the enemy was reinforced
and concentrated! If disaster ensues, the government will suffer the
terrible consequences, for it assumed the responsibility of retaining
him in command when the whole country (as the press says) demanded his
removal.
From letters received the last few days at the department, I perceive
that the agents of the government are impressing everywhere--horses,
wagons, hogs, cattle, grain, potatoes, etc. etc.--leaving the farmers
only enough for their own subsistence. This will insure subsistence for
the army, and I hope it will be a death-blow to speculation, as
government pays less than one-fourth the prices demanded in market. Let
the government next sell to non-producers; and every man of fighting age
will repair to the field, and perhaps the invader may be driven back.
We have the speech of the French Emperor, which gives _us_ no
encouragement, but foreshadows war with Russia, and perhaps a general
war in Europe.
We have rain again. This may drive the armies in Virginia into winter
quarters, as the roads will be impracticable for artillery.
The next battle will be terrific; not many men on either side will be
easily taken prisoners, _as exchanges have ceased_.
Dr. Powell brought us a bushel of meal to-day, and some persimmons.
NOVEMBER 26TH.--The weather is clear and bright again; but, oh, how dark
and somber the faces of the croakers!
The following dispatches have been received:
[BATTLE AT LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN.]
(OFFICIAL DISPATCH.)
"MISSION RIDGE, Nov. 24th, 1863.
"TO GEN. S. COOPER.
"We have had a prolonged struggle for Lookout Mountain to-day, and
sustained considerable loss in one division. Elsewhere the enemy
has only manoeuvred for position.
"[Signed] BRAXTON BRAGG, _General_."
_The Latest--Official._
"CHICKAMAUGA, Nov. 25th, 1863.
"GEN. S. COOPER, A. AND I. GENERAL.
"After several unsuccessful assaults on our lines to-day, the enemy
carried the left center about four o'clock. The whole left soon
gave way in considerable disorder. The right maintained its ground,
repelling every assault. I am withdrawing all to this point.
"[Signed] BRAXTON BRAGG.
"Official--JOHN WITHERS, A. A. G."
All agree in the conviction that the enemy has been defeated--perhaps
badly beaten.
Hon. H. S. Foote, just arrived from the vicinity of the field, says
Bragg has only some 20,000 or 30,000 men, while Grant has 90,000, and he
infers that incalculable disaster will ensue.
And Meade is steadily advancing. Gen. Pickett, at Petersburg, has been
ordered to send some of his troops north of Richmond, for the defense of
the railroad in Hanover County.
Miss Stevenson, sister of Major-Gen. Stevenson, has written the
President for employment in one of the departments. He referred it to
Mr. Memminger, who indorsed on it, coldly, as usual, there were no
vacancies, and a hundred applications. The President sent it to the
Secretary of War. He will be more polite.
Another letter to-day from Mr. Memminger, requesting that a company,
commanded by a son of his friend, Trenholm, of Charleston, be stationed
at Ashville, where his family is staying.
Lieut.-Gen. D. H. Hill has applied for a copy of Gen. Bragg's letter
asking his removal from his army. The President sends a copy to the
Secretary, who will probably comply, and there may be a personal affair,
for Bragg's strictures on Hill as a general were pretty severe.
There are rumors of a break in the cabinet, a majority, it is said,
having been in favor of Bragg's removal.
Bragg's disaster so shocked my son Custis that, at dinner, when asked
for rice, he poured water into his sister's plate, the pitcher being
near.
NOVEMBER 27TH.--Dark and gloomy. At 10 o'clock Gov. Vance, of North
Carolina, telegraphed the Secretary of War, asking if anything
additional had been heard from Bragg. The Secretary straightened in his
chair, and answered that he knew nothing but what was published in the
papers.
At 1 o'clock P.M. a dispatch was received from Bragg, dated at
_Ringgold, Ga._, some thirty miles from the battle-field of the day
before. Here, however, it is thought he will make a stand. But if he
could not hold his mountain position, what can he do in the plain? We
know not yet what proportion of his army, guns, and stores he got
away--but he must have retreated rapidly.
Meade is advancing, and another battle seems imminent.
To-day a countryman brought a game-cock into the department. Upon being
asked what he intended to do with it, he said it was his purpose to send
its left wing to Bragg!
NOVEMBER 28TH.--It rained last night. To-day there is an expectation of
a battle near Chancellorville, the battle-ground of June last. Meade is
certainly advancing, and Pickett's division, on the south side of the
James River, at Chaffin's Farm, is ordered to march toward Lee, guarding
the railroad, and the local defense men are ordered out.
My son Custis goes with his battalion to Chaffin's Farm in the morning.
There are rumors of six or eight thousand of the enemy marching up the
line of the James River against Petersburg, etc. We have also a rumor of
Gen. Rosser having captured the wagon train of two divisions of the
enemy in Culpepper County.
From Bragg not a word since his dispatch from Ringgold, Ga., and nothing
from Longstreet.
Gen. Whiting writes that a large number of Jews and others with gold,
having put in substitutes, and made their fortunes, are applying for
passage out of the country. They fear their substitutes will no longer
keep them out of the army. Gen. W. says they have passports from
Richmond, and that the spy who published in the North an account of the
defenses of Wilmington, had a passport from Richmond. The government
will never realize the injury of the loose passport system until it is
ruined.
Never have I known such confusion. On the 26th inst. the Secretary
ordered Gen. Pickett, whose headquarters were at Petersburg, to send a
portion of his division to Hanover Junction, it being apprehended that a
raid might be made in Lee's rear. Gen. P. telegraphs that the French
steam frigate was coming up the river (what for?), and that two Federal
regiments and three companies of cavalry menaced our lines on the south
side of the river. The Secretary sent this to Gen. Elzey, on this side
of the river, asking if his pickets and scouts could not get information
of the movements of the enemy. To-day Gen. E. sends back the paper,
saying his scouts could not cross the river and get within the enemy's
lines. So the government is in a fog--and if the enemy knew it, and it
may, the whole government might be taken before any dispositions for
defense could be made. Incompetency in Richmond will some day lose it.
Three o'clock P.M. The weather is clear, and Lee and Meade may fight,
and it may be a decisive battle.
I met Mr. Foote, of Tennessee, to-day. He asked me if I did not think
our affairs were in a desperate condition. I replied that I did not know
that they were not, and that when one in my position did not know, they
must be bad enough.
NOVEMBER 29TH.--The clerks were marched out into the muddy street this
morning in a cold rain, and stood there for hours, while the officers
were making up their minds when to start for the boat to convey them to
Drewry's Bluff, whence they are to march to Chaffin's Farm, provided the
officers don't change their minds.
There are reports of a repulse of the enemy by Lee yesterday, and also
of a victory by Bragg, but they are not traceable to authentic sources.
At 3 o'clock P.M. it is cold, but has ceased to rain.
The want of men is our greatest want, and I think it probable Congress
will repeal the Substitute Law, and perhaps the Exemption Act. Something
must be done to put more men in the ranks, or all will be lost. The rich
have contrived to get out, or to keep out, and there are not poor men
enough to win our independence. All, with very few exceptions, between
the ages of 18 and 45, must fight for freedom, else we may not win it.
NOVEMBER 30TH.--It is clear and cold. The boat in which my son and the
battalion of clerks went down the river yesterday, sunk, from being
overloaded, just as it got to the landing. It is said some of the boys
had to wade ashore; but none were lost--thank God!
This morning early, Lee and Meade confronted each other in battle array,
and no one doubts a battle is in progress to-day this side of the
Rapidan. Lee is outnumbered some two to one, but Meade has a swollen
river in his rear. It is an awful moment.
I took my remaining son to the office this morning, to aid me in
Custis's absence.
At night. Nothing has yet been heard from the battle, if indeed it
occurred to-day. It is said that Meade is _ordered_ to fight. They know
at Washington it is too late in the season, in the event of Meade's
defeat, for Lee to menace that city, or to invade Pennsylvania. It is a
desperate effort to crush the "rebellion," as they suppose, by advancing
all their armies. And indeed it seems that Meade is quite as near to
Richmond as Lee; for he seems to be below the latter on the
Rappahannock, with his back to Fredericksburg, and Lee's face toward it.
If Meade should gain the victory, he might possibly cut off Lee from
this city. Nevertheless, these positions are the result of Lee's
manoeuvres, and it is to be supposed he understands his business. He
has no fear of Meade's advance in this direction with his communications
cut behind him.
Captain Warner has sold me two pieces of bacon again, out of his own
smoke-house, at $1 per pound, while it is selling in the market at $3.50
per pound--and he has given us another bushel of sweet potatoes. Had it
not been for this kind friend, my little revenue would not have sufficed
for subsistence.
While the soldiers are famishing for food, what is called "red tapeism"
prevents the consummation of contracts to supply them. Captains
Montgomery and Leathers, old steamboat captains, with ample capital, and
owning the only steamboats in certain waters of Florida, have just
proposed to furnish the government with a million pounds salt beef, on
the main line of railroad in Florida, at a reduced price. The cattle are
exposed to incursions of the enemy, and have to be transported by
steamboats. They endeavored to make a proposal directly to the
Secretary, which was so expressed in the communication I prepared for
them--as they were unwilling to treat with Col. Northrop, the
Commissary-General, who has become extremely obnoxious. But it was
intercepted, and referred to the Commissary-General. Learning this, the
captains abandoned their purpose and left the city--the Secretary never
having seen their proposal. Our soldiers will not get the beef, and
probably the enemy will.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Assembling of Congress.--President's message.--The markets.--No hope for
the Confederate currency.--Averill's raid.--Letter from Gov. Vance.--
Christmas.--Persons having furnished substitutes still liable to
military duty.
DECEMBER 1ST.--This morning the ground is frozen hard. There was no
battle yesterday, only heavy skirmishing. Both armies were drawn up in
line of battle, and the front lines slept on their arms. Some froze to
death. This morning the enemy opened with artillery--but no battle
ensued that we are aware of.
At the last accounts from Bragg he was still retiring, near Dalton. His
army must be nearly broken up.
Bragg, it is rumored to-day, has been relieved.
DECEMBER 2D.--No battle yet, though still hourly expected on the old
field near the Rappahannock. And we have nothing definite from the West.
The appointment of Beauregard to succeed Bragg is not officially
announced; and the programme may be changed.
DECEMBER 3D.--Meade recrossed the Rapidan last night! This is a greater
relief to us than the enemy has any idea of. I hope the campaign is over
for the winter.
And we have authentic advices of a terrible check given the enemy at
Ringgold, Ga.; their killed and wounded being estimated at 2000, which
caused Grant to recoil, and retire to Chickamauga, where he is
intrenching.
After all, it is doubted whether Beauregard is to succeed Bragg.
Lieut.-Gen. Hardee is in command, temporarily, and it may be
permanently. Bragg was relieved at his own request. I know he requested
the same thing many months ago. A full general should command there.
DECEMBER 4TH.--The only thing new to-day is a dispatch from Gen.
Longstreet, before Knoxville, stating that he had been repulsed in an
assault upon the place, and calling for reinforcements, which, alas!
cannot be sent him.
Hon. Mr. Henry, from Tennessee, estimates our loss in prisoners in
Bragg's defeat at but little over 1000, and 30 guns. We captured 800
prisoners.
We have intelligence to-day of the escape of Brig.-Gen. Jno. H. Morgan
from the penitentiary in Ohio, where the enemy had confined him.
DECEMBER 5TH.--It has begun to rain again; and yet the clerks are kept
at Chaffin's Bluff, although the roads are impracticable, and no
approach of the enemy reported.
There is not a word of news from the armies on the Rapidan or in
Georgia.
A collision between the Confederate and State authorities in Georgia is
imminent, on the question of "just compensation" for sugar seized by the
agents of the Commissary-General--whose estimates for the ensuing year
embrace an item of $50,000,000 to be paid for sugar. The Supreme Court
of Georgia has decided that if taken, it must be paid for at a fair
valuation, and not at a price to suit the Commissary-General. It is the
belief of many, that these seizures involve many frauds, to enrich the
Commissaries.
DECEMBER 6TH.--It is clear and cold again. Custis came home last
evening, after a week's sojourn at Chaffin's Bluff, where, however,
there were tents. Some 1500 local troops, or "National Guards," had been
sent there to relieve Pickett's division, recalled by Lee; but when
Meade recrossed the Rapidan, there was no longer any necessity for the
"Guards" to remain on duty. A brigade of regulars goes down to-day.
Custis says it was the third day before ammunition was issued! Yesterday
he heard shelling down the river, by the enemy's gun-boats.
I had a conversation with Col. Northrop, Commissary-General, to-day. He
anticipates a collision between the Confederate and State authorities on
the impressment question. He says the law was intended to secure
subsistence for both the people and the army; but there is not
sufficient grain in the States. Therefore the army must have what there
is, and the people must go without. I differed with him, and maintained
if a proper distribution were made there would be enough for all.
To-morrow Congress assembles. It is to be apprehended that a conflict
with the Executive will ensue--instead of unanimity against the common
enemy--and no one living can foretell the issue, because no one knows
the extent of capacity and courage on either side.
The President has made his cabinet a unit.
DECEMBER 7TH.--Cold and clear. Gen. Longstreet telegraphs to-day from
Rutledge, Tenn., some fifty miles northeast of Knoxville, and says he
will soon need railroad facilities. He is flying from superior numbers,
and may be gathering up supplies.
Governor Vance writes distressfully concerning the scarcity of
provisions in certain counties of North Carolina, and the rudeness of
impressing agents.
Lieut.-Gen. Hardee telegraphs from Dalton that 5000 cavalry, besides two
brigades of Buckner's command, are with Longstreet, and that other
troops ought to be sent him (H.) to compensate for these detachments.
Mr. L. S. White obtained another passport yesterday to go to Maryland,
on the recommendation of Col. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance.
There was a quorum in Congress to-day; but the message was not sent in.
A five-dollar gold piece sold at auction on Saturday for $140--$28 in
Confederate notes for one of gold.
DECEMBER 8TH.--The President's message was sent to Congress to-day. I
was not present, but my son Custis, who heard it read, says the
President dwells largely on the conduct of foreign powers. To diminish
the currency, he recommends compulsory funding and large taxation, and
some process of diminishing the volume of Treasury notes. In other
words, a _suspension_ of such clauses of the Constitution as stand in
the way of a successful prosecution of the war. He suggests the repeal
of the Substitute law, and a modification of the Exemption act, etc.
To-morrow I shall read it myself.
DECEMBER 9TH.--The President's message is not regarded with much favor
by the croakers. The long complaint against foreign powers for not
recognizing us is thought in bad taste, since all the points nearly had
been made in a previous message. They say it is like abusing a society
for not admitting one within its circle as well as another. The
President specifies no plan to cure the redundancy of the currency. He
is opposed to increasing the pay of the soldiers, and absolutely
reproaches the soldiers of the left wing of Bragg's army with not
performing their whole duty in the late battle.
Mr. Foote denounced the President to-day. He said he had striven to keep
silent, but could not restrain himself while his State was bleeding--our
disasters being all attributable by him to the President, who retained
incompetent or unworthy men in command, etc.
DECEMBER 10TH.--No news from any of the armies, except that Longstreet
has reached Bristol, Va.
Yesterday, in Congress, Mr. Foote denounced the President as the author
of all the calamities; and he arraigned Col. Northrop, the
Commissary-General, as a monster, incompetent, etc.--and cited * * * *
I saw Gen. Bragg's dispatch to-day, dated 29th ult., asking to be
relieved, and acknowledging his defeat. He says he must still fall back,
if the enemy presses vigorously. It is well the enemy did not know it,
for at that moment Grant was falling back on Chattanooga! Mr. Memminger
has sent to Congress an impracticable plan of remedying the currency
difficulty.
To-day I saw copies of orders given a year ago by Gen. Pemberton to Col.
Mariquy and others, to barter cotton with the enemy for certain army and
other stores.
It is the opinion of many that the currency must go the way of the old
Continental paper, the French assignats, etc., and that speedily.
Passports are again being issued in profusion to persons going to the
United States. Judge Campbell, who has been absent some weeks, returned
yesterday.
The following prices are quoted in to-day's papers:
"The specie market has still an upward tendency. The brokers are now
paying $18 for gold and selling it at $21; silver is bought at $14 and
sold at $18.
"GRAIN.--Wheat may be quoted at $15 to $18 per bushel, according to
quality. Corn is bringing from $14 to $15 per bushel.
"FLOUR.--Superfine, $100 to $105; Extra, $105 to $110.
"CORN-MEAL.--From $15 to $16 per bushel.
"COUNTRY PRODUCE AND VEGETABLES.--Bacon, hoground, $3 to $3.25 per
pound; lard, $3.25 to $3.50; beef, 80 cents to $1; venison, $2 to $2.25;
poultry, $1.25 to $1.50; butter, $4 to $4.50; apples, $65, to $80 per
barrel; onions, $30 to $35 per bushel; Irish potatoes, $8 to $10 per
bushel; sweet potatoes, $12 to $15, and scarce; turnips, $5 to $6 per
bushel. These are the wholesale rates.
"GROCERIES.--Brown sugars firm at $3 to $3.25; clarified, $4.50; English
crushed, $4.60 to $5; sorghum molasses, $13 to $14 per gallon; rice, 30
to 32 cents per pound; salt, 35 to 40 cents; black pepper, $8 to $10.
"LIQUORS.--Whisky, $55 to $75 per gallon; apple brandy, $45 to $50; rum,
proof, $55; gin, $60; French brandy, $80 to $125; old Hennessy, $180;
Scotch whisky, $90; champagne (extra), $350 per dozen; claret (quarts),
$90 to $100; gin, $150 per case; Alsop's ale (quarts), $110; pints,
$60."
DECEMBER 12TH.--There was a rumor that Chattanooga had been evacuated;
but it turns out that the enemy are fortifying it, and mean to keep it,
while operating in East Tennessee. It is said Gen. Grant is to bring
30,000 men to Virginia, and assume command of the Army of the Potomac,
superseding Meade. He may be ordered to take Richmond next--if he can.
Hardee is yet commanding Bragg's army.
I saw to-day a project, in Mr. Benjamin's handwriting, for a Bureau of
Export and Import.
Mr. G. A. Myers got a passport to-day for a Mr. Pappenheimer, a rich
Jew; it was "allowed" by the Assistant Secretary of War. And a Mr.
Kerchner (another Jew, I suppose) got one on the recommendation of
Col. J. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, to bring back stores in his
saddle-bags.
Orders to-day were given that no more supplies from the United States
should be received by the Federal prisoners here. It seems that our men
in their hands are not even allowed the visits of their friends.
DECEMBER 13TH.--Rained last night--and this morning we have warm April
weather and bright sunshine.
It is getting to be the general belief among men capable of reflection,
that no jugglery can save the Confederate States currency. As well might
one lift himself from the earth by seizing his feet, as to legislate a
remedy. Whatever scheme may be devised to increase the value of the
Confederate States paper money, the obligor is the same. For the
redemption of the currency (now worth about five cents in specie to the
dollar), every citizen, and every description of property, has been
pledged; and as the same citizens and the same property must be pledged
for the redemption of any newly created currency, there is no reason to
suppose it would not likewise run the same career of depreciation. Nor
can bonds be worth more than notes. Success in the field, only, can
appreciate either; for none will or can be paid, if we fail to achieve
independence.
The weather, this afternoon, is warm, calm, and clear; but the roads are
too soft for military operations.
I am reading the Memoirs of Bishop Doane, by his son, Rev. William
Croswell Doane. He was the great bishop truly; and his son proves an
admirable biographer. I knew the bishop personally, and much of his
personal history; and hence this work is to me, and must be to many
others, very interesting. The coming year is to be an eventful one. We
shall be able (I hope) to put 400,000 effective men in the field; and
these, well handled, might resist a million of assailants from without.
We have the center, they the circumference; let them beware of
1864--when the United States shall find herself in the throes of an
embittered Presidential contest!
DECEMBER 14TH.--We have President Lincoln's message to-day, and his
proclamation of amnesty to all who take an oath of allegiance, etc., and
advocate emancipation. There are some whom he exempts, of course. It is
regarded here as an electioneering document, to procure a renomination
for the Presidency in the radical Abolition Convention to assemble in a
few months. But it will add 100,000 men to our armies; and next year
will be the bloody year.
Congress spent much of the day in secret session.
A Baltimorean, last week, seeing a steamer there loading with goods of
various kinds for the Federal prisoners here, bought a box of
merchandise for $300, and put it on board, marked as if it contained
stores for the prisoners. He ran the blockade so as to meet the steamer
here; and obtained his box, worth, perhaps, $15,000. But all this is
forbidden hereafter.
DECEMBER 15TH.--Bright, beautiful day--but, alas! the news continues
dark. Two companies of cavalry were surprised and taken on the Peninsula
day before yesterday; and there are rumors of disaster in Western
Virginia.
Foote still keeps up a fire on the President in the House; but he is not
well seconded by the rest of the members, and it is probable the
President will regain his control. It is thought, however, the cabinet
will go by the board.
DECEMBER 16TH.--The _Examiner_ to-day discovers that if the President's
project of enrolling all men, and detailing for civil pursuits such as
the Executive may designate, be adopted, that he will then be
constituted a DICTATOR--the best thing, possibly, that could happen in
the opinion of many; though the _Examiner_ don't think so. It is
probable the President will have what he wants.
_Per contra_, the proposition of Senator Johnson, of Arkansas, requiring
members of the cabinet to be renominated at the expiration of every two
years, if passed, would be a virtual seizure of Executive powers by that
body. But it won't pass.
DECEMBER 17TH.--Averill (Federal) made a raid a day or two since to
Salem (Roanoke County, Va.), cutting the Virginia and Tennessee
Railroad, destroying the depot, bridges, court-house, etc.
Gen. J. E. Johnston has been ordered to take command of Bragg's army.
I saw a communication from Lieut.-Col. Ruffin (Commissary Bureau),
suggesting the trade of cotton to the enemy in New Orleans for supplies,
meat, etc., a Mr. Pollard, of St. Louis, having proposed to barter meat
for cotton, which Col. Ruffin seems to discourage.
Gen. Halleck has proposed a plan of exchange of prisoners, so far as
those we hold go. We have 15,000; they, 40,000.
A letter from Mr. Underwood, of Rome, Ga., says our people fly from our
own cavalry, as they devastate the country as much as the enemy.
We have a cold rain to-day. The bill prohibiting the employment of
substitutes has passed both Houses of Congress. When the Conscription
act is enlarged, all substitutes now in the army will have to serve for
themselves, and their employers will also be liable.
DECEMBER 18TH.--Yesterday evening the battalion of clerks was to leave
for Western Virginia to meet the _raiders_. After keeping them in
waiting till midnight, the order was countermanded. It is said now that
Gen. Lee has sent three brigades after Averill and his 3000 men, and
hopes are entertained that the enemy may be captured.
It is bright and cold to-day.
DECEMBER 19TH.--Bright and cold. A resolution passed Congress, calling
on the President to report the number of men of conscript age removed
from the Quartermaster's and Commissary's Departments, in compliance
with the act of last session. The Commissary-General, in response,
refers only to _clerks_--none of whom, however, it seems have been
removed.
Capt. Alexander, an officer under Gen. Winder, in charge of Castle
Thunder (prison), has been relieved and arrested for malfeasance, etc.
Gen. C. J. McRae, charged with the investigation of the accounts of
Isaacs, Campbell & Co., London, with Major Huse, the purchasing agent of
Col. J. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, reports irregularities, overcharges,
etc., and recommends retention of gold and cotton in this country
belonging to I., C. & Co.
Mr. ---- informed me to-day that he signed a contract with the
Commissary-General last night to furnish meat on the Mississippi in
Tennessee, in exchange for cotton. He told me that the proposition was
made by the Federal officers, and will have their connivance, if not the
connivance of Federal functionaries in Washington, interested in the
speculation. Lieut.-Col. Ruffin prefers trading with the enemy at New
Orleans.
It is rumored that Mr. Seddon will resign, and be succeeded by Gov.
Letcher; notwithstanding Hon. James Lyons asserted in public (and it
appears in the _Examiner_ to-day) that Gov. L. told Gen. J. R. Anderson
last year, subsequent to the fall of Donelson, "he was still in favor of
the Union."
DECEMBER 20TH.--We have nothing new yet from Averill's raiders; but it
is said Gen. Lee has set a trap for them. From East Tennessee there is a
report that a battle has taken place somewhere in that region, but with
what result is not yet known.
There is much consternation among the Jews and other speculators here,
who have put in substitutes and made money. They fear that their
substitutes will be made liable by legislative action, and then the
principals will be called for. Some have contributed money to prevent
the passage of such a law, and others have spent money to get permission
to leave the country. Messrs. Gilmer and Myers, lawyers, have their
hands full.
The Confederate States Tax act of last session of Congress is a failure,
in a great measure, in Virginia. It is said only 30,000 bushels of wheat
have been received! But the Governor of Alabama writes that over
5,000,000 pounds of bacon will be paid by that State.
DECEMBER 21ST.--We have dispatches to-day from Western Virginia, giving
hope of the capture of Averill and his raiders.
Such is the scarcity of provisions, that rats and mice have mostly
disappeared, and the cats can hardly be kept off the table.
DECEMBER 22D.--Averill has escaped, it is feared. But it is said one of
his regiments and all his wagons will be lost.
Gen. Longstreet writes (16th instant) that he must suspend active
operations for the want of shoes and clothing. The Quarter-master-General
says he sent him 3500 blankets a few days since.
There are fifty-one quartermasters and assistant quartermasters
stationed in this city!
Pound cakes, size of a small Dutch oven, sell at $100. Turkeys, from $10
to $40.
DECEMBER 23D.--Nothing further from the West. But we have reliable
information of the burning (accidentally, I suppose) of the enemy's
magazine at Yorktown, destroying all the houses, etc.
I learn to-day that the Secretary of War revoked the order confiscating
blockade goods brought from the enemy's country.
DECEMBER 24TH.--Another interposition of Providence in behalf of my
family. The bookseller who purchased the edition of the first volume of
my "Wild Western Scenes--new series," since Mr. Malsby's departure from
the country, paid me $300 to-day, copyright, and promises more very
soon. I immediately bought a load of coal, $31.50, and a half cord of
wood for $19. I must now secure some food for next month.
Among the papers sent in by the President, to-day, was one from Gen.
Whiting, who, from information received by him, believes there will be
an attack on Wilmington before long, and asks reinforcements.
One from Gen. Beauregard, intimating that he cannot spare any of his
troops for the West, or for North Carolina. The President notes on this,
however, that the troops may be sent where they may seem to be actually
needed.
Also an application to permit one of Gen. Sterling Price's sons to visit
the Confederate States, which the President is not disposed to grant.
The lower house of Congress yesterday passed a bill putting into the
army all who have hitherto kept out of it by employing substitutes. I
think the Senate will also pass it. There is great consternation among
the speculators.
DECEMBER 25TH.--No war news to-day. But a letter, an impassioned one,
from Gov. Vance, complains of outrages perpetrated by detached bodies of
Confederate States cavalry, in certain counties, as being worse than any
of the plagues of Egypt: and says that if any such scourge had been sent
upon the land, the children of Israel would not have been followed to
the Red Sea. In short, he informs the Secretary of War, if no other
remedy be applied, he will collect his militia and levy war against the
Confederate States troops! I placed that letter on the Secretary's
table, for his Christmas dinner. As I came out, I met Mr. Hunter,
President of the Senate, to whom I mentioned the subject. He said,
phlegmatically, that many in North Carolina were "prone to act in
opposition to the Confederate States Government."
Yesterday the President sent over a newspaper, from Alabama, containing
an article marked by him, in which he was very severely castigated for
hesitating to appoint Gen. J. E Johnston to the command of the western
army. _Why_ he sent this I can hardly conjecture, for I believe Johnston
has been assigned to that command; but I placed the paper in the hands
of the Secretary.
My son Custis, yesterday, distributed proposals for a night-school
(classical), and has some applications already. He is resolved to do all
he can to aid in the support of the family in these cruel times.
It is a sad Christmas; cold, and threatening snow. My two youngest
children, however, have decked the parlor with evergreens, crosses,
stars, etc. They have a cedar Christmas-tree, but it is not burdened.
Candy is held at $8 per pound. My two sons rose at 5 A.M. and repaired
to the canal to meet their sister Anne, who has been teaching Latin and
French in the country; but she was not among the passengers, and this
has cast a shade of disappointment over the family.
A few pistols and crackers are fired by the boys in the streets--and
only a few. I am alone; all the rest being at church. It would not be
safe to leave the house unoccupied. Robberies and murders are daily
perpetrated.
I shall have no turkey to-day, and do not covet one. It is no time for
feasting.
DECEMBER 26TH.--No army news. No papers. No merriment this Christmas.
Occasionally an _exempt_, who has speculated, may be seen drunk; but a
somber heaviness is in the countenances of men, as well as in the sky
above. Congress has adjourned over to Monday.
DECEMBER 27TH.--From Charleston we learn that on Christmas night the
enemy's shells destroyed a number of buildings. It is raining to-day:
better than snow.
To-day, Sunday, Mr. Hunter is locked up with Mr. Seddon, at the war
office. No doubt he is endeavoring to persuade the Secretary not to
relinquish office. Mr. S. is the only Secretary of War over whom Mr.
Hunter could ever exercise a wholesome influence. Mr. Stephens, the
Vice-President, is still absent; and Mr. H. is president of the Senate.
Mr. Hunter is also a member of the Committee on Finance, and the
protracted consultations may refer mainly to that subject--and a
difficult one it is. Besides, if this revolution be doomed by Providence
to failure, Mr. Hunter would be the most potent negotiator in the
business of reconstruction. He has great interests at stake, and would
save his property--and of course his life.
Another letter from Gov. Vance demands the return of some 300 bales of
cotton loaned the Confederate States. He likewise applies for the
extension of a detail of a North Carolina soldier, "for satisfactory
reasons."
DECEMBER 28TH.--Averill has escaped, losing a few hundred men, and his
wagons, etc. The Chesapeake, that sailed out of New York, and was
subsequently taken by the passengers (Confederates), was hotly followed
to Canada, where it was surrendered to the British authorities by the
United States officers, after being abandoned.
DECEMBER 29TH.--A letter from the President, for the Secretary of War,
marked "private," came in to-day at 2 P.M. Can it be an acceptance of
his resignation?
A resolution has been introduced in the House of Representatives to
inquire into the fact of commissioned officers doing clerical duties in
Richmond receiving "allowances," which, with their pay, make their
compensation enormous. A colonel, here, gets more compensation monthly
than Gen. Lee, or even a member of the cabinet!
Mr. Ould, agent of exchange, has sent down some 500 prisoners, in
exchange for a like number sent up by the enemy. But he has been
instructed by the President not to hold correspondence with Gen. Butler,
called "the Beast," who is in command at Fortress Monroe.
My daughters have plaited and sold several hats, etc., and to-day they
had a large cake (costing $10) from their savings. And a neighbor sent
in some egg-nog to my daughter Anne, just arrived from the country.
Gen. Winder reported to the Secretary, to-day, that there were no guards
at the bridges, the militia refusing to act longer under his orders.
DECEMBER 30TH.--A memorial from the army has been presented in both
houses of Congress.
The speech of Mr. Foote, relative to a Dictator, has produced some
sensation in the city, and may produce more.
A great many Jews and speculators are still endeavoring to get out of
the country with their gains.
To-day Mr. Davies paid me $350 more, the whole amount of copyright on
the 5000 copies of the first volume of new "Wild Western Scenes,"
published by Malsby. He proposes to publish the second volume as soon as
he can procure the necessary paper.
DECEMBER 31ST.--Yesterday the Senate passed the following bill, it
having previously passed the House:
"_A Bill to be entitled An Act to put an end to the exemption from
military service of those who have heretofore furnished substitutes._
"Whereas, in the present circumstances of the country, it requires the
aid of all who are able to bear arms, the Congress of the Confederate
States of America do enact, That no person shall be exempted from
military service by reason of his having furnished a substitute; but
this act shall not be so construed as to affect persons who, though not
liable to render military service, have, nevertheless, put in
substitutes."
It was preceded by discussion, yet only two votes were cast in the
negative. Mr. Wigfall, it is said, was strangely indisposed; however
that might be, his speech is represented as being one of the best ever
delivered by him.
To-morrow the President throws open his house for a public reception:
his enemies allege that this is with a view to recovering popularity!
It rained during the whole of this day. Nevertheless, the Jews have been
fleeing to the woods with their gold, resolved to take up their abode in
the United States rather than fight for the Confederate States, where
they leave in the ranks the substitutes hired by them.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Hospitalities of the city to Gen. Morgan.--Call for a Dictator.--Letter
from Gen. Lee.--Letters from Gov. Vance.--Accusation against Gen.
Winder.--Treatment of Confederate prisoners (from the _Chicago
Times_).--Change of Federal policy.--Efforts to remove Col.
Northrop.--Breach between the President and Congress.--Destitution
of our prisoners.--Appeal of Gen. Lee to the army.--New Conscription
Act.--Letter from Gen. Cobb.
JANUARY 1ST, 1864.--A bright windy day, and not cold. The President has
a reception to-day, and the City Councils have voted the hospitalities
of the city to Brig.-Gen. J. H. Morgan, whose arrival is expected. If he
comes, he will be the hero, and will have a larger crowd of admirers
around him than the President. The Councils have also voted a _sword_ to
ex-Gov. Letcher, whose term of service ended yesterday. Gov. Wm.
Smith--nicknamed Extra-Billy--is to be inaugurated to-day.
Flour is now held at $150 per barrel. Capt. Warner has just sold me two
bushels of meal at $5 per bushel; the price in market is $16 per bushel.
I did not go to any of the receptions to-day; but remained at home,
transplanting lettuce-plants, which have so far withstood the frost, and
a couple of fig-bushes I bought yesterday. I am also breaking up some
warm beds, for early vegetables, and spreading manure over my little
garden: preparing for the siege and famine looked for in May and June,
when the enemy encompasses the city. I bought some tripe and liver in
the market at the low price of $1 per pound. Engaged to pay $250 hire
for our servant this year.
JANUARY 2D.--Gen. Longstreet writes that it will be well to winter in
East Tennessee (Rogersville), unless there should be a pressing
necessity for him elsewhere. But his corps ought to be at least 20,000.
He says provisions may be got in that section; and if they be collected,
the enemy may be forced to leave.
The Secretary of the Navy has requested the Secretary of War to open the
obstructions at Drewry's Bluff, so that the iron-clads, Richmond and
Fredericksburg, may pass out. This he deems necessary for the defense of
Richmond, as our iron-clads may prevent the enemy from coming up the
river and landing near the city.
The _Lynchburg Virginian_ has come out for a dictator, and names Gen.
Lee.
The Raleigh (N. C.) _Progress_ says we must have peace on any terms, or
starvation. I think we can put some 200,000 additional men in the field
next year, and they can be fed also.
JANUARY 3D.--Yesterday was the coldest day of the winter, and last night
was a bitter one. This morning it is bright and clear, and moderating.
We have had no snow yet.
There is much talk everywhere on the subject of a dictator, and many
think a strong government is required to abate the evils we suffer. The
President has temporarily lost some popularity.
The speculators and extortioners who hired substitutes are in
consternation--some flying the country since the passage of the bill
putting them in the army, and the army is delighted with the measure.
The petition from so many generals in the field intimidated Congress,
and it was believed that the Western army would have melted away in
thirty days, if no response had been accorded to its demands by
government. Herculean preparations will now be made for the next
campaign, which is, as usual, looked forward to as the final one.
JANUARY 4TH.--On Saturday, resolutions were unanimously adopted by the
Senate complimenting Gen. Lee. This is his opportunity, if he be
ambitious,--and who can see his heart? What man ever neglected such an
opportunity?
The weather is dark and threatening. Again the rumor is circulated that
ex-Gov. Letcher is to be Secretary of War. I don't believe that.
Major Tachman claims $5000 in gold and $1600 paper, because after
raising two regiments in 1861 he was not made a brigadier-general. He
says he expended that much money. I thought this Polish adventurer would
give the government trouble.
Custis commenced his school to-night, with three scholars,--small
beginnings, etc.
JANUARY 5TH.--Bright, pleasant day. I saw a letter from Gen. Elzey
to-day, stating that his command will probably soon be called out from
the city on important service. What can this mean? And our iron-clads
are to go below the obstructions if they can get out.
Yesterday Mr. Good offered a resolution declaring the unalterable
purpose of Congress to prosecute the war until independence is attained.
What significance is in this? Why declare such a purpose at this day?
Mr. Benjamin, Gen. Myers, Col. Preston, and Mr. Seddon are to partake of
a feast on Thursday. A feast in time of famine!
JANUARY 6TH.--Yesterday Mr. Moffitt, Lieut.-Col. Ruffin's agent
(commissary), was in the market buying beef for Gen. Lee's army! And
this same Moffitt was in September selling beef to the same butchers (as
they say) at from 40 to 50 cts. gross, the impressing price in the
country being 20 cts.
On the 2d inst. Gen. Lee wrote the President that he had just heard of
two droves of cattle from the West, destined for his army, being ordered
to Richmond. [He does not say by whom, or for what purpose. He knew
not.] He says he has but one day's meat rations, and he fears he will
not be able to retain the army in the field. The President sent a copy
of this to the Commissary-General, with a few mild remarks, suggesting
that he shall get such orders from the Secretary of War as are necessary
in such an emergency. In response to this the Commissary-General makes a
chronological list of his letters to Gen. Lee and others, pretending
that if certain things were not done, the army, some day, would come to
want, and taking great credit for his foresight, etc. This table of
contents he ran first to the department with, but not finding the
Secretary, he carried it to the President, who returned it without
comment to Col. N. yesterday, and to-day the Secretary got it, not
having seen it before. Well, if Col. N. had contracted with Capt.
Montgomery for the 1,000,000 pounds of salt beef, it would have been
delivered ere this. But the Secretary never saw Capt. M.'s offer at all!
JANUARY 7TH.--Gen. J. E. Johnston dispatches from the West that the meat
is so indifferent, the soldiers must have an additional quantity of
rice.
Beef sells to-day at $1.25 per pound by the quarter. And yet an
Englishman at the best hotel yesterday remarked that he never lived so
cheaply in any country, his board being only three shillings (in specie)
per diem, or about $20 Confederate States notes.
A dozen china cups and saucers sold at auction to-day for $160. Col.
Preston, Conscription Bureau, several members of the cabinet, etc.
feasted at a cost of $2000! It is said that the Jack was turned up and
_Jeff_ turned down in a witticism, and smiled at _nem. con._ But I don't
believe that.
We have a light snow, the first time the earth has been white this
winter.
I am reminded daily of the privations I used to read of in the
Revolutionary War. Then thorns were used, now we use pins, for buttons.
My waistbands of pantaloons and drawers are pinned instead of buttoned.
Gen. Jno. H. Morgan arrived this evening, and enjoyed a fine reception,
as a multitude of admirers were at the depot.
About the same hour the President rode past my house alone, to indulge
his thoughts in solitude in the suburbs of the city.
JANUARY 8TH.--Dispatches from both Beauregard and Whiting indicate a
belief of an intention on the part of the enemy to attempt the capture
of Charleston and Wilmington this winter. The President directs the
Secretary to keep another brigade near Petersburg, that it may be
available in an emergency.
It snowed again last night, but cleared off to-day, and is bitter cold.
A memorial was received to-day from the officers of Gen. Longstreet's
army, asking that all men capable of performing military service,
including those who have hired substitutes, be placed in the army.
To-day I bought a barrel of good potatoes (Irish) for $25, and one of
superior quality and size for $30. This is providing for an anticipated
season of famine.
Gen. Morgan received the congratulations of a vast multitude to-day. One
woman kissed his hand. Gov. Smith advertises a reception to-night.
Yesterday a committee was appointed to investigate the report that a
certain member of Congress obtained passports for several absconding
Jews, for a bribe.
JANUARY 9TH.--Cold and clear. Gen. Longstreet has preferred charges
against Major-Gen. McLaws and another general of his command, and also
asks to be relieved, unless he has an independent command, as Gen.
Johnston's headquarters are too far off, etc. The Secretary is willing
to relieve him, but the President intimates that a successor ought to be
designated first.
Beef was held at $2.50 per pound in market to-day--and I got none; but I
bought 25 pounds of rice at 40 cts., which, with the meal and potatoes,
will keep us alive a month at least. The rich rogues and rascals,
however, in the city, are living sumptuously, and spending Confederate
States notes as if they supposed they would soon be valueless.
JANUARY 10TH.--Letters from Governor Vance received to-day show that he
has been making extensive arrangements to clothe and subsist North
Carolina troops. His agents have purchased abroad some 40,000 blankets,
as many shoes, bacon, etc., most of which is now at Bermuda and Nassau.
He has also purchased an interest in several steamers; but, it appears,
a recent regulation of the Confederate States Government forbids the
import and export of goods except, almost exclusively, for the
government itself. The governor desires to know if his State is to be
put on the same footing with private speculators.
He also demands some thousands of bales of cotton, loaned the
government--and which the government cannot now replace at
Wilmington--and his complaints against the government are bitter. Is it
his intention to assume an independent attitude, and call the North
Carolina troops to the rescue? A few weeks will develop his intentions.
Mr. Hunter is in the Secretary's room every Sunday morning. Is there
some grand political egg to be hatched?
If the government had excluded private speculators from the ports at an
early date, we might have had clothes and meat for the army in
abundance--as well as other stores. But a great duty was neglected!
Sunday as it is, trains of government wagons are going incessantly past
my door laden with ice--for the hospitals next summer, if we keep
Richmond.
JANUARY 11TH.--The snow has nearly vanished--the weather bright and
pleasant, for midwinter; but the basin is still frozen over.
Gen. E. S. Jones has captured several hundred of the enemy in Southwest
Virginia, and Moseby's men are picking them up by scores in Northern
Virginia.
Congress recommitted the new Conscript bill on Saturday, intimidated by
the menaces of the press, the editors being in danger of falling within
reach of conscription.
A dwelling-house near us rented to-day for $6000.
JANUARY 12TH.--Hundreds were skating on the ice in the basin this
morning; but it thawed all day, and now looks like rain.
Yesterday the President vetoed a bill appropriating a million dollars to
clothe the Kentucky troops. The vote in the Senate, in an effort to pass
it nevertheless, was 12 to 10, not two-thirds. The President is
unyielding. If the new Conscription act before the House should become a
law, the President will have nearly all power in his hands. The act
suspending the writ of _habeas corpus_, before the Senate, if passed,
will sufficiently complete the Dictatorship.
Gen. Jos. E. Johnston writes in opposition to the organization of more
cavalry.
Mr. J. E. Murral, Mobile, Ala., writes Judge Campbell that a party there
has authority from the United States authorities to trade anything but
arms and ammunition for cotton.
Gen. Winder being directed to send Mr. Hirsh, a rich Jew, to the
conscript camp, says he gave him a passport to leave the Confederate
States some days ago, on the order of Judge Campbell, A. S. W. Col.
Northrop says supplies of meat have failed.
JANUARY 13TH.--There was firing yesterday near Georgetown, S. C., the
nature and result of which is not yet known.
Yesterday the Senate passed a bill allowing increased pay to civil
officers in the departments; but Senator Brown, of Miss., proposed a
_proviso_, which was adopted, allowing the increased compensation only
to those who are not liable to perform military duty, and unable to bear
arms.
The auctions are crowded--the people seeming anxious to get rid of their
money by paying the most extravagant prices for all articles exposed for
sale. An old pair of boots, with large holes in them, sold to-day for
$7.00--it costs $125 to foot a pair of boots.
JANUARY 14TH.--Mr. A. ----, editor of the ----, recommends the Secretary
of War to get Congress to pass, in secret session, a resolution looking
to a reconstruction of the Union on the old basis, and send
Commissioners to the Northern Governors. Meantime, let the government
organize an army of invasion, and march into Pennsylvania. The object
being to sow dissension among the parties of the North.
A letter from a Mr. Stephens, Columbia, S. C., to the President, says it
is in his power to remove one of the evils which is bringing the
administration into disrepute, and causing universal indignation--Gen.
Winder. The writer says Winder drinks excessively, is brutish to all but
Marylanders, and habitually receives bribes, etc. The President indorsed
on it that he did not know the writer, and the absence of specifications
usually rendered action unnecessary. But perhaps the Secretary may find
Mr. S.'s character such as to deserve attention.
Captain Warner says it is believed there will be a riot, perhaps, when
Col. Northrop, the Commissary-General, may be immolated by the mob.
Flour sold to-day at $200 per barrel; butter, $8 per pound; and meat
from $2 to $4. This cannot continue long without a remedy.
The President has another reception to-night.
"A YANKEE ACCOUNT OF THE TREATMENT OF CONFEDERATE PRISONERS.--_The
Chicago Times_ gives the account which follows of the treatment of our
soldiers at Camp Douglas.
"It is said that about four weeks ago one of the prisoners was kindling
his fire, which act he had a right to perform, when one of the guard
accosted him with, 'Here, what are you doing there?' The prisoner
replied, 'That is not your business,' when the guard instantly drew his
musket and shot the fellow dead. It is said also that a mulatto boy, a
servant of one of the Confederate captains, and, of course, a prisoner
of war, who was well known to have a pass to go anywhere within the
lines, was walking inside the guard limits about a day after the above
occurrence, when the guard commanded him to halt. He did not stop, and
was instantly killed by a bullet.
"It is also charged that, at the time the discovery was made of an
attempt on the part of some of the prisoners to escape, a party of three
or four hundred was huddled together and surrounded by a guard; that one
of them was pushed by a comrade and fell to the ground, and that
instantly the unfortunate man was shot, and that three or four others
were wounded. It is further stated that it is no uncommon thing for a
soldier to fire on the barracks without any provocation whatever, and
that two men were thus shot while sleeping in their bunks a week or two
ago, no inquiry being made into the matter. No court-martial has been
held, no arrest has been made, though within the past month ten or
twelve of the prisoners have been thus put out of the way. Another
instance need only be given: one of the prisoners asked the guard for a
chew of tobacco, and he received the bayonet in his breast without a
word."
JANUARY 15TH.--We have no news. But there is a feverish anxiety in the
city on the question of subsistence, and there is fear of an outbreak.
Congress is in secret session on the subject of the currency, and the
new Conscription bill. The press generally is opposed to calling out all
men of fighting age, which they say would interfere with the freedom of
the press, and would be unconstitutional.
JANUARY 16TH.--General good spirits prevail since Northern arrivals show
that the House of Representatives at Washington has passed a resolution
that 1,000,000 men, including members of Congress under 50, volunteer to
deliver the prisoners of war out of our hands. This produces a general
smile, as indicative of the exhaustion of the available military force
of the United States--and all believe it to be the merest bravado and
unmitigated humbug. Every preparation will be made by the Confederate
States Government for the most stupendous campaign of the war.
There are indications of disorganization (political) in North
Carolina--but it is too late. The Confederate States Executive is too
strong, so long as Congress remains obedient, for any formidable
demonstration of that character to occur in any of the States. We shall
probably have martial law everywhere.
I bought some garden seeds to-day, fresh from New York! This people are
too improvident, even to sow their own seeds.
JANUARY 17TH.--There is nothing new to-day. The weather is pleasant for
the season, the snow being all gone.
Custis has succeeded in getting ten pupils for his night-school, and
this will add $100 per month to our income--if they pay him. But with
flour at $200 per barrel; meal, $20 per bushel, and meat from $2 to $5
per pound, what income would suffice? Captain Warner (I suppose in
return for some writing which Custis did for him) sent us yesterday two
bushels of potatoes, and, afterwards, a turkey! This is the first turkey
we have had during our housekeeping in Richmond.
I rarely see Robert Tyler nowadays. He used to visit me at my office.
His brother John I believe is in the trans-Mississippi Department. My
friend Jacques is about town occasionally.
JANUARY 18TH.--A flag of truce boat came up, but no one on board was
authorized to negotiate for an exchange of prisoners but Gen. Butler,
outlawed. It returns without anything being effected. Congress has
passed a bill for the reduction of the currency, in secret session. We
know not yet what are its main features. The Senate bill increasing the
compensation of civil officers has not yet been acted on in the House,
and many families are suffering for food.
Anne writes us that Lieut. Minor has returned from his Canada
expedition, which failed, in consequence of the gratuitous action of
Lord Lyons, the British Minister at Washington, who has been secured in
the interest of the Federal Government, it is said, by bribes. Lieut. M.
brought his family a dozen cups and saucers, dresses, shoes, etc.,
almost unattainable here.
The President receives company every Tuesday evening.
Among the letters referred by the Commissary-General to the Secretary of
War to-day for instructions, was one from our honest commissary in North
Carolina, stating that there were several million pounds of bacon and
pork in Chowan and one or two other counties, liable to the incursions
of the enemy, which the people were anxious to sell the government, but
were afraid to bring out themselves, lest the enemy should ravage their
farms, etc., and suggesting that a military force be sent thither with
wagons. The Commissary-General stated none of these facts in his
indorsement; but I did, so that the Secretary must be cognizant of the
nature of the paper.
The enemy made a brief raid in Westmoreland and Richmond counties a few
days ago, and destroyed 60,000 pounds of meat in one of the
Commissary-General's depots! A gentleman writing from that section, says
it is a pity the President's heart is not in his head; for then he would
not ruin the country by retaining his friend, Col. Northrop, the
Commissary-General, in office.
It appears that Gen. Meade has changed the Federal policy in the
Northern Neck, by securing our people within his lines from molestation;
and even by allowing them to buy food, clothing, etc. from Northern
traders, on a pledge of strict neutrality. The object is to prevent the
people from conveying intelligence to Moseby, who has harassed his
flanks and exposed detachments very much. It is a more dangerous policy
for us than the old habit of scourging the non-combatants that fall in
their power.
JANUARY 19TH.--A furious storm of wind and rain occurred last night, and
it is rapidly turning cold to-day.
The prisoners here have had no meat during the last four days, and fears
are felt that they will break out of confinement.
Yesterday Senator Orr waited upon the President, to induce him to remove
Col. Northrop, the obnoxious Commissary-General. The President, it is
said, told him that Col. N. was one of the greatest geniuses in the
South, and that, if he had the physical capacity he would put him at the
head of an army.
A letter from Mrs. Polk, widow of President Polk, dated at Nashville,
expresses regret that a portion of her cotton in Mississippi was burnt
by the military authorities (according to law), and demanding
remuneration. She also asks permission to have the remainder sent to
Memphis, now held by the enemy. The Secretary will not refuse.
I bought a pretty good pair of second-hand shoes at auction to-day for
$17.50; but they were too large. I will have them sold again, without
fear of loss.
A majority of the Judiciary Committee, to whom the subject was referred,
have reported a bill in the Senate vacating the offices of all the
members of the cabinet at the expiration of every two years, or of every
Congress. This is a blow at Mr. Benjamin, Mr. Memminger, etc., and, as
the President conceives, at himself. It will not pass, probably; but it
looks like war between the Senate and the Executive. Some of the
Secretaries _may_ resign on the 18th of February, when this Congress
expires. _Nous verrons._
JANUARY 20TH.--The Senate bill to give increased compensation to the
civil officers of the government in Richmond was _tabled_ in the House
yesterday, on the motion of Mr. Smith, of North Carolina, who spoke
against it.
Major-Gen. Gilmer, Chief of the Engineer Bureau, writes that the time
has arrived when no more iron should be used by the Navy Department;
that no iron-clads have effected any good, or are likely to effect any;
and that all the iron should be used to repair the roads, else we shall
soon be fatally deficient in the means of transportation. And Col.
Northrop, Commissary-General, says he has been trying to concentrate a
reserve supply of grain in Richmond, for eight months; and such has been
the deficiency in means of transportation, that the effort has failed.
Gov. Milton, of Florida, writes that the fact of quartermasters and
commissaries, and their agents, being of conscript age, and being
speculators all, produces great demoralization. If the rich will not
fight for their property, the poor will not fight for them.
Col. Northrop recommends that each commissary and quartermaster be
allowed a confidential clerk of conscript age. That would deprive the
army of several regiments of men.
The weather is bright again, but cool.
JANUARY 21ST.--Gen. Longstreet reports some small captures of the
enemy's detached foraging parties.
The prisoners here have now been six days without meat; and Capt. Warner
has been ordered by the Quartermaster-General to purchase supplies for
them, relying no longer on the Commissary-General.
Last night an attempt was made (by his servants, it is supposed) to
burn the President's mansion. It was discovered that fire had been
kindled in the wood-pile in the basement. The smoke led to the
discovery, else the family might have been consumed with the house. One
or two of the servants have absconded.
At the sale of a Jew to-day an _etegere_ brought $6000; a barrel of
flour, $220; and meal, $25 per bushel. All else in proportion. He is a
jeweler, and intends leaving the country. He will succeed, because he is
rich.
Yesterday the House passed the Senate bill, adjourning Congress on the
18th of February, to meet again in April. Mr. Barksdale, the President's
organ in the House, moved a reconsideration, and it will probably be
reconsidered and defeated, although it passed by two to one.
Major Griswold being required by resolution of the Legislature to give
the origin of the passport office, came to me to-day to write it for
him. I did so. There was no law for it.
JANUARY 22D.--Troops, a few regiments, have been passing down from Lee's
army, and going toward North Carolina. A dispatch, in cipher, from
Petersburg, was received to-day at 3 P.M. It is probable the enemy
threaten the Weldon and Wilmington Railroad. We shall hear soon.
It is thought the negroes that attempted to burn the President's house
(they had heaped combustibles under it) were instigated by Yankees who
have been released upon taking the oath of allegiance. But I think it
quite as probable his enemies here (citizens) instigated it. They have
one of the servants of the War Department under arrest, as participating
in it.
The weather is delightful, and I seek distraction by spading in my
garden.
Judge Campbell is still "allowing" men to pass out of the Confederate
States; and they will invite the enemy in!
JANUARY 23D.--The Secretary of War has authorized Mr. Boute, President
of the Chatham Railroad, to exchange tobacco through the enemy's lines
for bacon. And in the West he has given authority to exchange cotton
with the enemy for meat. It is supposed certain men in high position in
Washington, as well as the military authorities, wink at this traffic,
and share its profits. I hope we may get bacon, without strychnine.
Congress has passed a bill prohibiting, under severe penalties, the
traffic in Federal money. But neither the currency bill, the tax bill,
nor the repeal of the exemption act has been effected yet, and the
existence of the present Congress shortly expires. A _permanent_
government is a cumbersome one.
The weather is fine, and I am spading up my little garden.
JANUARY 24TH.--For some cause, we had no mail to-day. Fine, bright, and
pleasant weather. Yesterday Mr. Lyons called up the bill for increased
compensation to civil officers, and made an eloquent speech in favor of
the measure. I believe it was referred to a special committee, and hope
it may pass soon.
It is said the tax bill under consideration in Congress will produce
$500,000,000 revenue! If this be so, and compulsory funding be adopted,
there will soon be no redundancy of paper money, and a magical change of
values will take place. We who live on salaries may have better times
than even the extortioners--who cannot inherit the kingdom of Heaven.
And relief cannot come too soon: for we who have families are shabby
enough in our raiment, and lean and lank in our persons. Nevertheless,
we have health and never-failing appetites. Roasted potatoes and salt
are eaten with a keen relish.
JANUARY 25TH.--The breach seems to widen between the President and
Congress, especially the Senate. A majority of the Committee on Military
Affairs have reported that Col. A. C. Myers (relieved last August) is
still the Quartermaster-General of the armies, and that Gen. Lawton, who
has been acting as Quartermaster-General since then, is not the duly
authorized Quartermaster-General: not having given bond, and his
appointment not having been consented to by the Senate. They say all the
hundreds of millions disbursed by his direction have been expended in
violation of law.
For the last few nights Col. Browne, one of the President's A. D. C.'s,
and an unnaturalized Englishman, has ordered a guard (department clerks)
to protect the President. Capt. Manico (an Englishman) ordered my son
Custis to go on guard to-night; but I obtained from the Secretary a
countermand of the order, and also an exemption from drills, etc. It
will not do for him to neglect his night-school, else we shall starve.
I noticed, to-day, eight slaughtered deer in one shop; and they are seen
hanging at the doors in every street. The price is $3 per pound. Wild
turkies, geese, ducks, partridges, etc. are also exposed for sale, at
enormous prices, and may mitigate the famine now upon us. The war has
caused an enormous increase of wild game. But ammunition is difficult to
be obtained. I see some perch, chubb, and other fish, but all are
selling at famine prices.
The weather is charming, which is something in the item of fuel. I sowed
a bed of early York cabbage, to-day, in a sheltered part of the garden,
and I planted twenty-four grains of early-sweet corn, some cabbage seed,
tomatoes, beets, and egg-plants in my little hot-bed--a flour barrel
sawed in two, which I can bring into the house when the weather is cold.
I pray God the season may continue mild, else there must be much
suffering. _And yet no beggars are seen in the streets._ What another
month will develop, I know not; the fortitude of the people, so far, is
wonderful.
Major-Gen. Sam. Jones, Dublin, Va., is at loggerheads with Lieut.-Gen.
Longstreet about some regiments the latter keeps in East Tennessee. Gen.
J. says Averill is preparing to make another raid on the Virginia and
Tennessee Railroad, the salt-works, the mines, etc.; and if he is
charged with the defense, he must have at least all his regiments. He
gets his orders from Gen. Cooper, A. and I. G., who will probably give
him what he wants.
JANUARY 26TH.--Gen. Lee recommends the formation of several more
brigades of cavalry, mostly from regiments and companies in South
Carolina, and to this he anticipates objections on the part of the
generals and governors along the Southern seaboard; but he deems it
necessary, as the enemy facing him has a vastly superior cavalry force.
The prisoners on Belle Isle (8000) have had no meat for eleven days. The
Secretary says the Commissary-General informs him that they fare as well
as our armies, and so he refused the commissary (Capt. Warner) of the
prisoners a permit to buy and bring to the city cattle he might be able
to find. An outbreak of the prisoners is apprehended: and if they were
to rise, it is feared some of the inhabitants of the city would join
them, for they, too, have no meat--many of them--or bread either. They
believe the famine is owing to the imbecility, or worse, of the
government. A riot would be a dangerous occurrence, now: the city
battalion would not fire on the people--and if they did, the army might
break up, and avenge their slaughtered kindred. It is a perilous time.
My wife paid $12, to-day, for a half bushel of meal; meantime I got an
order for two bushels, from Capt. Warner, at $10 per bushel.
The President receives visitors to-night; and, for the first time, I
think I will go.
Mr. Foote, yesterday, offered a resolution that the Commissary-General
ought to be removed; which was defeated by a decided vote, twenty in the
affirmative. Twenty he relied on failed him. Letters from all quarters
denounce the Commissary-General and his agents.
JANUARY 27TH.--Last night, the weather being very pleasant, the
President's house was pretty well filled with gentlemen and ladies. I
cannot imagine how they continue to dress so magnificently, unless it be
their old finery, which looks well amid the general aspect of shabby
mendicity. But the statures of the men, and the beauty and grace of the
ladies, surpass any I have seen elsewhere, in America or Europe. There
is high character in almost every face, and fixed resolve in every eye.
The President was very courteous, saying to each, "I am glad to meet you
here to-night." He questioned me so much in regard to my health, that I
told him I was not very well; and if his lady (to whom he introduced us
all) had not been so close (at his elbow), I might have assigned the
cause. When we parted, he said, "_We_ have met before." Mrs. Davis was
in black--for her father. And many of the ladies were in mourning for
those slain in battle.
Gen. Lee has published the following to his army:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"January 22d, 1864.
"GENERAL ORDERS NO 7.
"The Commanding General considers it due to the army to state that
the temporary reduction of rations has been caused by circumstances
beyond the control of those charged with its support. Its welfare
and comfort are the objects of his constant and earnest solicitude;
and no effort has been spared to provide for its wants. It is hoped
that the exertions now being made will render the necessity but of
short duration: but the history of the army has shown that the
country can require no sacrifice too great for its patriotic
devotion.
"Soldiers! you tread, with no unequal steps, the road by which your
fathers marched through suffering, privation, and blood to
independence!
"Continue to emulate in the future, as you have in the past, their
valor in arms, their patient endurance of hardships, their high
resolve to be free, which no trial could shake, no bribe seduce, no
danger appal: and be assured that the just God, who crowned their
efforts with success, will, in His own good time, send down His
blessings upon yours.
"(Signed) R. E. LEE, _General_."
An eloquent and stirring appeal!
It is rumored that the writ of _habeas corpus_ has been suspended--as
the President has been allowed to suspend it--by Congress, in secret
session. But Congress passed a resolution, yesterday, that after it
adjourns on the 18th February, it will assemble again on the first
Monday in May.
Mr. Lyons, chairman of the Committee on Increased Compensation to the
civil officers, had an interview with the Secretary of War yesterday.
The Secretary told him, it is said, that unless Congress voted the
increase, he would take the responsibility of ordering them rations,
etc. etc. And Mr. Smith, of North Carolina, told me, to-day, that
something would be done. He it was who moved to lay the bill on the
table. He said it would have been defeated, if the vote had been taken
on the bill.
Gov. Smith sent to the Legislature a message, yesterday, rebuking the
members for doing so little, and urging the passage of a bill putting
into the State service all between the ages of sixteen and eighteen and
over forty-five. The Legislature considered his lecture an insult, and
the House of Delegates contemptuously laid it on the table by an almost
unanimous vote. So he has war with the Legislature, while the President
is in conflict with the Confederate States Senate.
JANUARY 28TH.--The beautiful, pleasant weather continues.
It is said Congress passed, last night, in secret session, the bill
allowing increased compensation to civil officers and employees. Mr.
Davidson, of fifty years of age, resigned, to-day, his clerkship in the
War Department, having been offered $5000 by one of the incorporated
companies to travel and buy supplies for it.
Mr. Hubbard, of Alabama, suggests to the Secretary to buy 500,000
slaves, and give one to every soldier enlisting from beyond our present
lines, at the end of the war. He thinks many from the border free States
would enlist on our side. The Secretary does not favor the project.
Gen. Whiting writes for an order for two locomotive boilers, at
Montgomery, Ala., for his torpedo-boats, now nearly completed. He says
he intends to attack the blockading squadron off Wilmington.
The weather is still warm and beautiful. The buds are swelling.
JANUARY 30TH.--The Senate has passed a new Conscription Act, putting all
residents between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five in the military
service for the war. Those over forty-five to be detailed by the
President as commissary quartermasters, Nitre Bureau agents, provost
guards, clerks, etc. This would make up the enormous number of 1,500,000
men! The express companies are to have no detail of men fit for the
field, but the President may exempt a certain class for agricultural
purposes, which, of course, can be revoked whenever a farmer refuses to
sell at schedule prices, or engages in speculation or extortion. Thus
the President becomes almost absolute, and the Confederacy a military
nation. The House will pass it with some modifications. Already the
_Examiner_ denounces it, for it allows only one owner or editor to a
paper, and just sufficient printers,--no assistant editors, no
reporters, no clerks, etc. This will save us, and hasten a peace.
Mr. G. A. Myers, the little old lawyer, always potential with the
successive Secretaries of War, proposes, in a long letter, that the
Department allows 30 to 40 foreigners (Jews) to leave the Confederate
States, _via_ Maryland, every week!
Mr. Goodman, President of the Mississippi Railroad, proposes to send
cotton to the Yankees in exchange for implements, etc., to repair the
road, and Lieut.-Gen. (Bishop) Polk favors the scheme.
Commissary-General Northrop likewise sent in a proposal from an agent of
his in Mississippi, to barter cotton with the Yankees for subsistence,
and he indorses an approval on it. I trust we shall be independent this
summer.
To-day it is cool and cloudy, but Custis has had no use for fire in his
school-room of nights for a week--and that in January. The warm weather
saved us a dollar per day in coal. Custis's scholars are paying him $95
the first month.
I shall hope for better times now. We shall have men enough, if the
Secretary and conscription officers do not strain the meshes of the
seine too much, and the currency will be reduced. The speculators and
extortioners, in great measure, will be circumvented, for the new
conscription will take them from their occupations, and they will not
find transportation for their wares.
The 2000 barrels of corn destroyed by the enemy on the Peninsula, a few
days ago, belonged to a relative of Col. Ruffin, Assistant
Commissary-General! He would not impress that--and lo! it is gone! Many
here are glad of it.
JANUARY 31ST.--It rained moderately last night, and is cooler this
morning. But the worst portion of the winter is over. The pigeons of my
neighbor are busy hunting straws in my yard for their nests. They do no
injury to the garden, as they never scratch. The shower causes my
turnips to present a fresher appearance, for they were suffering for
moisture. The buds of the cherry trees have perceptibly swollen during
the warm weather.
A letter from Gen. Cobb (Georgia) indicates that the Secretary of War
has refused to allow men having employed substitutes to form new
organizations, and he combats the decision. He says they will now appeal
to the courts, contending that the law putting them in the service is
unconstitutional, and some will escape from the country, or otherwise
evade the law. They cannot go into old companies and be sneered at by
the veterans, and commanded by their inferiors in fortune, standing,
etc. He says the decision will lose the service 2000 men in Georgia.
The Jews are fleeing from Richmond with the money they have made.
CHAPTER XXXV.
Gen. Lovell applies for a command.--Auspicious opening of 1864.--Mr.
Wright's resolutions.--Rumored approach of Gen. Butler.--Letter from
Gov. Brown.--Letter from Gen. Lee.--Dispatches from Gen.
Beauregard.--President Davis's negroes.--Controversy between Gen.
Winder and Mr. Ould.--Robbery of Mr. Lewis Hayman.--Promotion of Gen.
Bragg, and the _Examiner_ thereon.--Scarcity of provisions in the
army.--Congress and the President.
FEBRUARY 1ST.--Hazy, misty weather. Gen. Lovell (who lost New Orleans)
has applied for a command in the West, and Gen. Johnston approves it
strongly. He designs dividing his army into three corps, giving one (3d
division) to Gen. Hardee; one (2d division) to Gen. Hindman; and one
(1st division) to Lovell. But the Secretary of War (wide awake) indorses
a disapproval, saying, in his opinion, it would be injudicious to place
a corps under the command of Gen. Lovell, and it would not give
confidence to the army. This being sent to the President, came back
indorsed, "opinion concurred in.--J. D."
Gen. Pillow has applied for the command of two brigades for operations
between Gen. Johnston's and Gen. Polk's armies, protecting the flanks of
both, and guarding the coal mines, iron works, etc. in Middle Alabama.
This is strongly approved by Generals Johnston, Polk, Gov. Watts & Co.
But the President has not yet decided the matter.
The Commissary-General is appointing many ladies to clerkships. Old men,
disabled soldiers, and ladies are to be relied on for clerical duty,
nearly all others to take the field. But every ingenuity is resorted to
by those having in substitutes to evade military service.
There is a great pressure of foreigners (mostly Irish) for passes to
leave the country.
FEBRUARY 2D.--So lax has become Gen. Winder's rule, or deficient, or
worse, the vigilance of his detectives,--the rogues and
cut-throats,--one of them keeps a mistress in a house the rent of which
is more than his salary, that five Jews, the other day, cleared out in a
schooner laden with tobacco, professedly for Petersburg, but sailed
directly to the enemy. They had with them some $10,000 in gold; and as
they absconded to avoid military service in the Confederate States, no
doubt they imparted all the information they could to the enemy.
Mr. Benjamin, Secretary of State, asked the Secretary of War to-day to
make such arrangements as would supply the State Department with regular
files of Northern papers. They sometimes have in them important
diplomatic correspondence, and the perusal of this is about all the
Secretary of State has to do.
It is rumored that the Hon. Robert Toombs has been arrested in Georgia
for treason. I cannot believe it, but I know he is inimical to the
President.
The British papers again seem to sympathise with us.
Senator Orr writes to the Secretary that a resolution of the Senate,
asking for copies of Gen. Beauregard's orders in 1862 for the
fortification of Vicksburg (he was the first to plan the works which
made such a glorious defense), and also a resolution calling for a copy
of Gen. B.'s charges against Col. ----, had not been responded to by the
President. He asks that these matters may be brought to the President's
attention.
The weather is beautiful and spring-like again, and we may soon have
some news both from Tennessee and North Carolina. From the latter I hope
we shall get some of the meat endangered by the proximity of the enemy.
FEBRUARY 3D.--The following dispatch indicates the prestige of success
for the year 1864, and it is probable it will be followed by a
succession of successes, for the administration at Washington will find,
this year, constant antagonisms everywhere, in the North as well as in
the South, and in the army there will be opposing parties--Republicans
and Democrats. On the part of the South, we have experienced the great
agony of 1863, and have become so familiar with horrors that we shall
fight with a fearful desperation. But the dispatch:
"Glorious news! The whole Yankee force, about 150, are our prisoners,
and their gun-boat 'Smith Briggs,' destroyed.
"No one hurt on our side. Four Yankees killed and two or three wounded.
"The prisoners are now at Broad Water. Send down a train for them
to-morrow."
We learn that this Yankee force was commissioned to destroy a large
factory at Smithfield, in Isle of Wight County. We do not know the size
or composition of our command which achieved the results noticed above,
but understand that it contained two companies of the Thirty-first North
Carolina Regiment.
Congress has not yet finally acted on the Tax bill, nor on the new
Conscription bill.
The Secretary of War said to-day that he would not allow the increased
pay to any of his civil officers who were young and able to bear
arms--and this after urging Congress to increase their compensation. It
will be very hard on some who are refugees, having families dependent on
them. Others, who board, must be forced into the army (the design), for
their expenses per month will be some fifty per cent, more than their
income.
The weather is clear but colder.
FEBRUARY 4TH.--Clear and pretty cold. We have news of another brilliant
affair at Kinston, N. C., where Gen. Pickett has beaten the enemy,
killing and wounding and taking some 500 men, besides capturing another
gun-boat! Thus the campaign of 1864 opens auspiciously.
And Gen. Early has beaten the foe in Hardy County, Northwest Virginia,
capturing, it is said, some 800.
It is supposed that Gen. Pickett will push on to Newbern, and probably
capture the town. At all events we shall get large supplies from the
tide-water counties of North Carolina. General Lee planned the
enterprise, sending some 15,000 men on the expedition.
Yesterday the Senate Committee reported _against_ the House bill
modifying the act making all men liable to conscription who have hired
substitutes. But they are debating a new exemption bill in the House.
It is true Mr. Toombs was arrested at Savannah, or was ejected from the
cars because he would not procure a passport.
To-day Mr. Kean, the young Chief of the Bureau of War, has registered
all the clerks, the dates of their appointments, their age, and the
number of children they have. He will make such remarks as suits him in
each case, and submit the list to the Secretary for his action
regarding the increased compensation. Will he intimate that his own
services are so indispensable that he had better remain out of the
field?
The following "political card" for the Northern Democrats was played
yesterday. I think it a good one, if nothing more be said about it here.
It will give the Abolitionists trouble in the rear while we assail them
in the front.
The following extraordinary resolutions were, yesterday, introduced in
the House of Representatives by Mr. Wright of Georgia. The House went
into secret session before taking any action upon them.
"WHEREAS: The President of the United States, in a late public
communication, did declare that no propositions for peace had been made
to that government by the Confederate States, when, in truth, such
propositions were prevented from being made by the President of the
United States, in that he refused to hear, or even to receive, two
commissioners, appointed to treat expressly of the preservation of
amicable relations between the two governments.
"Nevertheless, that the Confederate States may stand justified in the
sight of the conservative men of the North of all parties, and that the
world may know which of the two governments it is that urges on a war
unparalleled for the fierceness of the conflict, and intensifying into a
sectional hatred unsurpassed in the annals of mankind. Therefore,
"_Resolved_, That the Confederate States invite the United States,
through their government at Washington, to meet them by representatives
equal to their representatives and senators in their respective Congress
at ----, on the ---- day of ---- next, to consider,
"_First_: Whether they cannot agree upon the recognition of the
Confederate States of America.
"_Second_: In the event of such recognition, whether they cannot agree
upon the formation of a new government, founded upon the equality and
sovereignty of the States; but if this cannot be done, to consider
"_Third_: Whether they cannot agree upon treaties, offensive, defensive,
and commercial.
"_Resolved_, In the event of the passage of these resolutions, the
President be requested to communicate the same to the Government at
Washington, in such manner as he shall deem most in accordance with the
usages of nations; and, in the event of their acceptance by that
government, he do issue his proclamation of election of delegates, under
such regulations as he may deem expedient."
Eighteen car loads of coffee went up to the army to-day. I have not
tasted coffee or tea for more than a year.
FEBRUARY 5TH.--Bright frosty morning, but warmer and hazy later in the
day. From dispatches from North Carolina, it would seem that our
generals are taking advantage of the fine roads, and improving the
opportunity, while the enemy are considering the plan of the next
campaign at Washington.
FEBRUARY 6TH.--Major-Gen. Breckinridge, it is said, is to command in
Southwestern Virginia near the Kentucky line, relieving Major-Gen. Sam
Jones.
Yesterday the cabinet decided to divide the clerks into three classes.
Those under eighteen and over forty-five, to have the increased
compensation; those between those ages, who shall be pronounced unable
for field service, also to have it; and all others the Secretaries may
certify to be necessary, etc. This will cover all their cousins,
nephews, and pets, and exclude many young men whose refugee mothers and
sisters are dependent on their salaries for subsistence. Such is the
unvarying history of public functionaries.
Gen. Pickett, finding Newbern impregnable, has fallen back, getting off
his prisoners, etc. But more troops are going to North Carolina.
FEBRUARY 7TH, SUNDAY.-- _The tocsin is sounding at_ 9 A.M. It appears
that Gen. Butler is marching up the Peninsula (I have not heard the
estimated number of his army) toward Richmond. But, being in the
Secretary's room for a moment, I heard him say to Gen. Elzey that the
"local defense men" must be relied on to defend Richmond. These men are
mainly clerks and employees of the departments, who have just been
_insulted_ by the government, being informed that no increased
compensation will be allowed them because they are able to bear arms. In
other words, they must famish for subsistence, and their families with
them, because they happen to be of fighting age, and have been patriotic
enough to volunteer for the defense of the government, and have drilled,
and paraded, and marched, until they are pronounced good soldiers.
Under these circumstances, the Secretary of War says they must be relied
upon to defend the government. In my opinion, many of them are _not_
reliable. Why were they appointed contrary to law? Who is to blame but
the Secretaries themselves? Ah! but the Secretaries had pets and
relatives of fighting age they must provide for; and _these_, although
not dependent on their salaries, will get the increased compensation,
and will also be exempted from aiding in the defense of the city--at
least such has been the practice heretofore. These things being known to
the proscribed local troops (clerks, etc.), I repeat my doubts of their
reliability at any critical moment.
We have good news from the Rappahannock. It is said Gen. Rosser
yesterday captured several hundred prisoners, 1200 beeves, 350 mules,
wagons of stores, etc. etc.
Nevertheless, there is some uneasiness felt in the city, there being
nearly 12,000 prisoners here, and all the veteran troops of Gen. Elzey's
division are being sent to North Carolina.
FEBRUARY 8TH.--The air is filled with rumors--none reliable.
It is said Gen. Lee is much provoked at the alarm and excitement in the
city, which thwarted a plan of his to capture the enemy on the
Peninsula; and the militia and the Department Battalions were kept
yesterday and to-day under arms standing in the cold, the officers
blowing their nails, and "waiting orders," which came not. Perhaps they
were looking for the "conspirators;" a new hoax to get "martial law."
A Union meeting has been held in Greensborough, N. C. An intelligent
writer to the department says the burden of the speakers, mostly
lawyers, was the terrorism of Gen. Winder and his corps of rogues and
cut-throats, Marylanders, whose operations, it seems, have spread into
most of the States. Mr. Sloan, the writer, says, however, a vast
majority of the people are loyal.
It is said Congress is finally about to authorize martial law.
My cabbages are coming up in my little hot-bed--half barrel.
Gen. Maury writes from Mobile that he cannot be able to obtain any
information leading to the belief of an intention on the part of the
enemy to attack Mobile. He says it would require 40,000 men, after three
months' preparation, to take it.
Gov. Brown, of Georgia, says the Confederate States Government has kept
bad faith with the Georgia six months' men; and hence they cannot be
relied on to relieve Gen. Beauregard, etc. (It is said the enemy are
about to raise the siege of Charleston.) Gov. B. says the State Guard
are already disbanded. He says, moreover, that the government here, if
it understood its duty, would not seize and put producers in the field,
but would stop details, and order the many thousand young officers
everywhere swelling in the cars and hotels, and basking idly in every
village, to the ranks. He is disgusted with the policy here. What are we
coming to?
Everywhere our troops in the field, whose terms of three years will
expire this spring, are re-enlisting for the war. This is an effect
produced by President Lincoln's proclamation; that to be _permitted_ to
return to the Union, all men must first take an oath to abolish slavery!
FEBRUARY 9TH.--A letter from Gen. Johnston says he received the
"confidential instructions" of the President, from the Secretary of War,
and succeeded in getting Gen. Cleburn to lay aside his "memorial," the
nature of which is not stated; but I suspect the President was getting
alarmed at the disposition of the armies to dictate measures to the
government.
Hon. Mr. Johnson, Senator, and Hon. Mr. Bell, Representative from
Missouri, called on me to-day, with a voluminous correspondence, and
"charges and specifications" against Lieut.-Gen. Holmes, by my nephew,
Lieut.-Col. R. H. Musser. They desired me to read the papers and submit
my views. I have read them, and shall advise them not to proceed in the
matter. Gen. Holmes is rendered unfit, by broken health, for the command
of a Western Department, and his conviction at this time would neither
benefit the cause nor aid Lieut.-Col. Musser in his aspirations. It is
true he had my nephew tried for disobedience of orders; but he was
honorably acquitted. Missouri will some day rise like a giant, and deal
death and destruction on her oppressors.
Col. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, says the enemy have taken more guns from
us than we from them--exclusive of siege artillery--but I don't think
so.
Our people are becoming more hopeful since we have achieved some
successes. The enemy cannot get men again except by dragging them out,
unless they should go to war with France--a not improbable event.
FEBRUARY 10TH.--Gen. Lee wrote to the Secretary of War, on the 22d of
January, that his army was not fed well enough to fit them for the
exertions of the spring campaign; and recommended the discontinuance of
the rule of the Commissary-General allowing officers at Richmond,
Petersburg, and many other towns, to purchase government meat, etc. etc.
for the subsistence of their families, at schedule prices. He says the
salaries of these officers ought to be sufficient compensation for their
services; that such allowances deprived the officers and soldiers _in
the field_ of necessary subsistence, and encouraged able-bodied men to
seek such easy positions; it offended the people who paid tithes, to see
them consumed by these non-combating colonels, majors, etc., instead of
going to feed the army; and it demoralized the officers and soldiers in
the field.
This letter was referred to the Commissary-General, who, after the usual
delay, returned it with a long argument to show that Gen. Lee was in
"_error_," and that the practice was necessary, etc.
To this the Secretary responded by a peremptory _order_, restricting the
city officers in the item of meat.
Again the Commissary-General sends it back, recommending the
_suspension_ of the order until it be seen what Congress will do! Here
are twenty days gone, and the Commissary-General has his own way still.
He don't hesitate to bully the Secretary and the highest generals in the
field. Meantime the Commissary-General's pet officers and clerks are
living sumptuously while the soldiers are on hard fare. But,
fortunately, Gen. Lee has captured 1200 beeves from the enemy since his
letter was written.
And Gen. Cobb writes an encouraging letter from Georgia. He says there
is more meat in that State than any one supposed; and men too. Many
thousands of recruits can be sent forward, and meat enough to feed them.
The President has issued a stirring address to the army.
The weather is still clear, and the roads are not only good, but
dusty--yet it is cold.
They say Gen. Butler, on the Peninsula, has given orders to his troops
to respect private property--and not to molest non-combatants.
FEBRUARY 11TH.--Night before last 109 Federal prisoners, all
commissioned officers, made their escape from prison--and only three or
four have been retaken!
The letter of Mr. Sloan, of North Carolina, only produced a reply from
the Secretary that there was not the slightest suspicion against Gen. W.,
and that the people of North Carolina would not be satisfied with anybody.
Eight thousand men of Johnston's army are without bayonets, and yet Col.
Gorgas has abundance.
Governor Milton, of Florida, calls lustily for 5000 men--else he fears
all is lost in his State.
To-day bacon is selling for $6 per pound, and all other things in
proportion. A negro (for his master) asked me, to-day, $40 for an old,
tough turkey gobbler. I passed on very briskly.
We shall soon have martial law, it is thought, which, judiciously
administered, might remedy some of the grievous evils we labor under. I
shall have no meat for dinner to-morrow.
FEBRUARY 12TH.--It is warm to-day, and cloudy; but there was ice early
in the morning. We have recaptured twenty-odd of the escaped prisoners.
A bill has passed Congress placing an embargo on many imported articles;
and these articles are rising rapidly in price. Sugar sold to-day at
auction in large quantity for $8.00 per pound; rice, 85 cents, etc.
There is a rumor that Gen. Finnegan has captured the enemy in Florida.
Gen. Lee says his army is rapidly re-enlisting for the war.
FEBRUARY 13TH.--Bright, beautiful weather, with frosty nights.
The dispatches I cut from the papers to-day are interesting. Gen. Wise,
it appears, has met the enemy at last, and gained a brilliant
success--and so has Gen. Finnegan. But the correspondence between the
President and Gen. Johnston, last spring and summer, indicates constant
dissensions between the Executive and the generals. And the President is
under the necessity of defending _Northern_ born generals, while
Southern born ones are without trusts, etc.
INTERESTING FROM FLORIDA.
OFFICIAL DISPATCH.
"CHARLESTON, February 11th, 1864.
"TO GEN. S. COOPER.
"Gen Finnegan has repulsed the enemy's force at Lake City--details
not known.
"(Signed) G. T. BEAUREGARD."
SECOND DISPATCH.
"CHARLESTSON, February 11th--11 A.M.
"TO GEN. S. COOPER.
"Gen. Finnegan's success yesterday was very creditable--the enemy's
force being much superior to his own. His reinforcements had not
reached here, owing to delays on the road. Losses not yet reported.
"(Signed) G. T. BEAUREGARD."
REPULSE OF THE ENEMY NEAR CHARLESTON.
OFFICIAL DISPATCH.
"CHARLESTON, February 12th, 1864.
"Gen. Wise gallantly repulsed the enemy last evening on John's
Island. He is, to-day, in pursuit. Our loss very trifling. The
force of the enemy is about 2000; ours about one-half.
"(Signed) G. T. BEAUREGARD."
Every day we recapture some of the escaped Federal officers. So far we
have 34 of the 109.
The President sent over a "confidential" sealed letter to the Secretary
to-day. I handed it to the Secretary, who was looking pensive.
Dr. McClure, of this city, who has been embalming the dead, and going
about the country with his coffins, has been detected taking Jews and
others through the lines. Several _live men_ have been found in his
coffins.
Again it is reported that the enemy are advancing up the Peninsula in
force, and, to-morrow being Sunday, the local troops may be called out.
But Gen. Rhodes is near with his division, so no serious danger will be
felt, unless more than 20,000 attack us. Even that number would not
accomplish much--for the city is fortified strongly.
It is rumored by blockade-runners that gold in the North is selling at
from 200 to 500 per cent. premium. If this be _true_, our day of
deliverance is not distant.
FEBRUARY 14TH.--Clear and windy. There is nothing new that I have heard
of; but great apprehensions are felt for the fate of Mississippi--said
to be penetrated to its center by an overwhelming force of the enemy.
It is defended, however, or it is to be, by Gen. (Bishop) Polk.
I hear of more of the escaped Federal officers being brought in to-day.
The correspondence between the President and Gen. Johnston is causing
some remark. The whole is not given. Letters were received from Gen. J.
to which no allusion is made, which passed through my hands, and I think
the fact is noted in this diary. He intimated, I think, that the
position assigned him was equivocal and unpleasant in Tennessee. He did
not feel inclined to push Bragg out of the field, and the President, it
seems, would not relieve Bragg.
Mr. Secretary Seddon, it is now said, is resolved to remain in office.
FEBRUARY 15TH.--We have over forty of the escaped Federal officers.
Nothing more from Gens. Wise and Finnegan. The enemy have retreated
again on the Peninsula. It is said Meade's army is falling back on
Washington.
We have a snow storm to-day.
The President is unfortunate with his servants, as the following from
the _Dispatch_ would seem:
"_Another of President Davis's Negroes run away._--On Saturday night
last the police were informed of the fact that Cornelius, a negro man in
the employ of President Davis, had run away. Having received some clew
of his whereabouts, they succeeded in finding him in a few hours after
receiving the information of his escape, and lodged him in the upper
station house. When caught, there was found on his person snack enough,
consisting of cold chicken, ham, preserves, bread, etc., to last him for
a long journey, and a large sum of money he had stolen from his master.
Some time after being locked up, he called to the keeper of the prison
to give him some water, and as that gentleman incautiously opened the
door of his cell to wait on him, Cornelius knocked him down and again
made his escape. Mr. Peter Everett, the only watchman present, put off
after him; but before running many steps stumbled and fell, injuring
himself severely."
FEBRUARY 16TH.--A plan of invasion. Gen. Longstreet telegraphs that he
has no corn, and cannot stay where he is, unless supplied by the
Quartermaster-General. This, the President says, is impossible, for
want of transportation. The railroads can do no more than supply grain
for the horses of Lee's army--all being brought from Alabama, Georgia,
South Carolina, etc. But the President says Longstreet might extricate
himself from the exigency by marching into Middle Tennessee or Kentucky,
or both.
Soon after this document came in, another followed from the Tennessee
and Kentucky members of Congress, inclosing an elaborate plan from Col.
Dibrell, of the Army of Tennessee, of taking Nashville, and getting
forage, etc. in certain counties not yet devastated, in Tennessee and
Kentucky. Only 10,000 additional men will be requisite. They are to set
out with eight days' rations; and if Grant leaves Chattanooga to
interfere with the plan, Gen. Johnston is to follow and fall upon his
rear, etc. Gen. Longstreet approves the plan--is eager for it, I infer
from his dispatch about corn; and the members of Congress are in favor
of it. If practicable, it ought to be begun immediately; and I think it
will be.
A bright windy day--snow gone.
The Federal General Sherman, with 30,000 men, was, at the last dates,
still marching southeast of Jackson, Miss. It is predicted that he is
rushing on his destruction. Gen. Polk is retreating before him, while
our cavalry is in his rear. He cannot keep open his communications.
FEBRUARY 17TH.--Bright and very cold--freezing all day. Col. Myers has
written a letter to the Secretary, in reply to our ordering him to
report to the Quartermaster-General, stating that he considers himself
the Quartermaster-General--as the Senate has so declared. This being
referred to the President, he indorses on it that Col. Myers served long
enough in the United States army to know his status and duty, without
any such discussion with the Secretary as he seems to invite.
Yesterday Congress consummated several measures of such magnitude as
will attract universal attention, and which must have, perhaps, a
decisive influence in our struggle for independence.
Gen. Sherman, with 30,000 or 40,000 men, is still advancing deeper into
Mississippi, and the Governor of Alabama has ordered the non-combatants
to leave Mobile, announcing that it is to be attacked. If Sherman
_should go on_, and succeed, it would be the most brilliant operation
of the war. If he goes on and fails, it will be the most disastrous--and
his surrender would be, probably, like the surrender of Lord Cornwallis
at Yorktown. He ought certainly to be annihilated.
I have advised Senator Johnson to let my nephew's purpose to bring Gen.
Holmes before a court-martial lie over, and I have the papers in my
drawer. The President will probably promote Col. Clark to a
brigadiership, and then my nephew will succeed to the colonelcy; which
will be a sufficient rebuke to Gen. H., and a cataplasm for my nephew's
wounded honor.
The _Examiner_ has whipped Congress into a modification of the clause
putting assistant editors and other employees of newspaper proprietors
into the army. They want the press to give them the meed of praise for
their bold measures, and to reconcile the people to the tax, militia,
and currency acts. This is the year of crises, and I think we'll win.
We are now sending 400 Federal prisoners to Georgia daily; and I hope we
shall have more food in the city when they are all gone.
FEBRUARY 18TH.--This was the coldest morning of the winter. There was
ice in the wash-basins in our bed chambers, the first we have seen
there. I fear my cabbage, beets, etc. now coming up, in my half barrel
hot-bed, although in the house, are killed.
The topic of discussion everywhere, now, is the effect likely to be
produced by the Currency bill. Mr. Lyons denounces it, and says the
people will be starved. I have heard (not seen) that some holders of
Treasury notes have burnt them to spite the government! I hope for the
best, even if the worst is to come. Some future Shakspeare will depict
the times we live in in striking colors. The wars of "The Roses" bore no
comparison to these campaigns between the rival sections. Everywhere our
troops are re-enlisting for the war; one regiment re-enlisted, the other
day, for forty years!
The President has discontinued his Tuesday evening receptions. The
Legislature has a bill before it to suppress theatrical amusements
during the war. What would Shakspeare think of that?
Sugar has risen to $10 and $12 per pound.
FEBRUARY 19TH.--Cold and clear. Congress adjourned yesterday, having
passed the bill suspending the writ of _habeas corpus_ for six months
at least. Now the President is clothed with DICTATORIAL POWERS, to all
intents and purposes, so far as the war is concerned.
The first effect of the Currency bill is to inflate prices yet more. But
as the volume of Treasury notes flows into the Treasury, we shall see
prices fall. And soon there will be a great rush to fund the notes, for
fear the holders may be _too late_, and have to submit to a discount of
33-1/2 per cent.
Dispatches from Gen. Polk state that Sherman has paused at Meridian.
FEBRUARY 20TH.--Bright, calm, but still cold--slightly moderating. Roads
firm and dusty. Trains of army wagons still go by our house laden with
ice.
Brig.-Gen. Wm. Preston has been sent to Mexico, with authority to
recognize and treat with the new Emperor Maximilian.
I see, by a letter from Mr. Benjamin, that he is intrusted by the
President with the custody of the "secret service" money.
Late papers from the United States show that they have a money panic,
and that gold is rising in price. In Lowell not a spindle is turning,
and 30,000 operatives are thrown out of employment!
From England we learn that the mass of the population are memorializing
government to put an end to the war!
I saw a _ham_ sell to-day for $350; it weighed fifty pounds, at $7 per
pound.
FEBRUARY 21ST.--Cold, clear, and calm, but moderating.
Mr. Benjamin sent over, this morning, extracts from dispatches received
from his commercial agent in London, dated December 26th and January
16th, recommending, what had already been suggested by Mr. McRae, in
Paris, a government monopoly in the export of cotton, and in the
importation of necessaries, etc.
This measure has already been adopted by Congress, which clearly shows
that the President can have any measure passed he pleases; and this is a
good one.
So complete is the Executive master of the "situation", that, in advance
of the action of Congress on the Currency bill, the Secretary of the
Treasury had prepared plates, etc. for the new issue of notes before the
bill passed calling in the old.
Some forty of the members of the Congress just ended failed to be
re-elected, and of these a large proportion are already seeking office
or exemption.
The fear is now, that, from a plethora of paper money, we shall soon be
without a sufficiency for a circulating medium. There are $750,000,000
in circulation; and the tax bills, etc. will call in, it is estimated,
$800,000,000! Well, I am willing to abide the result. Speculators have
had their day; and it will be hoped we shall have a season of low
prices, if scarcity of money always reduces prices. There are grave
lessons for our edification daily arising in such times as these.
I know my ribs stick out, being covered by skin only, for the want of
sufficient food; and this is the case with many thousands of
non-producers, while there is enough for all, if it were equally
distributed.
The Secretary of War has nothing new from Gen. Polk; and Sherman is
supposed to be still at Meridian.
There is war between Gen. Winder and Mr. Ould, agent for exchange of
prisoners, about the custody and distribution to prisoners, Federal and
Confederate. It appears that parents, etc. writing to our prisoners in
the enemy's country, for want of three cent stamps, are in the habit of
inclosing five or ten cent pieces, and the perquisites of the office
amounts to several hundred dollars per month--and the struggle is really
between the clerks in the two offices. A. Mr. Higgens, from Maryland, is
in Winder's office, and has got the general to propose to the Secretary
that he shall have the exclusive handling of the letters; but Mr. Ould,
it appears, detected a letter, of an alleged treasonable character, on
its way to the enemy's country, written by this Higgens, and reported it
to the Secretary. But as the Secretary was much absorbed, and as Winder
will indorse Higgens, it is doubtful how the contest for the perquisites
will terminate.
The Secretary was aroused yesterday. The cold weather burst the
water-pipe in his office, or over it, and drove him off to the
Spottswood Hotel.
FEBRUARY 22D.--The offices are closed, to-day, in honor of Washington's
birth-day. But it is a _fast_ day; meal selling for $40 per bushel.
Money will not be so abundant a month hence! All my turnip-greens were
killed by the frost. The mercury was, on Friday, 5° above zero; to-day
it is 40°. Sowed a small bed of curled Savoy cabbage; and saved the
early York in my half barrel hot-bed by bringing it into the parlor,
where there was fire.
A letter from Lieut.-Col. R. A. Alston, Decatur, Ga., says Capt. ----
----, one of Gen. Morgan's secret agents, has just arrived there, after
spending several months in the North, and reports that Lincoln cannot
recruit his armies by draft, or any other mode, unless they achieve some
signal success in the spring campaign. He says, moreover, that there is
a perfect organization, all over the North, for the purpose of
revolution and the expulsion or death of the Abolitionists and free
negroes; and of this organization Generals ------, ------, and ---- ----
---- are the military leaders. Col. A. asks permission of the Secretary
of War to go into Southern Illinois, where, he is confident, if he
cannot contribute to precipitate civil war, he can, at least, bring out
thousands of men who will fight for the Southern cause.
Dispatches from Gen. Lee show that nearly every regiment in his army has
re-enlisted for the war.
The body guard of the President has been dispersed.
Here is the sequel to the history of the Jew whose goods brought such
fabulous prices at auction a few weeks ago:
"_A Heavy Robbery--A former citizen of Richmond stripped of all his
goods and chattels._--A few weeks ago, Mr. Lewis Hyman, who had for some
years carried on a successful and profitable trade in jewelry in the
City of Richmond, disposed of his effects with a view of quitting the
Confederacy and finding a home in some land where his services were less
likely to be required in the tented field. Having settled up his
business affairs to his own satisfaction, he applied for and obtained a
passport from the Assistant Secretary of War, to enable him to pass our
lines. He first took the Southern route, hoping to run out from
Wilmington to Nassau; but delays occurring, he returned to Richmond.
From this point he went to Staunton, determined to make his exit from
the country by the Valley route. All went on smoothly enough until he
had passed Woodstock, in Shenandoah County. Between that point and
Strasburg he was attacked by a band of robbers and stripped of
everything he possessed of value, embracing a heavy amount of money and
a large and valuable assortment of jewelry. We have heard his loss
estimated at from $175,000 to $200,000. His passport was not taken from
him, and after the robbery he was allowed to proceed on his
journey--minus the essential means of traveling. It is stated that some
of the jewelry taken from him has already made its appearance in the
Richmond market.
"P.S.--Since writing the above, we have had an interview with Mr. Jacob
Ezekiel, who states that the party of Mr. Hyman consisted of Lewis
Hyman, wife and child, Madam Son and husband, and H. C. Ezekiel; and the
presumption is that if one was robbed, all shared the same fate. Mr. E.
thinks that the amount in possession of the whole party would not exceed
$100,000. On Friday last two men called upon Mr. Ezekiel, at his place
of business in this city, and exhibited a parchment, in Hebrew
characters, which they represented was captured on a train on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. This story, Mr. Ezekiel thinks, is
incorrect, from the fact that he received a letter from his son, then at
Woodstock, dated subsequent to the capture of the train on that road;
and he is satisfied that the articles shown him belonged to some of the
parties above mentioned."
FEBRUARY 23D.--Bright and pleasant.
A letter from Gen. Maury indicates now that Mobile is surely to be
attacked. He says they may force a passage at Grant's Pass, which is
thirty miles distant; and the fleet may pass the forts and reach the
lower bay. Gen. M. has 10,000 effective men, and subsistence for 20,000
for six months. He asks 6000 or 7000 more men. He has also food for 4000
horses for six months. But he has only 200 rounds for his cannon, and
250 for his siege guns, and 200 for each musket.
Meal is the only food now attainable, except by the rich. We look for a
healthy year, everything being so cleanly consumed that no garbage or
filth can accumulate. We are all good scavengers now, and there is no
need of buzzards in the streets. Even the pigeons can scarcely find a
grain to eat.
Gold brought $30 for $1, Saturday. Nevertheless, we have only good news
from the armies, and we have had a victory in Florida.
FEBRUARY 24TH.--Bright and pleasant. Intelligence from the West is of an
interesting character. The column of Federal cavalry from Memphis,
destined to co-operate with Gen. Sherman, has been intercepted and a
junction prevented. And both Sherman and the cavalry are now in full
retreat--running out of the country faster than they advanced into it.
The desert they made as they traversed the interior of Mississippi they
have now to repass, if they can, in the weary retreat, with no supplies
but those they brought with them. Many will never get back.
And a dispatch from Beauregard confirms Finnegan's victory in Florida.
He captured all the enemy's artillery, stores, etc., and for three miles
his dead and wounded were found strewn on the ground. Thus the military
operations of 1864 are, so far, decidedly favorable. And we shall
probably soon have news from Longstreet. If Meade advances, Lee will
meet him--and let him beware!
Gold is still mounting up--and so with everything exposed for sale.
When, when will prices come down?
But we shall probably end the war this year--and independence will
compensate for all. The whole male population, pretty much, will be in
the field this year, and our armies will be strong. So far we have the
prestige of success, and our men are resolved to keep it, if the
dissensions of the leaders do not interfere with the general purpose.
FEBRUARY 25TH.--The President has certainly conferred on Bragg the
position once (1862) occupied by Lee, as the following official
announcement, in all the papers to-day, demonstrates:
"WAR DEPARTMENT,
"ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE,
"RICHMOND, February 24th, 1864.
"GENERAL ORDERS NO. 23.
"Gen. Braxton Bragg is assigned to duty at the seat of government,
and, under direction of the President, is charged with the conduct
of military operations in the armies of the Confederacy.
"By order of the Secretary of War.
"S. COOPER,
"_Adjutant and Inspector General._"
No doubt Bragg can give the President valuable counsel--nor can there be
any doubt that he enjoys a secret satisfaction in triumphing thus over
popular sentiment, which just at this time is much averse to Gen.
Bragg. The President is naturally a little oppugnant.
He has just appointed a clerk, in the Department of War, a military
judge, with rank and pay of colonel of cavalry--one whom he never saw;
but the clerk once had a street fight with Mr. Pollard, who has
published a pamphlet against the President. Mr. Pollard sees his enemy
with three golden stars on each side of his collar.
The retreat of Sherman seems to be confirmed.
Gen. Beauregard sends the following dispatch:
"CHARLESTON, February 23d--2 15 P.M.
"TO GEN. S. COOPER.
"The latest reports from Gen. Finnegan give no particulars of the
victory at Occum Pond, except that he has taken all of the enemy's
artillery, some 500 or 600 stand of small arms already collected,
and that the roads for three miles are strewn with the enemy's dead
and wounded.
"(Signed) G. T. BEAUREGARD."
The _Examiner_ has the following remarks on the appointment of Bragg:
"The judicious and opportune appointment of Gen. Bragg to the post of
Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Armies, will be appreciated as an
illustration of that strong common sense which forms the basis of the
President's character, that regard for the opinions and feelings of the
country, that respect for the Senate, which are the keys to all that is
mysterious in the conduct of our public affairs. The Confederate armies
cannot fail to be well pleased. Every soldier's heart feels that merit
is the true title to promotion, and that glorious service should insure
a splendid reward. From Lookout Mountain, a step to the highest military
honor and power is natural and inevitable. Johnston, Lee, and Beauregard
learn with grateful emotions that the conqueror of Kentucky and
Tennessee has been elevated to a position which his superiority
deserves. Finally this happy announcement should enliven the fires of
confidence and enthusiasm, reviving among the people like a bucket of
water on a newly kindled grate."
The day before his appointment, the _Enquirer_ had a long editorial
article denouncing in advance his assignment to any prominent position,
and severely criticised his conduct in the West. To-day _it hails his
appointment as Commander-in-Chief with joy and enthusiasm_! This reminds
one of the _Moniteur_ when Napoleon was returning from Elba. The
_Enquirer's_ notion is to prevent discord--and hence it is patriotic.
The weather is still bright, pleasant, but dusty. We have had only one
rain since the 18th of December, and one light snow. My garden is too
dry for planting.
We have not only the negroes arrayed against as, but it appears that
recruiting for the Federal army from Ireland has been carried on to a
large extent.
FEBRUARY 26TH.--Cool, bright, but windy and dusty.
Dispatches announce heavy skirmishing in the vicinity of Dalton--and
Gen. Johnston's army was in line of battle. It may be merely a feint of
the enemy to aid in the extrication of Sherman.
Gen. Lee is here in consultation with the President. They decided that
over 1000 men be transferred from the army to the navy--so that
something may be soon heard from our iron-clads.
Pork is selling at $3 per pound to-day.
Writings upon the walls of the houses at the corners of the streets were
observed this morning, indicating a riot, if there be no amelioration of
the famine.
FEBRUARY 27TH.--Bright and pleasant--dusty. But one rain during the
winter!
The "associated press" publishes an unofficial dispatch, giving almost
incredible accounts of Gen. Forrest's defeat of Grierson's cavalry,
10,000 strong, with only 2000. It is said the enemy were cut up and
routed, losing all his guns, etc.
Sugar is $20 per pound; new bacon, $8; and chickens, $12 per pair. Soon
we look for a money panic, when a few hundred millions of the paper
money is funded, and as many more collected by the tax collectors.
Congress struck the speculators a hard blow. One man, eager to invest
his money, gave $100,000 for a house and lot, and he now pays $5000 tax
on it; the interest is $6000 more--$11,000 total. His next door
neighbor, who bought his house in 1860 for $10,000, similar in every
respect, pays $500 tax (valued at date of sale), interest $600; total,
$1100 per annum. The speculator pays $10,000 per annum more than his
patriotic neighbor, who refused to sell his house for $100,000.
FEBRUARY 28TH.--Bright, cool, and dusty. No war news; nor denial or
confirmation of the wonderful victory of Forrest in Mississippi. That he
captured the enemy's artillery and drove them back, is official.
Longstreet has retired from before Knoxville; perhaps to assault
Nashville, or to penetrate Kentucky.
Yesterday the Secretary ordered Col. Northrop to allow full rations of
meal to the engineer corps; to-day he returns the order, saying: "There
is not sufficient transportation for full rations to the troops in the
field."
Last night the Secretary sent for Mr. Ould, exchange agent, and it is
thought an exchange of prisoners will be effected, and with Butler. A
confidential communication _may_ have been received from Butler, who is
a politician, and it may be that he has offered _secret_ inducements,
etc. He would like to establish a _trade_ with us for tobacco, as he did
for cotton and sugar when he was in New Orleans. No doubt some of the
high officials at Washington would _wink_ at it for a share of the
profits.
The Southern Express Company (Yankee) has made an arrangement with the
Quartermaster-General to transport private contributions of supplies to
the army--anything to monopolize the railroads, and make private
fortunes. Well, "all's well that ends well,"--and our armies may be
_forced_ to forage on the enemy.
I copy this advertisement from a morning paper:
"NOTICE.--Owing to the heavy advance of feed, we are compelled to
charge the following rates for boarding horses on and after the 1st
of March:
Board per month $300.00
" " day 15.00
Single feed 5.00
"_Virginia Stables._ JAMES C. JOHNSON,
W. H. SUTHERLAND,
B. W. GREEN."
Congress and the President parted at the adjournment in bad temper. It
is true everything was passed by Congress asked for by the Executive as
necessary in the present exigency--a new military bill, putting into the
service several hundred thousand more men, comprising the entire male
population between the ages of 17 and 50; the tax and currency bills,
calculated to realize $600,000,000 or $800,000,000; and the suspension
of the writ of _habeas corpus_. These were conceded, say the members,
for the sake of the country, and not as concessions to the Executive.
But the Commissary-General's nomination, and hundreds of others, were
not sent into the Senate, in derogation of the Constitution; and
hundreds that were sent in, have not been acted on by the Senate, and
such officers now act in violation of the Constitution.
Dill's Government Bakery, Clay Street, is now in flames--supposed to be
the work of an incendiary. Loss not likely to be heavy.
FEBRUARY 29TH.--Raining moderately.
There is a rumor that Frederick's Hall, between this city and
Fredericksburg, was taken to-day by a detachment of the enemy's cavalry,
an hour after Gen. Lee passed on his way to the army. This is only
rumor, however.
A dispatch from Gen. Lee's Chief Commissary, received to-day, says the
army has only bread enough to last till the 1st of March, to-morrow! and
that meat is getting scarce again. Col. Northrop, the Commissary-General,
indorses on this, that he _foresaw_ and frequently _foretold_ that such
a crisis would come. He says transportation sufficient cannot be had,
and that he has just heard of an accident to the Wilmington Railroad,
which will diminish the transportation of corn one-half; and he says a
similar accident to the Charlotte Road would be fatal. Comfortable! And
when I saw him afterward, his face was lit up with triumph, as if he had
gained a victory! He _predicted_ it, because they would not let him
impress all the food in the country. And now he has no remedy for the
pressing need. But the soldiers won't starve, in spite of him.
CHAPTER XXXVI
Attempt to capture Richmond.--Governor Vance and Judge Pearson--
Preparations to blow up the "Libby" prisoners.--Letter from General
Lee.--Proposal to execute Dahlgren's raiders.--General Butler on the
Eastern Shore.--Colonel Dahlgren's body.--Destitution of the army.--
Strength of the Southwestern army.--Destitution of my family.--
Protest from South Carolina.--Difficulty with P. Milmo & Co.--Hon.
J. W. Wall.
MARCH 1ST.--Dark and raining.
As the morning progressed, the city was a little startled by the sound
of artillery in a northern direction, and not very distant. Couriers and
horsemen from the country announced the approach of the enemy _within_
the outer fortifications; a column of 5000 cavalry. Then Hon. James
Lyons came in, reporting that the enemy were shelling his house, one and
a half miles from the city. And Gen. Elzey (in command) said, at the
department, that a fight was in progress; and that Brig.-Gen. Custis Lee
was directing it in person. But an hour or so after the report of
artillery ceased, and the excitement died away. Yet the local troops and
militia are marching out as I write; and a caisson that came in an hour
ago has just passed our door, returning to the field. Of course the city
is full of rumors, and no one yet knows what has occurred. I presume it
was only distant shelling, as no wounded men have been brought in.
It is reported that the enemy captured Mr. Seddon's family twenty-five
miles distant,--also Gen. Wise's. To-morrow we shall know more; but no
_uneasiness_ is felt as to the result. In a few hours we can muster men
enough to defend the city against 25,000.
A letter from Gen. Whiting suggests that martial law be proclaimed in
North Carolina, as a Judge Pearson--a traitor, he thinks--is discharging
men who have in conscripts as substitutes, on the ground that the act of
Congress is unconstitutional. The President suggest a General Order,
etc., complying with Gen. W.'s request.
Col. A. C. Myers, late Quartermaster-General, writes again, indignantly
resenting the President's indorsement, etc. as unfounded and injurious,
etc.
The President indorses this letter as follows: "Unless this letter is
designed to ask whether Col. M. is still in the army, or discharged by
the appointment of a successor, I find nothing which changes the case
since my indorsement referred to, as causing resentment and calling for
vindication. Your orders were certainly official communications. Not
having seen them, I can express no opinion upon their terms.--JEFFERSON
DAVIS."
MARCH 2D.--A slight snow on the ground this morning--but bright and
cool. Last night, after I had retired to bed, we heard a brisk
cannonading, and volleys of musketry, a few miles distant.
This morning an excitement, but no alarm, pervaded the city. It was
certainly a formidable attempt to take the city by surprise. From the
number of disgraceful failures heretofore, the last very recently, the
enemy must have come to the desperate resolution to storm the city this
time at all hazards. And indeed the coming upon it was sudden, and if
there had been a column of 15,000 bold men in the assault, they might
have penetrated it. But now, twenty-four hours subsequently, 30,000
would fail in the attempt.
The Department Clerks were in action in the evening in five minutes
after they were formed in line. Capt. Ellery, Chief Clerk of 2d Auditor,
was killed, and several were wounded. It rained fast all the time, and
it was very dark. The enemy's cavalry charged upon them, firing as they
came; they were ordered to lie flat on the ground. This they did, until
the enemy came within fifteen yards of them, when they rose and fired,
sending the assailants to the right and left, helter-skelter. How many
fell is not yet known.
To-day Gen. Hampton sent in 77 prisoners, taken six miles above
town--one lieutenant-colonel among them; and Yankee horses, etc. are
coming in every hour.
Gov. Vance writes that inasmuch as Judge Pearson still grants the writ
of _habeas corpus_, and discharges all who have put substitutes in the
army, on the ground of the unconstitutionality of the act of Congress,
he is bound by his oath to sustain the judge, even to the summoning the
military force of the State to resist the Confederate States
authorities. But to avoid such a fatal collision, he is willing to
abide the decision of the Supreme Court, to assemble in June; the
substitute men, meantime, to be left unmolested. We shall soon see the
President's decision, which will probably be martial law.
Last night, when it was supposed probable that the prisoners of war at
the Libby might attempt to break out, Gen. Winder ordered that a large
amount of powder be placed under the building, with instructions to blow
them up, if the attempt were made. He was persuaded, however, to consult
the Secretary of War first, and get his approbation. The Secretary would
give no such order, but said the prisoners must not be permitted to
escape under any circumstances, which was considered sanction enough.
Capt. ---- obtained an order for, and procured several hundred pounds of
gunpowder, which were placed in readiness. Whether the prisoners were
advised of this I know not; but I told Capt. ---- it could not be
justifiable to spring such a mine in the absence of their knowledge of
the fate awaiting them, in the event of their attempt to break
out,--because such prisoners are not to be condemned for striving to
regain their liberty. Indeed, it is the _duty_ of a prisoner of war to
escape if he can.
Gen. Winder addressed me in a friendly manner to-day, the first time in
two years.
The President was in a bad humor yesterday, when the enemy's guns were
heard even in his office.
The last dispatch from Gen. Lee informs us that Meade, who had advanced,
had fallen back again. But communications are cut between us and Lee;
and we have no intelligence since Monday.
Gen. Wilcox is organizing an impromptu brigade here, formed of the
furloughed officers and men found everywhere in the streets and at the
hotels. This looks as if the danger were not yet regarded as over.
The Secretary of War was locked up with the Quartermaster and
Commissary-Generals and other bureau officers, supposed to be discussing
the damage done by the enemy to the railroads, etc. etc. I hope it was
not a consultation upon any presumed necessity of the abandonment of the
city!
We were paid to-day in $5 bills. I gave $20 for half a cord of wood, and
$60 for a bushel of common white cornfield beans. Bacon is yet $8 per
pound; but more is coming to the city than usual, and a decline may be
looked for, I hope. The farmers above the city, who have been hoarding
grain, meat, etc., will lose much by the raiders.
MARCH 3D.--Bright and frosty. Confused accounts of the raid in the
morning papers.
During the day it was reported that Col. Johnson's forces had been cut
up this morning by superior numbers, and that Butler was advancing up
the Peninsula with 15,000 men. The tocsin was sounded in the afternoon,
and the militia called out; every available man being summoned to the
field for the defense of the city. The opinion prevails that the plan to
liberate the prisoners and capture Richmond is not fully developed yet,
nor abandoned. My only apprehension is that while our troops may be
engaged in one direction, a detachment of the enemy may rush in from the
opposite quarter. But the attempt must fail. There is much excitement,
but no alarm. It is rather eagerness to meet the foe, and a desire that
he may come.
The Department Battalion returned at 2 P.M. to attend the funeral of
Capt. Ellery, and expect to be marched out again this evening toward
Bottom's Bridge, where the enemy is said to be in considerable force.
Custis, though detailed to duty in the department, threw down his pen
to-day, and said he _would_ go out and be in the next fight. And so he
left me suddenly. The Secretary, to whom I communicated this, said it
was right and proper for him to go--even without orders. He goes without
a blanket, preferring not to sleep, to carrying one. At night he will
sit by a fire in the field.
Some of the clerks would shoot Mr. Memminger cheerfully. He will not pay
them their salaries, on some trivial informality in the certificates;
and while they are fighting and bleeding in his defense, their wives and
children are threatened to be turned out of doors by the boarding-house
keepers.
MARCH 4TH.--Bright and frosty in the morning; warm and cloudy in the
afternoon. The enemy have disappeared.
On the 17th inst., Gen. Lee wrote the Secretary of War that he had
received a letter from Gen. Longstreet, asking that Pickett's Division
be in readiness to join him; also that a brigade of Gen. Buckner's
Division, at Dalton, be sent him at once. He says the force immediately
in front of him consists of the 4th, 11th, 9th, and 23d corps, besides a
large body of cavalry from Middle Tennessee. Gen. Lee says the railroad
from Chattanooga to Knoxville, being about completed, will enable the
enemy to combine on either Johnston or Longstreet. He (Gen. Lee) says,
however, that the 4th and 11th corps are small, and may have been
consolidated; the 23d also is small; but he does not know the strength
of the enemy. He thinks Pickett's Division should be sent as desired,
and its place filled with troops from South Carolina, etc., where
operations will probably soon cease. The Secretary sent this to the
President. The President sent it back to-day, indorsed, "How can
Pickett's Division be replaced?--J. D."
Henley's Battalion returned this evening; and Custis can resume his
school, unless he should be among the list doomed to the rank in the
field, for which he is physically incapable, as Surgeon Garnett, the
President's physician, has certified.
MARCH 5TH.--Clear and pleasant, after a slight shower in the morning.
The raid is considered at an end, and it has ended disastrously for the
invaders.
Some extraordinary memoranda were captured from the raiders, showing a
diabolical purpose, and creating a profound sensation here. The cabinet
have been in consultation many hours in regard to it, and I have reason
to believe it is the present purpose to deal summarily with the captives
taken with Dahlgren, but the "sober second thought" will prevail, and
they will not be executed, notwithstanding the thunders of the press.
Retaliation for such outrages committed on others having been declined,
the President and cabinet can hardly be expected to begin with such
sanguinary punishments when _their own_ lives are threatened. It would
be an act liable to grave criticism. Nevertheless, Mr. Secretary Seddon
has written a letter to-day to Gen. Lee, asking his views on a matter of
such importance as the execution of some _ninety_ men of Dahlgren's
immediate followers, not, as he says, to divide the responsibility, nor
to effect a purpose, which has the sanction of the President, the
cabinet, and _Gen. Bragg_, but to have his _views_, and information as
to what would probably be its effect on the army under his command. We
shall soon know, I hope, what Gen. Lee will have to say on the subject,
and I am mistaken if he does not oppose it. If these men had been put
to death in the heat of passion, on the field, it would have been
justified, but it is too late now. Besides, _Gen. Lee's son_ is a
captive in the hands of the enemy, designated for retaliation whenever
we shall execute any of their prisoners in our hands. It is cruelty to
Gen. Lee!
It is already rumored that Gen. Butler has been removed, and a flag of
truce boat is certainly at City Point, laden with prisoners sent up for
exchange.
The Commissary-General has sent in a paper saying that unless the
passenger cars on the Southern Road be discontinued, he cannot supply
half enough meal for Lee's army. He has abundance in Georgia and South
Carolina, but cannot get transportation. He says the last barrel of
flour from Lynchburg has gone to the army.
We have news from the West that Morgan and his men will be in the saddle
in a few days.
After all, Mr. Lyon's house was not touched by any of the enemy's
shells. But one shell struck within 300 yards of one house in Clay
Street, and not even the women and children were alarmed.
The price of a turkey to-day is $60.
MARCH 6TH.--My birthday--55. Bright and frosty; subsequently warm and
pleasant. No news. But some indignation in the streets at the
Adjutant-General's (Cooper) order, removing the clerks and putting them
in the army, just when they had, by their valor, saved the capital from
flames and the throats of the President and his cabinet from the knives
of the enemy. If the order be executed, the heads of the government will
receive and merit execration. It won't be done.
MARCH 7TH.--Bright and frosty morning; cloudy and warm in the evening.
Cannon and musketry were heard this morning some miles northwest of the
city. Probably Gen. Hampton fell in with one of the lost detachments of
the raiders, seeking a way of escape. This attempt to surprise Richmond
was a disgraceful failure.
The Secretary of War has gone up to his farm for a few days to see the
extent of injury done him by the enemy.
Mr. Benjamin and Assistant Secretary Campbell are _already_ "allowing"
men to pass to the United States, and even directly to _Washington_.
Surely the injury done us by information thus conveyed to the enemy
hitherto, ought to be a sufficient warning.
Gen. Bragg has resolved to keep a body of 1500 cavalry permanently
within the city and its vicinity.
MARCH 8TH.--An application of Capt. C. B. Duffield, for a
lieutenant-colonelcy, recommended by Col. Preston, came back from the
President to-day. It was favorably indorsed by the Secretary, but Gen.
Cooper marked it adversely, saying the Assistant Adjutant-General should
not execute the Conscription act, and finally, the President simply
said, "The whole organization requires revision--J. D." I hope it _will_
be revised, and nine-tenths of its officers put in the army as
conscripts.
Raining this morning, and alternate clouds and sunshine during the day.
One of the clerks who was in the engagement, Tuesday night, March 1st,
informed me that the enemy's cavalry approached slowly up the hill, on
the crest of which the battalion was lying. At the word, the boys rose
and fired on their knees. He says the enemy delivered a volley before
they retreated, killing two of our men and wounding several.
Reports from the Eastern Shore of Virginia indicate that Gen. Butler's
rule there has been even worse than Lockwood's. It is said that the
subordinate officers on that quiet peninsula are merely _his_ agents, to
tax and fine and plunder the unoffending people,--never in arms, and who
have, with few exceptions, "taken the oath" repeatedly. One family,
however (four sisters, the Misses P.), relatives of my wife, have not
yielded. They allege that their father and oldest sister were persecuted
to death by the orders of the general, and they _could not_ swear
allegiance to any government sanctioning such outrages in its agents.
They were repeatedly arrested, and torn from their paternal roof at all
hours of the day and night, but only uttered defiance. They are ladies
of the first standing, highly accomplished, and of ample fortune, but
are ready to suffer death rather than submit to the behests of a petty
tyrant. Butler abandoned the attempt, but the soldiery never lose an
opportunity of annoying the family.
MARCH 9TH.--A frosty morning, with dense fog; subsequently a pretty day.
This is the famine month. Prices of every commodity in the market--up,
up, up. Bacon, $10 to $15 per pound; meal, $50 per bushel. But the
market-houses are deserted, the meat stalls all closed, only here and
there a cart, offering turnips, cabbages, parsnips, carrots, etc., at
outrageous prices. However, the super-abundant paper money is beginning
to flow into the Treasury, and that reflex of the financial tide may
produce salutary results a few weeks hence.
MARCH 10TH.--Raining fast all day.
There was a rumor to-day that the enemy were approaching again, but the
Secretary knew nothing of it.
Major Griswold is at variance with Gen. Winder, who has relieved him as
Provost Marshal, and ordered him to Americus, Ga., to be second in
command of the prisons, and assigned Major Carrington to duty as Provost
Marshal here. Major Griswold makes a pathetic appeal to the President to
be allowed to stay here in his old office.
The following, from the _Dispatch_, differs from the _Examiner's_
account of the disposal of Col. Dahlgren's body:
"_Col. Dahlgren's Body._--On Sunday afternoon last, the body of Col.
Ulric Dahlgren, one of the leaders of the late Yankee raid on this city,
and on whose body the paper revealing their designs, if successful, were
found, was brought to this city on the York River Railroad train, and
remained in the car (baggage) in which it was till yesterday afternoon,
when it was transferred to some retired burial place. The object in
bringing Dahlgren's body here was for identification, and was visited,
among others, by Captain Dement and Mr. Mountcastle, of this city, who
were recently captured and taken around by the raiders. These gentlemen
readily recognized it as that of the leader of the band sent to
assassinate the President and burn the city. The appearance of the
corpse yesterday was decidedly more genteel than could be expected,
considering the length of time he has been dead. He was laid in a plain
white pine coffin, with flat top, and was dressed in a clean, coarse
white cotton shirt, dark blue pants, and enveloped in a dark military
blanket. In stature he was about five feet ten inches high, with a long,
cadaverous face, light hair, slight beard, closely shaven, and had a
small goatee, very light in color. In age we suppose he was about thirty
years, and the expression of his countenance indicated that of pain."
MARCH 11TH.--Rained all night--a calm, warm rain. Calm and warm to-day,
with light fog, but no rain.
It is now supposed the clerks (who saved the city) will be kept here to
defend it.
MARCH 12TH.--It cleared away yesterday evening, and this morning, after
the dispersion of a fog, the sun shone out in great glory, and the day
was bright, calm, and pleasant. The trees begin to exhibit buds, and the
grass is quite green.
My wife received a letter to-day from Mrs. Marling, Raleigh, N. C.,
containing some collard seed, which was immediately sown in a bed
already prepared. And a friend sent us some fresh pork spare ribs and
chine, and four heads of cabbage--so that we shall have subsistence for
several days. My income, including Custis's, is not less, now, than $600
per month, or $7200 per annum; but we are still poor, with flour at $300
per barrel; meal, $50 per bushel; and even fresh fish at $5 per pound. A
market-woman asked $5 to-day for a half pint of snap beans, to plant!
MARCH 13TH.--A lovely spring day--bright, warm, and calm.
There is nothing new, only the burning of houses, mills, etc. on the
York River by the Yankees, and that is nothing new.
Subsequently the day became very windy, but not cold. The roads will be
dry again, and military operations will be resumed. The campaign will be
an early one in Virginia, probably. Our people are impatient to meet the
foe, for they are weary of the war. Blood will flow in torrents, unless
the invaders avoid great battles; and in that event our armies may
assume the offensive.
It is now thought that the Department Battalion will be kept here for
the defense of the city; the clerks, or most of them, retaining their
offices. Those having families may possibly live on their salaries; but
those who live at boarding-houses cannot, for board is now from $200 to
$300 per month. Relief _must_ soon come from some quarter, else many in
this community will famish. But they prefer death to submission to the
terms offered by the Abolitionists at Washington. The government must
provide for the destitute, and array every one capable of bearing arms
in the field.
MARCH 14TH.--Bright, pleasant day. The city is full of generals--Lee and
his son (the one just returned from captivity), Longstreet, Whiting,
Wise, Hoke, Morgan (he was ordered by Gen. Cooper to desist from his
enterprise in the West), Evans, and many others. Some fourteen attended
St. Paul's (Episcopal) Church yesterday, where the President worships.
Doubtless they are in consultation on the pressing needs of the country.
About noon to-day a dispatch came from Lieut. Col. Cole, Gen. Lee's
principal commissary, at Orange Court House, dated 12th inst., saying
_the army was out of meat, and had but one day's rations of bread_. This
I placed in the hands of the Secretary myself, and he seemed roused by
it. Half an hour after, I saw Col. Northrop coming out of the department
with a pale face, and triumphant, compressed lips. He had indorsed on
the dispatch, before it came--it was addressed to him--that the state of
things had come which he had long and often _predicted_, and to avert
which he had repeatedly suggested the remedy; but the Secretary would
not!
No wonder the generals are in consultation, for all the armies are in
the same lamentable predicament--to the great triumph of Col. N., whose
prescience is triumphantly vindicated! But Gen. Wise, when I mentioned
these things to him, said _we would starve in the midst of plenty_,
meaning that Col. N was incompetent to hold the position of
Commissary-General.
At 2 P.M. a dispatch (which I likewise placed in the hands of the
Secretary) came from Gen. Pickett, with information that thirteen of the
enemy's transports passed Yorktown yesterday with troops from Norfolk,
the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Washington City, etc.--such was the
report of the signal corps. They also reported that Gen. Meade would
order a general advance, to _check Gen. Lee_. What all this means I know
not, unless it be meant to aid Gen. Kilpatrick to get back the way he
came with his raiding cavalry--or else Gen. Lee's army is in motion,
even while he is here. It must do something, or starve.
L. P. Walker, the first Secretary of War, is here, applying for an
appointment as judge advocate of one of the military courts.
Gen. Bragg is at work. I saw by the President's papers to-day, that the
Secretary's recommendation to remit the sentence to drop an officer was
referred to him. He indorsed on it that the sentence was just, and ought
to be executed. The President then indorsed: "Drop him.--J. D."
MARCH 15TH.--A clear, cool morning; but rained in the evening.
By the correspondence of the department, I saw to-day that 35,000
bushels of corn left North Carolina nearly a week ago for Lee's army,
and about the same time 400,000 pounds of bacon was in readiness to be
shipped from Augusta, Ga. At short rations, that would furnish bread and
meat for the army several weeks.
We hear nothing additional from the enemy on the Peninsula. I doubt
whether they mean fight.
We are buoyed again with rumors of an intention on the part of France to
recognize us. So mote it be! We are preparing, however, to strike hard
blows single-banded and unaided, if it must be.
MARCH 16TH.--There was ice last night. Cold all day. Gen. Maury writes
that no immediate attack on Mobile need be apprehended now. He goes next
to Savannah to look after the defenses of that city.
The _Examiner_ to-day publishes Gen. Jos. E. Johnston's report of his
operations in Mississippi last summer. He says the disaster at Vicksburg
was owing to Gen. Pemberton's disobedience of orders. He was ordered to
concentrate his army and give battle before the place was invested, and
under no circumstances to allow himself to be besieged, which must of
course result in disaster. He says, also, that he was about to
manoeuvre in such manner as would have probably resulted in the saving
a large proportion of his men, when, to his astonishment, he learned
that Gen. P. had capitulated.
Willoughby Newton reports that the enemy are building a number of light
boats, to be worked with muffled oars, at Point Lookout, Md., and
suggests that they may be designed to pass the obstructions in the James
River, in another attempt to capture Richmond.
It is said Lieut.-Gen. E. Kirby Smith, trans-Mississippi, has been made
a full general, and that Major-Gen. Sterling Price relieves Lieut.-Gen.
Holmes, who is to report at Richmond. If this be so, it is very good
policy.
Gen. Lee is still here, but will leave very soon.
Gen. Bragg has taken measures to insure the transportation of meat and
grain from the South. Much food for Lee's army has arrived during the
last two days.
MARCH 17TH.--Bright, clear, and pleasant; frosty in the morning.
Letters from Lieut.-Gen. Hood to the President, Gen Bragg, and the
Secretary of War, give a cheering account of Gen. Johnston's army at
Dalton. The men are well fed and well clothed. They are in high spirits,
"and eager for the fray." The number is 40,000. Gen. H. urges, most
eloquently, the junction of Polk's and Loring's troops with these,
making some 60,000,--Grant having 50,000,--and then uniting with
Longstreet's army, perhaps 30,000 more, and getting in the rear of the
enemy. He says this would be _certain_ to drive Grant out of Tennessee
and Kentucky, and probably end the war. But if we lie still, Grant will
eventually accumulate overwhelming numbers, and penetrate farther: and
if he beats us, it would be difficult to rally again for another stand,
so despondent would become the people.
Gen. Hood deprecates another invasion of Pennsylvania, which would be
sure to result in defeat. He is decided in his conviction that the best
policy is to take the initiative, and drive the enemy out of Tennessee
and Kentucky, which could be accomplished to a _certainty_.
MARCH 18TH.--Bright and warmer, but windy.
Letters received at the department to-day, from Georgia, show than only
one-eighth of the capacity of the railroads have been used for the
subsistence of the army. The rogues among the multitude of
quartermasters have made fortunes themselves, and almost ruined the
country. It appears that there is abundance of grain and meat in the
country, if it were only equally distributed among the consumers. It is
to be hoped the rogues will now be excluded from the railroads.
The belief prevails that Gen. Lee's army is in motion. It may be a
feint, to prevent reinforcements from being sent to Grant.
My daughter's cat is staggering to-day, for want of animal food.
Sometimes I fancy I stagger myself. We do not average two ounces of meat
daily; and some do not get any for several days together. Meal is $50
per bushel. I saw adamantine candles sell at auction to-day (box) at $10
per pound; tallow, $6.50. Bacon brought $7.75 per pound by the 100
pounds.
My good friend Dr. Powell and his family were absent from the farm near
the city during the late raid. The enemy carried off several of his
finest horses and mules, and consumed much of his supplies of food,
etc., but utterly failed to induce any of his negroes to leave the
place--and he has many. One of the female servants, when the enemy
approached, ran into the house and secured all the silver, concealing it
in her own house, and keeping it safely for her mistress.
MARCH 19TH.--Warmer, calm and cloudy.
I saw a large turkey to-day in market (wild), for which $100 was
demanded.
I saw Dr. Powell to-day. He says the Federals asked his servants where
the master and mistress had gone? and they were told that they had been
called to Petersburg to see a sick daughter. They then asked where the
spoons were, and were told none were in the house. They asked if there
was not a watch, and the servant said her master wore it. They then
demanded where the money was kept, and were told it was always kept in
bank. They made the servants open drawers, press, etc.; and when they
discovered some pans of milk, they took them up and drank out of them
with eagerness. They took nothing from the house, destroyed nothing, and
the doctor deems himself fortunate. They left him two horses and eight
mules.
MARCH 20TH.--Bright and beautiful weather.
There are fires occurring now every night; and several buildings have
been burned in the immediate vicinity of the War Department. These are
attributed to incendiary Yankees, and the guard at the public offices
has been doubled.
Mrs. Seddon, wife of the Secretary of War, resolved not to lose more
wine by the visits of the Federal raiders, sent to auction last week
twelve demijohns, which brought her $6000--$500 a demijohn.
MARCH 21ST.--Although cloudy, there was ice this morning, and cold all
day.
Yesterday another thousand prisoners were brought up by the flag of
truce boat. A large company of both sexes welcomed them in the Capitol
Square, whither some baskets of food were sent by those who had some
patriotism with their abundance. The President made them a comforting
speech, alluding to their toils, bravery, and sufferings in captivity;
and promised them, after a brief respite, that they should be in the
field again.
The following conversation took place yesterday between the President
and some young ladies of his acquaintance, with whom he promenaded:
_Miss._--Do you think they will like to return to the field?
_President._--It may seem hard; but even those boys (pointing to some
youths around the monument twelve or fourteen years old) will have their
trial.
_Miss._--But how shall the army be fed?
_President._--I don't see why rats, if fat, are not as good as
squirrels. Our men _did_ eat mule meat at Vicksburg; but it would be an
expensive luxury now.
After this, the President fell into a grave mood, and some remark about
recognition caused him to say twice--"We have no friends abroad!"
MARCH 22D.--Cloudy morning, with ice; subsequently a snow-storm all day
long. No war news. But meat and grain are coming freely from the South.
This gives rise to a rumor that Lee will fall back, and that the capital
will be besieged; all without any foundation.
A Mrs. ---- from Maryland, whose only son is in a Federal prison, writes
the President (she is in this city) that she desires to go to Canada on
some secret enterprise. The President favors her purpose in an
indorsement. On this the Secretary indorses a purpose to facilitate her
design, and suggests that she be paid $1000 in gold from the secret
service fund. She is a Roman Catholic, and intimates that the bishops,
priests, and nuns will aid her.
MARCH 23D.--Snow fell all night, and was eight or ten inches deep this
morning; but it was a bright morning, and glorious sunshine all
day,--the anniversary of the birth of Shakspeare, 300 years ago,--and
the snow is melting rapidly.
The Secretary of War had a large amount of plate taken from the
department to-day to his lodgings at the Spottswood Hotel. It was
captured from the enemy with Dahlgren, who had pillaged it from our
opulent families in the country.
MARCH 24TH.--A bright pleasant day--snow nearly gone.
Next week the clerks in the departments, between the ages of eighteen
and forty-five, are to be enrolled, and perhaps the greater number will
be detailed to their present employments.
Gov. Vance is here, and the President is about to appoint some of his
friends brigadiers, which is conciliatory.
Gen. Longstreet has written a letter to the President, which I have not
seen. The President sent it to the Secretary to-day, marked
"confidential." It must relate either to subsistence or to important
movements in meditation. If the latter, we shall soon know it.
MARCH 25TH.--Raining moderately.
Yesterday Mr. Miles, member of Congress from South Carolina, received a
dispatch from Charleston, signed by many of the leading citizens,
protesting against the removal of 52 companies of cavalry from that
department to Virginia. They say so few will be left that the railroads,
plantations, and even the City of Charleston will be exposed to the easy
capture of the enemy; and this is "approved" and signed by T. Jordan,
Chief of Staff. It was given to the Secretary of War, who sent it to
Gen. Bragg, assuring him that the citizens signing it were the most
_influential_ in the State, etc.
Gen. Bragg sent it back with an indignant note. He says the President
gave the order, and it was a proper one. These companies of cavalry have
not shared the hardships of the war, and have done no fighting; more
cavalry has been held by Gen. Beauregard, in proportion to the number of
his army, than by any other general; that skeleton regiments, which have
gone through fire and blood, ought to be allowed to relieve them; and
when recruited, would be ample for the defense of the coast, etc. Gen.
Bragg concluded by saying that the offense of having the military orders
of the commander-in-chief, etc. exposed to civilians, to be criticised
and protested against--and "approved" by the Chief of Staff--at such a
time as this, and in a matter of such grave importance--ought not to be
suffered to pass without a merited rebuke. And I am sure poor Beauregard
will get the rebuke; for all the military and civil functionaries near
the government partake of something of a dislike of him.
And yet Beauregard was wrong to make any stir about it; and the
President himself only acted in accordance with Gen. Lee's suggestions,
noted at the time in this Diary.
Gen. Polk writes from Dunapolis that he will have communications with
Jackson restored in a few days, and that the injury to the railroads was
not so great as the enemy represented.
Mr. Memminger, the Secretary of the Treasury, is in a black Dutch fury.
It appears that his agent, C. C. Thayer, with $15,000,000 Treasury notes
for disbursement in Texas, arrived at the mouth of the Rio Grande in
December, when the enemy had possession of Brownsville, and when
Matamoras was in revolution. He then conferred with Mr. Benjamin's
friend (and Confederate States secret agent) Mr. Quintero, and
Quartermaster Russell, who advised him to deposit the treasure with P.
Milmo & Co.--a house with which our agents have had large transactions,
and Mr. M. being son-in-law to Gov. Vidurri--to be shipped to Eagle Pass
_via_ Monterey to San Antonio, etc.
But alas! and alas! P. Milmo & Co., upon being informed that fifteen
millions were in their custody, notified our agents that they would
seize it all, and hold it all, until certain alleged claims they held
against the Confederate States Government were paid. Mr. Quintero, who
sends this precious intelligence, says he thinks the money will soon be
released--and so do I, when it is ascertained that it will be of no
value to any of the parties there.
Mr. Memminger, however, wants Quartermaster Russell cashiered, and
court-martialed, and, moreover, decapitated!
MARCH 26TH.--Bright morning, but a cold, cloudy, windy day.
A great crowd of people have been at the Treasury building; all day,
funding Treasury notes. It is to be hoped that as money gets scarcer,
food and raiment will get cheaper.
Mr. Benton, the dentist, escaped being conscribed last year by the
ingenuity of his attorney, G. W. Randolph, formerly Secretary of War,
who, after keeping his case in suspense (alleging that dentists were
physicians or experts) as long as possible, finally contrived to have
him appointed _hospital steward_--the present Secretary consenting. But
now the enrolling officer is after him again, and it will be seen what
he is to do next. The act says dentists shall serve as conscripts.
And Mr. Randolph himself was put in the category of conscripts by the
late military act, but Gov. Smith has decreed his exemption as a member
of the Common Council! Oh, patriotism, where are thy votaries? Some go
so far as to say Gov. Smith is too free with exemptions!
MARCH 27TH.--Bright morning, but windy; subsequently warmer, and wind
lulled. Collards coming up. Potatoes all rotted in the ground during the
recent cold weather. I shall rely on other vegetables, which I am now
beginning to sow freely.
We have no war news to-day.
MARCH 28TH.--April-like day, but no rain; clouds, and sunshine, and
warm.
About 2 P.M. the Secretary received a dispatch stating that the enemy
had appeared in force opposite Fredericksburg, and attempted, without
success, to cross. A copy of this was immediately sent to Gen. Lee.
It is said that Gen. Longstreet is marching with expedition down the
Valley of the Shenandoah, to flank Meade or Grant. I doubt it. But the
campaign will commence as soon as the weather will permit.
A letter from G. B. Lamar, Savannah, Ga., informs the Secretary that he
(L.) has command of five steamers, and that he can easily make
arrangements with the (Federal) commandant of Fort Pulaski to permit
them to pass and repass. His proposition to the government is to bring
in munitions of war, etc., and take out cotton, charging one-half for
freight. Mr. Memminger having seen this, advises the Secretary to
require the delivery of a cargo before supplying any cotton. Mr. M. has
a sort of _jealousy_ of Mr. Lamar.
MARCH 29TH.--A furious gale, eastern, and rain.
No news, except the appearance of a few gun-boats down the river; which
no one regards as an important matter.
Great crowds are funding their Treasury notes to-day; but prices of
provisions are not diminished. White beans, such as I paid $60 a bushel
for early in this month, are now held at $75. What _shall_ we do to
subsist until the next harvest?
MARCH 30TH.--It rained all night, the wind blowing a gale from the east.
This morning the wind was from the west, blowing moderately; and
although cloudy, no rain.
The enemy's gun-boats down the river shelled the shore where it was
suspected we had troops in ambush; and when some of their barges
approached the shore, it was ascertained they were not mistaken, for a
volley from our men (signal corps) killed and wounded half the crew. The
remainder put back to the gun-boats.
There is great tribulation among the departmental clerks, who are to be
enrolled as conscripts, and probably sent to the army. The young
relatives of some of the Secretaries are being appointed commissaries,
quartermasters, surgeons, etc. They keep out of danger.
Many ladies have been appointed clerks. There is a roomful of them just
over the Secretary's office, and he says they distract him with their
noise of moving of chairs and running about, etc.
The papers publish an account of a battle of snow-balls in our army,
which indicates the spirit of the troops, when, perhaps, they are upon
the eve of passing through such awful scenes of carnage as will make the
world tremble at the appalling spectacle.
MARCH 31ST.--Cloudy and cold. No war news, though it is generally
believed that Longstreet is really in the valley.
A speech delivered by the Hon. J. W. Wall, in New Jersey, is copied in
all the Southern papers, and read with interest by our people.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Return of Mr. Ould and Capt. Hatch from Fortress Monroe.--Quarrel between
Mr. Memminger and Mr. Seddon.--Famine.--A victory in Louisiana.--
Vice-President Stephens's speech.--Victory of Gen. Forrest.--Capture
of Plymouth, N. C.--Gen. Lee's bill of fare.
APRIL 1ST.--Cloudy all day, with occasional light showers.
No war news; but the papers have an account of the shooting of an infant
by some Yankees on account of its _name_. This shows that the war is
degenerating more and more into savage barbarism.
APRIL 2D.--It rained furiously all night; wind northwest, and snowed
to-day until 12 M. to a depth of several inches. It is still blowing a
gale from the northwest.
To-day the clerks were paid in the new currency; but I see no abatement
of prices from the scarcity of money, caused by funding. Shad are
selling at $10 each, paper; or 50 cents, silver. Gold and silver are
circulating--a little.
A letter from Liberty, Va., states that government bacon (tithe) is
spoiling, in bulk, for want of attention.
From Washington County there are complaints that Gen. Longstreet's
impressing officers are taking all, except five bushels of grain and
fifty pounds of bacon for each adult--a plenty, one would think, under
the circumstances.
Senator Hunter has asked and obtained a detail for Mr. Daudridge (under
eighteen) as quartermaster's clerk. And Mr. Secretary Seddon has ordered
the commissary to let Mrs. Michie have sugar and flour for her family,
white and black.
Mr. Secretary Benjamin sent over, to-day, for passports to the
Mississippi River for two "secret agents." What for?
Gen. Lee has made regulations to prevent cotton, tobacco, etc. passing
his lines into the enemy's country, unless allowed by the government.
But, then, several in authority _will_ "allow" it without limit.
I set out sixty-eight early cabbage-plants yesterday. They are now under
the snow!
APRIL 3D.--The snow has disappeared; but it is cloudy, with a cold
northwest wind. The James River is very high, and all the streams are so
much swollen that no military operations in the field are looked for
immediately. It is generally believed that Grant, the Federal
lieutenant-general, will concentrate an immense army for the capture of
Richmond, and our authorities are invoked to make the necessary
dispositions to resist the attempt.
The papers contain a supplemental proclamation of President Lincoln, and
understand it to be merely an electioneering card to secure the
Abolition vote in the convention to nominate a candidate for the
Presidency. If it does not mean that, its object must be to induce us to
send an army North to burn and pillage, so that the Federal authorities
may have a pretext to raise new armies, and prosecute the war, not for
the Union, but for conquest and power.
Custis and I received yesterday $500 in the _new_ Treasury notes, but we
had to pay $16 for two pounds of bacon. So no diminution of prices is
yet experienced. _It is now a famine_, although I believe we are
starving in the midst of plenty, if it were only equally distributed.
But the government will not, it seems, require the railroads to bring
provisions to the exclusion of freight for the speculators. Certain
non-combating officers of the government have abundance brought them by
the _Southern_ Express Co., and the merchants have abundance of goods
brought hither by the same company for the purposes of speculation.
Well, we shall see the result! One is almost ready to believe that the
government declines to fill the depots here, harboring the purpose of
abandoning the city. That would be abandonment of the cause. Nearly all
who own no slaves would remain citizens of the United States, if
permitted, without further molestation on the part of the Federal
authorities, and many Virginians in the field might abandon the
Confederate States army. The State would be lost, and North Carolina and
Tennessee would have an inevitable avalanche of invasion precipitated
upon them. The only hope would be civil war in the North, a not
improbable event. What could they do with four millions of negroes
arrogating equality with the whites?
APRIL 4TH.--A cold rain all day; wind from northwest.
Mr. Ould and Capt. Hatch, agents of exchange (of prisoners), have
returned from a conference with Gen. Butler, at Fortress Monroe, and it
is announced that arrangements have been made for an immediate
resumption of the exchange of prisoners on the old footing. Thus has the
government abandoned the ground so proudly assumed--of non-intercourse
with Butler, and the press is firing away at it for negotiating with the
"Beast" and outlaw. But our men in captivity are in favor of a speedy
exchange, no matter with whom the agreement is made.
Forrest has destroyed Paducah, Ky.
There is a little quarrel in progress between the Secretaries of War and
the Treasury. Some days ago the Postmaster-General got from the
President an order that his clerks should be detailed for the use of the
department until further orders. The Secretary of the Treasury made an
application to the Secretary of War for a similar detail, but it was
refused. Mr. Memminger appealed, with some acerbity, to the President,
and the President indorsed on the paper that the proper rule would be
for the Secretary of War to detail as desired by heads of departments.
Nevertheless, the clerks were detailed but for thirty days, to report at
the Camp of Instruction, if the detail were not renewed. To-day Mr.
Memminger addresses a note to Mr. Seddon, inquiring if it was his
purpose to hold his clerks liable to perform military duty after the
expiration of the thirty days, and declaring that the incertitude and
inconvenience of constantly applying for renewal of details, deranged
and obstructed the business of his department. I know not yet what
answer Mr. S. made, but doubtless a breach exists through which one or
both may pass out of the cabinet. The truth is, that all clerks
constitutionally appointed are legally exempt, and it is the boldest
tyranny to enroll them as conscripts. But Mr. Memminger has no scruples
on that head. All of them desire to retain in "soft places" their own
relatives and friends, feeling but little sympathy for others whose
refugee families are dependent on their salaries.
On Saturday, the cavalry battalion for local defense, accepted last
summer by the President, were notified on parade that 20 days would be
allowed them to choose their companies in the army, and if the choice
were not made, they would be assigned to companies. They protested
against this as despotic, but there is no remedy.
APRIL 5TH.--Cold rain all night and all day; wind northwest.
The Quartermaster-General _now_ recommends that no furloughs be given,
so as to devote the railroads to the transportation of grain to
Virginia.
The Commissary-General again informs the Secretary of War, to-day, that
unless the passenger trains were discontinued, the army could not be
subsisted, and Richmond and all Virginia might have to be abandoned, and
the country might be pillaged by our own soldiers. Not a word against
the Southern (Yankee) Express Company.
Our prospects are brighter than they have been for many a day, and the
enemy are doomed, I think, to a speedy humiliation.
I saw a note to-day from Mr. Memminger stating his fears that the amount
of Treasury notes funded will not exceed $200,000,000, leaving
$600,000,000 still in circulation! It is true, some $300,000,000 might
be collected in taxes, if due vigilance were observed,--but _will_ it be
observed? He says he can make between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000 of the
new currency per day. If this be done, the redundancy will soon be as
great as ever. Nothing but success in the field will prevent an
explosion and repudiation of the currency, sooner or later.
APRIL 6TH.--At mid-day it cleared off; wind still northwest, and cool.
Beans (white) were held to-day at $5 per quart! and other articles of
food in proportion. How we are to live is the anxious question. At
auction old sheets brought $25 a piece, and there seemed to be an
advance on everything, instead of a decline as was expected. The
speculators and extortioners seem to act in concert, and the government
appears to be no match for them. It is not the scarcity of food which
causes the high prices, for wood and coal sell as high as other things,
and they are no scarcer than at any former period. But it is an
insatiable thirst for gain, which I fear the Almighty Justicer will
rebuke in some signal manner, perhaps in the emancipation of the slaves,
and then the loss will be greater than all the gains reaped from the
heart's blood of our brave soldiers and the tears of the widow and
orphan! And government still neglects the wives and children of the
soldiers,--a fearful risk!
But, alas! how are our brave men faring in the hands of the demon
fanatics in the United States? It is said _they_ are dying like sheep.
APRIL 7TH.--A bright spring day.
We look for startling news from the Rappahannock in a few days.
Longstreet will be there.
Gen. Lee writes that the fortifications around Richmond ought to be
pushed to completion: 2000 negroes are still at work on them.
APRIL 8TH.--Bright and warm--really a fine spring day. It is the day of
_fasting_, humiliation, and prayer, and all the offices are closed. May
God put it into the hearts of the extortioners to relent, and abolish,
for a season, the insatiable greed for gain! I paid $25 for a half cord
of wood to-day, new currency. I fear a nation of extortioners are
unworthy of independence, and that we must be chastened and purified
before success will be vouchsafed us.
What enormous appetites we have now, and how little illness, since food
has become so high in price! I cannot afford to have more than an ounce
of meat daily for each member of my family of six; and to-day Custis's
parrot, which has accompanied the family in all their flights, and, it
seems, will _never_ die, stole the cook's ounce of fat meat and gobbled
it up before it could be taken from him. He is permitted to set at one
corner of the table, and has lately acquired a fondness for meat. The
old cat goes staggering about from debility, although Fannie often gives
him her share. We see neither rats nor mice about the premises now. This
is famine. Even the pigeons watch the crusts in the hands of the
children, and follow them in the yard. _And, still, there are no
beggars._
The plum-tree in my neighbor's garden is in blossom to-day, and I see a
few blossoms on our cherry-trees. I have set out some 130 early York
cabbage-plants--very small; and to-day planted lima and snap beans. I
hope we shall have no more cold weather, for garden seed, if those
planted failed to come up, would cost more than the crops in ordinary
times.
APRIL 9TH.--Rained all day.
Lieut. Tyler, grandson of President Tyler, is here on furlough, which
expires to-morrow. His father (the major), whom he has not seen for two
years, he learns, will be in the city day after to-morrow; and to-day he
sought admittance to Mr. Secretary Seddon to obtain a prolongation of
his furlough, so as to enable him to remain two days and see his parent.
But Mr. Kean refused him admittance, and referred him to the
Adjutant-General, who was sick and absent; and thus "red tape" exhibits
its insensibility to the dictates of humanity, even when no advantage is
gained by it. Robert Tyler subsequently addressed a note to Mr. K., the
purport of which I did not inquire.
We have no war news--indeed, no newspapers to-day. The wet weather,
however, may be in our favor, as it will give us time to concentrate in
Virginia. Better give up all the cities South, than lose Richmond. As
long as we hold Richmond and Virginia, the "head and heart" of the
"rebellion," we shall not only be between the enemy (south of us) and
their own country, but within reach of it.
APRIL 10TH.--Rained all night. Cloudy to-day; wind southwest.
The Secretary of War must feel his subordination to Gen. Bragg. Gen.
Fitz Lee recommended strongly a Prussian officer for appointment in the
cavalry, and Mr. Seddon referred it to Gen. B., suggesting that he might
be appointed in the cavalry corps to be stationed near this city. Gen.
B. returns the paper, saying the President intends to have an organized
brigade of cavalry from the Army of Northern Virginia on duty here, and
there will be no vacancy in it. From this it seems that the Secretary is
not only not to be gratified by the appointment, but is really kept in
ignorance of army movements in contemplation!
Major Griswold has resigned, at last. He did not find his position a bed
of roses. I believe he abandons the Confederate States service
altogether, and will attend to the collection of claims, and the defense
of prisoners, probably arrested by Major Carrington, his successor in
office.
To-day I saw two conscripts from Western Virginia conducted to the cars
(going to Lee's army) _in chains_. It made a chill shoot through my
breast. I doubt its policy, though they may be peculiar offenders.
The benevolent Capt. Warner, being persecuted by the Commissary-General
for telling the _truth_ in regard to the rations, etc., is settling his
accounts as rapidly as possible, and will resign his office. He says he
will resume his old business, publishing books, etc.
APRIL 11TH.--Rained all night, but clear most of the day.
There are rumors of Burnside landing troops on the Peninsula; also of
preparations for movements on the Rappahannock--by which side is
uncertain. It is said troops are coming from Mississippi, Lieut.-Gen.
(Bishop) Polk's command.
The FAMINE is still advancing, and his gaunt proportions loom up daily,
as he approaches with gigantic strides. The rich speculators, however,
and the officers of influence stationed here, who have secured the favor
of the Express Company, get enough to eat. Potatoes sell at $1 per
quart; chickens, $35 per pair; turnip greens, $4 per peck! An ounce of
meat, daily, is the allowance to each member of my family, the cat and
parrot included. The pigeons of my neighbor have disappeared. Every day
we have accounts of robberies, the preceding night, of cows, pigs,
bacon, flour--and even the setting hens are taken from their nests!
APRIL 12TH.--Cloudy--rained in the afternoon.
This is the anniversary of the first gun of the war, fired at Fort
Sumter.
It is still said and believed that Gen. Lee will take the initiative,
and attack Grant. The following shows that we have had another success:
"MOBILE, April 11th, 1864.
"TO GEN. S. COOPER, A. & I. GENERAL.
"The following report was received at Baton Rouge, on the 3d inst.,
from the Surgeon-General of Banks's army: We met the enemy near
Shreveport. Union force repulsed with great loss. How many can you
accommodate in hospitals at Baton Rouge? Steamer Essex, or Benton,
destroyed by torpedoes in Red River, and a transport captured by
Confederates.
"Farragut reported preparing to attack Mobile. Six monitors coming
to him. The garrisons of New Orleans and Baton Rouge were very much
reduced for the purpose of increasing Banks's forces.
"D. H. MAURY, _Major-General Commanding_."
APRIL 13TH.--A clear, but cool day. Again planted corn, the other having
rotted.
There is an unofficial report that one of our torpedo boats struck the
Federal war steamer Minnesota yesterday, near Newport News, and damaged
her badly.
I learn (from an official source) to-day that Gen. Longstreet's corps is
at Charlottesville, to co-operate with Lee's army, which will soon move,
no doubt.
Gen. Bragg received a dispatch yesterday, requesting that commissary
stores for Longstreet be sent to Charlottesville, and he ordered his
military secretary to direct the Commissary-General accordingly. To this
Col. Northrop, C. G. S., took exceptions, and returned the paper,
calling the attention of Gen. B.'s secretary to the Rules and
Regulations, involving a matter of red tape etiquette. The C. G. S. can
only be _ordered_ or _directed_ by the Secretary of War. Gen. B. sent
the paper to the Secretary, with the remark that if he is to be
restricted, etc., his usefulness must be necessarily diminished. The
Secretary sent for Col. N., and I suppose pacified him.
APRIL 14TH.--Bright morning--cloudy and cold the rest of the day.
No reliable war news to-day; but we are on the tip-toe of expectation of
exciting news from the Rapidan. Longstreet is certainly in
communication with Lee; and if the enemy be not present with
overwhelming numbers, which there is no reason to anticipate, a great
battle may be imminent.
Read Vice-President Stephens's speech against the suspension of the writ
of _habeas corpus_ to-day. He said independence without liberty was of
no value to him, and if he must have a master, he cared not whether he
was Northern or Southern. If we gain our independence, this speech will
_ruin_ Mr. S.; if we do not, it may save him and his friends.
APRIL 15TH.--Cloudy--slight showers. I published an article yesterday in
the _Enquirer_, addressed to the President, on the subject of supplies
for the army and the people (the government to take all the supplies in
the country), the annihilation of speculation, and the necessary
suppression of the Southern (Yankee) Express Company. This elicited the
approval of Col. Northrop, the Commissary-General, who spoke to me on
the subject. He told me the Express Company had attempted to _bribe_
him, by offering to bring his family supplies gratis, etc. He said he
had carried his point, in causing Gen. Bragg to address him according to
military etiquette. He showed me another order from Bragg (through the
Adjutant-General), to take possession of the toll meal at Crenshaw's
mills. This he says is contrary to contract, and he was going to the
Secretary to have it withdrawn. "Besides," said he, "and truly, it would
do no good. The people must eat, whether they get meal from Crenshaw or
not. If not, they will get it elsewhere, and what they do get will be so
much diverted from the commissariat."
There are rumors of the enemy accumulating a heavy force at Suffolk.
The guard at Camp Lee are going in the morning to Lee's army; their
places here to be filled by the reserve forces of boys and old men. This
indicates a battle on the Rapidan.
APRIL 16TH.--Rained all night, and in fitful showers all day.
We have more accounts (unofficial) of a victory near Shreveport, La. One
of the enemy's gun-boats has been blown up and sunk in Florida.
By late Northern arrivals we see that a Mr. Long, member of Congress,
has spoken in favor of our recognition. A resolution of expulsion was
soon after introduced.
Gen. Lee has suggested, and the Secretary of War has approved, a project
for removing a portion of the population from Richmond into the country.
Its object is to accumulate supplies for the army. If some 20,000 could
be moved away, it would relieve the rest to some extent.
Troops are passing northward every night. The carnage and carnival of
death will soon begin!
APRIL 17TH.--Rained until bedtime--then cleared off quite cold. This
morning it is cold, with occasional sunshine.
Gen. Beauregard's instructions to Major-Gen. Anderson in Florida, who
has but 8000 men, opposed by 15,000, were referred by the Secretary of
War to Gen. Bragg, who returned them with the following snappish
indorsement: "The enemy's strength seems greatly exaggerated, and the
instructions too much on the defensive."
APRIL 18TH.--Cleared away in the night--frost. To-day it clouded up
again!
We have an account from the West, to the effect that Forrest _stormed_
Fort Pillow, putting all the garrison, but one hundred, to the sword;
there being 700 in the fort--400 negroes.
APRIL 19TH.--Cloudy and cold.
We have no authentic war news, but are on the tip-toe of expectation.
The city is in some commotion on a rumor that the non combating
population will be required to leave, to avoid transportation of food to
the city. Corn is selling at $1.25 per bushel in Georgia and Alabama;
here, at $40--such is the deplorable condition of the railroads, or
rather of the management of them. Col. Northrop, Commissary-General,
said to-day that Gen. Lee and the Secretary of War were responsible for
the precarious state of affairs, in not taking all the means of
transportation for the use of the army; and that our fate was suspended
by a hair.
The President returned the paper to-day, relating to the matter of
etiquette between Col. Northrop and Gen. Bragg's military secretary. The
President says that Gen. B. certainly has the right to give
orders--being assigned to duty here, and, I presume, representing the
President himself; but that any one of his staff, unless directing those
of inferior rank, ought to give commands "by order" of Gen. Bragg. Col. N.
says that don't satisfy him; and that no general has a right to issue
orders to him!
The famine is becoming more terrible daily; and soon no salary will
suffice to support one's family.
The 1st and 2d Auditors and their clerks (several hundred, male and
female) have been ordered to proceed to Montgomery, Ala. Perhaps the
government will soon remove thither entirely. This is ill-timed, as the
enemy will accept it as an indication of an abandonment of the capital;
and many of our people will regard it as a preliminary to the evacuation
of Richmond. It is more the effect of extortion and high prices, than
apprehension of the city being taken by the enemy.
APRIL 20TH.--A clear morning, but a cold, cloudy day.
The following dispatch from Gen. Forrest shows that the bloody work has
commenced in earnest:
"DEMOPOLIS, ALA., April 19th.
"TO GEN. S. COOPER.
"The following dispatch has just been received from Gen. Forrest,
dated Jackson, Tenn., April 15th.
"L. POLK, _Lieut.-General_.
"I attacked Fort Pillow on the morning of the 12th inst., with a
part of Bell's and McCulloch's brigades, numbering ----, under
Brig.-Gen. J. R. Chalmers. After a short fight we drove the enemy,
seven hundred strong, into the fort, under cover of their
gun-boats, and demanded a surrender, which was declined by Major L.
W. Booth, commanding United States forces. I stormed the fort, and
after a contest of thirty minutes captured the entire garrison,
killing 500 and taking 100 prisoners, and a large amount of
quartermaster stores. The officers in the fort were killed,
including Major Booth. I sustained a loss of 20 killed and 60
wounded. The Confederate flag now floats over the fort.
"(Signed) N. B. FORREST, _Major-General_."
There is a rumor that Grant's army is falling back toward Centreville.
It is supposed by many that all the departments will follow the Auditor
to Montgomery soon.
APRIL 21ST.--Bright sunshine all day, but cool.
Gen. Bragg received a dispatch to-day from Gen. Hoke, of Plymouth, N. C.,
stating that he had (yesterday) _stormed_ Plymouth, taking 1600
prisoners, 25 cannon, stores, etc. etc. This put the city in as good
spirits as possible.
But the excitement from Hoke's victory was supplanted by an excitement
of another kind. A report was circulated and believed that the President
resolved yesterday to remove the government to South Carolina or
Alabama; and the commotion was very great. The President's salary is
insufficient to meet his housekeeping expenditures; and Mrs. D. has
become, very naturally, somewhat indignant at the conduct of the
extortioners, and, of course, the President himself partook of the
indignation.
At 2 P.M. to-day the President's papers came in. Among them was one from
the Commissary-General, stating that the present management of railroad
transportation would not suffice to subsist the army. This had been
referred to Gen. Bragg yesterday (who seems to _rank_ the Secretary of
War), and he made an elaborate indorsement thereon. He recommended that
all passenger trains be discontinued, except one daily, and on this that
government agents, soldiers, etc. have preference; that arrangements be
made at once to hasten on the freight trains (taking military possession
of the roads) without breaking bulk; and finally to reduce consumers
here as much as possible by a reduction of civil officers, etc. etc. in
the departments--that is, sending to other places such as can perform
their duties at distant points. On this the President indorsed a
reference to the Secretary of War, requiring his opinion in writing,
etc. Since then, the President and cabinet have been in consultation,
and we shall probably know the result to-morrow.
If the departments are sent South, it will cause a prodigious outburst
from the press here, and may have a bad, blundering effect on the army
in Virginia, composed mostly of Virginians; and Gen. Bragg will have to
bear the brunt of it, although the government will be solely
responsible.
Gov. Vance recommended the suspension of conscription in the eastern
counties of North Carolina the other day. This paper was referred by the
Secretary to the President, by the President to Gen. B. (who is a native
of North Carolina), and, seeing what was desired, Gen. B. recommended
that the conscription be proceeded with. This may cause Gov. V. to be
defeated at the election, and Gen. B. will be roundly abused. He will be
unpopular still.
APRIL 22D.--A bright day and warmer. Cherry-trees in blossom. We have
the following war news:
"PLYMOUTH, N. C., April 20th.
"TO GEN. BRAGG.
"I have stormed and captured this place, capturing 1 brigadier,
1600 men, stores, and 25 pieces of artillery.
"R. F. HOKE, _Brig.-General_."
The President has changed his mind since the reception of the news from
North Carolina, and has determined that _all_ the government shall not
leave Richmond until further orders. All that can be spared will go,
however, at once. The War and Navy Departments will remain for the
present. The news is said to have had a wonderful effect on the
President's mind; and he hopes we may derive considerable supplies from
Eastern North Carolina. So do I.
Gov. Watts writes to the Secretary that commissary agents, who ought to
be in the ranks, are making unnecessary impressments, leaving to each
negro only four ounces of bacon per day. He says the government has
already some 10,000,000 pounds of bacon in Alabama; and that if the
other States, east of the Mississippi, furnish a proportional amount,
there will be 60,000,000 pounds--enough to feed our armies twelve
months.
The Commissary-General's estimates for the next six months are for
400,000 men.
APRIL 23D.--A bright day, with southern breezes.
It is rumored and believed that Gen. Lee's army is in motion. If this be
so, we shall soon hear of a "fight, or a foot race." And how can Grant
run away, when Mr. Chase, the Federal Secretary of the Treasury, openly
proclaims ruin to the finances unless they speedily achieve success in
the field? I think he must fight; and I am sure he will be beaten, for
Lee's strength is probably underestimated.
We are also looking to hear more news from North Carolina; and Newbern
will probably be stormed next, since storming is now the order of the
day.
APRIL 24TH.--Cloudy and windy, but warm.
We have none of the details yet of the storming of Plymouth, except the
brief dispatches in the newspapers; nor any reliable accounts of
subsequent movements. But a letter from Gen. Whiting indicates that all
his troops had been taken northward, and we may expect something further
of interest.
It is still believed that Lee's and Grant's armies are in motion on the
Rappahannock; but whether going North or coming South, no one seems to
know. Our people unanimously look for a victory.
I bought a black coat at auction yesterday (short swallow-tailed) for
$12. It is fine cloth, not much worn--its owner going into the army,
probably--but out of _fashion_. If it had been a frock-coat, it would
have brought $100. It is no time for _fashion_ now.
Gen. Johnston's Chief Commissary offers to send some bacon to Lee's
army. A short time since, it was said, Johnston was prevented from
_advancing_ for want of rations.
APRIL 25TH.--A bright and beautiful day; southern breezes.
No reliable war news; but there are rumors that our victory at
Shreveport was a great one. Nothing additional from North Carolina,
though something further must soon occur there. It is said the enemy's
killed and wounded at Plymouth amounted to only 100: ours 300; but we
got 2500 prisoners.
President Lincoln has made a speech at Baltimore, threatening
retaliation for the slaughter at Fort Pillow--which was _stormed_.
Lieut.-Gen. Polk telegraphs that our forces have captured and burnt one
of the enemy's gun-boats at Yazoo City--first taking out her guns, eight
rifled 24-pounders.
To-day Mr. Memminger, in behalf of the ladies in his department,
presented a battle-flag to the Department Battalion for its gallant
conduct in the repulse of Dahlgren's raid. But the ladies leave early in
the morning for South Carolina.
The President still says that many of the government officers and
employees must be sent away, if transportation cannot be had to feed
them here as well as the armies.
APRIL 26TH.--Another truly fine spring day.
The ominous silence on the Rapidan and Rappahannock continues still. The
two armies seem to be measuring each other's strength before the awful
conflict begins.
It is said the enemy are landing large bodies of troops at Yorktown.
Major-Gen. Ransom has been assigned to the command of this department;
and Gen. Winder's expectations of promotion are blasted. Will he resign?
I think not.
The enemy's accounts of the battle on the Red River do not agree with
the reports we have.
Neither do the Federal accounts of the storming of Fort Pillow agree
with ours.
APRIL 27TH.--Another bright and beautiful day; and vegetation is
springing with great rapidity. But nearly all my potatoes, corn,
egg-plants, and tomatoes seem to have been killed by the frosts of
March. I am replanting corn, lima beans, etc. The other vegetables are
growing well. One of my fig-bushes was killed--that is, nearly all the
branches. The roots live.
It is rumored that the armies on the Rapidan were drawn up in line.
The enemy have again evacuated Suffolk.
Gen. Beauregard is at Weldon. Perhaps Burnside may hurl his blows
against North Carolina.
Food is still advancing in price; and unless relief comes from some
quarter soon, this city will be in a deplorable condition. A good many
fish, however, are coming in, and shad have fallen in price to $12 per
pair.
The government ordered the toll of meal here (which the miller,
Crenshaw, sold to the people) to be taken for the army; but Col.
Northrop, Commissary-General, opposes this; and it is to be hoped, as
usual, he may have his way, in spite of even the President. These papers
pass through the hands of the Secretary of War.
The French ships have gone down the river, without taking much tobacco;
said to have been ordered away by the United States Government.
Col. W. M. Browne (the President's English A.D.C.), it is said, goes to
Georgia as commandant of conscripts for that State. It is probable he
offended some one of the President's family, domestic or military. The
_people_ had long been offended by his presence and arrogance.
The _Enquirer_, to-day, has a communication assaulting Messrs. Toombs
and Stephens, and impeaching their loyalty. The writer denounced the
Vice-President severely for his opposition to the suspension of the
writ of _habeas corpus_. During the day the article was sent to Mr.
Secretary Seddon, with the compliments of Mr. Parker--the author, I
suppose.
APRIL 28TH.--After a slight shower last night, a cool, clear morning.
The ominous silence or pause between the armies continues. Lieut.-Gen.
Longstreet, it is said, is "hidden." I suppose he is working his way
around the enemy's right flank. If so, we shall soon hear thunder.
It is also supposed that Lee meditates an incursion into Pennsylvania,
and that Gen. Beauregard will protect his rear and cover this city. All
is merely conjecture.
We are amused at the enemy's accounts of the storming of Plymouth. Their
papers pretend to have not heard the result, and would lead their
readers to believe that Gen. Hoke was repulsed, and that the place is
"impregnable."
The following appears in the morning papers:
"GEN. LEE'S BILL OF FARE.--The Richmond correspondent of the Mobile
_Advertiser_ gives the following about Gen. Lee's mode of living:
"In Gen. Lee's tent meat is eaten but twice a week, the general not
allowing it oftener, because he believes indulgence in meat to be
criminal in the present straitened condition of the country. His
ordinary dinner consists of a head of cabbage, boiled in salt water, and
a pone of corn bread. In this connection rather a comic story is told.
Having invited a number of gentlemen to dine with him, Gen. Lee, in a
fit of extravagance, ordered a sumptuous repast of cabbage and middling.
The dinner was served: and, behold, a great pile of cabbage and a bit of
middling about four inches long and two inches across! The guests, with
commendable politeness, unanimously declined middling, and it remained
in the dish untouched. Next day Gen. Lee, remembering the delicate
tit-bit which had been so providentially preserved, ordered his servant
to bring 'that middling.' The man hesitated, scratched his head, and
finally owned up: 'De fac is, Masse Robert, dat ar middlin' was borrid
middlin'; we all did'n had nar spec; and I done paid it back to de man
whar I got it from.' Gen. Lee heaved a sigh of deepest disappointment,
and pitched into his cabbage."
By a correspondence between the Secretaries of the Treasury and War, I
saw that Mr. Memminger has about _a million and a quarter in coin_ at
Macon, Ga., seized as the property of the New Orleans banks--perhaps
belonging to Northern men. I believe it was taken when there was an
attempt made to smuggle it North. What it is proposed to do with it _I
know not_, but I think neither the President nor the Secretaries will
hesitate to use it--if there be a "military necessity." Who knows but
that one or more members of Mr. Lincoln's cabinet, or his generals,
might be purchased with gold? Fortress Monroe would be cheap at that
price!
APRIL 29TH.--A letter from Major-Gen. Hoke, dated Plymouth, April 25th,
and asking the appointment of Lieut.-Col. Dearing to a brigadiership,
says his promotion is desired to lead a brigade in the expedition
against Newbern. The President directs the Secretary to appoint him
temporarily "for the expedition." Soon we shall know the result.
By flag of truce boat, it is understood Northern papers admit a Federal
defeat on the Red River, the storming of Plymouth, etc., and charge the
Federal authorities at Washington with having published falsehoods to
deceive the people. Gold was $1.83.
Troops are passing through Richmond now, day and night, concentrating
under Lee. The _great_ battle cannot be much longer postponed.
Last night was clear and cold, and we have fire to-day.
The President has decided not to call into service the reserve class
unless on extraordinary occasions, but to let them remain at home and
cultivate the soil.
It is now probable the Piedmont Railroad will be completed by the 1st
June, as extreme necessity drives the government to some degree of
energy. If it had taken up, or allowed to be taken up, the rails on the
Aquia Creek Road a year ago, the Piedmont connection would have been
made ere this; and then this famine would not have been upon us, and
there would have been abundance of grain in the army depots of Virginia.
APRIL 30TH.--Federal papers now admit that Gen. Banks has been
disastrously beaten in Louisiana. They also admit their calamity at
Plymouth, N. C. Thus in Louisiana, Florida, West Tennessee, and North
Carolina the enemy have sustained severe defeats: their losses amounting
to some 20,000 men, 100 guns, half a dozen war steamers, etc. etc.
Gen. Burnside has left Annapolis and gone to Grant--whatever the plan
was originally; and the work of concentration goes on for a _decisive_
clash of arms in Virginia.
And troops are coming hither from all quarters, like streamlets flowing
into the ocean. Our men are confident, and eager for the fray.
The railroad companies say they can transport 10,000 bushels corn,
daily, into Virginia. That will subsist 200,000 men and 25,000 horses.
And in June the Piedmont connection will be completed.
The _great_ battle may not occur for weeks yet. It will probably end the
war.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Dispatch from Gen. J. E. Johnston.--Dispatch from Gen. Lee.--Mr.
Saulsbury's resolution in the U. S. Senate.--Progress of the enemy.--
Rumored preparations for the flight of the President.--Wrangling of
high officials.--Position of the armies.
MAY 1ST.--Cloudy and showery, but warm, and fine for vegetation. My
lettuce, cabbage, beans, etc. are growing finely. But the Yankee corn
and lima beans, imported by Col. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, have rotted
in the ground.
No war news.
Yesterday a paper was sent to the President by Gen. Pickett,
recommending Gen. Roger A. Pryor for a cavalry command in North
Carolina. But the President sent it to the Secretary of War with the
curt remark that the command had already been disposed of to Col.
Dearing, on Gen. Hoke's recommendation. Thus Gen. P. is again whistled
down the wind, in spite of the efforts of even Mr. Hunter, and many
other leading politicians. It is possible Gen. P. may have on some
occasion criticised Lee.
MAY 2D.--A cool day, sunshine and showers.
To-day Congress assembled, and the President's message was delivered,
although he buried his youngest son yesterday, who lost his life by an
accidental fall from the porch on Saturday.
We have abundance of good news to-day.
First, the Florida has captured one, and destroyed another of the
enemy's vessels of war in the West Indies.
Second, we have authentic intelligence of the evacuation of Washington,
N. C. by the enemy, pursued by our forces toward Newbern.
Third, four steamers have arrived at Wilmington laden with quartermaster
and ordnance stores. Col. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, says we now have
arms and ammunition enough.
A letter from Gen. Lee indicates the propriety of Gen. Imboden retaining
his recruits (which the Secretary wanted to take from him, because they
were liable to conscription) in the Shenandoah Valley. This does not
look like a purpose of an advance on Lee's part. He will probably await
the attack.
The President, in an indorsement, intimates to the Secretary of War that
Gen. Pryor might be assigned to a brigade of the Reserve class.
About 5 o'clock this afternoon we had a tornado from the southwest which
I fear has done mischief in the country. It blew off half a dozen planks
from my garden fence, and I had difficulty in nailing them on again with
such rusty nails as I could find. Nails are worth almost their weight in
silver.
The gardeners sell tomato-plants for $10 per dozen, and cabbage-plants
for 50 cts. each! But I am independent, having my own little hot-beds.
MAY 3D.--A cold, windy day, with sunshine and clouds.
It is rumored that Grant's army is in motion, and the great battle is
eagerly looked for. The collision of mighty armies, upon the issue of
which the fate of empire depends, is now imminent.
The following dispatch was received to-day from Gen. Johnston:
"DALTON, May 2d, 1864.
"Two scouts, who went by Outawah and Cleveland, report the enemy
sending all Southern people and heavy baggage to the rear, stopping
rations to the inhabitants, collecting a large supply of trains at
Graysville, and bringing their cavalry from Middle Tennessee. An
officer just from Columbia reports 13,000 had been collected there.
All scouts report Hooker's troops in position
here. J. E. JOHNSTON, _General_."
MAY 4TH.--Bright, beautiful, and warmer; but fire in the morning.
The following dispatch from Gen. Lee was received by Gen. Bragg to-day
and sent to the Secretary.
"ORANGE C. H., May 4th, 1864.
"Reports from our lookouts seem to indicate that the enemy is in
motion. The present direction of his column is to our right.
"Gen. Imboden reports the enemy advancing from Winchester, up the
Valley, with wagons, beef cattle, etc. R. E. LEE."
There is a rumor of fighting at Chancellorville, and this is the
anniversary, I believe, of the battle there. May we be as successful
this time! But the report is not authentic. Firing is heard now in the
direction of York River.
MAY 5TH.--We have many rumors to-day, and nothing authentic, except that
some of the enemy's transports are in the James River, and landing some
troops, a puerile demonstration, perhaps. The number landed at West
Point, it seems, was insignificant. It may be the armies of the United
States are demoralized, and if so, if Grant be beaten, I shall look for
a speedy end of the invasion. It is said some of the advanced forces of
Grant were at Spottsylvania C. H. last night, and the great battle may
occur any hour.
Gov. Smith is calling for more exemptions (firemen, etc.) than all the
governors together.
Col. Preston asks authority to organize a company of conscripts, Reserve
classes, in each congressional district, the President having assigned a
general officer to each State to command these classes. The colonel
wants to command something.
The Commissary-General, Col. Northrop, being called on, reports that he
can feed the army until fall with the means on hand and attainable. So,
troops didn't starve in thirty days several months ago!
A Mr. Pond has made a proposition which Mr. Memminger is in favor of
accepting, viz.: the government to give him a bill of sale of 10,000
bales of cotton lying in the most exposed places in the West, he to take
it away and to take all risks, except destruction by our troops, to ship
it from New Orleans to Antwerp, and he will pay, upon receiving said
bill of sale, 10 pence sterling per pound. The whole operation will be
consummated by the Belgian Consul in New Orleans, and the Danish
Vice-Consul in Mobile. It is probable the United States Government, or
some members of it, are interested in the speculation. But it will be
advantageous to us.
"A PERTINENT RESOLUTION.--The following was offered recently in the
United States Senate, by Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware:
"'_Resolved_, That the Chaplain of the Senate be respectfully requested
hereafter to pray and supplicate Almighty God in our behalf, and not to
lecture Him, informing Him, under pretense of prayer, his, said
chaplain's, opinion in reference to His duty as the Almighty; and that
the said Chaplain be further requested, as aforesaid, not, under the
form of prayer, to lecture the Senate in relation to questions before
the body.'"
MAY 6TH.--Bright, warm, beautiful.
We have a sensation to-day, but really no excitement. A dispatch from
Gen. Lee (dated last night) says the _enemy_ opened the battle
yesterday, and the conflict continued until night put an end to the
carnage. He says we have many prisoners, captured four guns, etc.,
losing two generals killed, one, Gen. J. M. Jones. But our position was
maintained, and the enemy repulsed. Doubtless the battle was renewed
this morning.
Some _fifty-nine_ transports and several iron-clad gun-boats, monitors,
etc., came up the James River yesterday and last night. A heavy force
was landed at Bermuda Hundred, within a few miles of the railroad
between Richmond and Petersburg.
And the enemy likewise came up the Peninsula, and there was fighting
this morning on the Chickahominy.
Thus the plan of the enemy is distinctly pronounced, and the assaults
were designed to be made simultaneously. Yet there is no undue
excitement.
A dispatch from Gen. Pickett at Petersburg, this morning, to Gen. Bragg,
asked if he (Bragg) intended to defend the railroad between Richmond and
Petersburg. He said, "the enemy will attack the road to-day, marching
from Bermuda Hundred, I think."
At 3 P.M. we are waiting with anxiety for news from all quarters.
Both my sons marched out in the Department Battalion. Two Tennessee
regiments marched down to Drewry's Bluff yesterday, and Hunton's
brigade, that left there yesterday, were ordered back again last night.
It is said troops were passing south through the city all night. And I
know heavy forces are on the way from North Carolina. Gen. Pickett
likewise has the greater part of his division in supporting distance.
So, if the enemy have not cut the road by this time, it is probably
safe, and the expedition will be a failure. If Lee defeats Grant, the
city will certainly be saved. All the local troops are out.
Gen. Beauregard is expected to-day, but it is reported he is sick at
Weldon. On the 3d inst. the following dispatch was received from him:
"KINSTON, N. C.
"GEN. COOPER.
"Orders should be given for the immediate re-establishment of
fisheries at Plymouth and Washington, also to get large supplies of
pork in Hyde County and vicinity.
"G. T. BEAUREGARD, _General_."
On this the Commissary-General indorsed that the matter had been
attended to--had, indeed, been anticipated.
The best indication of the day (to me) was the smiling face of Mr.
Hunter as he came from the Secretary's office. He said to me, "The ball
is opening well."
The President and his aids rode over the river to-day: what direction
they took I know not; but this I know, he has no idea of being taken by
the enemy. And he cannot think the city will be taken, for in that event
it would be difficult for him to escape.
MAY 7TH.--Bright and warm. The following is Gen. Lee's dispatch,
received yesterday morning--the _italics_ not his.
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"May 5th, 1864.
"HON. SECRETARY OF WAR.
"The enemy crossed the Rapidan at Ely's and Germania fords. Two
corps of this army moved to oppose him--Ewell by the old turnpike,
and Hill by the plank-road.
"They arrived this morning in close proximity to the enemy's line
of march.
"A strong attack was made upon Ewell, who repulsed it, _capturing
many prisoners and four pieces of artillery_.
"The enemy subsequently concentrated upon Gen. Hill, who, with
Heth's and Wilcox's divisions, _successfully resisted repeated and
desperate assaults_.
"A large force of cavalry and artillery on our right was _driven
back_ by Rosser's brigade.
"By the blessing of God, we maintained our position _against every
effort_ until night, when the contest closed.
"We have to mourn the loss of many brave officers and men. The
gallant Brig.-Gen. J. M. Jones was killed, and Brig.-Gen. Stafford,
I fear, mortally wounded, while leading his command with
conspicuous valor.
"(Signed) R. E. LEE."
A dispatch from Gen. Lee this morning says Hill's corps was thrown into
confusion yesterday by an attack of the enemy when some of the divisions
were being relieved. But afterward we recovered the ground, strewn with
the dead and wounded of the enemy. Then we attacked their whole line,
driving them behind their breastworks. He concludes by thanks for our
ability still to withstand all assaults. No doubt Grant has overwhelming
numbers, and Lee is under the necessity of sparing his men as much as
possible, while his adversary leads into action a succession of fresh
troops. Gen. Longstreet is wounded.
Gen. Beauregard is at Petersburg, charged with the defense of this city
and the railroad. Troops have been marching toward Drewry's Bluff during
the day. If the attack be delayed 24 hours more, we shall be strong
enough to repel even the then greatly superior numbers of the invader.
But there is more anxiety manifested to-day. Senator Hunter and Mr.
Ould, the agent of exchange, have been in the office next to mine once
or twice, to drink some of the good whisky kept by Mr. Chapman, the
disbursing clerk of the department. Mr. H.'s face is quite red.
5 P.M. The tocsin is sounding, for the militia, I suppose, all others
being in the field. It is reported that the attack on Drewry's Bluff, or
rather on our forces posted there for its defense, has begun. Barton's
brigade marched thither to-day. It is said the enemy have 40,000 men on
the south side of James River--we, 20,000.
There is now some excitement and trepidation among the shopkeepers and
extortioners, who are compelled by State law to shoulder the musket for
the defense of the city, and there is some running to and fro
preliminary to the _rendezvous_ in front of the City Hall. The alarm,
however, I learnt at the department, is caused by reports brought in by
countrymen, that the enemy is approaching the city from the _northeast_,
as if from Gloucester Point. It _may_ be so--a small body; but Gen.
Ransom, Gen. Elzey's successor here, doubts it, for his scouts give no
intelligence of the enemy in that quarter. But the 19th Militia Regiment
and the Foreign Battalion will have the pleasure of sleeping in the open
air to-night, and of dreaming of their past gains, etc.
MAY 8TH.--Bright and hot.
The tocsin sounded again this morning. I learned upon inquiry that it
was merely for the militia again (they were dismissed yesterday after
being called together), perhaps to relieve the local battalions near the
city.
The Secretary of War received a dispatch to-day from Gen. Lee, stating
that there was no fighting yesterday, only slight skirmishing. Grant
remained where he had been driven, in the "Wilderness," behind his
breastworks, completely checked in his "On to Richmond." He may be badly
hurt, and perhaps his men object to being led to the slaughter again.
There has been no fighting below, between this and Petersburg, and we
breathe freer, for Beauregard, we know, has made the best use of time.
It is said another of the enemy's gun-boats has been destroyed by
boarding and burning. We have three iron-clads and rams here _above_ the
obstructions, which will probably be of no use at this trying time.
A few days more will tell the story of this combined and most formidable
attempt to take Richmond; and if it be the old song of failure, we may
look for a speedy termination of the war. So mote it be!
Meantime my vegetables are growing finely, except the corn and lima
beans (Yankee), Col. Gorgas's importation, which have not come up.
A cow and calf now sells for $2500. My friend, Dr. Powell, has just
sold one for a great price, he would not tell me what. But I told him
that the greed for gain was the worst feature in our people, and made me
sometimes tremble for the cause. I fear a just retribution may entail
ruin on the farmers, who seem to think more of their cattle than of
their sons in the field.
MAY 9TH.--Bright and sultry.
A dispatch from Gen. Lee says the enemy is moving down toward
Fredericksburg, and yesterday the advance of our army encountered his
right wing at Spottsylvania Court House, and repulsed it "with great
slaughter." Strong language for Lee.
A dispatch received this morning said the enemy was advancing on the
railroad. Subsequently cannon could be heard in the direction of
Drewry's Bluff.
The tocsin has been sounding all day, for the militia, which come
slowly, after being summoned and dismissed so often. I fear, when they
are sent over the river, if all the men at the defenses on the north
side are sent over also, that a cavalry raid from the north may dash
into the city and burn the bridges on, the James; then our army would be
in a "fix." I have expressed this apprehension to the Secretary, and
asked him to arm the old men, for the defense of the bridges, public
buildings, etc. He awaits _events_. Mr. Hunter and other public
characters are looking very grave.
The following dispatch was received to-day from Weldon, via Raleigh and
Greensborough, N. C:
"May 8th.
"The enemy destroyed the wire from Stony Creek to within three miles
of Belfield, a distance of about fifteen miles. Our men and
employees are repairing it, and we hope to have communication
reopened to-morrow. W. S. HARRIS."
Col. Preston, Superintendent of Bureau of Conscription, has written
another letter to the Secretary, urging the promotion of Captain C. B.
Duffield, who threatens to leave him for a position with Gen. Kumper, at
Lynchburg, where he can live cheaper. He says he has urged the
President, to no avail.
The Secretary has roused himself. Since 3 P.M. he has issued a call "TO
ARMS!" All men capable of bearing arms are requested to report to Gen.
Kemper, Franklin Street, to be armed and organized "temporarily" for
the defense of the city. Gen. Ransom had previously issued a placard,
calling on officers and men on furlough to meet in Capitol Square for
temporary organization. This may involve some etiquette, or question of
jurisdiction between the generals. Gen. Winder is utterly ignored.
I have just heard that the Departmental Battalion has been marched
across Mayo's Bridge to the fortifications of Manchester, on the south
side of the river. The militia regiment will go to the place on the
north side heretofore occupied by them.
Another dispatch from Gen. Lee, received since 3 P.M. to-day, says Grant
attacked him again yesterday, after the slaughter by our Gen. Anderson,
and was handsomely repulsed. Grant's tactics seem to be to receive his
stripes by installments.
MAY 10TH.--Bright, but windy and dusty.
There is an excitement at last; but it is sullen rather than despairing.
No one seems to doubt our final success, although the enemy have now
some 200,000 in Virginia, and we but little over half that number.
We have nothing from Lee to-day, but it is believed he is busy in
battle.
A portion of Grant's right wing, cut off at Spottsylvania Court House,
endeavored to march across the country to the Peninsula. They cut the
railroad at Beaver Dam, and destroyed some of our commissary stores. But
it is likely they will be captured.
The enemy beat us yesterday at Dublin Depot, wounding Gen. Jenkins.
On the other hand, Gen. McNeal (C. S.) has cut the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, destroying millions of property. Thus the work goes on!
There was no general engagement down the river.
At 12 o'clock last night a column of infantry passed our house, going
down Clay Street. Many thought it was the enemy.
I saw a letter to-day from Gen. Beauregard to Gen. Bragg, dated Weldon,
April 29th, giving the names of the Federal generals commanding forces
on the Southern coast, so that the arrival of any of these officers in
Virginia would indicate the transfer of their troops thither. He
concluded by saying that if it were desired he should operate on the
north side of James River, maps ought to be prepared for him, and
timbers, etc. for bridges; and that he would serve with pleasure under
the immediate command of Gen. Lee, "aiding him to crush our enemies, and
to achieve the independence of our country."
Gen. Bragg, May 2d, sent this to Gen. Cooper, who referred it to the
Secretary of War. Gen. Bragg indorsed on it that several of the Federal
generals named had arrived at Fortress Monroe.
The Secretary sent it to the President on the 7th of May.
To-day the President sent it back indorsed as follows: "Maps of the
country, with such additions as may from time to time be made, should be
kept on hand in the Engineer Bureau, and furnished to officers in the
field. Preparations of material for bridges, etc. will continue to be
made as heretofore, and with such additional effort as circumstances
require.
"I did not doubt the readiness of Gen. Beauregard to serve under any
general who ranks him. The right of Gen. Lee to command would be derived
from his superior rank.
"JEFFERSON DAVIS.
"9th May, 1864."
MAY 11TH.--Bright and pleasant--breezy. This has been a day of
excitement.
At midnight the Departmental Battalion were marched from the south side
of the river back to the city, and rested the remainder of the night at
Camp Lee. But at 9 A.M. they were marched hurriedly to Meadow Bridge.
They came past our house. Custis and his brother Thomas ran
in--remaining but a moment. Custis exclaimed: "Let me have some money,
mother (I had to go to the office), or we will starve. The government
don't feed us, and we are almost famished. Cook something, and get
Captain Warner to bring it in his buggy--do, if possible." He got $20.
They looked worn, and were black with dust, etc. My daughter said "they
looked like negroes."
The Secretary issued this morning a new edition of his handbills,
calling the people "to arms."
Mr. Mallory's usual red face turned purple. He has not yet got out the
iron-clad Richmond, etc., which might have sunk Gen. Butler's
transports.
Lieut.-Col. Lay was exhibiting a map of our defenses, and predicting
something,--whether good or evil, I did not stay to learn. But I thought
such maps ought not to be shown in the public hall of the department.
The armory was open to-day, and all who desired them were furnished with
arms.
The Governor, I hear, issued a notification that the enemy would be here
to-day, etc. I did not see it.
All classes not in the army were gathered up and marched to the
defenses.
2 P.M. Respectable men just from the vicinity report a great victory for
Lee, yesterday, though we have nothing from him. The Secretary believes
these concurring reports, which state that the battle, beginning near
Spottsylvania Court House, ended at Fredericksburg, indicating a
WATERLOO.
And a dispatch from Gen. Ransom from the south side of the river, states
that Butler's army is _retreating to the transports_. This is regarded
as confirmation of Lee's victory.
Several dispatches from Gen. Stuart state that the raiders have been
severely beaten in several combats this morning, and are flying toward
Dover Mills. They may come back, for _they_ have not heard of Grant's
defeat.
Mr. Memminger is said to have been frightened terribly, and arrangements
were made for flight.
MAY 12TH.--Thunder, lightning, and rain all day.
The report of Gen. Lee's victory was premature, and Butler has not gone,
nor the raiders vanished. On the contrary, the latter were engaged in
battle with Stuart's division late in the afternoon, and recommenced it
this morning at 3 o'clock, the enemy remaining on the ground, and still
remain, some five miles from where I write. Major-Gen. J. E. B. Stuart
was wounded last evening, through the kidney, and now lies in the city,
in a dying condition! Our best generals thus fall around us.
The battle raged furiously; every gun distinctly heard at our house
until 1 P.M.--the enemy being intrenched between our middle and outer
line of works. Meantime our ambulances are arriving every hour with the
wounded, coming in by the Brooke Turnpike.
The battalion my sons are in lost none of its men, though shelled by the
enemy early in the morning; nor do we know that our battery did any
execution. Capt. Warner delivered the provisions their mother cooked
for them yesterday. He saw only Custis, who gladly received the bread,
and meat, and eggs; but he and Tom were both drenched with rain, as they
had no shelter yesterday. But a comrade, and one of Custis's Latin
pupils, whom I saw, returned on sick leave, says Thomas stands the
fatigue and exposure better than Custis, who was complaining.
About 11 A.M. to-day there was very heavy reports of cannon heard in the
direction of Drewry's Bluff, supposed to be our battery shelling the
country below, for some purpose.
I understand one or more of our iron-clads will certainly go out this
evening, or to-night; we shall know it when it occurs, for the firing
will soon follow.
Worked in my garden; set out corn and (yellow) tomatoes; the former
given me by my neighbor, to whom I had given lettuce and beet plants.
My wife spent a miserable day, some one having reported that the
Departmental Battalion was cut to pieces in the battle. When I came in,
she asked me if Custis and Thomas were alive, and was exceedingly glad
to know not a man in the company had been even wounded.
I shall never forget the conformation of the clouds this morning as the
storm arose. There were different strata running in various directions.
They came in heaviest volume from the southeast in parallel lines, like
lines of battle swooping over the city. There were at the same time
shorter and fuller lines from the southwest, and others from the north.
The meeting of these was followed by tremendous clashes of lightning and
thunder; and between the pauses of the artillery of the elements above,
the thunder of artillery on earth could be distinctly heard. Oh that the
strife were ended! But Richmond is to be defended at all hazards.
It is said, however, that preparations have been made for the flight of
the President, cabinet, etc. up the Danville Road, in the event of the
fall of the city. Yet no one fears that the present forces environing it
could take it. If Lee withstands Grant another week, all will be safe.
My greatest fear is the want of provisions. My wife bought a half bushel
of meal; so we have a week's supply on hand, as we were not quite out. I
hope Beauregard will soon restore communication with the South.
MAY 13TH.--Cloudy and showery all day.
Last night my youngest son Thomas came in, furloughed (unsolicited) by
his officers, who perceived his exhaustion.
The enemy disappeared in the night. We suffered most in the several
engagements with him near the city. I suppose some sympathizer had
furnished him with a copy of our photograph map of the fortifications
and country in the vicinity.
But the joy of many, and chagrin of some at his escape so easily, was
soon followed by the startling intelligence that a raid from Gen.
Butler's army had cut the _Danville_ Road! All communication with the
country from which provisions are derived is now completely at an end!
And if supplies are withheld that long, this community, as well as the
army, must be without food in ten, days! Col. Northrop told me to-day
that unless the railroads were retaken and repaired, he could not feed
the troops ten days longer. And he blamed Gen. Lee for the loss of over
200,000 pounds of bacon at Beaver Dam. He says Gen. Lee ordered it
there, instead of keeping it at Charlottesville or Gordonsville. Could
Lee make such a blunder?
Most of the members of Congress, when not in session, hang about the
door and hall of the War Department, eager for news, Mr. Hunter being
the most prominent, if not the most anxious among them. But the wires
are cut in all directions, and we must rely on couriers.
The wildest rumors float through the air. Every successive hour gives
birth to some new tidings, and one must be near the Secretary's table
indeed to escape being misled by false reports.
For two days no dispatch has been received from Gen. Lee, although one
hears of a dispatch just received from him at every corner of the
streets. A courier arrived to-day from the _vicinity_ of our army. He
saw a _gentleman_ who saw Gen. Lee's son _Robert_ yesterday, and was
informed by him that our army was five miles nearer Fredericksburg,
having driven the enemy farther down the river.
Our iron-clads--Virginia, Richmond, and Fredericksburg--I understood
from Lieut. Minor, this morning, will not go out until in readiness to
cope successfully with the enemy's fleet of gun-boats and monitors. How
long that will be he did not say. It may be _to-day_. And while I write
(4-1/2 P.M.) I can distinctly hear the roar of artillery down the river.
It may be an engagement by land or by water, or by both; and it may be
only the customary shelling of the woods by the enemy's gun-boats. But
it is very rapid sometimes.
A courier reports the raid on the Danville Road as not formidable. They
are said, however, to have blown up the coal-pits. They cannot _blow_
coal _higher_ than our own extortionate people have done.
I directed my wife to lay out all the money about the house in
provisions. She got a bushel of meal and five pounds of bacon for about
$100. If we must endure another turn of the screw of famine, it is well
to provide for it as well as possible. We cannot starve now, in a month;
and by that time, Gens. Lee and Beauregard may come to our relief. Few
others are looked to hopefully. The functionaries here might have had a
six-months' supply, by wise and energetic measures.
The President has had the Secretary of War closeted with him nearly all
day. It is too late now for the evacuation of Richmond, and a
_desperate_ defense will be made. If the city falls, the consequences
will be ruinous to the present government. And how could any of its
members escape? Only in disguise. This is the time to try the nerves of
the President and his counselors!
Gen. Bragg is very distasteful to many officers of the army; and the
croakers and politicians would almost be willing to see the government
go to pieces, to get rid of the President and his cabinet. Some of the
members of Congress are anxious to get _away_, and the _Examiner_ twits
them for their cowardice. They will stay, probably.
MAY 14TH.--Warm, with alternate sunshine and showers.
With the dawn recommenced the heavy boom of cannon down the river. It
was rumored this morning that our right wing at Drewry's Bluff had been
flanked, but no official information has been received of the progress
of the fight. I saw a long line of ambulances going in that direction.
To-day it is understood that the battle of Petersburg will be fought by
Beauregard, if he be not withheld from attacking the enemy by orders
from Richmond.
We have been beaten, or rather badly foiled here, by orders from high
authority; and it is said Gen. Ransom finds himself merely an
instrument in the hands of those who do not know how to use him
skillfully.
The enemy is said to have made a bridge across the James River, either
to come on the north side, or to enable the raiders to reach them. They
are also planting torpedoes, for our iron rams. They are not yet ready.
Gen. Lee is prosecuting the defensive policy effectively. Couriers to
the press, considered quite reliable, give some details of a most
terrific battle in Spottsylvania County day before yesterday, 12th inst.
Our men (with extra muskets) fought behind their breastworks. The host
of assailants came on, stimulated by whisky rations, ten deep, and
fearful was the slaughter. Their loss is estimated at 20,000; ours,
2000. The enemy were still in front. Grant says he will not recross the
Rappahannock as long as he has a man left. Lee seems determined to kill
his last man.
A great deal of time is said to have been consumed in cabinet council,
making selections for appointments. It is a harvest for hunters after
brigadier and major-generalships. The President is very busy in this
business, and Secretary Seddon is sick--neuralgia.
Last night Custis came home on a furlough of twelve hours. He got a
clean shirt, and washed himself--not having had his shoes or clothes off
for more than a week. He has not taken cold, though sleeping in the
water, and not having dry clothes on him for several days. And his
appetite is excellent. He departed again for camp, four miles off, at
5-1/2 A.M., bringing and taking out his gun, his heavy cartridge-box,
and well-filled haversack (on his return).
Half-past four o'clock P.M. A tremendous cannonade is now distinctly
heard down the river, the intonations resembling thunder. No doubt the
monitors are engaged with the battery at Drewry's Bluff. It may be a
combined attack.
Gen. Pemberton has resigned his commission; but the President has
conferred on him a lieutenant-colonelcy of artillery. Thus the feelings
of all the armies and most of the people are outraged; for, whether
justly or not, both Pemberton and Bragg, to whom the President clings
with tenacity, are especially obnoxious both to the people and the army.
May Heaven shield us! Yet the President _may_ be right.
MAY 15TH.--Clouds, sunshine, and showers.
The tremendous cannonading all day yesterday at Drewry's Bluff was
merely an artillery duel--brought on by the heavy skirmishing of
pickets. The batteries filled the air with discordant sounds, and shook
the earth with grating vibration. Perhaps 100 on each side were killed
and wounded--"not worth the ammunition," as a member of the government
said.
Gen. Lee's dispatches to the President have been withheld from
publication during the last four days. The loss of two trains of
commissary stores affords the opportunity to censure Lee; but some think
his popularity and power both with the people and the army have inspired
the motive.
I saw to-day some of our slightly wounded men from Lee's army, who were
in the fight of Thursday (12th inst.), and they confirm the reports of
the heavy loss of the enemy. They say there is no suffering yet for
food, and the men are still in good spirits.
Both the Central and the Fredericksburg Roads are repaired, and trains
of provisions are now daily sent to Gen. Lee.
The Danville Road was not materially injured; the raiders being repulsed
before they could destroy the important bridges. Supplies can come to
Petersburg, and may be forwarded by wagons to the Danville Road, and
thence to Lynchburg, etc.
Fresh troops are arriving from the South for Beauregard; but he is still
withheld from decisive operations.
The Departmental Battalion is still out; the enemy still menacing us
from the Chickahominy.
During the last four days correspondence has ceased almost entirely, and
the heads of bureaus, captains, majors, lieutenant-colonels, adjutants,
quartermasters, and commissaries, have nothing to do. They wander about
with hanging heads, ashamed to be safely out of the field--I mean all
under 50 years of age--and look like sheep-stealing dogs. Many sought
their positions, and still retain them, to keep out of danger. Such
cravens are found in all countries, and are perhaps fewer in this than
any other. However, most of the population of the city between 17 and 50
are absent from the streets; some few shopkeeping Jews and Italians are
imprisoned for refusing to aid in the defense, and some no doubt are
hidden.
Most of the able-bodied negro men, both free and slave, have been taken
away--in the field as teamsters, or digging on the fortifications. Yet
those that remain may sometimes be seen at the street corners looking,
some wistfully, some in dread, in the direction of the enemy. There is
but little fear of an insurrection, though no doubt the enemy would be
welcomed by many of the negroes, both free and slave.
At 1 P.M. to-day a train arrived from Guinea's Station with 800 of our
wounded, in Sunday's and Thursday's battles.
The following prices are now paid in this city: boots, $200; coats,
$350; pants, $100; shoes, $125; flour, $275 per barrel; meal, $60 to $80
per bushel; bacon, $9 per pound; no beef in market; chickens, $30 per
pair; shad, $20; potatoes, $25 per bushel; turnip greens, $4 per peck;
white beans, $4 per quart, or $120 per bushel; butter, $15 per pound;
lard, same; wood, $50 per cord. What a change a decisive victory--or
defeat--would make!
MAY 16TH.--Warm--sunshine and light showers.
Memorable day--not yet decided at 2 P.M. Early this morning Gen.
Beauregard attacked the enemy on the south side of the river, and by 9
A.M. he had sent over to the city Gen. Heckman and 840 prisoners, the
entire 27th Massachusetts Regiment. Subsequently it is said 400 were
sent over. By 12 M. the firing had receded out of hearing from the city,
and messengers report that the enemy were being driven back rapidly.
Hon. Geo. Davis, Attorney-General (from North Carolina), told me that
Gen. Whiting was coming up from Petersburg, in the enemy's _rear_, with
13,000 men. So, at this hour, the prospects are glorious.
Gen. Pickett has been relieved--_indisposition_. Brig.-Gen. Barton has
also been relieved, for some cause arising out of the failure to capture
the raiders on this side the river.
Gens. Bragg and Pemberton made an inspection of the position of the
enemy, down the river, yesterday, and made rather a cheerless report to
the President. They are both supposed to be inimical to Gen. Beauregard,
who seems to be achieving such brilliant success.
The President rode over to Beauregard's headquarters this morning. Some
fear he will embarrass the general; others say he is near the field,
prepared to fly, if it be lost. In truth, if we were defeated, it might
be difficult for him to return to the city.
Gen. Breckenridge has defeated Sigel in the Shenandoah Valley.
Gen. Lee dispatches that he had no fighting Saturday and Sunday. To-day
Grant is retiring his right wing, but advancing his left east of
Spottsylvania Court House, where Lee's headquarters are still
established.
MAY 17TH.--Sunshine and showers.
The battle yesterday decided nothing, that I am aware of. We captured
1000 prisoners, stormed some of their intrenchments; losing altogether
probably as many as the enemy. But we drove them back to Bermuda
Hundred, behind their fortifications, and near their ships.
Gen. Johnston was attacked at Dalton by 80,000 men last week; accounts,
some five days old, say he repulsed the assaults of the enemy.
The Departmental Battalion is out yet; the city being still in danger.
The government is almost suspended in its functions. The Secretary of
the Treasury cannot get money from Columbia, S. C., whither he foolishly
sent the girls that sign the notes.
Some of the idle military officers, always found about the departments,
look grave, and do not hesitate to express some apprehension of the
success of Grant in forcing Lee back, and spreading over all Northern
and Northwestern Virginia. The Secretary of War is much secluded, and I
see by a correspondence between him and the Secretary of the Treasury,
relating to the _million and three-quarters_ in coin, belonging to the
New Orleans banks, that the Secretary of the Treasury can make no "valid
objection to the proposition of the Secretary of War." I do not
understand what disposition they propose to make of it.
A list is being prepared at the War Department (by Mr. Assistant
Secretary Campbell) for Congress to pass, authorizing the seizure of all
the railroads in the Confederacy. Also one establishing and reorganizing
the Bureau of Conscription.
If Butler remains between Richmond and Petersburg, and is reinforced,
and Grant is strong enough (two to Lee's one) to push on toward
Richmond, our perils and trials will be greater than ever.
Vice-President Stephens has not yet arrived. I do not understand that he
is ill.
MAY 18TH.--Showers and sunshine, the first preponderating.
Our killed and wounded in Beauregard's battle amount to some 1500. The
enemy lost 1000 prisoners, and perhaps 1500 killed and wounded.
Railroad men report heavy firing this morning near Fredericksburg, and
it is believed another battle is in progress.
From the West we have a report, derived from the enemy at Natchez, that
Gen. Banks has surrendered to Lieut-Gen. Smith.
It is rumored likewise that President Lincoln has called for 60,000
militia, _to defend Washington_.
A fortnight ago, Mr. Benjamin procured passports for one or two of his
agents "to pass the lines at will." They may have procured information,
but it did not prevent the enemy from coming.
Attended a funeral (next door to us) ceremony this afternoon at 5 P.M.
over the body of Abner Stanfield, a nephew of Mrs. Smith, our next door
neighbor, who fell in battle day before yesterday, near Drewry's Bluff.
By the merest accident his relatives here learned of his fall (by the
paper we loaned them), and Mr. S. had his body brought to his house, and
decently prepared for the grave. His bloody garments were replaced by a
fine suit of clothes he had kept with Mr. S.; his mother, etc. live in
Northern Virginia, and his cousins, the Misses S., decorated the coffin
beautifully with laurels, flowers, etc. He was a handsome young hero,
six feet tall, and died bravely in his country's defense. He was slain
by a shell. The ceremony was impressive, and caused many tears to flow.
But his glorious death and funeral honor will inspire others with
greater resolution to do and to dare, and to die, if necessary, for
their country. The minister did him justice, for the hallowed cause in
which he fell.
MAY 19TH.--Sunshine and showers, the former predominating.
Gen. Lee sends a dispatch saying the enemy's attack yesterday was
repulsed easily--our loss very light.
It is said, however, that the enemy have Guinea's Station, 12 miles this
side of Fredericksburg.
Gen. Beauregard intends shelling Butler in his fortifications
to-morrow.
From the West, in Georgia, and beyond the Mississippi, all seem bright
enough.
Congress has passed a resolution to adjourn on the 31st inst., in
obedience to the wish of the President. He has a majority in both
Houses, it seems; and even the bills they pass are generally dictated by
the Executive, and written in the departments. Judge Campbell is much
used for this purpose.
Gen. Bragg sent in a manuscript, derived from a deserter, stating that
of Gen. Butler's two corps, one, the 10th, is from the Southern coast,
no negroes in it, leaving only negroes in the Southern garrisons. We
learned Butler was in command, and dismissed all apprehensions--and one
day we had but 5000 opposed to his 40,000!
MAY 20TH.--Fog; then sunshine all day, but cool.
Troops have been marching through the city all day from the south side.
I presume others take their places arriving from the South. Barton's
brigade had but 700 out of 2000 that went into battle last Monday. Our
wounded amount to 2000; perhaps the enemy's loss was not so large.
Col. Northrop is vehement in his condemnation of Beauregard; says his
blunders are ruining us; that he is a charlatan, and that he never has
been of any value to the Confederate States; and he censures Gen. Lee,
whom he considers a general, and the only one we have, and the Secretary
of War, for not providing transportation for supplies, now so fearfully
scarce.
I read an indorsement to-day, in the President's writing, as follows:
"Gen. Longstreet has seriously offended against good order and military
discipline in rearresting an officer (Gen. Law) who had been released by
the War Department, without any new offense having been alleged.--J. D."
Mr. Mallory, Secretary of the Navy, wrote a pungent letter to the
Secretary of War to-day, on the failure of the latter to have the
obstructions removed from the river, so that the iron-clads might go out
and fight. He says the enemy has captured our lower battery of
torpedoes, etc., and declares the failure to remove the obstructions
"prejudicial to the interests of the country, and especially to the
naval service, which has thus been prevented from rendering important
service."
Gen. Bragg writes a pretty tart letter to the Secretary of War to-day,
desiring that his reports of the Army of Tennessee, called for by
Congress, be furnished for publication, or else that the reasons be
given for withholding them.
We have no war news to-day.
Mrs. Minor, of Cumberland County, with whom my daughter Anne resides, is
here, in great affliction. Her brother, Col. Rudolph, was killed in the
battle with Sheridan, near Richmond; shot through the head, and buried
on the field. Now she learns that another brother, a cadet, just 18
years old, was killed in the battle of Gen. Breckinridge, in the valley,
shot through the head; and she resolves to set out for Staunton at once,
to recover his body. Her father and sister died a few months ago, and
she has just heard of her aunt's death.
A lady living next door to us had two brothers wounded on Monday, and
they are both here, and will recover.
Gen. Breckinridge is now marching to reinforce Lee. It is said Butler
will set sail to join Grant. If so, we can send Lee 20,000 more men, and
Beauregard's victory will yield substantial fruits.
MAY 21ST.--Sun all day, but a little hazy; perhaps a battle.
There was quite a battle yesterday on the south side. The accounts in
the morning's paper fall short of the whole of our success. The enemy,
it is said to-day, did not regain the works from which they were driven,
but are now cooped up at Bermuda Hundred. Nothing is feared from Butler.
Nothing from Lee, but troops are constantly going to him.
I saw some 10,000 rusty rifles, brought down yesterday from Lee's
battle-field. Many bore marks of balls, deeply indenting or perforating
the barrels. The ordnance officer says in his report that he has
collected many thousands more than were dropped by our killed and
wounded. This does not look like a _Federal_ victory!
MAY 22D.--Clear and warm, but the atmosphere is charged with the smoke
and dust of contending armies. The sun shines but dimly.
Custis was with us last night, and returned to camp at 5 A.M. to-day. He
gets from government only a small loaf of corn bread and a herring a
day. We send him something, however, every other morning. His appetite
is voracious, and he has not taken cold. He loathes the camp life, and
some of the associates he meets in his mess, but is sustained by the
vicissitudes and excitements of the hour, and the conviction that the
crisis must be over soon.
Last night there was furious shelling down the river, supposed to be a
night attack by Butler, which, no doubt, Beauregard anticipated. Result
not heard.
The enemy's cavalry were at Milford yesterday, but did no mischief, as
our stores had been moved back to Chesterfield depot, and a raid on
Hanover C. H. was repulsed. Lee was also attacked yesterday evening, and
repulsed the enemy. It is said Ewell is now engaged in a flank movement,
and the GREAT FINAL battle may be looked for immediately.
Breckinridge is at Hanover Junction, with other troops. So the war rolls
on toward this capital, and yet Lee's headquarters remain in
Spottsylvania. A few days more must tell the story. If he cuts Grant's
communications, I should not be surprised if that desperate general
attempted a bold dash on toward Richmond. I don't think he could take
the city--and he would be between two fires.
I saw some of the enemy's wounded this morning, brought down in the
cars, dreadfully mutilated. Some had lost a leg and arm--besides
sustaining other injuries. But they were cheerful, and uttered not a
groan in the removal to the hospital.
Flour is selling as high as $400 per barrel, and meal at $125 per
bushel. The roads have been cut in so many places, and so frequently,
that no provisions have come in, except for the army. But the hoarding
speculators have abundance hidden.
The Piedmont Road, from Danville, Va., to Greensborough, is completed,
and now that we have two lines of communication with the South, it may
be hoped that this famine will be of only short duration. They are
cutting wheat in Georgia and Alabama, and new flour will be ground from
the growing grain in Virginia in little more than a month. God help us,
if relief come not speedily! A great victory would be the speediest way.
My garden looks well, but affords nothing yet except salad.
MAY 23D.--Fair and warm, with pleasant breezes.
Gen. Johnston, without a defeat, has fallen back to Calhoun, Ga.
Gen. Lee, without a defeat, has fallen back to Hanover Junction, his
headquarters at Ashland. Grant is said to be worming his way eastward to
the Peninsula, the field occupied by McClellan in 1862. Why, he might
have attained that position without the loss of a man at the outset!
On Saturday night Gen. Butler made the following exploit:
"On Saturday night the enemy renewed his assault, assailing that portion
of our line held principally by Wise's brigade. In some manner our men
had become apprised of the intention of the enemy to make a night
attack, and were fully prepared for it. The enemy were allowed to
advance, our men deliberately reserving their fire until they were
within 20 or 30 yards of them, when they poured into their ranks a most
terrific volley, driving them back with great slaughter. The repulse is
said to have been a most decided success; the enemy were thrown into
great confusion and retreated rapidly.
"The enemy's loss is said to have been very severe, and is estimated at
hardly less than four or five hundred _in killed alone_, while we are
said to have lost none in killed, and some thirty or forty wounded."
There was an immense mail to-day, and yet with my sore eyes I had no aid
from my son, still at the intrenchments. I hinted my desire to have him,
but young Mr. Kean opposed it.
MAY 24TH.--Clear and warm.
No fighting yesterday besides small collisions near Hanover Junction. It
is said to-day that Grant threatens the Central Railroad, on Lee's left.
This is regarded as a serious matter. We want _men_.
An armed guard is now a fixture before the President's house.
Peas were in market on the 18th inst.; price $10 a half peck.
Strawberries are $10 per quart. There has been no meat in market for a
long time, most of the butchers' stalls being closed during the last
three months. Unless government feeds the people here, some of us may
starve.
MAY 25TH.--Sunshine and showers.
Custis is back again, the battalion of clerks being relieved, after
three weeks' service in the field.
Yesterday there was skirmishing between the armies, near Hanover
Junction--25 miles distant from the city.
Nothing of importance from the south side. But our iron-clads are
certainly going down the river--they _say_.
To-day it is thought a battle commenced between Lee and Grant. It will
be, perhaps, a decisive engagement, whenever it does take place. And yet
there is no trepidation in the community; no apparent fear of defeat.
Still, there is some degree of feverish anxiety, as Lee retires nearer
to the capital followed by the enemy. A little delay would make us
stronger, as reinforcements, especially of cavalry, are daily arriving.
The trains run from the city to Lee's headquarters in one hour and a
half.
A letter from Senator Henry, of Tennessee, to the Secretary, suggests
that Forrest's cavalry be now sent to the rear of Sherman's army in
Georgia, to cut off his supplies, etc., resulting in his destruction.
Perhaps this is the purpose. And Lee may have some such design. A few
days will develop important events. May they put an end to this
desolating war.
MAY 26TH.--Sunshine and showers.
Senator Henry's letter was referred to Gen. Bragg, who returned it
to-day with the indorsement that the suggested movement had not escaped
attention, and a good result might soon be looked for. And sure enough,
a dispatch was received from Atlanta to-day, announcing the capture of
some 250 of the enemy's wagons laden with stores!
It is to be hoped that Gen. Lee has some scheme of a similar character,
to relieve Grant of his supply trains. Troops are daily coming hither,
infantry and cavalry, whence in one hour and a half the former reach
Lee's army. The great battle still hangs fire, but to be of greater
magnitude when it does occur.
Gen. Bragg did a good thing yesterday, even while Senator Orr was
denouncing him. He relieved Gen. Winder from duty here, and assigned him
to Goldsborough, N. C. Now if the rogues and cut-throats he persisted in
having about him be likewise dismissed, the Republic is safe! Gen.
Ransom has now full charge of this department.
Mr. Secretary Seddon is sick, and Mr. Assistant Secretary Campbell is
crabbed--Congress not having passed his Supreme Court bill. And if it
were passed, the President would hardly appoint him judge.
It is said one of our iron-clads is out--the rest to follow immediately.
Let Butler beware!
MAY 27TH.--Clouds and sunshine; cooler.
Nothing additional from the West. Several thousand Georgia mounted
troops have arrived during the last 24 hours, in readiness to march to
Lee. One Georgia regiment has 1200, and a South Carolina regiment that
went up this morning 1000 men.
Lee's army is at Ashland--17 miles distant. The enemy are marching down
the Pamunky, north side. They will doubtless cross it, and march through
New Kent and Charles City Counties to the James River, opposite Butler's
army. Grant probably intends crossing his army to the south side, which,
if effected, might lose us Richmond, for the city cannot subsist a week
with its southern communications cut. We should starve.
But Beauregard means to make another effort to dislodge Butler,
immediately. It will probably be a combined movement, the iron clads
co-operating. It is a necessity, and it must be done without delay, no
matter what the cost may be. If Butler remains, the railroads will be
cut. If the city be taken, not only will the iron-clads be lost, but a
large proportion of the army may be cut off from escape. Immense
munitions would certainly fall into the hands of the enemy.
The _Whig_ and _Enquirer_ both denounced Gen. Bragg to-day.
Senator Orr's assault in the Senate on Gen. Bragg was followed by
another from Wigfall, who declared there was a want of confidence in the
President. Mr. Orr said his appointment was discourtesy to the Secretary
of War, whereupon the Secretary fell ill yesterday, but to-day he is
well again. Nevertheless, the Senate voted Gen. B. the salary, etc.
allowed a general in the field.
And Gen. Winder has been treated as cavalierly as he treated me.
Retribution is sure.
The city is excited with rumors. One is that Beauregard, when about to
engage the enemy last week, was ordered by Bragg to evacuate
Petersburg--certainly an insane measure. Gen. Beauregard (so the story
runs) telegraphed the President (who was with him, as I heard) to know
if such an order had his sanction. The President replied that Gen.
Bragg's orders were authorized by him. Beauregard _disregarded_ the
order and fought the battle, saving Petersburg. Then Beauregard tendered
his resignation, which was not accepted. It is also said that the order
was directed to the commandant of the garrison; but the courier was
stopped by Generals Wise and Martin, who gave the paper to Beauregard.
There is another rumor that Bragg's orders caused Lee to fall back; and,
of course, the credulous people here are despondent; some in despair.
There may be some design against the President in all this.
MAY 28TH.--Showers and sunshine.
Grant has crossed the Pamunky, and Lee is at the Yellow Tavern--not more
than _six miles_ from the city. The hostile armies are only a few miles
apart, and the GREAT BATTLE may occur at any time, at any hour; and we
shall hear both the artillery and musketry from my dwelling.
All is quiet on the south side of the river. Nothing from Georgia,
except a short address from Gen. Johnston to the army, stating that,
having the enemy now where he wants him, he will lead the soldiers to
battle.
War and famine develop some of the worst instincts of our nature. For
five days the government has been selling meal, by the peck, for $12:
and yet those who have been purchasing have endeavored to keep it a
secret! And the government turns extortioner, making $45 profit per
bushel out of the necessities of the people!
I saw a dispatch, to-day, from Gen. Johnston to his Chief Commissary, at
Atlanta, ordering him, after reserving ten days' rations, to send the
rest of the stores to Augusta!
It is said Mr. Memminger and certain members of Congress have in
readiness the means of sudden flight, in the event of Grant's forcing
his way into the city.
It is thought, to-day, that Bragg will resign. If he does, then the
President will be humiliated; for the attacks on Bragg are meant
principally for Mr. Davis. But I doubt the story; I don't think the
President will permit Bragg to retire before his enemies, unless affairs
become desperate by the defeat of our army in this vicinity.
MAY 29TH.--Bright and quite cold.
There was skirmishing yesterday evening on the Chickahominy.
The armies are confronting each other, but Grant is moving gradually to
the right of us, as if with an intention to reach the James River; but
probably it is with the view of enveloping us with his superior numbers,
and the GREAT BATTLE may occur at any hour. The train of cars, laden, in
Broad Street, destined a few days ago to transport provisions, etc. to
Gen. Lee's army, are visited hourly by wagons from the army, now in the
immediate vicinity.
This morning the Secretary's time is occupied in giving audience to
citizens who have fled from the vicinity of the enemy, but whose
exaggerated accounts really furnish no reliable information. Of what
benefit, in such a crisis as this, is the tale of desolation in the
track of Grant's army, the destruction of crops, the robbery of children
of their silver cups and spoons, etc.? And yet these are the things
which occupy much time.
MAY 30TH.--Fair and cool; hot at noon.
It is rumored that Mr. Memminger will resign. If he does, it will cause
much rejoicing. Mr. Foote censured him severely in Congress; and moved a
resolution of censure, which was _not_ laid on the table--though moved,
and voted on--but postponed.
Gen. Lee has been a little ill from fatigue, exposure, and change of
water; but was better yesterday, and is confident.
Messrs. Cardoza and Martin, who sell a peck of meal per day to each
applicant for $12, or $48 per bushel, flour at $1.60 per pound, and
beans $3 per quart, are daily beset with a great crowd, white and black.
I do not think they sell for the government, but they probably have
facilities from it. The prices are only about half charged in the shops.
But Messrs. Dunlop and Moucine are selling meal (on their own account, I
believe) at $25 per bushel, or 50 cts. per pound, allowing each white
member of the family about five ounces per day; and selling them twice
per month, or nine pounds per month to each. The rule is to sell to only
the indigent, refugees, etc. My friend James G. Brooks, Clay Street,
informed me this morning that he got half a bushel there. He is rich!
MAY 31ST.--Clear, with hot sun.
Last evening there was some fighting on Lee's right, and 125 prisoners
were sent in.
This morning cannon and musketry could be distinctly heard east of my
dwelling; but at 3 P.M. I have not been able to learn the extent of it
or the result.
But the GREAT BATTLE is imminent. Troops have been coming over from the
south side (Beauregard's) for twenty hours, and marching down Main
Street toward the Williamsburg road. It is doubtless a flank movement
of Beauregard, and an attack on Grant may be expected any hour; and must
occur, I think, to-morrow at furthest.
I have not learned that Butler has retired from his position--and if
not, our communications must be in peril. But no matter, so Grant be
beaten.
All the local troops are ordered to be in readiness to march at a
moment's warning, this evening or night.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Beauregard's plan.--The battle.--Defeat near Staunton.--Fight at
Petersburg.--Decision about Marylanders--Beauregard in disgrace.--
Dispatch from Gen. J. E. Johnston.
JUNE 1ST.--Bright and warm.
At 7-1/2 A.M. cannon and musketry heard northeast of the city, which
either ceased or receded out of hearing at 12 M.; or else the hum of the
city drowned the sounds of battle. Up to 3 P.M. we have no particulars.
Beauregard is on the right of our line; Lee's headquarters was at Yellow
Tavern. He is sufficiently recovered to direct the battle.
Butler has mostly if not entirely evacuated Bermuda Hundred; doubtless
gone to Grant. The President rode out this morning toward the
battle-field. Every one is confident of success, since Beauregard and
Lee command.
The Secretary of War granted a passport to Mr. Pollard, who wrote a
castigating history of the first years of the war, to visit Europe.
Pollard, however, was taken, and is now in the hands of the enemy, at
New York.
Another row with the Bureau of Conscription. Brig.-Gen. Chilton,
Inspector-General, has been investigating operations in Mississippi, at
the instance of Gen. Polk; and Col. Preston, Superintendent of the
Bureau, disdains to answer their communications.
My landlord, Mr. King, _has not_ raised my rent!
JUNE 2D.--Very warm and cloudy.
There was no general engagement yesterday, but heavy skirmishing, and
several assaults at different points; and a dispatch from Gen. Lee says
they resulted favorably to our arms.
A dispatch from Gen. Johnston says his men are in good plight, after
combats enough to make a battle, in all of which the enemy suffered
most.
The local troops (Custis's battalion, etc.) were ordered out to-day. I
have not understood to what point they were ordered; but it indicates
the imminency of a battle. Lee has not less than 80,000 men--veterans.
I saw, to-day, Gen. Beauregard's plan, dated May 14th. It was addressed
to Gen. Bragg, "Commanding Confederate States Armies." He suggested the
falling back on the defenses of Richmond, and detaching 15,000 to the
south side to crush or drive away Butler. He would then not only return
the 15,000 to the north side, but bring over 25,000 additional to crush
Grant.
This scheme was rejected by Bragg on the 19th, after consultation with
the President and the Secretary: the latter indorsing _his_ concurrence
in the rejection, the President not _committing himself in writing_. But
Beauregard was ordered to attack Butler without delay, which was done,
and successfully; but he was not crushed, and still threatens our
railroads with a portion of his army, while the rest has been sent to
reinforce Grant.
Nevertheless, Beauregard is here with some 20,000, and Lee _did_ fall
back to the defenses of Richmond.
Congress has passed a bill increasing the compensation of themselves 100
per cent. Perhaps they will not adjourn now, but remain and await
events.
Senator Hunter and the Secretary of War promenaded the Square yesterday
afternoon in a long "confabulation," supposed by some to relate to
political matters.
5 O'CLOCK P.M.--Heavy and quick cannonading heard some eight or ten
miles east of the city. It continued until night, when it was raining
and cold; and Custis had no blanket, not anticipating such a change.
JUNE 3D.--Raining gently, and cool.
As early as 4 A.M. there was an incessant roar of artillery, the
vibrations of which could be felt in the houses. It could be heard
distinctly in all parts of the city. And ever and anon could be
distinguished great crashes of musketry, as if whole divisions of
infantry were firing at the word of command. It continued until 11
o'clock A.M., when it ceased. A dispatch from Lee stated that his line
(behind breastworks, center and left) had been repeatedly assaulted, and
every time the enemy was repulsed. The attack, it was supposed, was made
to check a flanking movement made yesterday afternoon, by Gen. Ewell, on
the enemy's left, to cut his communications with the White House, his
base of supplies. No doubt the slaughter has been great!
The dispatch from Beauregard indicates that he may be still on the other
side of the river. It may be a _ruse de guerre_, or it may be that the
general's enemies here (in the government) are risking everything to
keep him from participation in the great battles.
Mr. Hunter, being short and fat, rolls about like a pumpkin. He is
everywhere, seeking tidings from the field. It is said the enemy, at
last, has visited his great estates in Essex County; but he'll escape
loss "by hook or by crook." He has made enormously by his crops and his
mills: nevertheless, he would sacrifice all for the Presidency--and
independence.
The President, yesterday, forbade details from the Department Battalion
to remain in the city.
The _Southern_ Express Company has bribed the quartermasters, and is at
its work again, using fine horses and stout details that should be in
the army. Its wagon was at the department to-day with a box of bacon for
Judge Campbell.
About 800 prisoners were marched into the city this afternoon, and it is
believed many more are on the way.
Cannonading was heard again in a northeast direction this evening from 6
till 8-1/2 o'clock, when it ceased--perhaps the prelude to another scene
of carnage to-morrow!
JUNE 4TH.--Showers and sunshine. It is believed Grant has lost 40,000
within the last week!
To-day there has been more or less cannonading along the line; but it is
not known if any infantry were engaged.
The battalion to which Custis (my son) belongs is at Bottom's Bridge,
some sixteen miles distant on the Chickahominy; and I learn that the
enemy shelled it yesterday and last night, without injury, shells
falling short.
It is suspected that Sherman will be ordered from Georgia to reinforce
Grant! It seems Lincoln would give up his hopes of heaven, and plunge
into hell, for the PRESIDENCY.
The Commissary General says Lee must beat Grant before the latter is
reinforced, "or we are gone;" for their destruction of the railroads,
north and northwest, will ruin us--the southern roads being insufficient
to transport stores for the army.
My nephew, Col. R. H. Musser, trans-Mississippi, I am told by Senator
Clark, was complimented on the field of victory by Gen. Taylor. His
brigadier-general having fallen, Col. M. commanded the brigade.
Last evening, about 6 P.M., a cloud nearly overhead assumed the shape of
a section of our fortifications, the segment of a circle, with the
triangle penetrating through from the north. These shapes were
distinctly defined. Could the operations beneath have produced this
phenomenon? was it accidental? or a portent of the future? God knows!
JUNE 5TH.--Raining.
The sudden booming of artillery, shelling our department boys,
intrenching at Bottom's Bridge, was heard until bedtime. I have heard no
results of yesterday's operations.
All is quiet to-day, up to 9 A.M.
Received a letter from Custis. I have not heard whether he received the
food and blanket sent him yesterday; the latter, he says, was wanted
badly the night before. He charges Fanny, as usual, to be regular in
feeding and watering Polly, his parrot; and never to leave the door of
his cage open, for fear he may fly away.
JUNE 6TH.--Clear and hot, but with a fine breeze--southwest.
All is quiet around the city. Saturday night the enemy _again_
penetrated Gen. Breckinridge's line, and _again_ were repulsed by the
Floridians. Some of his regiments (as Mr. Mallory, Secretary of the
Navy, who stopped in front of my house yesterday, told me) did not
behave well.
Yesterday, I learn, both sides buried the dead, with the exception of
some Federals piled up in front of Lee's breastworks. A deserter says
Grant intends _to stink_ Lee out of his position, if nothing else will
suffice. What a war, and for what? The _Presidency_ (United States),
perhaps!
I learn that the Departmental Battalion, near Bottom's Bridge, has been
moved back a mile, out of range of the enemy's shells and sharpshooters.
We have met with a defeat in the Valley, near Staunton, which place has
probably fallen. A letter from Gen. Bragg, this morning, in reply to Mr.
Secretary Seddon's inquiries, says it is too true, and he indorses
copies of dispatches from Gen. Vaughn and Col. Lee to Gen. R. E. Lee,
who sent them to the President, and the President to Gen. B., who sends
them now to the Secretary. Gen. V. calls loudly for reinforcements to
save Staunton, and says Gen. W. E. Jones, who commanded, was killed.
Col. Lee says, "We have been pretty badly whipped." Gen. Bragg knows of
no reinforcements that can be sent, and says Gen. R. E. Lee has command
there as well as here, and was never interfered with. Gen. B. says he
had tendered Gen. Lee his services, but they had not been accepted.
Small heads of early York cabbage sold in market to-day at $3, or $5 for
two. At that rate, I got about $10 worth out of my garden. Mine are
excellent, and so far abundant, as well as the lettuce, which we have
every day. My snap beans and beets will soon come on. The little garden
is a little treasure.
JUNE 7TH.--Rained in the night, clear and cool in the morning.
Gen. Breckinridge's division started toward the Valley early this
morning.
All is quiet near the city; but firing has been heard in the direction
of Bottom's Bridge.
A man from New Kent County, coming through the lines, reports that Gen.
Grant was quite drunk yesterday, and said he would try Lee once more,
and if he failed to defeat him, "the Confederacy might go to hell." It
must have been some other general.
JUNE 8TH.--Clouds and sunshine--cool.
No war news except what appears in the papers.
There was a rumor yesterday that several of the companies of the
Departmental Battalion were captured on Monday, but it was not confirmed
by later accounts.
Our battery of 49 guns was unmasked, and opened on the enemy, who had
been firing over the heads of our young men (clerks). This was replied
to by as many guns from the enemy. Thus both fires were over the heads
of the infantry in the low ground between, and none were hurt, although
the shell sometimes burst just over them.
A pontoon train passed down the river to-day, on this side, one captured
from the United States, and brought from Gordonsville. If Grant crosses,
Lee will cross, still holding the "inside track."
Received a letter from Custis. He is at Gen. Custis Lee's headquarters
on ordnance duty. A pretty position, if a shell were to explode among
the ammunition! He says he has plenty of bread and meat, and so we need
not send any more. But he considers it a horrible life, and would rather
be without his rations than his daily reading, etc. So I sent him
reading enough for a week--all the newspapers I had; a pamphlet on the
Bible Society in the South; Report of the Judiciary Committee on the
Suspension of the _habeas corpus_; and, finally, the last number of the
_Surgical Magazine_, in which he will find every variety of _gunshot
wounds_, _operations_, etc. etc. I had nothing else to send him.
JUNE 9TH.--Sunshine and clouds--warm.
No fighting yesterday. It is reported that the enemy's cavalry and a
corps of infantry recrossed the Pamunky this morning, either after
Breckinridge, or to guard communications with the Rappahannock.
There is a pause also in Georgia.
Yesterday the President vetoed a bill exempting the publishers of
periodicals, etc. He said the time had arrived when "every man capable
of bearing arms should be found in the ranks." But this does not affect
the young and stalwart _Chefs du Bureaux_, or acting assistant generals,
quartermasters, commissaries, etc. etc., who have safe and soft places.
My little garden now serves me well, furnishing daily in cabbage,
lettuce, beets, etc. what would cost $10.
JUNE 10TH.--Clear and cool.
All quiet round the city; but Petersburg was assaulted yesterday and
successfully defended.
The battalion of clerks still remains at Bottom's Bridge, on the
Chickahominy. The pickets hold familiar conversation every day with the
pickets of the enemy, the stream being narrow, and crossed by a log. For
tobacco and the city papers our boys get sugar, coffee, etc. This
intercourse is wrong. Some of the clerks were _compelled_ to volunteer
to retain their offices, and may desert, giving important information to
the enemy.
I had snap beans to-day from my garden. I have seen none in market.
JUNE 11TH.--Sunshine and cloudy--warmer.
There is a calm in military matters, but a storm is gathering in the
Valley of Virginia. Both sides are concentrating for a battle. If we
should be defeated (not likely), then our communications may be cut, and
Grant be under no necessity of fighting again to get possession of
Richmond. Meantime it is possible Grant will retire, and come again on
the south side of the James River.
Congress is debating a measure increasing the President's
compensation--he cannot subsist on his present salary. Nor can any of
us. Mr. Seddon has a large private income, and could well afford to set
the patriotic example of working "for nothing."
We have heard to-day that Lincoln was nominated for re-election at
Baltimore on the 7th inst., and gold rose to $1 96. Fremont is now
pledged to run also, thus dividing the Republican party, and giving an
opportunity for the Democrats to elect a President. If we can only
_subsist_ till then, we may have peace, and must have independence at
all events.
But there is discontent, in the Army of the West, with Gen. Johnston,
and in the East with Bragg, and among the croakers with the President.
New potatoes sold to-day for $5 per quart, $160 per bushel!
Mr. Rhodes, Commissioner of Patents, told me to-day that Gen. Forrest,
at last accounts, was at Tupelo, Miss., doing nothing,--Gen. Wheeler,
his junior in years, superior in rank, to whom he is again subordinated
by the potency of Gen. Cooper's red tape, having most of his men.
Robert Tyler has been with the Departmental Battalion at Bottom's
Bridge, doing service as a private, though the head of a bureau.
This evening at 7 o'clock we heard artillery in the direction of Lee's
army.
JUNE 12TH.--Cold and cloudy.
Some firing again this morning, supposed to be merely an artillery duel.
Heard from Custis, in pencil mark on the back of envelope; and he has
applied for and obtained a transfer from ordnance duty in the rear, back
to his company in the front.
It is rumored that Sheridan has cut the road between Gordonsville and
Charlottesville, and between that place and Lynchburg. If this be true,
he will probably strike south for the Danville Road. Then we shall have
_confusion here, and the famine intensified_. There seems to be no
concert among the military commanders, and no unity of purpose among
civil functionaries. They mistrust one another, and the people begin to
mistrust them all. Meantime the President remains inflexible.
All has been quiet to-day. I suppose the enemy is fortifying, with an
intention to move half his army to the south side of the
river--distracting us by menacing the city and threatening our
communications at the same time.
It is believed here by the croakers that Gen. Lee has lost much of his
influence, from the moment Mr. Foote named him as Dictator in the event
of one being declared.
Now, it would seem, if the plan of Beauregard, rejected by Bragg, had
been adopted, our condition would have been better. It is the curse of
Republics to be torn by the dissensions of rival chieftains in moments
of public danger!
JUNE 13TH.--Clear and cool.
Gen. Bragg sent to the Secretary of War to-day a copy of a letter from
him to the President, yesterday, proposing to send 6000 more troops to
Western Virginia, as Breckinridge has only 9000 and the enemy 18,000.
Lieut.-Gen Holmes sends from Raleigh, N. C., a letter from Hon. T.
Bragg, revealing the existence of a secret organization in communication
with the enemy, styled the "H. O. A.;" and asking authority to arrest
certain men supposed to be implicated.
A letter was received from G. W. Lay, his son-in-law, by the Assistant
Secretary of War, Judge Campbell, dated near Petersburg, stating that
the Southern Express Company would bring articles from Charleston for
him. That company seems to be more potential than ever.
Cannonading was heard far down the Chickahominy this morning. And yet
Lieut.-Gen. Ewell marched his corps to-day out the Brooke Road, just in
the opposite direction! It is rumored that he is marching away for
Washington! If he had transportation, and could march in that direction,
no doubt it would be the speediest way of relieving Richmond. Gen. Lee,
however, knows best.
At the conclave of dignitaries, Hunter, Wigfall, and Secretary Seddon,
yesterday, it is reported that when Mr. Seddon explained Grant's zigzag
fortifications, Senator Hunter exclaimed he was afraid we could never
beat him; when Senator Wigfall said nothing was easier--the President
would put the old folks and children to _praying_ at 6 o'clock A.M. Now
if any one were to tell these things to the President, he would not
believe him.
JUNE 14TH.--Clear and cool.
Gen. Grant has changed his base--disappearing from the front of Lee in
the night. He is supposed to be endeavoring to get his army below the
city, and in communication with Butler on the south side.
A dispatch from Gen. Lee says Gen. Hampton has defeated Sheridan.
Forrest has gained a victory in the West.
Lincoln has been nominated--Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, for
Vice-President.
Gen. Whiting writes that supplies from abroad are coming in abundantly
at Wilmington, N. C.
If we can only preserve our communications with the South, I regard the
campaign, if not the war, pretty nearly at an end, and Richmond safe!
Grant has failed, after doing his utmost to take Richmond. He has
shattered a great army to no purpose; while Lee's army is as strong as
ever. This is true generalship in Lee. But Grant can get more men.
JUNE 15TH.--Clear and cool; warm late in the day.
It is rumored now that the enemy got to Westtown yesterday, some ten
miles below the point on this side occupied by Butler; and to-day he is
leaving, either crossing to the south side (probably to cut the
railroad), or embarking in his transports for no one knows whither. So,
this attempt to take Richmond is as bad a failure as any. Grant has
_used up_ nearly a hundred thousand men--to what purpose? We are not
injured, after withstanding this blow of the concentrated power of the
enemy. It is true some bridges are burned, some railroads have been cut,
and the crops in the line of the enemy's march have been ruined; but
our army is intact: Lee's losses altogether, in killed and wounded, not
exceeding a few thousand.
A report of an officer states that the James River is not fordable
anywhere above for forty miles.
There is a rumor on the street that the head of Ewell's corps (commanded
by Gen. Early) crossed the Rappahannock, yesterday, at United States
Ford. If this be so, there must be consternation in Washington; and the
government there will issue embarrassing orders to Grant.
The spirits of the people here are buoyant with the Western news, as
well as with the result of Lee's campaign.
The death of Gen. Polk, however, is lamented by a good many.
The operations of Forrest and Morgan are inspiring.
JUNE 16TH.--Clear and pleasant weather, but dusty.
The Departmental Battalion marched away, last night, from the
Chickahominy (guarding a ford when no enemy was on the other side!) for
Chaffin's Farm, on the James River. They were halted after marching an
hour or so, and permitted to rest (sleep) while the rest of the brigade
passed on. When Custis awoke he was alone, the battalion having left
him; and he was ill, and knew not the road. So he set out for the city,
with the intention of going down the river road this morning. But he
grew worse after reaching home. Still, he resolved to go; and at 8 A.M.,
having marched all night nearly, he set out again, and met his
sergeant--who had likewise diverged as far as the city--who said if he
was really too ill to march, he would deliver the captain a surgeon's
certificate to that effect, which would be a sufficient explanation of
his absence. So, Surgeon C. Bell Gibson, upon an examination, pronounced
him _sick_, and certified to the captain that he could not be fit for
service for a week or ten days. At 3 P.M. he is in bed with a raging
fever.
There was a fight at Malvern Hill yesterday, the enemy being repulsed.
There was also another assault on Petersburg, repulsed three times; but
the fourth time our forces, _two regiments_, were forced back by
overwhelming numbers from the outer line of defenses.
To-day it is reported that they are fighting again at Petersburg, and
great masses of troops are in motion. The war will be determined,
perhaps, by the operations of a day or two; and much anxiety is felt by
all.
A letter from Hon. G. A. Henry, on the Danville Railroad, saying only
1000 men were there to defend it, with but two cannon without
appropriate ammunition!
Soon after a dispatch came from Col. Withers, at Danville, stating it
was reported 10,000 of the enemy were approaching the road, and only
thirty-two miles distant. He called for reinforcements, but stated his
belief that the number of the enemy was exaggerated.
I delivered these to the Secretary myself, finding him engaged writing a
long letter to Gen. Kirby Smith, beyond the Mississippi!
In this moment of _doubt_ and _apprehension_, I saw Mr. Randolph,
formerly Secretary of War, and Mr. G. A. Myers, his law colleague, at
the telegraph office eagerly in quest of news.
To-day the President decided that Marylanders here are "residents," or
"alien enemies;" if the former, they must fight--if the latter, be
expelled. A righteous judgment.
Last night, as Custis staggered (with debility) upon the pickets at the
fortifications of the city, not having a passport, he was refused
permission to proceed. He then lay down to rest, when one of the pickets
remarked to him that he was not "smart, or he would flank them." Custis
sprang up and thanked him for the _hint_, and proceeded to put it in
practice.
The _Examiner_ to-day says that Col. Dahlgren, a month before his death,
was in Richmond, under an assumed name, with a passport signed by Gen.
Winder, to go whithersoever he would. I think this probable.
At 3 P.M. the wires cease to work between here and Petersburg, and there
are many rumors. But from the direction of the wind, we cannot hear any
firing.
JUNE 17TH.--Clear and pleasant.
A dispatch from Beauregard states that two assaults of the enemy
yesterday, at Petersburg, were repulsed with loss; and it is reported
that he recovered all lost ground to-day. Yet Beauregard has an enemy in
his rear as well as in his front.
When the battles were fought on the south side of the river in May, it
appears that one of Gen. B.'s brigadiers (Colston) stopped some
battalions on the way to Richmond, in an emergency, and this has
certainly given umbrage to the President, as the following indorsement,
which I found on a paper to-day, will show:
"No officer has a right to stop troops moving under the orders of
superior authority. If he assumes such power, he does it at his hazard,
and must be justified by subsequent events rather than by good
intentions.
"Gen. Beauregard has, in this case, by approving and continuing the
order (Gen. Colston's) assumed the responsibility of the act.--J. D.
June 16th, 1864."
JUNE 18TH.--Clear and cool.
To-day, heavy firing is heard on the south side of the river. It is
believed a general engagement is in progress. It is the anniversary of
the battle of WATERLOO. If we gain the day, it will end the war.
It is now said Gen. Early (with Ewell's corps) has reached Lynchburg,
where a battle must occur.
Gen. Ewell has been assigned to the command of this department, Gen.
Ransom going West.
We have advices (4 P.M.) of a terrific battle at Petersburg last
evening, which raged until 11 o'clock at night. The slaughter of the
enemy is reported as unprecedented. Our troops repulsed the assailants
at all points but one, and that, which was carried by the enemy, was
soon recovered.
At 11 P.M. Lee's reinforcements came up, and it is supposed, from the
sounds of cannon, that the battle was recommenced at dawn to-day, and
continued all day. The result has not transpired. This tremendous
conflict _must_ be followed by decisive results. If Lee and Beauregard
gain the day, peace must follow speedily, I think. If they are beaten,
Richmond's fall can hardly be averted. Our shattered army could hardly
get back across the Appomattox, with Butler's army interposed
between--if he still has his army at Bermuda Hundred.
JUNE 19TH, SUNDAY.--Hazy and cool.
We have no details this morning of the fighting yesterday, and some
doubt if a battle was fought. I presume assaults were made on our
intrenchments in diverse places, and repulsed.
Beauregard's battle, Friday night, is still in smoke, but it is rumored
the enemy lost 9000 killed and wounded.
Firing is heard to-day. There may be good policy in keeping back
accounts from the field, until it is all over and something decisive
accomplished. We have not met with serious disaster at all events, else
there would be consternation in the city, for bad news flies fast, and
cannot be kept back.
There was fighting yesterday at Lynchburg,--no result known yet.
Every Sunday I see how shabby my clothes have become, as every one else,
almost, has a good suit in reserve. During the week all are shabby, and
hence it is not noticeable. The wonder is that we are not naked, after
wearing the same garments three or four years. But we have been in
houses, engaged in light employments. The rascals who make money by the
war fare sumptuously, and "have their good things in this world."
The weather is dry and dusty; the hazy atmosphere produced perhaps by
the smoke of battle and the movements of mighty armies.
Eight P.M. The city is still in utter ignorance of the details and
result of the battle yesterday--if there was one. If the government is
in possession of information, it is, for some purpose, studiously kept
from the public, and why, I cannot imagine, unless there has been a
disaster, or Beauregard has done something not approved.
I do not think the people here appreciate the importance of the contest
on the south side of the river. If Lee's army were broken, I doubt
whether it would even attempt to regain the fortifications of Richmond,
for then it might share the fate of Pemberton's army at Vicksburg. And
the fall of Richmond would involve the fall of the State, and Virginia
would immediately become a free State.
JUNE 20TH.--A fog; subsequently dry and dusty, but the sun in a haze,
like Indian summer.
As I feared; there is trouble with Beauregard. He drew off his troops
from in front of Bermuda Hundred to reinforce the fewer regiments at
Petersburg, and _saved_ that city, and Gen. Lee had to drive the enemy
off again from the abandoned line. It is said Beauregard acted contrary
to orders, and has been suspended from command by order of the
President. At all events, Lee is at Petersburg.
Sheridan's raiders are near the city again, followed and preceded by
Wade Hampton and Fitz Lee. Their cannon has been heard all the morning.
Mr. Secretary Memminger has resigned.
JUNE 21ST.--Clear and warmer.
Gen. Beauregard has not been removed from his command,--it would be too
great a shock to popular sentiment.
The iron-clads went out this morning and proceeded down the river,
supported by Custis Lee's brigade of local troops, including the
Departmental Battalion, marching a dozen miles in the sun and dust. More
will be on the sick list.
JUNE 22D.--Dry and pleasant.
The city full of idle rumors--that the whole brigade of local troops
were captured yesterday--that Gen. Fitz Lee has again been made
prisoner, and that another raiding party is threatening the Danville
Road, the canal, etc. There is no foundation for any of them, so far as
I can learn.
JUNE 23D.--Clear and warm.
The news of the capture of 1600 Federals, 4 guns, etc., yesterday at
Petersburg, has put the people here in better humor, which has been bad
enough, made so by reported rapes perpetrated by negro soldiers on young
ladies in Westmoreland County. There has been talk of vengeance, and no
doubt such atrocities cause many more to perish than otherwise would
die.
A Mr. Sale, in the West, sends on an extract from a letter from Col.
----, proposing to the government to sell cotton on the Mississippi
River for sterling exchange in London, and indicating that in this
manner he has large sums to his own credit there, besides $100,000 worth
of cotton in this country. Col. ---- is a commissary, against whom grave
charges have been made frequently, of speculation, etc., but was
defended by the Commissary-General.
Mr. Harvey, president Danville Railroad, telegraphs to Gen. Bragg to
send troops without delay, or the road will be ruined by the raiders.
Bragg sends the paper to the Secretary of War, saying there are no
troops but those in the army of Gen. Lee, and the reserves, the latter
now being called out. Ten days ago, Mr. Secretary Seddon had fair
warning about this road.
JUNE 24TH.--Hot and hazy; dry.
The news (in the papers) of the cutting of our railroad communications
with the South creates fresh apprehension among the croakers.
But at 12 M. we had news of the recovery of the Weldon Road last
evening, and the capture of 500 more prisoners.
We have nothing from the south side raiders since their work of
destruction at Burkesville, cutting the Danville Road.
Mr. Hunter sheds tears over his losses in Essex, the burning of his
mill, etc. But he had been a large gainer by the war.
There is a rumor of fighting at Petersburg to-day.
JUNE 25TH.--Hot and dry.
Twelve hundred Federal prisoners passed our door to-day, taken at
Petersburg--about half the number captured there during the last two
days.
The news of the cutting of the Danville Railroad still produces
despondency with many. But the people are now harvesting a fair crop of
wheat, and the authorities do not apprehend any serious consequences
from the interruption of communication with the South--which is, indeed,
deemed but temporary, as sufficient precaution is taken by the
government to defend the roads and bridges, and there seems to be
discussions between the generals as to authority and responsibility.
There are _too many_ authorities. Gen. Lee will remedy all this.
The clerks are still kept out, on the north side of the James River,
while the enemy is on the south side--the government, meantime, being
almost in a state of paralysis. Such injustice, and such obtuseness,
would seem to be inexcusable.
The Secretary has sanctioned the organization of a force in the Northern
Neck, to capture and slay without mercy such of the enemy as may be
found lurking there, committing outrages, etc.
The President still devotes much time to the merits of applicants for
appointments on military courts, brigadier-generals, etc.
It is reported that Grant has announced to his army that the fighting is
over, and that the siege of Richmond now begins. A fallacy! Even if we
were unable to repair the railroads, the fine crop of wheat just matured
would suffice for the subsistence of the army--an army which has just
withstood the military power of the North. It is believed that nearly
300,000 men have invaded Virginia this year, and yet, so far from
striking down the army of Lee with superior numbers, we see, at this
moment, the enemy intrenching himself at every new position occupied by
him. This manifests an apprehension of sudden destruction himself! But
the country north and east and west of Richmond is now free of Yankees,
and the railroads will be repaired in a few weeks at furthest.
Gen. Hunter, we learn to-day, has escaped with loss out of the State to
the Ohio River, blowing up his own ordnance train, and abandoning his
cannon and stores. So we shall have ammunition and salt, even if the
communication with Wilmington should be interrupted. No, the war must
end, and is now near its end; and the Confederacy will achieve its
independence. This of itself would suffice, but there may be a diversion
in our favor in the North--a revolution there--a thing highly probable
during the excitement of an embittered Presidential campaign. Besides,
there may at any moment be foreign intervention. The United States can
hardly escape a quarrel with France or England. It may occur with both.
JUNE 26TH.--Hot and dry, but breezy.
A dispatch from Gen. Lee, 9 P.M. last evening, says nothing of moment
occurred along the lines yesterday. Our loss in the unsuccessful attempt
of Gen. Haygood to storm a portion of the enemy's works, on Friday, was
97 killed and wounded, and 200 missing.
Gen. Hampton dispatches Gen. Lee that he attacked the enemy's cavalry in
Charles City County, Friday, and drove them out of their intrenchments,
pursuing them eight miles, nearly to Charles City Court House. The enemy
left their killed and wounded on the ground, and strewn along the route.
Gen. Lee says Gen. H. deserves much credit. The enemy (a portion of
Sheridan's force) are still prevented from forming a junction with
Grant.
Flour fell yesterday from $500 to $300 per barrel.
An official report shows that we lost no arms or ordnance stores of
consequence at Staunton. Communications will be restored in that
direction soon. The Valley and Western Virginia, being clear of the
enemy, the fine crop of wheat can be gathered.
Beauregard _is_ in disgrace, I am informed on pretty good authority; but
while his humiliation is so qualified as not to be generally known, for
fear of the resentment of his numerous friends, at the same time he is
reticent, from patriotic motives, fearing to injure the cause.
It is stigmatized as an act of perfidy, that the Federal Government have
brought here and caused to be slaughtered, some 1600 out of 1900
volunteers from the District of Columbia, who were to serve only 30 days
in defense of the Federal city. At the same time our government is
keeping in the service, at hard labor on the fortifications, Custis
Lee's brigade of clerks, who were assured, when volunteering, that they
never would be called out except to defend the fortifications of the
city, built by negroes!
JUNE 27TH.--Bright and hot--afterward light showers.
By the papers we learn that President Lincoln has been on a visit to
Grant's army. If Grant does not accomplish some great wonder in a few
days, his campaign will be noted a failure, even in the North.
We learn to-day that gold is now at $2.15 in the North.
The raiders are beginning to pay the penalty of their temerity; besides
Hampton's fight with them, on this side the James River, we learn that
W. H. F. Lee has struck them a blow on the south side.
JUNE 28TH.--Bright and cool--a little rain last night.
The Departmental Battalion is still kept out. They have built a line of
fortifications four miles long--to Deep Bottom from near Chaffin's Farm.
The Secretary of War intimates that these clerks are kept out by Gen. R.
B. Lee.
The superintendent of the Central Railroad informed the Secretary of War
to-day that the road would be reopened to Staunton on Thursday (day
after to-morrow), such is the slight damage done by the enemy. He asks
that the bridge near Hanover Junction be defended, that being the only
part of the road that can be much injured by a small raiding party. And
he don't want the papers to say anything about the reopening of the
road.
The news from the North, that Congress has refused to repeal the $300
clause in their military bill--allowing drafted men to buy out at $300
each--and the rise of gold to $2.30 for $1--together with the apparent
or real _inertia_ of Grant, seem to inspire great confidence in our
people to-day. They think the worst is really over, and so do I.
My little garden, during the month of June, has saved me $150. A single
cabbage head to-day in market was sold for $10. Although the joint
salaries of Custis and myself amount now to $8000 per annum, we have the
greatest difficulty to subsist. I hope we shall speedily have better
times, and I think, unless some terrible misfortune happens to our arms,
the invader will surely be soon hurled from our soil. What President
Lincoln came to Grant for is merely conjecture--unquestionably _he_
could not suggest any military enterprise more to our detriment than
would occur to his generals.
JUNE 29TH.--Clear and cool--afterward hazy.
"MARIETTA, June 27th.
"GENERAL BRAXTON BRAGG.
"The enemy advanced on our whole line to-day. They assaulted
French, Cheatham, Cleburn, Stevenson, and Quarles, by whom they
were repulsed.
"On the rest of the line the skirmishing was severe.
"Their loss is supposed to be great. Ours is known to be
small. J. E. JOHNSTON, _General_."
The dispatch from Gen. Johnston gives an encouraging account of the
fight in Georgia. But a dispatch from the West states that
reinforcements (20,000) for Sherman's army are marching from La Grange.
It is reported and believed that Gen. Early, at the head of 25,000 men,
marched out of Staunton on Monday _toward the North_. I hope it may not
prove a recruiting measure for Lincoln!
A good deal of firing (cannon) was heard down the river this morning.
Judge Campbell is again "allowing" many persons to pass into the United
States.
JUNE 30TH.--Clear and cool--afterward warm and cloudy.
Our people are made wild with joy to-day, upon hearing of the capture of
a whole brigade of the raiders on the south side, the same that have
been tearing up the Danville Road. The details, with Gen. Lee's
dispatch, will be in the paper to-morrow. It is said we have the general
commanding the raid, etc.
Judge Reagan said to me to-day, when I told him the news, his dark eye
flashing, that sooner or later, but inevitably, these raiders must be
_killed_, and not captured. And Mr. Seddon says he was always in favor
of fighting under the black flag; but, I believe, he never proposed it.
CHAPTER XL.
Gen. Lee's dispatch announcing Gen. Hampton's victory.--Cost of a cup of
coffee.--From Gens. Johnston and S. D. Lee.--Gen. Early in Maryland.
Rumored capture of Baltimore.--Letter from Gen. Lee.--Dispatch from
Gen. Hood.--Status of the local troops.
JULY 1ST.--Clear, hot, and dry; my snap beans, corn, etc. burning up.
The papers this morning fail to confirm the capture of as many
prisoners, near Petersburg, as were reported yesterday. But the dispatch
(subjoined) of Gen. Lee renders it certain that the enemy was routed.
There is a suspicion that our exasperated men _refused quarter_ to some
hundreds of the raiders, on the plea that they ravish, murder, burn,
pillage, etc. It may be so.
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"June 29th, 1864--8.30 P.M.
"HON. SECRETARY OF WAR.
"SIR:--Gen. Hampton reports that he attacked the enemy's cavalry
yesterday afternoon, on their return from Staunton River bridge,
this side of Sappony Church, and drove them beyond that point.
"The fight continued during the night, and at daylight this morning
he turned their left and routed them.
"When they reached Ream's Station, they were confronted by a
portion of Mahone's division, who attacked them in front, while
their left flank was turned by Gen. Fitz Lee's cavalry.
"The enemy was completely routed, and several pieces of artillery,
with a number of prisoners, wagons, ambulances, etc., captured. The
cavalry are in pursuit.
"R. E. LEE, _General_."
Gen. Early, with perhaps 10,000 men, is believed to be in Winchester
to-day. He will probably be soon playing havoc with the enemy's
railroads, stores, etc., and perhaps may threaten Washington or
Harrisburg, or both; and so have Grant called off from his "siege of
Richmond."
We were paid our salaries yesterday, and Custis, after his campaign and
his sickness, resolved on a little indulgence. So he had a couple of
small saucers of ice-cream--one for his mother, costing $6; quarter
pound of coffee and two pounds of sugar, $25; and to-day a rice pudding,
two pounds of rice, $5; one pound of sugar, $10; two quarts of milk, $5;
total, $51!
Col. Shields, Commandant of Conscripts, etc., informed me to-day that he
received only yesterday the order to proceed to the enrollment of
Maryland and foreign residents. Thus the express orders of the President
are delayed in the execution, and in such an exigency as this! I know
Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War, more than a year ago,
attempted to interpose grave constitutional obstacles; but surely he can
hardly have had the temerity to thwart the President's wishes, so
plainly expressed. Nevertheless, the delay has been caused by some one;
and Col. S. has apprehensions that some wheel within a wheel will even
now embarrass or defeat the effective execution of the order.
Brig.-Gen. Gardner, successor of Brig.-Gen. Winder, has not yet assumed
supervision of the passport business, and it remains in the hands of
Judge Campbell and Provost Marshal Carrington. Very many persons are
going to the United States via the Potomac.
JULY 2D.--Hot and dry.
A dispatch from Gen. Lee (will be published on Monday) says Gen.
Beauregard reports the number of prisoners taken from Wilson's south
side raiding party about 1000, besides the killed and wounded, and
several hundred negroes recaptured, 13 guns, many small arms, wagons,
etc. It is said the killed and wounded amount to 1500, of whom there are
not exceeding 300 of the latter, _leaving_ 1200 _killed_.
Gen. Morgan has got back to Western Virginia with 1800 men, having lost
but 200. He did not fight a battle with Gen. Burbridge at all; hence the
Federal account of Morgan's defeat was without foundation. Morgan will
probably soon be in Maryland and Pennsylvania, attending to the enemy's
railroads, bridges, mills, etc.
The President said (so reported) to Dr. Garnett, yesterday, he hoped to
hear of no more raids, since the last fared so badly.
I drank two cups of coffee this morning, which seem to have had an
extraordinary effect upon my strength, activity, and spirits; and indeed
the belief that the discontinuance of the use of this beverage, about
two years ago, may have caused the diminution of all. I am; and have
long been, as poor as a church mouse. But the coffee (having in it sugar
and cream) cost about a dollar each cup, and cannot be indulged in
hereafter more than once a week. We had also boiled beans to-day,
followed by fritters, the cherries from our garden, with sugar-sauce.
This the family consider a sumptuous dinner--with no meat!
JULY 3D.--Clear and dry; pleasant temperature.
I learn that Petersburg has not been much injured by the enemy's
batteries, and that Gen. Lee has ordered the casting of mortars for use
immediately.
To-morrow being the anniversary of the surrender of Vicksburg to Grant,
I should not be surprised if that general let off some fire-works, not
only in commemoration of that event, but in pursuance of some desperate
enterprise against Richmond. I don't see how he can feel any veneration
for the day of Independence for the "rebels" of 1776, without sympathy
for the "rebels" of 1864, struggling also for independence.
After the failure of the enemy's next move, I think the tempest of war
will rapidly abate. Nearly every movement in this (I think final) effort
to capture Richmond has failed. Sheridan failed to destroy the Central,
Hunter the South Side, and Wilson the Danville Railroad--each losing
about half his men and horses. Grant himself, so far, has but "swung
round" a wall of steel, losing 100,000 men, and only gaining a position
on the James River which he might have occupied without any loss. On the
other hand, Lee wields a larger army than he began with, and better
armed, clothed, and fed.
This _ought_ to end the vain attempt at subjugation. But if not, the
Confederate States, under the new policy (defensive), might maintain the
contest against a half million of invaders. Our crop of wheat is
abundant, and the harvest _over_; our communications will be all
re-established in a few days, and the people being armed and drilled
everywhere, the enemy's raiders will soon be checked in _any_ locality
they may select as the scene of operations. All the bridges will be
defended with fortifications. Besides, Lee is gathering rapidly an army
on the Potomac, and may not only menace the enemy's capital, but _take_
it. Early and Breckinridge, Imboden and Morgan, may be at this moment
inflicting more serious injury on the enemy's railroads and canals than
we have sustained in Virginia. And it is certain the stores of the
Federal army in Georgia have been captured or destroyed to a very
serious extent.
Still, in this hour of destitution and suffering among certain classes
of the people, we see _no beggars_ in the streets.
Likewise, notwithstanding the raiding parties penetrate far in the rear
of our armies, there has been no instance of an attempt on the part of
the slaves to rise in insurrection.
JULY 4TH.--Cloudy, but still hot and dry.
From the clouds of dust seen rising between Petersburg and the James
River, it is conjectured that Grant's army is in motion.
The Federal Congress has authorized the drafting of 200,000 more men,
after 60 days' fruitless attempt to raise volunteers. So it will be
September before the draft, and January before the men will be soldiers.
JULY 5TH.--Cool and dry, everything suffering for rain.
All quiet about Petersburg, but later in the day a rumor sprung up that
fighting had recommenced there. I doubt it, because by _Northern_
accounts I see Gen. Early is destroying railroads beyond the Potomac,
and will undoubtedly threaten Washington itself. If Grant fails to send
troops there, Early may even throw shell into the Federal city.
Peter V. Daniel sends the Secretary of War a letter from Mr.
Westmoreland, Wilmington, complaining that he is not allowed by
government agents to transport cotton to that port, where his steamers
are, _in redemption of Confederate States bonds_, while private persons,
for speculative purposes, are, through the favor (probably for a
consideration) of government officials, enabled to ship thousands of
bales, and he submits a copy of a correspondence with Col. Sims,
Assistant Quartermaster-General, and Lieut. Col. Bayne, who is charged
with the control of the exporting and importing business. Mr. Daniel
thinks there is some "bribery and corruption" even in the South. But Mr.
Seddon is incredulous sometimes.
The express company has an arrangement with Col. Sims, the Assistant
Quartermaster-General, by which much freight is transported.
New potatoes are selling at $4 per quart in the market.
JULY 6TH.--Hot and dry.
We have no news to-day, but there are rumors that Grant is preparing to
abandon his position. He cannot remain where he is, inactive. There is a
scarcity of water, and the location is unhealthy.
We had corn bread and gravy for dinner, with a tremendous dessert, the
suggestion of Custis, consisting of whortleberry flitters, with butter
and sugar sauce, costing about $16.
JULY 7TH.--Hot and dry, but a light shower at 2 P.M., laying the dust.
A letter from Gen. Gilmer states that the Danville Railroad will not be
fully repaired before the last of this month. But there is a good wagon
road, and the army can be supplied by wagons when the cars cannot run,
some 25 miles.
There is an idle rumor that Wilmington has been taken by the enemy.
This, indeed, would hurt us. But we get neither letters nor dispatches
from beyond Petersburg.
Last week, when the local forces were recalled, one of the clerks in the
Treasury Department, upon being dismissed, fell upon his lieutenant, who
had insulted him while in the military service, and as a civilian, gave
him a beating. To-day the officer, after consulting his
lieutenant-colonel commanding, and, it is said, the Secretary of War,
sent a subaltern to the department to arrest the clerk, who resisted.
The subaltern said he acted by authority of the lieutenant-colonel and
the Secretary of War, and would arrest him and throw him in prison, if
he had to come with force enough to pull down the building. To all this
the Secretary of the Treasury demurred, and made a formal complaint to
the President, who most indignantly indorsed on the paper that the
conduct of the officer was "very reprehensible," that if when the
offense was committed, the battalion had been dismissed, the military
authority of the officers ceased, and as civil officers, all were on the
same footing. He ordered the Secretary to make this known to the
officers, etc. None believe now that the President ever threatened to
turn the clerks out of office, as represented, nor wished them put in
the army, as hinted.
JULY 8TH.--Clear; hot and dusty.
The news of the falling back of Gen. Johnston on Atlanta, Ga., causes no
uneasiness, for the destruction of Sherman's army is deemed the more
certain the farther he penetrates.
There is nothing of interest from Petersburg, but there are rumors of
demoralization and disaffection in Grant's army. His men suffer for
water.
Still we get no letters from the South, beyond the point on the Danville
Railroad reached by the raiders, who tore up 18 miles of the track.
We have nothing definite from Early's column yet, but no doubt there is
alarm enough in Pennsylvania and in Washington City by this time.
JULY 9TH.--Dry and pleasant.
We have a rumor to-day of the success of a desperate expedition from
Wilmington, N. C, to Point Lookout, Md., to liberate the prisoners of
war (20,000) confined there and to arm them. If this be confirmed, the
prisoners will probably march upon Washington City, and co-operate with
Gen. Early, who has taken Martinsburg (with a large supply of stores),
and at last accounts had driven Sigel back to Washington, and on the 6th
inst. was (by Northern accounts) at Hagerstown, Md. Much excitement
prevails there. Lincoln has called for the militia of the surrounding
States, etc.
We have British accounts of the sinking of the ALABAMA, near Cherbourg,
by the United States steamer Kearsarge, but Semmes was not taken, and
his treasure, etc. had been deposited in France.
JULY 10TH.--The drought continues; vegetation wilting and drying up.
There is no war news, save some shelling by the enemy at Petersburg.
The raiders have caused many who were hiding and hoarding their meat and
grain to bring them to market, for fear of losing them. This has
mitigated the famine, and even produced a slight reduction of prices.
But the gardens are nearly ruined, and are only kept alive by watering
freely. Mine has repaid me. The tomatoes are growing apace, and seem to
endure the drought pretty well; also the lima beans. We are now eating
the last of the cherries. We began to pull them about one month ago.
Some of the members of the Tredegar Battalion have been detected
endeavoring to pass over to the enemy. It is said (maliciously) Jos. R.
Anderson's works (the Tredegar) would not be destroyed if the enemy were
to capture the city, nor Crenshaw's nor Haxall's mills, all having an
understanding that the party in _power_ shall enjoy the benefits of
them. The fall of Richmond would exhibit strange developments among men
of wealth. The poor could not get away, and would have no alternative
but submission. But Richmond will not be _taken_.
JULY 11TH.--Hot and dry, and the famine continues.
The Secretary of War intimated on Saturday that if the clerks of the
bureaus would raise a fund and send an agent South to buy provisions, he
would insure them transportation, etc. To-day he denies that he made the
promise, and refuses to aid them.
The government now proposes to increase its schedule of prices from 300
to 500 per cent., thus depreciating its own credit. _Before_ harvest the
impressing agents allowed about $40 per barrel for flour; now, that we
have a good harvest, about $130 will be paid, thus raising the price
everywhere. The transportation is the expensive item.
A dispatch from Gen. Johnston, at Atlanta, says the enemy having flanked
him with his cavalry, he has fallen back across the Chattahoochee.
Dispatches from Gen. S. D. Lee, Tupelo, state that a column of the
enemy, 20,000 strong, is about marching from New Orleans against Mobile,
and he fears he cannot spare men to resist them. _The reserve class is
not ready._ Also that 15,000 of the enemy are matching from Lagrange,
and he will have to dismount some of Forrest's cavalry. Gen. E. K. Smith
will not cross the Mississippi to assist in repelling the foe without
orders. Orders have been sent from the Secretary of War--I fear too
late!
Northern papers of the 8th inst. indicate a state of high excitement.
Some there believe we have an army of 60,000 pouring into Pennsylvania.
Gold was $2.65 for one.
There is some commotion in Grant's army, and it is believed by some that
he is about to retire down the river.
It is rumored that the prisoners heretofore confined at Point Lookout
have been removed by the Federal Government.
At 7 P.M. we had a gentle shower, lasting more than an hour.
JULY 12TH.--Clear and warm--the earth refreshed.
Gen. Johnston telegraphs to Gen. Bragg to have the United States
prisoners at Andersonville "distributed immediately." He does not allege
a reason for the necessity. It may be danger of an outbreak--or that the
yellow fever has broken out among them.
I think Grant is about to have a race with Lee for Washington. The news
from the Northern frontier is interesting.
A slight shower in the evening--heavy a few miles distant.
JULY 13TH.--Bright and pleasant.
The city is in great excitement and joy. Gen. Early has gained a victory
in Maryland, near Frederick, defeating Gen. Wallace, capturing Gen.
Tyler and Col. Seward (son of the Secretary), besides many prisoners.
The slaughter was great, and the pursuit of the routed army was toward
BALTIMORE.
Grant is certainly sending away troops.
Gen. Lee writes a particular letter to the Secretary (dated 9th inst.),
desiring most specially that the papers be requested to say nothing of
his movements for some time to come, and that the department will not
publish any communication from him, which might indicate from its date
his _distance_ from Richmond. This is mysterious. He may be going to
Maryland.
Gen. Johnston telegraphs from near Atlanta that the enemy holds several
fords above, and a portion of his forces have crossed, and are
intrenched. Some cannonading is going on--ineffective--aimed at the
railroad depot. Some think Lee is going thither. Others that he is going
to flank what remains of the Federal army in front of Petersburg.
JULY 14TH.--The drought continues here; but at some other places there
has fallen heavy rain.
The excitement on the news of our successes in Maryland is intense, and
a belief prevails that great results will grow out of this invasion of
the country held by the enemy. Twice before but little if any benefit
resulted from crossing the Potomac.
It is rumored to-day that Longstreet's corps has marched to Maryland,
and that Lee is with it.
JULY 15TH.--Clear and cool; subsequently cloudy.
The _Washington Chronicle_ of the 12th, received yesterday, indicates
that Washington or Baltimore, or both, were in danger of falling into
our possession.
Lieut-Col. G. W. Lay said, this morning, in my office, that Grant would
not leave--that he held a most important position--that he would not
fail in his campaign; that our operations beyond the Potomac were not of
sufficient magnitude to produce important results; and, finally, that
Germany and Ireland would replenish the armies of the United States,
while our last reserves were now in the field. The colonel had come into
my office more than a month ago and said Grant had outgeneraled
Pemberton, and would capture Vicksburg. I reminded him of this to-day,
and asked his opinion on the present aspect of affairs. He has been
recently on Gen. Beauregard's staff, and is irritated at the supposed
hard treatment which that general receives from the President. He is a
little bitter against the President, and is no special admirer of Lee,
who, he thinks, committed a blunder in not fighting Grant at Hanover
Junction. And he thinks, if Gen. Johnston forbears to fight Sherman, in
pursuance of orders from Richmond, disaster will ensue. But neither he
nor any one is capable of sounding the profound plans of Lee. Grant's
forces are now far away from Washington.
2-1/2 o'clock P.M. An officer just from Petersburg, arrived at the War
Department with the intelligence that a Washington paper of the 13th
inst. had been received at headquarters, announcing the capture of
BALTIMORE by our troops! The inhabitants within, or a large proportion
of them, co-operated with our army! Our people are in ecstasies! This is
the realization of the grand conception of a great general, and Lee is
immortalized--if it only be true.
JUNE 16TH.--Bright and cool--the canopy assuming a _brassy_ aspect from
the drought.
Alack! all the rejoicings are checked, and the public seems to have been
hoaxed by the officer who reported that a Washington paper of the 13th
inst. contained an account of the surrender of Baltimore to the
Confederate States forces! The paper of that date, it appears, contains
nothing of the kind, or else the account has been suppressed, to
subserve some military purpose. But our people bear the disappointment
well, not doubting but success will ultimately come.
There is a rumor that we sank two of the enemy's transports to-day in
James River.
An immense mass of letters, etc.--175 bags--has just come in; the first
mail matter that has arrived from beyond the breaks in the Danville
Railroad, perpetrated by Wilson's raiders.
JULY 17TH.--Dry--the sky bright and brassy--the gardens almost ruined.
Last evening definite news came in the _Washington Chronicle_ of the
14th. Gen. Early was recrossing the Potomac with an immense amount of
stores levied in the enemy's country, including thousands of horses,
etc. This, the _Chronicle_ thinks, will be beneficial to the United
States, as recruiting will be stimulated, to punish us for making prize
of provisions, etc. in the enemy's country, after the enemy had
despoiled us of everything in their power!
Troops are still going up toward Washington from our army, as well as
from the enemy's before Petersburg; and Early, after bestowing his
prizes in a place of safety, may return to Maryland and Pennsylvania for
another supply. That may be the best policy to get the enemy off our
soil. His cutting off communications with the South will not signify
much, if we can derive supplies from the North.
JULY 18TH.--Clear and dry.
It is believed that a battery sent down opposite to Harrison's Bar in
the James River sank two of the enemy's transports, Saturday, and drove
back five others to Grant.
It is rumored that Gen. Johnston has been relieved at Atlanta, and
Lieut.-Gen. Hood placed in command. I doubt.
It is said Mr. Trenholm, firm of Fraser, Trenholm & Co., bankers,
Charleston, has been appointed Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Seddon
holds on to the office he occupies.
A letter from Gen. Lee ("Headquarters Army Northern Virginia") says Gen.
Early has recrossed the Potomac, and is at Leesburg, safe,--I hope with
his captured supplies.
The following is a synopsis of Gen. Kirby Smith's brilliant campaign of
1864; official report. Enemy's losses.
In Louisiana, 5000 killed and wounded, 4000 prisoners, 21 pieces
artillery, 200 wagons, 1 gun-boat, 3 transports.
In Arkansas, 1400 killed, 2000 wounded, 1500 prisoners, 13 pieces of
artillery, 900 wagons.
Confederate losses, 3000 killed, wounded, and missing.
Enemy's losses, 14,000.
Confederate strength, 15,000.
Enemy's strength, 47,000.
In Georgia, 35,000. In Arkansas, 12,000.
JULY 19TH.--A steady, gentle rain from 8 A.M. till 4 P.M.
A dispatch from Gen. Hood, who relieves Gen. Johnston, was received
to-day. It was in cipher, and I did not learn the contents.
I strove in vain to-day to buy a few cabbage seed!
The following is a copy of a letter received from Gen. Lee, his
_locality_ not indicated, but from the date, he must be near the city:
"HEADQUARTERS, ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"17th July, 1864.
"HON. SECRETARY OF WAR, RICHMOND.
"SIR:--I have received a dispatch from Gen. Early, dated at
Leesburg on the 15th inst. On the 8th he crossed South Mountain,
leaving Sigel at Maryland Heights. On the 9th he reached Frederick,
and in the afternoon attacked and routed the enemy, ten thousand
strong, under Wallace, at Monocacy Junction. The next day he moved
on Washington, and arrived in front of the fortifications around
that city on the 11th. The defenses were found very strong, and
were not attacked. After a reconnoissance on the night of the 12th,
he withdrew, and crossed the Potomac at White's Ford on the 14th,
bringing off everything safely and in good order. He reports the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to have been cut in several places, and
severely damaged. The bridges over Gunpowder River, Northern
Central and Philadelphia Railroads were burned, and the connection
between Washington and Baltimore cut by Johnson's cavalry. The 6th
corps (Federal) had arrived at Washington, and it was reported that
other parts of Grant's army had reached there, but of the latter he
was not certain. Hunter had passed Williamsport, and was moving
toward Frederick. Gen. Early states that his loss was light.
"I am, with great respect,
"Your obed't servant."
(Not signed.)
Custis walked with Lieut. Bell last evening a mile from Hanover Junction
to the battle-field of last month (just a month ago), and beheld some of
the enemy still unburied! They fell very near our breastworks.
JULY 20TH.--Cloudy and warm, but no rain up to 5 P.M. There is no news
of importance; but a battle is momentarily expected in Georgia. The
_Examiner_ says the President bears malice against Johnston, and
embraces an occasion to ruin him at the risk of destroying the country.
That he was not allowed the aid of detachments necessary to success, and
hence he could not fight; but all aids will he give his successor, Hood,
who will be successful. And that this game was played on Johnston in
1862 in Virginia, and when Lee took command, every facility was afforded
by the government. In short, Gen. Johnston cannot be vindicated unless
our army be destroyed; and if Hood wins a victory, he is ruined. This is
an unpleasant predicament for a general.
Planted some cabbage-seeds given me; no plants are for sale.
JULY 21ST.--Clear and warm. Bought fifty cabbage-plants and set them out
before breakfast.
Gen. Early met Gen. Hunter at Snicker's Gap, and whipped him.
All quiet at Petersburg. Grant must be dead, sure enough.
Gen. Bragg left the city some days ago. The following is a verbatim
dispatch received from him yesterday:
"MONTGOMERY, ALA., July 19th, 1864.
"COL. J. B. SALE:--The enemy still hold West Point Railroad. Forces
are moving forward to dislodge them. Gen. S. D. Lee informs me 5000
(13th Army Corps) passed Vicksburg on the 16th, supposed to be
going to White River. Reported Memphis, 19th Army Corps, Franklin
left New Orleans on the 4th for Fort Monroe, 13,000 strong. Ought
not Taylor's forces to cross the Mississippi?
"I hear nothing from Johnston.
"Telegraph me to Columbus, Ga.
"B. BRAGG, _General_."
JULY 22D.--Bright and dry again. Gen. Johnston has been relieved. It
would seem that Gen. Hood has made a successful debut as a fighting
general in command of the army, since Gen. Johnston's removal.
A dispatch from Gen. Bragg, dated yesterday, states that the enemy is
withdrawing from Arkansas, either to operate in Mississippi, or to
reinforce Sherman.
Gen. Lee is opposed to retaliating on innocent prisoners the cruelties
committed by the guilty in executing our men falling into their hands.
JULY 23D.--Clear, but a smoky atmosphere, like Indian summer. A dispatch
was received to-day at M. from Gen. Hood, dated last night at 10
o'clock, stating that Gen. Hardee had made a night march, driving the
enemy from his works, and capturing 16 guns and several colors, while
Gen. Cheatham captured 6 guns. We took 2000 prisoners. Also that Gen.
Wheeler had routed the enemy's cavalry at Decatur, capturing his camp.
Our Major-Gen. Walker was killed and three brigadiers were wounded.
Whether the battle was resumed to-day is not yet ascertained. All are
now anxious to get further news from Atlanta.
And the local forces here are ordered to be in readiness; perhaps Lee
meditates, likewise, a night march, and an attack on Grant.
The Danville and the Weldon Railroads are now in active operation, and I
hope supplies will soon come in abundance.
Our government blundered in sanctioning the schedule of prices fixed by
the commissioners on impressments for the next two months. The prices
are five times those hitherto paid. The whole country cries shame, and a
revision is demanded, else the country will be ruined.
JULY 24TH.--Cloudy and cool, but dry.
Yesterday and last night both Grant and Lee, or Beauregard, were moving
pretty heavy forces from the south side to the north side of the river.
I am not advised which initiated this manoeuvre, but it indicates
renewed activity of the armies in this vicinity.
I hope the roads will not be cut again, or we shall starve!
JULY 25TH.--It rained all night! Cloudy and windy to-day.
Gen. Hood corrects his dispatch of Saturday; we captured only 13 guns;
but we captured some 18 stand of colors.
"HEADQUARTERS, ATLANTA,
"July 23d, 1864.
"HON. JAMES A. SEDDON, SECRETARY OF WAR.
"The enemy shifted his position on Peach Tree Creek last night, and
Gen. Stewart's and Cheatham's corps formed line of battle around
the city.
"Gen. Hardee's corps made a night march, and attacked the enemy's
extreme left to-day. About 1 o'clock he drove him from his works,
capturing artillery and colors. Gen. Cheatham attacked the enemy,
capturing six pieces of artillery.
"During the engagement we captured about 2000 prisoners.
"Gen. Wheeler's Cavalry routed the enemy in the neighborhood of
Decatur, to-day, capturing his camp.
"Our loss is not yet fully ascertained.
"Major-Gen. Walker was killed. Brig.-Gens. Smith, Gist, and Mercer
were wounded.
"Prisoners report that Gen. McPherson was killed.
"Our troops fought with great gallantry.
"J. B. HOOD, _General_."
It is certain that a considerable force of the enemy has crossed to the
north side of James River; for what purpose is not yet clear.
A detachment of our forces has been defeated near Winchester, by
superior numbers, losing 4 guns.
The _Dispatch_ of this morning says:
"All accounts received of the engagement at Snicker's represent that the
Yankees were badly whipped on that occasion. It is stated that some
fifteen hundred of the enemy fell to rise no more, and only six were
made prisoners. It is probable that a considerable number were drowned
in their attempt to recross the Shenandoah."
Gen. Beauregard wrote to the department a few days ago that the country
in the rear of the enemy was filled with their deserters, and suggested
that by proclamation or otherwise, desertion should be encouraged. They
ought to be welcomed and subsisted, and transported to any point near
their own country designated by them. On this the Secretary of War
indorsed rather a cold negative. But he went too far--the country _must_
be saved--and the President, while agreeing that no proclamation should
be issued, indorsed an emphatic approval of any other means to encourage
desertion from the enemy.
My cabbages and turnips (fall) are coming up already.
We had but 13,500 men and 44 pieces artillery in the recent march into
Maryland. The enemy say we had 40,000!
Letters are pouring in, denouncing the new schedule of prices,
sanctioned by the Secretary, and demanding a prompt modification. The
President wrote the Secretary to-day that immediate action is necessary.
JULY 26TH.--Clear and pleasant; later cloudy.
Yesterday, Mr. Peck, our agent, started South to buy provisions for the
civil officers of the department. He had $100 from each, and it is to be
hoped he will be back soon with supplies at comparatively low prices. He
obtained transportation from the Quartermaster-General, with the
sanction of the Secretary, although that ---- ---- had refused to order
it himself.
Gen. Lee advises that all government stores be taken from Wilmington, as
a London newspaper correspondent has given a glowing account
(republished in the _New York Herald_) of the commerce of that place,
and the vast amount of government property there. Gen. Lee advises that
the stores be deposited along the line of railroad between Columbia and
Danville, and be in readiness to move either way, as the roads are
"liable to be cut at any moment." Will the government act in time to
save them?
Gen. Cooper went to the President to-day in high dudgeon, because papers
were referred to him from the Quartermaster-General's and Ordnance
offices signed by subordinates, instead of the heads of the bureaus. The
President wrote an elaborate decision in favor of the general, and
ordered the Secretary to "make a note of it." Thus, important affairs
wait upon "red tape."
I saw Secretaries Benjamin and Mallory, and some lesser lights, riding
down the river in an ambulance-wagon, supposed to be going a fishing.
They were both excessively fat and red.
JULY 27TH.--Cloudy and warm; light shower at 3 P.M.
Gen. Lee's dispatch, giving an account of a victory last Sunday, near
Winchester, has diffused hope and satisfaction anew in the city.
The following dispatch was received from Gen. Bragg:
"ATLANTA, July 26th, 1864.
"Leave to-morrow to confer with Major-Gen. Maury at Montgomery, and
urge matters beyond. Lieut.-Gen. Lee arrived. Tone of the army
fine, and strength increasing daily, etc. All is quiet to-day.
"B. BRAGG, _General_.
"COL. J. B. SALE, _Mil. Sec._"
Nevertheless, the clerks are ordered out this afternoon at five, to
march to Chaffin's Farm.
I met Mr. Benjamin as I was passing to the office of the Secretary of
War with Gen. Bragg's dispatch, and showed it him. After reading it
carefully, he said, "That's very good."
Gen. Lee may be on the eve of attacking Grant, or Grant him, or we may
be reinforcing Early, as the solution of the marching of the clerks. No
doubt one of Grant's corps is on this side of the river, but I think
that is to guard the river against our batteries.
During my conversation with Mr. Benjamin, I hoped that in two months the
Federal armies would be called to Washington for the defense of the
capital. He did not express any such belief. He was at the department
procuring passports from Judge Campbell, for a young Jew to pass the
lines into the United States.
JULY 28TH.--Cloudy, but no rain.
Nothing new from Georgia or Petersburg. But a dispatch from Gen. Ewell,
received to-day at half past two P.M., orders the local troops (they did
not march yesterday) or other disposable forces to occupy the Darby
Town, New Bridge, and Williamsburg roads, for the enemy's cavalry were
working round to our left. This was dated "27" when, no doubt, it should
be 28th. The Secretary was over at the President's office, whither I
sent the dispatch. I suppose the troops were ordered out, provided there
was a mistake in the _date_. All dispatches should have the _day_
written out in full as well as the day of the month, for the salvation
of a city might depend on it.
JULY 29TH.--Clear and warm.
The local troops did not march until this morning, and no one supposes
Richmond is seriously menaced by Grant. I believe the object of the
demonstration on the part of the enemy is to draw our forces away from
the vicinity of Washington.
The Chief of the Signal Corps reports, on information supposed by him
to be reliable, that Gen. Early's captures in Maryland were worth
$12,000,000--consisting of some 10,000 horses, 10,000 cattle, 7000 hogs,
4000 sheep, 200,000 barrels of flour, and a large amount of bacon, etc.
Also, that he got between 2000 and 3000 recruits. All this doubtful.
Mr. G. W. Lamar, Augusta, Ga., writes the Secretary of War that he
knows, personally, over one hundred men who have _bought_ exemptions,
and that they are bought and sold every day at a certain price. Now will
the Secretary order an investigation? Mr. L. has, or had, nine sons in
the army, and he says he could have bought exemptions for all, as he is
rich. And yet a poor ensigncy is refused one of his sons.
JULY 30TH.--Clear and hot.
Dispatches from Bragg, at Montgomery, of yesterday, give no accounts of
more fighting, although the press dispatches, etc. did mention four of
our generals who have been wounded.
There is a revival of murmurs against the President. He will _persist_
in keeping Bragg in command, that is "of the armies in the field,"
though he does not lead any of them, and Gen. _Pemberton_ really has
command of all the batteries defending Richmond. The raiders are cutting
the Georgia and Alabama Road since Bragg went South, and we have lost
four pieces of artillery near this city a few days ago. ILL LUCK is
indefensible!
To-day the enemy sprung a mine at Petersburg, but were repulsed in the
attempt to rush in. This is all we know of it yet. Again it is rumored
that the major parts of both armies are on _this_ side of the river.
This I believe, and I think that unless there be a battle immediately,
Grant's intention is to abandon the "siege" of Richmond at the earliest
practicable moment.
The local troops are back again. The President _directed_ the Secretary
of War to inform Gen. Ewell that he misapprehended the character of
these troops. They were only for special and temporary service, having
also civil duties to perform, and desired them to be sent back in
twenty-four, or at most, forty-eight hours. Gen. E. writes that he
will employ them exclusively hereafter in the city fortifications, and
only in times of extreme peril. And he says there _was_ peril on
Thursday, the enemy's cavalry being _between our infantry and the city_,
and it will not do to rely always on his want of enterprise.
JULY 31ST.--Clear, dry, and _hot_.
A dispatch from Gen. Lee (I have not seen it yet) says, in the repulse
of the enemy's assault on the breach made by their mine, we captured
over 800 prisoners--a general and his staff among them--some 12 stands
of colors, and killed some 500. Our loss very light.
The enemy has mostly countermarched from this side of the river,
followed, of course, by our army at double-quick, and rumor says there
are little or no forces of either party on the north side of the James
this morning.
This was probably Grant's grand stratagem for our destruction, and it
has failed disastrously for him. What will he do next? No matter what,
Lee is the master of the situation.
My daughter's large pet cat died last night under the cherry-tree, and
was buried this morning under a rose-bush. I sympathize with Fannie in
the grief natural on such an occasion; but really, the death of the cat
in such times as these is a great relief to me, as he was maintained at
the cost of not less than $200 per annum. His death was probably
occasioned by a surfeit of meat which his mistress obtained
unexpectedly, seeing it fall in the street, and sending a servant for
it.
This morning a large fat chicken was found in my yard, picked and
prepared for cooking, brought hither by a cat which had stolen it from
some kitchen. A portion of the breast only had been eaten, and our cook
seized upon the remains for her own benefit. To such straits are we
reduced by this cruel war!
CHAPTER XLI.
From the Northern papers.--Letter from J. Thompson, Canada.--From Mr.
McRae, our foreign agent.--Dispatch from Major-Gen. Maury.--"General
Order No. 65."--Battle of Reams's Station.
AUGUST 1ST.--Hot and clear; but it rained yesterday three-quarters of an
hour in the afternoon.
Our loss in the affair at Petersburg is about 800, the enemy's 3500. We
captured 2000 small arms.
We have nothing yet from Atlanta, but no doubt there has been another
battle. I hope no disaster has befallen us there. No doubt the wires
have been cut by the raiders, and roads also. It is a critical time in
Georgia. But if Virginia triumphs over the assaults of Grant, all will
go well.
AUGUST 2D.--Bright and hot. At 4 P.M. a cloud rising. Fear my wife, and
daughter Fannie, and Custis (who has a days' furlough), who went this
morning per Fredericksburg Railroad into Hanover County to gather
blackberries, will be caught in a rain. Nevertheless, the rain is
wanted.
Assistant Secretary Campbell is again "allowing" doubtful characters to
pass out of the Confederate States to the United States; among these is
Dr. McClure, "the embalmer," who, too, carried others out for bribes.
The Signal Bureau gives information to-day of Grant's purpose to spring
the mine already sprung, also of a raid, that was abandoned, north and
west of Richmond. They say Grant has now but 70,000 men, there being
only a few men left at Washington. Can the agents paid by the Signal
Bureau be relied on?
Gen. Bragg telegraphs from Columbus, Ga., that Gen. Roddy has been
ordered to reassemble his forces in North Alabama, to cut Sherman's
communications.
The news from Georgia is more cheering.
The commissioners (of prices) have reduced the schedule: it was
denounced universally. It is said by the _Examiner_ that the extravagant
rates, $30 per bushel for wheat, and $50 for bacon, were suggested by a
farmer in office.
Gen. Lee writes that he had directed Morgan to co-operate with Early,
but he was sick.
The enemy's account of our loss in the battle before Atlanta is
exaggerated greatly. Sherman's army is _doomed_, I think.
Seven P.M. No rain here, but my family were drenched in a hard shower at
Hanover Junction, and what was worse, they got no blackberries, the hot
sun having dried the sap in the bushes.
AUGUST 3D.--Cloudy, but no rain.
The press dispatches last night assert that still another raiding party,
besides Stoneman's, was dispersed or captured.
It is rumored to-day that Beauregard has sprung a mine under Grant's
fortifications. This may be so. _Later._ It was _not_ so.
AUGUST 4TH.--Clear and hot.
All quiet at Petersburg. President Lincoln was at Fortress Monroe on
Sunday last, after the explosion and its failure.
The Northern papers acknowledge that Grant sustained a terrible disaster
at Petersburg, losing in killed, wounded, and missing 5000. They say the
negro troops caused the failure, by running back and breaking the lines
of the whites. The blacks were pushed forward in front, and suffered
most.
From the same source we learn that our troops have penetrated
Pennsylvania, and laid the city of Chambersburg in ashes. This may be
so, as they have burned some half dozen of our towns, and are now daily
throwing shell into Charleston, Atlanta, and Petersburg.
A letter to the Secretary from J. Thompson, in Canada (per Capt. Hines),
was received to-day. He says the _work_ will not probably begin before
the middle of August. I know not what sort of work. But he says _much
caution is necessary_. I suppose it to be the destruction of the Federal
army depots, etc. in the United States.
Public meetings and the public press continue to denounce in unmeasured
terms the high schedule of prices recently sanctioned by the Commissary
and Quartermaster's bureaus. And, although the schedule has been
modified, much odium will attach to all concerned in it. A large farmer,
at the rates fixed for his products, would realize, perhaps, $200,000
per annum.
AUGUST 5TH.--Hot and dry. I hope there will be a rain-cloud this
evening.
No war news, except a letter from Gen. Lee, indicating that Gen. Morgan
is probably on a raid in Northwest Virginia and in Pennsylvania. Morgan
proposed going into Georgia (rear of Sherman), but the Secretary
indorsed that perhaps the matter had as well be left to Gen. Lee. The
President quietly indorsed that he "concurred in the conclusion that all
the movements of troops in Virginia had best be left to the discretion
of Gen Lee."
Gen. Hood telegraphs that no important change has occurred in front of
Atlanta. There was some skirmishing yesterday, and shell thrown into
Atlanta.
My daughter Anne, after ten months' residence in the country, returned
to-day (with Miss Randolph, of Loudon Co.) in perfect health. She
brought apples, eggs, a watermelon, cucumbers, etc.
Mr. Davies sold my reel (German silver) to-day for $75, or about $3.20
in gold--enough to buy a cord of wood. I parted with it reluctantly, as
I hope to catch fish yet.
AUGUST 6TH.--Hot and dry.
The booming of cannon heard yesterday evening was from one of our
batteries below Drewry's Bluff. The enemy answered from their batteries,
the existence of which we had no knowledge of before. No one was hurt.
About the same time Gen. Beauregard sprung a mine _under_ the enemy's
mine, and blew it up, no doubt destroying many lives. This was succeeded
by heavy, but, perhaps, harmless shelling along the lines.
Another raiding party has been defeated and dispersed at Madison, Ga.
But we have been unfortunate in a naval engagement in the lower bay, at
Mobile. We have lost Admiral Buchanan's ram "Tennessee," and several
other steamers. One of the enemy's monitors was sunk. They had five
vessels to our one.
Battles are momentarily expected at Atlanta and Winchester. We have
nothing additional from the North.
AUGUST 7TH.--Hot and dry; but heavy rains in other parts of the State.
The 1st Army Corps moved through the city last night, via the Central
and Fredericksburg Railroads, and this morning Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry
corps is passing in the same direction--9 A.M.
All this indicates a transferrence of the scene of operations nearer the
enemy's country--the relief of Richmond--the failure of Grant's MAD BULL
campaign, prompted by President Lincoln, who is no general.
Honor to Lee!--the savior of his country! and the noble band of heroes
whom he has led to victory!--but first to God.
AUGUST 8TH.--Hot and dry.
There are rumors of battles near Winchester and in Georgia.
Mr. Benjamin writes the Secretary of War for a passport for ----, who is
going to New York, "for our service."
In the assault on the fortifications near Petersburg last week, it is
said Hancock's (enemy's) corps lost half its men.
Watermelons have sold at $20 each; corn, $10 per dozen ears; and
everything else in the markets in proportion.
My yellow tomatoes are just maturing. The dry weather has ruined nearly
everything else in the garden.
AUGUST 9TH.--Very hot; very dry; very dusty.
The President has directed the late Gen. (now Lieut.-Col.) Pemberton to
organize a mortar and cavalry force to dislodge the enemy from Deep
Bottom, on this side of the river, and to select three or four batteries
to render the navigation of the James River difficult and dangerous.
Col. P. says he must have some 1500 cavalry, etc.
Letters from Mr. McRae, our agent abroad, show that our finances and
credit are improving wonderfully, and that the government will soon have
a great many fine steamers running the blockade. Mr. McR. has contracted
for eight _steel_-clad, steamers with a single firm, Frazer, Trenholm &
Co.--_the latter now our Secretary of the Treasury_.
The President indorsed a cutting rebuke to both the Secretary of War and
a Mr. (now Lieut.-Col.) Melton, A. A. General's office, to-day. It was
on an order for a quartermaster at Atlanta to report here and settle his
accounts. Mr. M. had written on the order that it was issued "by order
of the President." The President said he was responsible for all orders
issued by the War Department, but it was a great presumption of any
officer in that department to assume to indorse on any paper that it was
by his special order, and that, too, "by command of the Secretary of
War," the usual form.
AUGUST 10TH.--Hot and dry until 4 P.M. Gust, and 15 minutes' rain. Good
for turnips.
Forts Gaines and Powell are lost--the latter blown up. Gen. Maury
telegraphs for infantry, has some 4000 men for the defense of Mobile,
etc.
Our raiders, under McCausland and Bradley Johnson, it is said were
surprised and defeated last Sunday, with loss of 400 men, 500 horses,
and 4 pieces of artillery. A rumor prevails that Early has gained
another victory near Winchester.
No news yet from our agent sent to North Carolina to purchase supplies,
but we learn flour and bacon are not held one quarter as high there as
here. I do sincerely hope Grant's raiders will keep quiet until _I_ can
get something to eat!
AUGUST 11TH.--Hot and dry.
Dispatches from secret agents at Washington state that Grant and his
staff have arrived, that half his army preceded him, and the remainder
will soon follow. The campaign is considered a disastrous failure, and
it is anticipated that henceforth the scene of operations is to be
transferred from Richmond to Washington. They say President Lincoln's
face expresses "great terror," and affairs there are in a critical
condition.
A dispatch from Gen. Lee states that Gen. Bradley Johnson's brigade of
cavalry was surprised and routed on the 7th inst. by Averill. He has
directed that Gen. J. be relieved.
A dispatch from Gen. Hood (Atlanta, Ga.) says no important change in
affair has occurred since yesterday, except that Major-Gen. Bates is
wounded. There are 5000 militia in the trenches.
AUGUST 12TH.--Hot and dry. At 3 P.M. rained about three minutes. We are
burning up.
There is no war news. A rumor in the street says Atlanta has fallen. I
don't believe it. Yesterday Gen. Hood said no important change had
occurred, etc.
I saw a soldier to-day from Gen. Early's army near Martinsburg, and the
indications were that it was on the eve of crossing the Potomac. He left
it day before yesterday, 10th inst. He says Kershaw's division was at
Culpepper C. H., 50 miles from Early.
Detachments of troops are daily passing through the city, northward. All
is quiet below on the James River. Grant's campaign against Richmond is
confessedly a failure.
AUGUST 13TH.--Hot and dry. Large green worms have attacked my tomatoes,
and from the leaves are proceeding to the fruit. But not many of them
will escape! I am warring on them.
No war news, except the continuation of the movement of troops
_northward_. Hampton's division of cavalry, at least three brigades,
passed this morning.
From Mobile and Atlanta we have nothing of interest.
Flour is falling: it is now $200 per barrel--$500 a few weeks ago; and
bacon is falling in price also, from $11 to $6 per pound. A commission
merchant said to me, yesterday, that there was at least eighteen months'
supply (for the people) of breadstuffs and meats in the city; and
pointing to the upper windows at the corner of Thirteenth and Cary
Streets, he revealed the ends of many barrels piled above the windows.
He said that flour had been there two years, held for "still higher
prices." Such is the avarice of man. Such is war. And such the greed of
extortioners, even in the midst of famine--and famine in the midst of
plenty!
AUGUST 14TH.--Hot and dry.
Rumors of a fight down the river yesterday, driving the enemy from Deep
Bottom, and grounding of the Richmond. Guns were heard, and I suppose we
made a demonstration both by land and water.
Cavalry (Hampton's) still pass northward. They ride as if they grew to
the horses. As they trot past, they can be seen cutting and dividing
large round watermelons, and none are permitted to fall. Occasionally a
staring negro in the street is astonished by the crushing of a rind on
his head.
I never saw melons and other fruit so abundant; but they are held so
high I cannot indulge.
Mr. Seddon draws 75 pounds rice per month, his family being fifty; and
gets 12 pads cotton yarn from the State distribution. I shall get 10-1/2
pounds rice, at 50 cents--retail price, $2; and perhaps 1 pad--5
pounds--yarn for $45; my family being seven.
AUGUST 15TH.--Cloudy, damp, and pleasant. A rain fell last night,
wetting the earth to a considerable depth; and the wind being southeast,
we look for copious showers--a fine season for turnips, etc.
Cannon was distinctly heard from my garden yesterday evening, and
considerable fighting has been going on down the river for several days;
the result (if the end is yet) has not been officially stated. It is
rumored that Pemberton lost more batteries; but it is only rumor, so
far. Nor have we anything definite from Early or Hood.
Bacon has fallen to $5 and $6 per pound, flour to $175 per barrel. I
hope we shall get some provisions from the South this week.
Sowed turnip-seed in every available spot of my garden to-day. My
tomatoes are beginning to mature--better late than never.
The following official dispatch was received on Saturday:
"MOBILE, August 11th.--Nothing later from Fort Morgan. The wires
are broken. Gen. Forrest drove the enemy's advance out of Oxford
last night.
"All the particulars of the Fort Gaines surrender known, are that
the commanding officer communicated with the enemy, and made terms,
without authority. His fort was in good condition, the garrison
having suffered little.
"He made no reply to repeated orders and signals from Gen. Page to
hold his fort, and surrendered upon conditions not known
here. D. H. MAURY, _Major-General_."
Gen. Taylor will cross the Mississippi with 4000 on the 18th of this
month. Sherman must get Atlanta quickly, or not at all.
AUGUST 16TH.--Warm and cloudy.
There are movements of interest of the armies below, from the fact that
we have as yet no authentic account of the fighting during the last few
days. I fear we have not been so successful as usual.
The enemy is reported to be in force on this side (north) of the river,
and marching toward this city. The local (clerks) troops have been
called out to man the fortifications. But the blow (if one really be
meditated) may fall on the other (south) side of the river.
Col. Moseby has taken 200 of the enemy near Berryville, burning 75
wagons, and capturing 600 horses and mules. His loss trifling.
AUGUST 17TH.--Cloudy, and slight showers. In the afternoon dark clouds
going round.
We have nothing from below but vague rumors, except that we repulsed the
enemy yesterday, slaughtering the negro troops thrust in front.
From Atlanta, it is said the enemy have measurably ceased artillery
firing, and it is inferred that their ammunition is low, and perhaps
their communications cut.
The President and Secretary of War were in council all the morning, it
is said, on _appointments_ and _promotions_ in the army.
The President rode out toward the battle-field at 2-1/2 P.M. There have
been no guns heard to-day.
AUGUST 18TH.--Cloudy and pleasant.
Still we have no authentic account of the details of the fights on the
north side of the James River. We know we lost two brigadier-generals,
and that we captured some 600 prisoners. Of the number killed and
wounded on either side is all conjecture, although a semi-official
statement makes our loss but "light."
Nevertheless, I happen to know that the President rode out yesterday,
and remained until late in the night: for Mr. Craddock, his special
detective (and formerly his messenger), whom he sent for to accompany
him, assures me while on the field there was a flag of truce to bury the
dead, and that the slaughter had been large. Our cavalry had suffered;
but he thinks the enemy's infantry lost many more men than all our slain
together. He says, moreover, that only one negro prisoner reached the
city. The rest, thrust forward, being killed on the field in action, I
suppose.
At 2 P.M. a rumor began to be expanded that a terrific and probably a
decisive battle was going on at Petersburg. One report says the enemy
assaulted our lines, the operations on this side of the river having
been more a feint to draw our forces away; another that Gen. Beauregard
attacked the enemy, finding their troops in large force had crossed over
to this side, and this in the absence of Gen. Lee, he taking the
responsibility. Be this as it may, some stir was in the cabinet: and the
Secretary of War was with the President from 11 A.M. till 3 P.M. This
might be on "appointments and promotions," and it might be on
Beauregard.
About 5 P.M. brisk artillery firing was heard in a southeast direction,
which increased in rapidity, and apparently became nearer the city,
until musketry could be distinctly heard from all parts of the city. My
daughter Anne and her younger brother, Thomas, had walked out to
Hollywood Cemetery, where they could not only hear the firing, but could
see the lines of smoke below the city, on the left or north bank.
Between 6 and 7 P.M. the sound seemed to recede, indicating that the
assault had been repulsed; and finally all was silent again. It is
probable the battle raged likewise on the south side of the river, and
it may be hoped the assault on Petersburg was similarly repulsed. We
shall know to-morrow.
AUGUST 19TH.--Damp and cloudy.
There was no serious battle. The wind was in a quarter which brought the
sounds to us, even from the skirmishers, ten miles distant. But our
gun-boats shelled the enemy out of their position on Signal Hill, and
there was heavy cannonading along the line on the south side of the
river. And, as appears by the papers, there was severe fighting at
different points of the line.
We have now some further details of the battle of Tuesday. Our loss was
1000; the enemy's, it is said, 5000 to 8000.
It is now, 5 P.M., raining gently, thank Heaven!
To-day we had a distribution of meats, etc. brought from North Carolina
by our agent. Custis and I invested $200: we have received 26 pounds
bacon and 24 smoked herrings--worth here about $200. Half the money
remains in the agent's hands, for which we expect to get 300 pounds of
flour--if the enemy will let the railroads alone.
It is believed another raid has crossed the Weldon Road, and is sweeping
in the direction of the Lynchburg and Danville Road. The speculators are
on the _qui vive_ already, and no flour can be had. I fear _our_ flour
will be intercepted, delayed, and perhaps lost! The meat we got to-day
will supply but two ounces for each member of my family daily for two
months. This is war, terrible war! But if Grant is not rapidly
reinforced, at the present rate of his losses his army will be consumed
in two months. There is some consolation in that prospect!
AUGUST 20TH.--Rained hard all night, and a good deal to-day. Between 10
and 11 P.M. last evening, as we were retiring, a musket was fired
somewhere in the rear of the building, and fragments of lime and brick
were heard rattling against the window-shutters. This morning I
perceived where the ball struck, a few inches below the window-sill of
the chamber on the second floor, where Custis and Tom were lying. Some
one, I suppose, had heedlessly fired his gun, after returning from the
fortifications.
Well, the papers to-day fall below the official announcement of the work
of yesterday afternoon. Gen. Lee's dispatch says we captured 2700
prisoners near Petersburg on the Weldon Road. No other particulars are
given, and the affair is still in mystery, for some purpose, perhaps.
It is rumored that Gen. Hampton captured 4000 men last night or this
morning; but I doubt. Without that, the week's work is good--Grant
losing from 10,000 to 15,000 men. A few more weeks, at that rate, will
consume his army, and then--peace?
Gen. Bragg complains, in a letter to the Secretary of War, that the
orders of the department, and of the Adjutant-General, are not
furnished him, which must diminish, if persisted in, his usefulness in
the important position to which the President has called him. They, are
all inimical to Bragg--all but the President, who is bound in honor to
sustain him.
The price of flour has fallen again; Lee's victory frightening the
dealers.
Robert Hill, commission merchant, Bank Street, gave me two pounds of
coffee to-day when I told him of Lee's dispatch. It was accepted, of
course, and is worth some $20 per pound.
Guns are heard down the river again this evening, and all are wondering
what Lee is doing now.
AUGUST 21ST.--Cloudy and pleasant; no rain last night, but the earth is
saturated. No additional news from the army. It is said Gen. Bragg
prevents news, good or bad, from expanding--believing that any
intelligence whatever in the newspapers affords information to the
enemy; and he is right. All the mysteries will be solved in a few days,
and we shall have all the news, good, bad, and indifferent. I heard
cannon last evening; also this morning. Our casualties could not have
been large, else the ambulance train would have been in motion. That is
certain. It may be that Grant's army is _crumbling_,--I hope so; and it
may possibly be that _negotiations_ are in progress. There _must_ be an
end of this; for the people of both sections are tired of it.
So far Grant has unquestionably failed in his enterprises against
Richmond, and his present reduced strength certainly renders it unlikely
that he can prevail against us hereafter. His new levies, if he gets
any, will not be fit for the field this year; and all his veterans will
soon be gone,--killed, or home,--never to return. Thank God, the
prospect of peace is "bright and brightening," and a dark cloud is above
the horizon in the North. Lincoln and his party are now environed with
dangers rushing upon them from every direction.
No doubt Lee's army is weakened by detachments sent to Early; but then
the local troops have been sent home, which is at least a favorable
augury. The following order is published:
"GENERAL ORDER NO. 65.
"It having been represented to the War Department that there are
numbers of foreigners entrapped by artifice and fraud into the
military and naval service of the United States, who would gladly
withdraw from further participation in the inhuman warfare waged
against a people who have never given them a pretext for hostility;
and that there are many inhabitants of the United States now
retained in that service against their will, who are averse to
aiding in the unjust war now being prosecuted against the
Confederate States; and it being also known that these men are
prevented from abandoning such compulsory service by the difficulty
they experience in escaping therefrom, it is ordered that all such
persons coming within the lines of the Confederate armies shall be
received, protected, and supplied with means of subsistence, until
such of them as desire it can be forwarded to the most convenient
points on the border, where all facilities will be afforded them to
return to their homes.
"By order,
"(Signed) S. COOPER,
"_A. and I. General_."
My turnips have not come up yet, and I fear the hot sun has destroyed
the vitality of the seed. It is said the enemy still hold the Weldon
Road; if so, then I fear our flour will be delayed, if not lost.
What if Grant now had the 140,000 more--lost in this campaign? Or if
Lincoln should succeed in getting into the field the 500,000 men now
called for?
The next two months will be the most interesting period of the war;
everything depends upon the result of the Presidential election in the
United States. We rely some little upon the success of the peace party.
The order from the Adjutant-General's office was first suggested by Gen.
Beauregard, discountenanced by Mr. Secretary Seddon, approved by the
President, and slightly modified by Gen. Lee. It remains to be seen what
will be its effect. Deserters are certainly coming over in large
numbers; so much so, that it is proposed to establish a depot for them
in Georgia. Gen. Winder writes that it is not his province to be charged
with them as well as with the prisoners. He is miserable; his rogues and
cut-throats have mostly remained behind, preferring a city residence;
and the Bureau of Conscription _will not_, it seems, conscribe
Marylanders, most of whom have grown rich here. Will the President and
the Secretary of War yield to Assistant Secretary Campbell, and the
"Bureau," and Judge Halliburton,--or will they execute the act of
Congress, enrolling all "residents" for the common defense! _Nous
verrons._
One meets no beggars yet, although we have been suffering a famine for
more than a year.
The State Government is now selling a little rice--one and a half pounds
per month to each member of a family--at 50 cents per pound, the
ordinary price being about $2. And the City Council has employed a
butcher to sell fresh meat at about $3.50 per pound. The State will also
distribute cotton cloth and yarn, at something less than the usual
prices. There would be quite enough of everything necessary, if it were
equally distributed.
AUGUST 22D.--Sunshine and clouds, cool and pleasant.
There was heavy fighting on the Weldon Road yesterday evening, still
held by the enemy; but no official account of the result--if it has yet
reached a result--has been received. The city is full of extravagant
rumors, and I incline to the belief that we gained no advantage
yesterday. We took some 300 prisoners, certainly; but I fear Haygood's
Brigade of South Carolinians ventured too far, when they were enveloped
by greatly superior numbers--and--we shall know all to-morrow.
The news from Hood, Wheeler, Forrest, etc. in the Southwest promises
well.
AUGUST 23D.--Clear and pleasant.
The enemy still occupy the Weldon Road, beyond Petersburg, in great
force. Our loss in killed, wounded, and captured is estimated (in
Sunday's fight) at 1000; under the mark, perhaps.
I hear of no raid yet against the Danville Road; but the flour
speculators have put up the price again. Gen. Kemper told me this
morning that he had 3000 of the reserves defending the Danville Road,
the number Gen. Lee asked for.
Gen. Hood is so strong at Atlanta, that he has promised to send, in an
emergency, a brigade to Mobile.
Interesting events will crowd each other rapidly, now.
AUGUST 24TH.--Clear and pleasant.
Operations now must be initiated by the enemy. Gen. Lee writes that he
is too weak to attempt to dislodge the Yankees from the Weldon
Railroad. He cannot afford the loss of men necessary to accomplish it.
He says the enemy, however, was "worsted" in the two conflicts, that of
Friday and Sunday. And if he were to drive him away, the road would
still be subject to interruption. He thinks we can still get supplies,
by wagons, round the enemy's position, as well as by the Danville Road.
He also suggests that corn be imported at Wilmington, and that every
effort be made to accumulate supplies here; and he thinks we can hold
out until corn matures some six weeks hence, so that the moral effect
will be good, when it is apparent the efforts of the enemy to cut off
our supplies are thwarted. He thinks the enemy has relinquished the idea
of forcing our fortifications. But he says that Grant intended to force
his way into Richmond last week.
I wrote a letter to the President to-day, urging the necessity of
preventing the transportation of any supplies on the railroads except
for distribution at cost, and thus exterminating the speculators. The
poor must be fed and protected, if they be relied upon to defend the
country. The rich bribe the conscription officers, and keep out of the
ranks, invest their Confederate money and bonds in real estate, and
would be the first to submit to the United States Government; and the
poor, whom they oppress, are in danger of demoralization from suffering
and disgust, and might also embrace reunion rather than a prolongation
of such miseries as they have so long experienced. The patriotism of
1861 must be revived, or independence cannot be achieved. If a Peace
Democrat be elected, no doubt terms of peace will be tendered, on the
basis of _reunion_; and if they be rejected, perhaps the war may be
continued. Or Lincoln may modify his conditions of peace; and the rich,
always seeking repose and security, may embrace them. The surest plan is
to break up speculation, and put the rich as well as the poor in the
army. We must _deserve_ independence, else we shall not get it. There
must be no partiality, and especially in favor of the rich. I wrote
plainly, intimating the danger of Reconstruction, without the greatest
care, and a scrupulous performance of duty.
AUGUST 25TH.--Clear and warm.
No war news, except reports that Gen. Wheeler has destroyed much of the
railroad in Sherman's rear, and that Early has forced Sheridan back
across the Potomac.
Gen. Lee writes that he already notices the good effect of the order
published by our government, encouraging desertions from the enemy's
armies. He suggests that it be translated into the German, and
circulated extensively in the enemy's country.
My turnips seem to be coming up at last; have sown them everywhere, so
that when other crops come off, the ground will still be producing
something.
Bought a bushel of red peas to-day for $30--the last for sale--the rest
being taken for _horses_. Such is the food that my family is forced to
subsist on.
Mr. Haxall, a millionaire, of conscript age, has just been appointed
assessor of tax-in-kind. The salary is a pitiful sum, but the rich man
is kept out of the army while the poor man is forced to fight in defense
of his property.
The President is indefatigable in his labors. Every day the papers he
sends to the department bear evidence of his attention to the minutest
subject, even to the small appointments; he frequently rejects the
Secretary's recommendations.
Gen. Bragg recommends that publication be made here, in the United
States, and in Europe, encouraging enlistments of foreigners in our
army.
AUGUST 26TH.--Clear; but rained copiously last night.
A letter from Gen. Lee indicates that the "Bureau of Conscription" fails
to replenish the army. The rich men and slaveowners are but too
successful in getting out, and in keeping out of the service. The
Governor, who commissions magistrates, is exempting some fifty daily,
and these, in many instances, are not only young men, but speculators.
And nearly every landed proprietor has given bonds to furnish meal, etc.
to obtain exemption. Thus _corruption_ is eating to the heart of the
cause, and I fear the result of the contest between speculation and
patriotism. Mr. Seddon says he has striven to make the conscription
officers do their duty, and was not aware that so many farmers had
gotten exemption. He promises to do all in his power to obtain recruits,
and will so use the strictly _local_ troops as to render the Reserves
more active. What that means we shall soon see.
A dispatch from Mobile says Fort Morgan is in the possession of the
enemy! _Per contra_, a dispatch from the same place says Memphis is in
the possession of Forrest.
AUGUST 27TH.--Bright morning, and fine shower last night. The people are
smiling to-day from our success of Thursday, announced in the following
dispatch from Gen. Lee:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"August 26th, 1864.
"HON. J. A. SEDDON, SECRETARY OF WAR.
"General A. P. Hill attacked the enemy in his intrenchments at
Reams's Station yesterday evening, and at the second assault
carried his entire line.
"Cook's and McRae's North Carolina brigades, under Gen. Heth, and
Lane's North Carolina brigade, of Wilcox's division, under Gen.
Connor, with Pegram's artillery, composed the assaulting party.
"One line of breastworks was carried by the cavalry under Gen.
Hampton with great gallantry, who contributed largely to the
success of the day.
"Seven stands of colors, two thousand prisoners, and nine pieces of
artillery are in our possession.
"The loss of the enemy in killed and wounded is reported to be
heavy--ours relatively small.
"Our profound gratitude is due to the Giver of all victory, and our
thanks to the brave men and officers engaged.
"R. E. LEE."
It is said to-day that our captures will amount to 2500, and a
brigadier-general is among the prisoners.
The President intimated to-day to the Secretary that when he respites a
prisoner condemned to death, he does not desire the case brought to him
again to approve the execution.
AUGUST 28TH.--A bright, pleasant day.
No news. Walked, as usual, to the department to see if any important
letters had come, and then hastened back that the family might go to
church in time.
Oh what a lovely day in such an unlovely time! The recent rains have
washed the dust from the still dark-green leaves of the trees and
vegetation in my little yard and garden, and they rustle in a genial
sunlight that startles a memory of a similar scene, forty or more years
ago! It is a holy Sabbath day upon the earth,--but how unholy the men
who inhabit the earth! Even the tall garish sun-flowers, cherished for
very memories of childhood's days by my wife, and for amusement by my
little daughter, have a gladdening influence on my spirits, until some
object of scanty food or tattered garment forces upon the mind a
realization of the reign of discord and destruction without. God grant
there may be a speedy end of the war! And the words Armistice and Peace
are found in the Northern papers and upon every one's tongue here.
My tomato vines are looking well and are bearing well, now. My turnips
are coming up everywhere. The egg-plants I nurtured so carefully have
borne no fruit yet, but are going to blossom. The okras have recovered
under the influence of recent showers, and have new blossoms.
Our agent in North Carolina has been delayed by illness, and has bought
us no flour yet, but we still have hope. We trust that the enemy will
not cut our communications with the South, since he has met with so many
heavy mishaps in attempting it. Grant has attempted everything in his
power to get Richmond, and was foiled in all. I hope he will withdraw
soon. Why stay, with no prospect of success? A few days more may solve
his purposes and plans, or Lee may have more enterprises against him.
It is a cloudless, silent, solemn Sabbath day, and I thank God for it!
AUGUST 29TH.--Bright and pleasant morning; another fine shower last
night.
No important intelligence from the armies.
AUGUST 30TH.--Bright and pleasant.
Gen. Hood telegraphs Gen Bragg that the enemy has shifted his line
somewhat, drawing back his left and extending his right wing. Also that
dispatches from Wheeler (August 19th) informs him that Dalton was
captured, as stated, with 200 prisoners, 200 mules, a large amount of
stores; several train supplies destroyed, as well as twenty-five miles
of railroad in Sherman's rear. If that don't disturb the equanimity of
Sherman, he must be an extraordinary general indeed.
Gen. Lee says the Bureau of Conscription has ceased to send forward
recruits, and suggests that the conscript officers and their tens of
thousands of details be now ordered into the ranks themselves. The
Secretary does not agree to this, and the Assistant Secretary's
son-in-law is one of "the Bureau."
Nine-tenths of the President's time and labor consist of discriminating
between applicants for office and for promotion. They are all
politicians still! And the Secretaries of State, Navy, and the
Postmaster-General are getting to be as fat as bears, while some of the
subordinates I wot of are becoming mere shadows from scarcity of food.
AUGUST 31ST.--Bright and pleasant.
The only news to-day was a dispatch from Gen. Hood, stating that the
enemy had left Holly Springs, Miss., for the Mississippi River, supposed
to reinforce Sherman, whose communications are certainly cut. It seems
to me that Sherman must be doomed. Forces are gathering from every
quarter around him, and it is over 200 miles to Mobile, if he has any
idea to force his way thitherward.
Attended an auction to-day. Prices of furniture, clothing, etc. still
mounting higher.
Common salt herrings are at $16 per dozen; salt shad, $8 a piece. Our
agent was heard from to-day. He has no flour yet, but we still have
hopes of getting some.
CHAPTER XLII.
The Federal Presidency.--The Chicago Convention.--Fall of Atlanta.--
Bureau of Conscription.--From Gen. Hood.--Vice-President Stephens on
the situation.--Letter from Mrs. Mendenhall.--Dispatch from Gen.
Lee.--Defeat of Gen. Early.--From Gov. Vance.--From Gov. Brown, of
Georgia.--Gen. Lee's indorsement of Col. Moseby.--Hon. Mr. Foote.--
Attack on Fort Gilmer.--Indiscriminate arrest of civilians.
SEPTEMBER 1ST.--Clear, bright, and cool.
The intelligence from the North indicates that Gen. McClellan will be
nominated for the Presidency. Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of
War, shakes his head, and says he is not the right man. Our people take
a lively interest in the proceedings of the Chicago Convention, hoping
for a speedy termination of the war.
Senator Johnson, of Missouri, has a project of taxation for the
extinguishment of the public debt--a sweeping taxation, amounting to
one-half the value of the real and personal estate of the Confederate
States. He got me to commit his ideas to writing, which I did, and they
will be published.
Gen. Kemper told me to-day that there were 40,000 able-bodied men in
Virginia now detailed.
There is a project on the tapis of introducing lady clerks into this
bureau--all of them otherwise able to subsist themselves--while the poor
refugees, who have suffered most, are denied places. Even the President
named one to-day, Mrs. Ford, who, of course, will be appointed.
SEPTEMBER 2D.--Bright, and cool, and dry.
It is reported that a battle has occurred at Atlanta; but I have seen no
official confirmation of it.
It is rumored that Gen. McClellan has been nominated by the Chicago
Convention for President, and Fernando Wood for Vice-President. There is
some interest felt by our people in the proceedings of this convention,
and there is a hope that peace candidates may be nominated and elected.
Senator Johnson (Missouri) told me to-day that he had seen Mrs. Vaughan
(wife of our Gen. V.), just from the United States, where she had been
two months; and she declares it as her belief that Gen. McClellan will
be elected, if nominated, and that he is decidedly for peace. She says
the peace party would take up arms to put an end to Lincoln's sanguinary
career, but that it is thought peace can be soonest restored by the
ballot-box.
The President to-day arrested the rush of staff appointments.
To-day an old gentleman, after an interview with Mr. Secretary ----,
said he might be a good man, an honest man; but he certainly had a "most
villainous face."
SEPTEMBER 3D.--Slight rain in the morning.
There is an ugly rumor on the streets to-day--disaster to Gen. Hood, and
the fall of Atlanta. I cannot trace it to an authentic source; and, if
true, the telegraph operatives must have divulged it.
A dispatch from Petersburg states that there is much cheering in Grant's
army for McClellan, the nominee of the Chicago Convention for the
Presidency.
I think the resolutions of the convention amount to a defiance of
President Lincoln, and that their ratification meetings will inaugurate
civil war.
The President has called upon the Governor of Alabama for the entire
militia of the State, to be mustered into the service for the defense of
the States. It is dated September 1st, and will include all exempted by
the Conscription Bureau as _farmers_. Every farm has its exempted or
detailed man under bonds to supply meat, etc.
I incline to the belief that Hood has met with disaster at Atlanta. If
so, every able-bodied man in that State will be hunted up for its
defense, unless, indeed, the Union party should be revived there.
There will be a new clamor against the President, for removing Johnston,
and for _not_ putting Beauregard in his place.
But we may get aid from the North, from their civil dissensions. If
Lincoln could precipitate 500,000 additional men upon us now, we should
be compelled to give back at all points. But this he cannot do. And the
convention at Chicago did not adjourn _sine die_, and may be called
again at any time to exercise _other_ functions than the mere nomination
of candidates, etc.
SEPTEMBER 4TH.--Showery.
Atlanta has fallen, and our army has retreated some thirty miles; such
is Hood's dispatch, received last night.
The cheering in Grant's camp yesterday was over that event. We have not
had sufficient generalship and enterprise to destroy Sherman's
communications.
Some 40,000 landowners, and the owners of slaves, are at their
comfortable homes, or in comfortable offices, while the poor and
ignorant are relied upon to achieve independence! and these, very
naturally, disappoint the President's expectations on momentous
occasions.
SEPTEMBER 5TH.--Clear and warm.
Gen. Lee has called for 2000 negroes (to be impressed) to work on the
Petersburg fortifications. Gen. Lee has been here two days, giving his
advice, which I hope may be taken. He addresses Gen. Bragg as
"commanding armies C. S." This _ought_ to be an example for others to
follow.
The loss of Atlanta is a stunning blow.
I am sick to-day--having been swollen by beans, or rather cow-peas.
SEPTEMBER 6TH.--Raining moderately, and cool.
Gen. Bragg has taken the Bureau of Conscription in hand, since Col.
August, "acting superintendent," wrote him a "disrespectful and
insubordinate" note. He required a report of the officers in the bureau,
from Lieut.-Col. Lay, "Acting Superintendent,"--there have been three
"acting superintendents" during the last three days,--and Col. Lay
furnished it. On this Gen. B. remarks that one young and able-bodied
colonel (August) was here while his regiment was in the field, and
recommended that he be permitted to have an opportunity to see some
"service" before the war is ended, and military experience, which will
teach him to be more respectful to seniors, etc.; and that the
able-bodied lieutenant-colonel (Lay), from whom he can get no report of
inspections, and who remains here idle most of his time, could render
more efficient service in the field.
And he thought Lieut. Goldthwait, relative of the Assistant Secretary of
War, in the bureau, was performing functions that would better pertain
to an older and more experienced man. In short, the whole organization
required modification.
These papers, with this indorsement, being sent to the President, that
functionary sends them to the Secretary of War, with an indorsement
intimating that such remarks from Gen. Bragg required _action_. Here's a
row! Perhaps the Secretary himself may _flare up_, and charge Gen. B.
with interference, etc.;--but no, he must see that Gen. B. is acting
with the concurrence of the President.
But the Assistant Secretary, Col. August, Lieut.-Col. Lay, etc. will be
like so many hornets stirred up with a pole, and no doubt they are rich
enough to defy the emoluments of office.
SEPTEMBER 7TH.--Clear and cool; rained in the night.
Gen. J. H. Morgan is dead,--surprised and killed in Tennessee,--and his
staff captured.
Gen. Hood telegraphs that the enemy is still _retreating_--toward
Atlanta, I suppose.
The cruiser Tallahassee having run into Wilmington, that port is now
pretty effectually closed by an accumulation of blockaders.
It is said Gen. Forrest has blown up Tunnel Hill; if so, Sherman must be
embarrassed in getting supplies of ordnance stores.
Sir Wm. Armstrong has sent from England one or two splendid guns (a
present) to our government, with equipments, etc. And the manufacturers
have presented us with a battery of Whitworth guns, six in number, but
they have not arrived yet.
SEPTEMBER 8TH.--Bright and cool; subsequently cloudy and warm.
Dispatches from Gen. Hood (Sept. 7th) state--1st dispatch: that Sherman
still holds his works one and a half miles from Jonesborough. 2d
dispatch, same date: "Sherman continues his retreat!" He says, in a 3d
dispatch, that Sherman visited the hospitals, and said he would rest
awhile at Atlanta, and then march away to Andersonville, where we keep
the Federal prisoners. Although Hood attaches no importance to
declarations from such a source, yet he deems it a matter of first
importance to remove the prisoners, which suggestion Gen. Bragg refers
to the Secretary of War without remark. Gen. Hood also urges the
reinforcing of his army from the trans-Mississippi Department. He is
sending a brigade to Opelika, to await a raid.
Gen. Forrest has been ordered, the President approving, to Middle
Tennessee; but, contrary to his desire, he is not allowed to proclaim
amnesty to the thousands of deserters expected to join him, so firmly do
the President and Gen. Bragg adhere to Gen. Lee's advice never to
proclaim pardon in advance to deserters, even at this critical epoch in
our affairs.
All of us have been made sick by eating red peas, or rather
_over_eating.
Our cause is in danger of being lost for want of horses and mules, and
yet I discovered to-day that the government has been _lending_ horses to
men who have but recently suffered some of the calamities of war! I
discovered it in a letter from the Hon. _R. M. T. Hunter_, of Essex
County, asking in behalf of himself and neighbors to be permitted to
retain the borrowed horses beyond the time specified--Oct. 1st. Mr.
Hunter borrowed two horses and four mules. He is worth millions, and
only suffered (having a mill burned) his first loss by the enemy a few
weeks ago! Better, far better, would it be for the Secretary to borrow
or impress one hundred thousand horses, and mount our infantry to cut
the communications of the enemy, and hover on his flanks like the
Cossacks in Russia.
SEPTEMBER 9TH.--Rained last night; clear to-day.
We hear of great rejoicing in the United States over the fall of
Atlanta, and this may be premature. President Lincoln has issued a
proclamation for thanksgiving in the churches, etc.
Mr. Benjamin informs the Secretary of War that the President has agreed
to facilitate the emigration of Polish exiles and a few hundred
Scotchmen, to come through Mexico, etc. The former will enter our
service.
The "Hope" has arrived at Wilmington with Sir Wm. Armstrong's present of
a fine 12-pounder, all its equipments, ammunition, etc. Also (for sale)
two 150-pounder rifled guns, with equipments, etc.
SEPTEMBER 10TH.--Slight showers, and warm.
Gen. J. H. Morgan was betrayed by a woman, a Mrs. Williamson, who was
entertaining him.
Custis made an estimate of the white male population in seven States
this side of the Mississippi, leaving out Tennessee, between the ages of
fifteen and fifty, for Gen. Kemper, for Gen. Lee, which is 800,000,
subject to deduction of those between fifteen and seventeen, disabled,
250,000, leaving 550,000--enough for defense for several years yet, if
the Bureau of Conscription were abolished and a better system adopted.
It is said the draft is postponed or abandoned in the United States. I
hope so.
Two 32-pounder guns passed down the river to-day on this side. We shall
probably hear from them soon, and then, perhaps--lose them.
SEPTEMBER 11TH.--Showery.
No war news, though important events are looked for speedily. It is
time. If our coat-tails were off, we should, in nine cases out of ten,
be voted a nation of _sans cullottes_. We are already meager and
emaciated. Yet I believe there is abundance of clothing and food, held
by the extortioners. The government should wage war upon the
speculators--enemies as mischievous as the Yankees.
SEPTEMBER 12TH.--Clear, and quite cold.
Gen. Hood has agreed to a short armistice with Sherman, ten days,
proposed by the latter. Our people don't know what to think of this, and
the government is acquiescent.
But there is a mournful gloom upon the brows of many, since Gen. Grant
holds the Weldon Road, and is daily receiving reinforcements, while we
get but few under the Conscription system and the present organization
of the bureau.
There is a rumor of an intention to abandon Petersburg, and that 20,000
old men and boys, etc. must be put in the trenches on our side
immediately to save Richmond and the cause.
Over 100,000 landed proprietors, and most of the slaveowners, are now
out of the ranks, and soon, I fear, we shall have an army that will not
fight, having nothing to fight for. And this is the result of the
pernicious policy of partiality and exclusiveness, disintegrating
society in such a crisis, and recognizing distinction of ranks,--the
_higher_ class staying home and making money, the _lower_ class thrust
into the trenches. And then the infamous schedule, to make the fortunes
of the farmers of certain counties.
I bought 30 yards of brown cotton to-day, at $2.50 per yard, from a man
who had just returned from North Carolina. The price here is $5. I sold
my dear old silver reel some time ago (angling) for $75, the sum paid
for this cotton.
Already the _Dispatch_ is publishing paragraphs in praise of the "Bureau
of Conscription," never dreaming that it strikes both Gen. Bragg and the
President. These articles are written probably by Lieut.-Col. Lay or
Col. August. And the _Examiner_ is opening all its batteries again on
the President and Gen. Bragg. The conscription men seem to have the
odds; but the President, with a single eye, can discern his enemies, and
when fully aroused is apt to pounce upon them like a relentless lion.
The times are critical, however, and the Secretary of War is very
reserved, even when under positive orders to act.
SEPTEMBER 13TH.--A bright, cool morning.
Dispatches from Lieut.-Gen. R. Taylor indicate that Federal troops are
passing up the Mississippi River, and that the attack on Mobile has been
delayed or abandoned.
Gen. Lee writes urgently for _more men_, and asks the Secretary to
direct an inquiry into alleged charges that the bureaus are getting
able-bodied details that should be in the army. And he complains that
rich young men are elected magistrates, etc., just to avoid service in
the field.
Gen. McClellan's letter accepting the nomination pledges a restoration
of the Union "at all hazards." This casts a deeper gloom over our
croakers.
"Everybody" is now abusing the President for removing Gen. Johnston, and
demand his restoration, etc.
Our agent has returned, without wheat or flour. He says he has bought
some wheat, and some molasses, and they will be on soon. I hope Gen.
Grant will remain quiet, and not cut our only remaining railroad
(south), until we get a month's supply of provisions! I hear of
speculators getting everything they want, to oppress us with
extortionate prices, while _we_ can get nothing through on the railroads
for our famishing families, even when we have an order of the government
for transportation. The companies are bribed by speculators, while the
government pays more moderate rates. And the quartermasters on the roads
are bribed, and, although the Quartermaster-General is apprised of these
corruptions, nothing is done to correct them.
And Mr. Seward has promised, for President Lincoln, that slavery will
not be disturbed in any State that returns to the Union; and McClellan
pledges States rights, and all the constitutional guarantees, when the
Union is re-established. A few more disasters, and many of our croakers
would listen to these promises. The rich are looking for security, and
their victims, the poor and oppressed, murmur at the Confederate States
Government for its failure to protect them.
In this hour of dullness, many are reflecting on the repose and
abundance they enjoyed once in the Union. But there are more acts in
this drama! And the bell may ring any moment for the curtain to rise
again.
Dr. Powell brought us some apples to-day, which were fried for dinner--a
scanty repast.
SEPTEMBER 14TH.--Bright and cold.
Gen. Lee is in the city, looking after recruits, details, etc.
Mr. Secretary Seddon appears to be in very high spirits to-day, and says
our affairs are by no means so desperate as they seem on the surface. I
hope the good coming will come soon.
Gen. Beauregard has been sent to North Carolina on a tour of inspection.
No news of our wheat and molasses yet; and we have hardly money enough
to live until the next pay-day. We have no coal yet.
Four o'clock P.M. A brisk cannonade down the river is distinctly heard.
It is not supposed to be a serious matter,--perhaps we are shelling Gen.
Butler's observatory, erected within his lines to overlook ours.
SEPTEMBER 15TH.--Bright and pleasant.
The firing was from our gun-boats and two batteries, on Gen. Butler's
canal to turn the channel of the river.
Our fondly-cherished visions of peace have vanished like a mirage of the
desert; and there is general despondency among the croakers.
Mr. Burt, of South Carolina (late member of Congress), writes from
Abbeville that Vice-President A. H Stephens crossed the Savannah River,
when Sherman's raiders were galloping through the country, in great
alarm. To the people near him he spoke freely on public affairs, and
criticised the President's policy severely, and the conduct of the war
generally. He said the enemy might now go where he pleased, our strength
and resources were exhausted, and that we ought to make _peace_. That we
could elect any one we might choose President of the United States, and
intimated that this would enable us to secure terms, etc., which was
understood to mean reconstruction of the Union.
A dispatch from Gen. Hood, dated yesterday, says Wheeler has been
forced, by superior numbers, south of the Tennessee River; and he now
proposes that he (W.) shall retreat south along the railroad, which he
is to destroy. This is the very route and the very work I and others
have been hoping would engage Wheeler's attention, for weeks. For one, I
am rejoiced that the enemy "forced" him there, else, it seems, Sherman's
communications never would have been seriously interrupted. And he
proposes sending Forrest to operate with Wheeler. Forrest is in Mobile!
Gen. Morgan's remains are looked for this evening, and will have a great
funeral. And yet I saw a communication to the President to-day, from a
friend of his in high position, a Kentuckian, saying Morgan did not die
too soon; and his reputation and character were saved by his timely
death! The charges, of course, will be dropped. His command is reduced
to 280 men; he was required to raise all his recruits in Kentucky.
SEPTEMBER 16TH.--Bright and pleasant--the weather.
Gen. Hood telegraphs that his army is so much mortified at the feeble
resistance it made to Sherman, that he is certain it will fight better
the next time.
Mr. Benjamin asks a passport and transportation for Mrs. Jane L. Brant,
who goes to Europe in the employment of the government.
Gen. Morgan's funeral took place to-day. None were allowed to see him;
for the coffin was not opened. On the way to Hollywood Cemetery, Gen.
Ewell received a dispatch that our pickets were driven in at Chaffin's
Farm. This demonstration of the enemy compelled him to withdraw the
military portion of the procession, and they were hurried off to the
battle-field.
The local troops (clerks, etc.) are ordered to assemble at 5 P.M.
to-day. What does Grant mean? He chooses a good time, if he means
anything serious; for our people, and many of the troops, are a little
despondent. They are censuring the President again, whose popularity
ebbs and flows.
SEPTEMBER 17TH.--Bright and dry.
The demonstration of the enemy yesterday, on both sides of the river,
was merely reconnoissances. Our pickets were driven in, but were soon
re-established in their former positions.
The Secretary of War is now reaping plaudits from his friends, who are
permitted to bring flour enough from the Valley to subsist their
families twelve months. The poor men in the army (the rich are not in
it) can get nothing for their families, and there is a prospect of their
starving.
Gen. Hood is a prophet. I saw a letter from him, to-day, to the
President, opposing Gen. Morgan's last raid into Kentucky: predicting
that if he returned at all, it would be with a demoralized handful of
men--which turned out to be the case. He said if Morgan had been with
Gen. Jones in the Valley, we might not have been compelled to confess a
defeat, and lament the loss of a fine officer.
They do not take Confederate notes in the Valley, but sell flour for $8
per barrel in gold, which is equal to $200 in paper; and it costs nearly
$100 to bring it here. Chickens are selling in market for $7 each,
paper, or 37-1/2 cents, specie.
SEPTEMBER 18TH.--Cool and cloudy; symptoms of the equinoctial gale.
We have intelligence of another brilliant feat of Gen. Wade Hampton. Day
before yesterday he got in the rear of the enemy, and drove off 2500
beeves and 400 prisoners. This will furnish fresh meat rations for
Lee's army during a portion of the fall campaign. I shall get some
shanks, perhaps; and the prisoners of war will have meat rations.
Our people generally regard McClellan's letter of acceptance as a war
speech, and they are indifferent which succeeds, he or Lincoln, at the
coming election; but they incline to the belief that McClellan will be
beaten, because he did not announce himself in favor of peace,
unconditionally, and our independence. My own opinion is that McClellan
did what was best for him to do to secure his election, and that he will
be elected. Then, if we maintain a strong front in the field, we shall
have peace and independence. Yet his letter convinces me the peace party
in the United States is not so strong as we supposed. If it shall appear
that subjugation is not practicable, by future success on our part, the
peace party will grow to commanding proportions.
Our currency was, yesterday, selling $25 for $1 in gold; and all of us
who live on salaries live very badly: for food and everything else is
governed by the specie value. Our $8000 per annum really is no more than
$320 in gold. The rent of our house is the only item of expense not
proportionably enlarged. It is $500, or $20 in gold. Gas is put up to
$30 per 1000 feet.
Four P.M. We hear the deep booming of cannon again down the river. I
hope the enemy will not get back the beeves we captured, and that my
barrel of flour from North Carolina will not be intercepted!
J. J. Pollard's contract to bring supplies through the lines, on the
Mississippi, receiving cotton therefor, has been revoked, it being
alleged by many in that region that the benefits reaped are by no means
mutual.
And Mr. De Bow's office of Cotton Loan Agent has been taken away from
him for alleged irregularities, the nature of which is not clearly
stated by the new Secretary of the Treasury, who announces his removal
to the Secretary of War.
The President has had the porch of his house, from which his son fell,
pulled down.
A "private" letter from Vice-President Stephens was received by Mr.
Secretary Seddon to-day.
The cannonading ceased at sundown. The papers, to-morrow, will inform us
what it was all about. Sunday is not respected in war, and I know not
what is. Such terrible wars as this will probably make those who survive
appreciate the blessings of peace.
SEPTEMBER 19TH.--Clear and pleasant.
We have nothing yet explanatory of the shelling yesterday.
To-day we have news of an expedition of the enemy crossing Rapidan
Bridge on the way toward Gordonsville, Charlottesville, etc. Gen.
Anderson's division, from Early's army, is said to be marching after
them. We shall learn more of this business very soon.
Mrs. D. E. Mendenhall, Quaker, Jamestown, N. C., has written a "strictly
confidential" letter to Mr. J. B. Crenshaw, of this city (which has gone
on the files of the department), begging him to use his influence with
Mr. Secretary Seddon (which is great) to get permission for her to send
fourteen negroes, emancipated by her late husband's will, to Ohio. She
says there is but one able to bear arms, and he is crazy; that since the
enemy uses negro soldiers, she will withhold the able-bodied ones; that
she has fed our soldiers, absolutely starving some of her stock to
death, that she might have food for our poor men and their families,
etc. etc.
No news from our flour.
I saw Nat Tyler to-day, and told him to call upon the farmers, in the
_Enquirer_, to send their provisions to the city immediately, or they
may lose their crops, and their horses too. He said he would.
The only news of interest is contained in the following official
dispatch from Gen. Lee:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"September 17th, 1864.
"HON. J. A. SEDDON, SECRETARY OF WAR.
"At daylight yesterday the enemy's skirmish line west of the
Jerusalem Plank Road was driven back upon his intrenchments along
their whole extent. Ninety prisoners were taken by us in the
operation.
"At the same hour Gen. Hampton attacked the enemy's position north
of the Norfolk Railroad, near Sycamore Church, and captured about
three hundred prisoners, some arms and wagons, a large number of
horses, and twenty-five hundred cattle.
"Gen. Gregg attacked Gen. Hampton, on his return in the afternoon,
at Belchess' mill, on the Jerusalem Plank Road, but was repulsed
and driven back. Everything was brought off safely.
"Our entire loss does not exceed fifty men. R. E. LEE."
Gen. Preston, Superintendent Bureau of Conscription, has made a labored
defense (written by Colonels Lay and August) of the bureau against the
allegations of Gen. Bragg. This was sent to the President by the
Secretary of War, "for his information." The President sent it back,
to-day, indorsed, "the subject is under general consideration."
The "Bureau," by advertisement, to-day, calls upon everybody between the
ages of sixteen and fifty to report at certain places named, and be
registered, and state the reasons why they are not now in the army and
in the field. What nonsense! How many do they expect to come forward,
voluntarily, candidates for gunpowder and exposure in the trenches?
SEPTEMBER 20TH.--Bright and pleasant.
An order has been given to impress _all_ the supplies (wheat and meat)
in the State, and Gen. Kemper has been instructed to lend military aid
if necessary. This is right, so that speculation may be suppressed. But,
then, Commissary-General Northrop says it is _all_ for the army, and the
_people_--non-producers--may starve, for what he cares. If this
unfeeling and despotic policy be adopted by the government, it will
strangle the Confederacy--strangle it with red-tape.
I learned, to-day, that Gen. Preston, Superintendent of the Bureau of
Conscription, resigned upon seeing Gen. Bragg's and the President's
indorsements on the bureau papers; but the Secretary and the President
persuaded him to recall the resignation. He is very rich.
A practical railroad man has sent to the Secretary a simple plan, by
which twenty-five men with crowbars can keep Sherman's communications
cut.
There is a rumor that Sherman has invited Vice-President Stephens,
Senator H. V. Johnson, and Gov. Brown to a meeting with him, to confer
on terms of peace--_i.e._ the return of Georgia to the Union. The
government has called for a list of all the Georgians who have sailed
from our ports this summer.
A letter from Hon. R. W. Barnwell shows that he is opposed to any
conference with the enemy on terms of peace, except unconditional
independence. He thinks Hood hardly competent to command the army, but
approves the removal of Johnston. He thinks Sherman will go on to
Augusta, etc.
The raid toward Gordonsville is now represented as a small affair, and
to have returned as it came, after burning some mills, bridges, etc.
I saw a letter, to-day, written to the President by L. P. Walker, first
Secretary of War, full of praise. It was dated in August, before the
fall of Atlanta, and warmly congratulated him upon the removal of Gen.
Johnston.
Gov. Bonham sent a telegram to the Secretary of War, to-day, from
Columbia, asking if the President would not soon pass through that city;
if such were his intentions, he would remain there, being very anxious
to see him.
Beauregard is at Wilmington, while the whole country is calling for his
appointment to the command of the army in Georgia. Unless some great
success crowns our arms before Congress reassembles, the President will
be assailed with great bitterness, and the consequences may be fatal.
SEPTEMBER 21ST.--Cloudy and somber.
We have authentic intelligence of the defeat of our forces under Gen.
Early, near Winchester. Two generals, Rhodes and Godwin, were killed. We
lost some guns, and heavily in killed and wounded. The enemy have
Winchester, and Early has retreated, bringing off his trains, however.
This has caused the croakers to raise a new howl against the President,
for they know not what.
Mr. Clapman, our disbursing clerk (appointed under Secretary Randolph),
proposed, to-day, to several in his office--jestingly, they
supposed--revolution, and installing Gen. Lee as Dictator. It may be a
jest to some, but others mean it in earnest.
I look for other and more disastrous defeats, unless the speculators are
demolished, and the wealthy class put in the ranks. Many of the privates
in our armies are fast becoming what is termed machine soldiers, and
will ere long cease to fight well--having nothing to fight for. Alas,
the chivalry have fallen! The lagging land proprietors and slaveowners
(as the Yankees shrewdly predicted) want to be captains, etc. or
speculators. The poor will not long fight for their oppressors, the
money-changers, extortioners, etc., whose bribes keep them out of the
service.
Mr. Foote openly advocates a convention; and says the other States will
have one certainly: and if Virginia declines to unite in it, she will be
"left out in the cold." This is said of him; I have not heard him say
it. But I believe a convention in any State or States, if our disasters
continue, will lead to reconstruction, if McClellan be elected. If
emancipation, confiscation, etc. be insisted on, the war will never
terminate but in final separation.
SEPTEMBER 22D.--Cloudy; rained much last night.
The following is all we know yet of Early's defeat:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"September 20th, 1864.
"HON. JAMES A. SEDDON.
"Gen. Early reports that, on the morning of the 19th, the enemy
advanced on Winchester, near which place he met his attack, which
was resisted from early in the day till near night, when he was
compelled to retire. After night he fell back to Newtown, and this
morning to Fisher's Hill.
"Our loss reported to be severe.
"Major-Gen. Rhodes and Brig.-Gen. Godwin were killed, nobly doing
their duty.
"Three pieces of artillery of King's battalion were lost.
"The trains and supplies were brought off safely.
"(Signed) R. E. LEE."
The profound chagrin produced by this event is fast becoming a sort of
reckless unconcern. Many would fight and die in the last ditch, rather
than give up Richmond; and many others are somewhat indifferent as to
the result, disgusted with the management of affairs.
The President left the city on Monday, ignorant of the defeat of Early,
for Georgia. It is said Beauregard is with him; but this is not certain.
His private secretary, Mr. Burton Harrison, says he will be absent at
least a month, perhaps until Christmas. Congress meets early in
November; and before that day we may have terrible events--events
determining the fate of the war.
We have heard heavy firing down the river all day; but it may not be a
serious matter, though a general battle is looked for soon on the south
side.
Gen. Lee will soon be reinforced materially. The President has adopted
a suggestion I made to Gen. Bragg, and a general order is published
to-day virtually abolishing the Bureau of Conscription. The business is
mostly turned over to the commanders of the Reserves; and conscription
is to be executed by Reserve men unfit for duty in the field. All the
former conscript officers, guards, details, clerks, etc. fit to bear
arms, are to go into the ranks.
"When the cat's away, the mice will play," is an old saying, and a true
one. I saw a note of invitation to-day from Secretary Mallory to
Secretary Seddon, inviting him to his house at 5 P.M. to partake of
"pea-soup" with Secretary Trenholm. His "pea-soup" will be oysters and
champagne, and every other delicacy relished by epicures. Mr. Mallory's
red face, and his plethoric body, indicate the highest living; and his
party will enjoy the dinner while so many of our brave men are
languishing with wounds, or pining in a cruel captivity. Nay, they may
feast, possibly, while the very pillars of the government are crumbling
under the blows of the enemy.
It is said the President has gone to Georgia to prevent Governor Brown,
Stephens, H. V. Johnson, Toombs, etc. from making peace (for Georgia)
with Sherman.
A splenetic letter from Gov. Vance indicates trouble in that quarter. He
says the Confederate States Government threw every possible impediment
in his way when he bought a steamer and imported machinery to
manufacture clothing for the North Carolina troops, and now the
Confederate States Quartermaster-General is interfering with these
factories, because, he says, he, the Governor, is supplying the troops
at less expense than the Quartermaster-General would do. He demands
details for the factories, and says if the Confederate States Government
is determined to come in collision with him, he will meet it. He says he
will not submit to any interference. Gov. Vance was splenetic once
before, but became amiable enough about the time of the election. Since
his election for another term, he shows his teeth again.
SEPTEMBER 23D.--Raining.
Our loss, killed, wounded, and taken in the battle near Winchester, is
estimated by our people at 2500. The enemy say they got 2500 prisoners.
The enemy's loss in killed and wounded amounted probably to as much as
ours.
Gen. Lee writes that, in his opinion, the time has come for the army to
have the benefit of a certain per cent of the negroes, free and slave,
as teamsters, laborers, etc.; and he suggests that there should be a
corps of them permanently attached to the army. He says if we do not
make use of them in the war, the enemy will use them against us. He
contemplates staying where he is during the winter, and proposes
building a railroad from his rear to the oak woods, as the pines do not
answer a good purpose.
Gen. Hood telegraphs (dated yesterday) his intention to get in the
enemy's rear, and intercept supplies from Dalton. Sherman must either
attempt to drive him from that position (north bank of the
Chattahoochee), or advance farther south with his supplies cut off and
our army assaulting his rear.
Mr. Roy (clerk), cousin of Mr. Seddon, said to-day that he regarded the
Confederacy near its end, and that the Union would be reconstructed.
Our good friend Dr. Powell brought us a gallon of sorghum molasses
to-day.
SEPTEMBER 24TH.--Raining alternate hours and warm. Had a chill this
morning, and afterward several spells of blindness, from rushes of blood
to the head. Came home and bathed my feet and recovered.
Another disaster! but no great loss of men. Gen. Early was compelled to
retreat again on Thursday, 22d inst., the enemy flanking him, and
getting in his rear. He lost 12 more guns. This intensifies the chagrin
and doubts prevalent in a certain class of the community. However, Lee
commands in Virginia, and there may be better luck next time, which will
cause everybody's spirits to rise.
Gen. Lee writes a long letter to the Secretary of War, deprecating the
usage of the port of Wilmington by the Tallahassee and other cruisers,
that go out and ravage the enemy's commerce, such as the destruction of
fishing smacks, etc. Already the presence of the Tallahassee and the
Edith at Wilmington has caused the loss of one of our blockade-runners,
worth more than all the vessels destroyed by the Tallahassee, and the
port is now guarded by such an additional number of blockaders that it
is with difficulty our steamers can get in with supplies, Gen. L.
suggests that Charleston or some other port be used by our cruisers; and
that Wilmington be used exclusively for the importation of
supplies--quartermaster's, commissary's ordnance, etc. Gen. L. advises
that supplies enough for two or three years be brought in, so that we
shall not be under apprehension of being destitute hereafter. Such were
his ideas. Lieut. Wood, who commands the Tallahassee, is the President's
nephew, and gains eclat by his chivalric deeds on the ocean; but we
cannot afford to lose our chances of independence to glorify the
President's nephew. Gen. Lee but reiterates what has been written on the
same subject by Gen. Whiting at Wilmington.
SEPTEMBER 25TH.--Clear and cool. Pains in my head, etc.
Hon. Mr. Foote told G. Fitzhugh early this morning that he had learned
Gen. Early's army was scattered to the winds; that the enemy had the
Central Railroad (where?) and would soon have all the roads. This is not
credited, though it may be so.
There is a mysterious fascination in scenes of death and carnage. As I
crossed Franklin Street, going down to the department this morning, I
heard on my right the cry of "halt!" and saw a large man in citizen's
clothes running toward me pursued by a soldier--coming from the
direction of Gen. Ewell's headquarters. The man (perhaps a deserter) ran
on, and the soldier took deliberate aim with his rifle, and burst a cap.
I stood and watched the man, being riveted to the spot by a strange
fascination, although I was nearly in a line with the pursuit. An
irresistible curiosity seized me to see the immediate effects of the
shot. The man turned up Ninth Street, the soldier fixing another cap as
he ran, and, taking deliberate aim, the cap failed to explode the charge
again. I saw several persons crossing the street beyond the flying man,
who would have been greatly endangered if the rifle had been
discharged. In war the destruction of human life excites no more pity
than the slaughter of beeves in peace!
SEPTEMBER 26TH.--Bright and cool.
Gen. Early is still falling back; on Saturday he was at Port Republic,
but he will soon be reinforced, and may turn the tide on Sheridan.
A long letter was received at the department to-day from Gov. Brown,
absolutely _refusing_ to respond to the President's call for the militia
of that State. He says he will _not_ encourage the President's ambitious
projects by placing in his hands, and under his unconditional control,
all that remains to preserve the reserved rights of his State. He
bitterly and offensively criticises the President's management of
military affairs--sending Morgan into Kentucky, Wheeler into East, and
Forrest into West Tennessee, instead of combining all upon Sherman's
rear and cutting his communications. He says Georgia has fifty regiments
in Virginia, and if the President won't send reinforcements, then he
_demands_ the return of Georgia troops, and he will endeavor to defend
the State without his aid, etc.
SEPTEMBER 27TH.--Bright and pleasant.
We have rumors of heavy fighting yesterday near Staunton, but no
authentic accounts.
A dispatch from Gen. R. Taylor says Gen. Forrest had gained a victory at
Athens, Ala., capturing some 1500 prisoners, 500 horses, etc. etc.
We still hear the thunder of artillery down the river--the two armies
shelling each other, I suppose, as yet at a safe distance. A few more
days and the curtain will rise again--Lee and Grant the principal actors
in the tragedy!
The President is making patriotic speeches in Alabama and Georgia.
Mr. Hudson, of Alabama, proposes to deliver to the government 5,000,000
pounds of bacon for the same number of pounds cotton, delivered at the
same place.
Our cotton agent in Mississippi is authorized by the government here to
sell cotton in exposed situations to the enemy's agents for _specie_,
and to buy for Confederate notes.
The funeral expenses of Gen. Morgan the other day amounted to $1500; the
Quartermaster-General objects to paying it, and sends the bill to the
Secretary for instructions.
The following is a copy of Gen. Lee's indorsement on Lieut.-Col.
Moseby's report of his operations from the 1st of March to the 11th of
September, 1864:
"HEADQUARTERS, ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"September 19th, 1864.
"Respectfully forwarded to the Adjutant and Inspector-General for
the information of the department. Attention is invited to the
activity and skill of Col. Moseby, and the intelligence and
courage of the officers and men of his command, as displayed in
this report.
"With the loss of little more than 20 men, he has killed, wounded,
and captured, during the period embraced in this report, about 1200
of the enemy, and taken more than 1600 horses and mules, 230 beef
cattle, and 85 wagons and ambulances, without counting many smaller
operations. The services rendered by Col. Moseby and his command in
watching and reporting the enemy's movements have also been of
great value. His operations have been highly creditable to himself
and his command.
"(Signed) R. E. LEE, _General_.
"Official: JOHN BLAIR HOGE,
"_Major and Assistant Adjutant-General._"
SEPTEMBER 28TH.--Bright; subsequently cloudy and warm rain.
Staunton was entered by the enemy's cavalry on Monday afternoon.
We have no news whatever to-day from any quarter. But the deep booming
of cannon is still heard down the river, foreboding an awful conflict
soon.
I saw three 10-inch Columbiads at the Petersburg depot to-day; they are
going to move them toward Petersburg, I believe.
Gold is thirty for one to-day, and still rising, Forrest's exploit
having done nothing to revive confidence in Treasury notes here.
SEPTEMBER 29TH.--Bright and beautiful.
As I walked down to the department, heavy and brisk cannonading below
assailed the ear. It was different from the ordinary daily shelling, and
to my familiar senses, it could only be a BATTLE. The sounds continued,
and even at my desk in the department the vibrations were very
perceptible.
About 10 o'clock, when walking down Main Street (the cannon still
heard), I met Robert Tyler and Mr. Foote, member of Congress, the latter
in some excitement, denouncing the management of affairs by the
Executive. He said if Richmond were lost, he should move that the people
take matters in their own hands, and proclaim a DICTATOR. Mr. Tyler,
commanding his temper, banteringly told him that he ran some risk of
being arrested, tried by drum-head court-martial, and shot--before
night. Mr. Foote whirled away, repeating his desperate purpose; and
Tyler repeating, more gravely, that he might be arrested for treasonable
language--and ought to be.
Mr. Tyler then invited me to join him at breakfast at a neighboring
restaurant, where we had each a loaf of bread, a cup of coffee with milk
(but brown sugar), and three eggs. The bill was sixteen dollars!
When I returned to the department, information came that the enemy had
captured Fort Harrison (Signal Hill), near Chaffin's Bluff, and were
advancing toward the city. From that moment much excitement sprung up
(the greatest I have ever known here), and all the local organizations
were immediately ordered out. Not only this, but squads of guards were
sent into the streets everywhere with orders to arrest every able-bodied
man they met, regardless of papers; and this produced a consternation
among the civilians. The offices and government shops were closed, and
the tocsin sounded for hours, by order of the Governor, frightening some
of the women.
At 2 P.M. the fight was nearer, and it was reported that the enemy were
at the intermediate fortifications--three miles distant.
From the observatory on the War Department we could see the puffs of
white smoke from our guns; but these were at the intermediate line,
several miles distant, and the enemy were, of course, beyond. We could
see our cannon firing from right to left at least a mile in length; and
the enemy had evidently made much progress toward the city. The firing
then ceased, however, at 3 P.M., indicating that the enemy had withdrawn
from that point; but the booming of artillery was still heard farther to
the right on or near the river. And this continued until the present
writing, 5 P.M. We have no particulars; but it is reported that the
enemy were handsomely repulsed. Clouds of dust can be seen with the
telescope in that direction, which appears to the naked eye to be smoke.
It arises no doubt from the march of troops, sent by Gen. Lee. We must
soon have something definite from the scene of action.
Half-past five P.M. Gen. Ewell dispatches that the enemy's attack on
Fort Gilmer (five miles below the same we saw) was handsomely repulsed.
A dispatch from Gen. Pemberton, on Williamsburg Road, says there is no
immediate danger there.
Another dispatch from Georgia says Forrest has captured 800 more men
somewhere in Alabama, on the railroad.
At night, distant cannon heard. Gen. Ewell said in his last dispatch
that as soon as certain reinforcements came up he would take the
offensive, attacking the enemy. The conflict recedes, and I presume he
is driving the enemy back.
Mr. Foote intimates that the President will not return to Richmond, and
did not intend to return.
SEPTEMBER 30TH.--Cloudy, and occasional showers.
None of the papers except the _Whig_ were published this morning, the
printers, etc. being called out to defend the city. Every device of the
military authorities has been employed to put the people here in the
ranks. Guards everywhere, on horseback and on foot, in the city and at
the suburbs, are arresting pedestrians, who, if they have not passes
from Gen. Kemper, are hurried to some of the depots or to the City
Square (iron palings), and confined until marched to the field or
released. Two of the clerks of the War Department, who went down to the
Spottswood Hotel to hear the news, although having the Secretary's own
details, were hustled off to a prison on Gary Street to report to Lieut.
Bates, who alone could release them. But when they arrived, no Lieut.
Bates was there, and they found themselves incarcerated with some five
hundred others of all classes and conditions. Here they remained cooped
up for an hour, when they espied an officer who knew them, and who had
them released.
To-day the guards arrested Judges Reagan and Davis, Postmaster-General
and Attorney-General, both members of the cabinet, because neither of
them were over fifty years old. Judge Reagan grew angry and stormed a
little; but both were released immediately.
Gen. Lee dispatched Gen. Bragg, at 9 P.M. last night, that all the
assaults of the enemy on Fort Gilmer had been repulsed, the enemy losing
many in killed, and wounded, and prisoners, while our loss was small.
And we have driven the Yankees from Staunton, and have them in full
retreat again as far as Harrisonburg.
To-day at 2 P.M. another battle occurred at or near Fort Harrison or
Signal Hill, supposed to be an attempt on our part to retake the post. I
never heard more furious shelling, and fear our loss was frightful,
provided it was our assault on the enemy's lines. We could see the white
smoke, from the observatory, floating along the horizon over the woods
and down the river. The melee of sounds was terrific: heavy siege guns
(from our steam-rams, probably) mingled with the incessant roar of field
artillery. At 3 P.M. all was comparatively quiet, and we await
intelligence of the result.
CHAPTER XLIII.
Attempt to retake Fort Harrison.--A false alarm.--Dispatches from Gen.
Lee.--Impressments.--Gen. Butler's generosity.--Matters in and about
the city.--Beverly Tucker's contract with a New York firm for
supplies.
OCTOBER 1ST.--Raining and cold. Horrible for the troops in the trenches!
The battle, yesterday (on this side of the river), was an attempt of
Gen. Lee to retake Fort Harrison, near Chaffin's Bluff, which _failed_,
after two essays. Gen. Lee deemed its recapture important, and exposed
himself very much in the assault: so much so as to cause a thrill of
alarm throughout the field. But it all would not do; the enterprise of
the enemy had in a few hours rendered the place almost impregnable.
Judge Lyons, who came in to-day (from a visit to the field), estimates
our killed and wounded at from 700 to 1000.
But we have better news from other quarters. Generals Hampton and Heath
attacked the enemy on the south side of the river, yesterday, and
captured 900 men.
Gen. Early sends word that the whole force of the enemy (Sheridan's
army) is in full retreat, and he is in pursuit.
Gen. Echols, West Virginia and East Tennessee, reports several successes
to our arms in that region.
This has been a terrible day; a storm of wind and driving rain. Heavy
guns are heard at intervals down the river.
At 4 P.M., while writing the last line, a furious cannonade has sprung
up on the southeast of the city, and seemingly very near to it. It may
be a raid. The firing increases in rapidity, mingled, I think, with the
roar of small arms. We can hear distinctly the whistle of shot and
shell, and the detonations shake the windows. It may be that the
atmosphere (dampness) and the wind from the east cause some deception as
to the distance; but really it would seem that from the apparent
proximity of the enemy's guns, some of the shells must reach the eastern
parts of the city. After thirty minutes' quick firing, it ceases in a
great measure. At 5 P.M. it was resumed, and continued until dark. Some
think it but a raid, others report 40,000 men engaged. If this be so,
to-morrow will probably be fought the great battle for Richmond.
Doubtless, Grant is eager to hold some position from which he can shell
the city.
OCTOBER 2D.--Cloudy and calm.
All quiet. It was a false alarm yesterday evening. Nothing but some of
the enemy's cavalry scouts were seen from the intermediate batteries,
and it was merely a waste of ammunition on our part, and destruction of
timber where the enemy were partially sheltered. Not a gun, so far as I
can learn, was fired against our fortifications. Gen. Pemberton must
have known that none of the enemy's infantry and artillery had marched
in this direction through the storm, and in the mud, or else our scouts
are worthless.
But we have news of the capture of 500 more prisoners near Petersburg,
yesterday. The particulars of the fight have not yet been received.
Every male between seventeen and fifty-five is now required to have a
pass, from Gen. Kemper or Gen. Barton, to walk the streets, even to
church. The militia are all out, except those hidden in the back rooms
of their shops--extortioners; and the city is very quiet. No wonder the
women and children were thrown into a panic yesterday.
The shelling did some good in the Saturday evening market, as most of
the people were eager to get home. A boy sold me apples at 75 cents per
quart, instead of $1.
The physicians have had a meeting, and agree to charge $30 per visit.
The bombardment is still in progress at Charleston, and there has never
been any intermission. The enemy's batteries now reach over two-thirds
of that devoted city.
I see by a Northern paper that Gen. Grant is having his children
educated at Burlington, N. J.; perhaps at the same institutions where
mine were educated; and I perceive that our next door neighbor, Mrs.
Kinsey, has been waving the "glorious Stars and Stripes" over Gen. G.'s
head, from her ample porch. Well, I would not injure that flag; and I
think it would never be assailed by the Southern people, if it were only
kept at home, away from our soil. We have a flag of our own we prefer.
OCTOBER 3D.--Misty and damp, but warm.
Guns heard down the river. On Friday, it seems, the enemy penetrated and
held a portion of our works below Petersburg; and although we captured
many prisoners, it does not appear that we regained the works or retook
the cannon.
So far, although the enemy's loss in men may have been greater in the
operations of the last few days, it would seem that we have _lost
ground_; that our forts, etc. have been captured and _held_, up to this
moment; and that both the right and left wings of Grant have been
_advanced_, and established in the positions taken. All this, too, under
the eye of Gen. Lee. It is enough to make one tremble for Richmond. They
do not heed his calls for _men_.
In the North, the Presidential campaign is growing _warm_. McClellan's
friends have been denounced as "traitors" in Ohio, and one of their
meetings broken up by the soldiers. This fire may spread, and relieve
us.
It is now said a corps of the enemy's infantry was really peeping from
the groves and lanes west of the city, on Saturday, when the furious
shelling took place.
Rumors--we have nothing but rumors--of fighting, said to be in progress
on the south side of the river. It is said the enemy, that were a few
days ago menacing Richmond, are recrossing to the Petersburg side.
OCTOBER 4TH.--Foggy; then bright; then very warm.
Gen. Lee is at Chaffin's Bluff. A dispatch from him this morning states
that the enemy's infantry are near Harrisonburg, in the Valley, and that
his cavalry is retiring.
9 A.M. Another dispatch from Gen. Lee. The raiders' cavalry, only 250
strong, are at Brandy Station, a body of their infantry at Bealton
Central Railroad.
9-1/2 A.M. Gen. Lee says Gen. Breckinridge repulsed the enemy's attack
on Saltville, on Sunday, 2d inst.; it was a "bloody" repulse, and Gen. B.
is _pursuing_.
Gen. Beauregard has been appointed to the supervisory command of the
army in Georgia, etc.; in response to the universal calls of the people.
The enemy threw up earthworks yesterday, toward the city, from Fort
Harrison, one mile in length. He is now within five miles of the city,
and if his progress is not checked, he will soon be throwing shells at
us.
But Lee is there, digging also.
Flour rose yesterday to $425 per barrel, meal to $72 per bushel, and
bacon $10 per pound. Fortunately, I got 100 pounds of flour from North
Carolina a few days ago at $1.20 per pound. And Thomas, my son, detailed
as clerk for Gen. Kemper, will draw 30 pounds of flour and 10 pounds
bacon per month.
OCTOBER 5TH.--Bright, and very warm.
There is a report that Gen. Hood's army is at Marietta, in Sherman's
rear, and it may be so.
One of the clerks (Mr. Bechtel) was killed yesterday by one of the
enemy's sharpshooters at Chaffin's Farm. He was standing on the parapet,
looking in the direction of the enemy's pickets. He had been warned to
no purpose. He leaves a wife and nine children. A subscription is handed
round, and several thousand dollars will be raised. Gen. R. E. Lee was
standing near when he fell.
All is quiet to-day. But they are impressing the negro men found in the
streets to-day to work on the fortifications. It is again rumored that
Petersburg is to be given up. I don't believe it.
OCTOBER 6TH.--Bright, and very warm.
The President returned this morning, hastened hither by the perils
environing the capital.
An order is published this morning revoking all details for the army of
persons between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years of age. If
this be rigidly enforced, it will add many thousands to the army. It is
said there are 8000 details in the military bureaus of this State.
A dispatch from Gen. Hood, near Lost Mountain (in Georgia, Sherman's
rear), dated yesterday, says Sherman is marching out of Atlanta to
attack him. He says Gen. Stewart's corps struck the railroad at Big
Shanty, capturing 350 prisoner and destroying ten miles of the road.
Gen. Forrest is marching against Altoona. We shall soon have stirring
news.
All is quiet near Petersburg and Richmond to-day. Eight of the local
companies (clerks) have been ordered to guard the prisoners to
Salisbury, N. C.
I saw a New York _Tribune_ to-day, of the 17th inst., and find the
Peterson's are advertising new editions of several of my books.
OCTOBER 7TH.--Bright and beautiful.
The government, after giving the news from Georgia, position of Hood, to
the press, suppressed it. It is well, perhaps, not to permit Grant, who
sees our papers daily, to know what we are doing there.
There are rumors of fighting to-day near Chaffin's Bluff, but we hear no
cannon, except an occasional shell at long intervals.
Gen. Bragg is now in hot water with the Quartermaster-General, for
ordering the trial of Lieut.-Col. Cone and Major Maynard,
Quartermasters, in the city, for alleged violation of law and orders.
Gen. Preston is away again or sick, and Col. August and Lieut.-Col. Lay
are again signing papers at "the Bureau," as "acting superintendents."
Bragg may aim another bomb at the refractory concern.
OCTOBER 8TH.--Cloudy, windy, and cold.
The fighting yesterday was more serious than I supposed. It was supposed
the conflict would be resumed to-day, but we have no information of any
fighting up to this hour--5 P.M.
From Gen. Hood we have a dispatch, saying Major-Gen. French attacked
Altoona day before yesterday. He carried all the outworks, but failed at
the inner one, and learning a body of the enemy were approaching his
rear, Gen. F. withdrew to the main body of the army. He says nothing of
the loss, etc. on either side.
At the Tredegar Works, and in the government workshops, the detailed
soldier, if a _mechanic_, is paid in money and in rations (at the
current prices) about $16 per day, or nearly $6000 per annum. A member
of Congress receives $5500, a clerk $4000.
OCTOBER 9TH, SUNDAY.--Cloudy, windy, and very cold.
I hear of no operations yesterday, although, as usual, some cannonnading
was audible yesterday evening.
It is said Gen. Pemberton was in great perturbation during the several
advances of the enemy last week. Like Boabdil, the Unlucky of Grenada,
he lost some of his cannon, and every one anticipated disaster under his
command. This will furnish fresh material for assaults in Congress on
the President, if that body should meet again next month, for placing
this officer in so responsible a command, whatever may be his skill,
when the soldiers and the people have no faith in him. It is
characteristic of the President to adhere to what he deems just and
proper, regardless of anticipated consequences. This was the habit of
Cæsar--but he fell.
An effort is again being made to replenish Lee's army with able-bodied
details employed in the various departments, but I fear it will only
result, as heretofore, in sending to the ranks the weak and diseased who
are poor and friendless.
OCTOBER 10TH.--_A white frost_; first frost of the season. All quiet
below.
Gen. W. M. Gardner (in Gen. Winder's place) reports that of the exempts
and citizens taken from the streets to the front, last week, _a majority
have deserted_. This proves that even a despotic military act cannot be
committed with impunity.
Gen. Beauregard telegraphs from Opelika, Ala., that he has arranged
matters satisfactorily between Gov. Brown of Georgia and Gen. Cobb,
regarding exempts and State militia.
The President directs the Secretary to ascertain if this has been done
in accordance with law and the interests of the service.
Gen. R. Taylor telegraphs that Gen. E. K. Smith has proclaimed pardon to
deserters, from trans-Mississippi Department, after he had arrested most
of them and sent them to their regiments, and now he recommends that no
more troops be brought over the river or they will be sure to desert.
The President directs the Secretary to correspond with Gen. Smith on the
subject. Gen. Taylor is the President's kinsman--by his first marriage.
Gen. Beauregard left Opelika on the 7th inst. for Hood's army, so in a
few days we may expect a battle.
OCTOBER 11TH.--Bright and pleasant. All is quiet below.
From Georgia we have many rumors. It is reported that a battle has been
fought (second time) at Altoona, which we captured, with 4000 prisoners;
that Rome has been taken, with 3000 negro prisoners; and, finally, that
we have Atlanta again. I have seen no such dispatches. But the gentleman
who assured me it was all true, has a son a clerk at the President's
office, and a relative in the telegraph office. Dispatches may have come
to the President; and, if so, it may be our policy to forbid their
publication for the present, as the enemy would derive the first
intelligence of their disaster from our newspapers.
Well, Gen. Gardner reports, officially, that of the number of exempts,
and of the mixed class of citizens arrested in the streets, and
summarily marched to the "front," "a majority have deserted!" Men, with
exemptions in their pockets, going to or returning from market, have
been seized by the Adjutant-General's orders, and despotically hurried
off without being permitted even to send a message to their families.
Thousands were entrapped, by being directed to call at Gen. Barton's
headquarters, an immense warehouse, and receive passes; but no Gen.
Barton was there--or if there, not visible; and all the anxious seekers
found themselves in prison, only to be liberated as they were
incorporated into companies, and marched "to the front." From the age of
fifteen to fifty-five, all were seized by that order--no matter what
papers they bore, or what the condition of their families--and hurried
to the field, where there was no battle. No wonder there are many
deserters--no wonder men become indifferent as to which side shall
prevail, nor that the administration is falling into disrepute at the
capital.
OCTOBER 12TH.--Bright and beautiful. All quiet below, save an occasional
booming from the fleet.
Nothing from Georgia in the papers, save the conjectures of the Northern
press. No doubt we have gained advantages there, which it is good policy
to conceal as long as possible from the enemy.
Squads of able-bodied _detailed_ men are arriving _at last_, from the
interior. Lee's army, in this way, will get efficient reinforcements.
The Secretary of the Treasury sends a note over to the Secretary of War
to-day, saying the Commissary-General, in his estimates, allows but
$31,000,000 for tax in kind--whereas the tax collectors show an actual
amount, credited to farmers and planters, of $145,000,000. He says this
will no doubt attract the notice of Congress.
Mr. Peck, our agent to purchase supplies in North Carolina, has
delivered no wheat yet. He bought supplies for his family; 400 bushels
of wheat for 200 clerks, and 100 for Assistant Secretary of War, Judge
Campbell, and Mr. Kean, the young Chief of the Bureau. This he says he
bought with private funds; but he brought it at the government's
expense. The clerks are resolved not to submit to his action.
I hear of more desertions. Mr. Seddon and Mr. Stanton at Washington are
engaged in a singular game of chance. The harsh orders of both cause
mutual abandonments, and now we have the spectacle of men deserting our
regiments, and quite as many coming over from the enemy's regiments near
the city.
Meantime Gen. Bragg is striving to get the able-bodied men out of the
bureaus and to place them in the field.
The despotic order, arresting every man in the streets, and hurrying
them to "the front," without delay, and regardless of the condition of
their families--some were taken off when getting medicine for their sick
wives--is still the theme of execration, even among men who have been
the most ultra and uncompromising secessionists. The terror caused many
to hide themselves, and doubtless turned them against the government.
They say now such a despotism is quite as bad as a Stanton despotism,
and there is not a toss-up between the rule of the United States and the
Confederate States. Such are some of the effects of bad measures in such
critical times as these. Mr. Seddon has no physique to sustain him. He
has intellect, and has read much; but, nevertheless, such great men are
sometimes more likely to imitate some predecessor at a critical moment,
or to adopt some bold yet inefficient suggestion from another, than to
originate an adequate one themselves. He is a scholar, an invalid,
refined and philosophical--but effeminate.
OCTOBER 13TH.--Rained all night; clear and cool this morning.
The government publishes nothing from Georgia yet; but it is supposed
there is intelligence of an important character in the city, which it
would be impolitic to communicate to the enemy.
All still remains quiet below the city. But the curtain is expected to
rise on the next act of the tragedy every moment. Gen. Grant probably
furloughed many of his men to vote in Pennsylvania and Ohio, on Tuesday
last--elections preliminary to the Presidential election--and they have
had time to return to their regiments.
If this pause should continue a week or two longer, Gen. Lee would be
much strengthened. Every day the farmers, whose details have been
revoked, are coming in from the counties; and many of these were in the
war in '61 and '62--being experienced veterans. Whereas Grant's
recruits, though greater in number, are raw and unskilled.
The Medical Boards have been instructed to put in all men that come
before them, capable of bearing arms _ten days_. One died in the
trenches, on the eleventh day, of consumption!
There is a rumor of a fight on our extreme left. It is said Field's
division (C. S.) repulsed three assaults of the enemy. If the battle be
still continued (4 P.M.--the wind from the west prevents us from hearing
guns), no doubt it is the beginning of a general engagement--decisive,
perhaps, of the fate of Richmond.
We have many accounts of evasions of military service, occasioned by the
alleged bad faith of the government, and the despotic orders from the
Adjutant-General's office.
And yet Gov. Smith's certificates for exemption of rich young Justices
of the Peace, Commissioners of the (county) Revenue, Deputy Sheriffs,
clerks, constables, officers and clerks of banks, still come in daily;
and they are "allowed" by the Assistant Secretary of War. Will the poor
and friendless fight their battles, and win their independence for them?
It may be so; but let not rulers in future wars follow the example!
Nothing but the conviction that they are fighting for their families,
their sacred altars, and their little property induces thousands of
brave Southerners to remain in arms against such fearful odds as are now
arrayed against them.
Mr. Kean, the young Chief of the Bureau of War, has come in from "the
front," with a boil on his thigh. He missed the sport of the battle
to-day.
Mr. Peck, the agent to purchase supplies for his starving fellow-clerks,
confesses that he bought 10 barrels of flour and 400 pounds of bacon for
himself; 4 barrels of flour for Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of
War; 4 barrels for Mr. Kean, 1 for Mr. Cohen, and 1 for Mr. Shepherd.
This has produced great indignation among the 200 clerks who sent him,
and who got but 73-1/2 pounds each, and they got 13 pounds of bacon
each; while Mr. P. bought for himself 400 pounds.
OCTOBER 14TH.--The following dispatch from Gen. Lee cheered the city
this morning. None of the particulars of the battle have yet transpired,
and all are looking hourly for a renewal of the contest.
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"October 13th, 1864.
"HON. JAMES A. SEDDON, SECRETARY OF WAR.
"At seven o'clock this morning the enemy endeavored to advance
between the Darbytown and Charles City Roads, but was repulsed in
every attempt. The most strenuous effort was made about four P.M.,
after which he withdrew, leaving many dead. Our loss very slight.
"Gen. Breckinridge reports that a force of the enemy came to
Greenville on the 12th, and was defeated by Gen. Vaughan. Some
prisoners, two stands of colors, many horses and arms were
captured. The enemy lost many killed and wounded. Our loss slight.
"R. E. LEE, _General_."
It is now 2 P.M., and yet we hear no cannon. If Grant does not renew the
strife immediately, it will be natural to suppose he failed in his
purpose yesterday, or that some unforeseen occurrence within his lines
has happened. Be it either, it is a grateful respite to us.
On the 8th inst., Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War, wrote the
President a letter in vindication of P. Hamilton's loyalty. Mr. H. is
commissioner under suspension of the writ of _habeas corpus_ to look
into the loyalty of others, and was appointed on Judge C.'s
recommendation. Some private individual in Mobile wrote the President,
impeaching the patriotism of Mr. H., and also hinted something in
relation to the loyalty of Judge C. This matter was shown to Mr. Seddon
by the President, and Mr. S. spoke to Judge C. about it in his own
manner, which produced the letter of Judge C. to the President. The
President sends back the letter to-day, to the "Secretary of War,"
indorsed in substance as follows: "He was surprised to receive such a
letter, when he had intimated no purpose to have the matter
investigated." Judge C. had procured indorsements of Mr. H. from
Alabama, which _let the matter out_; and it would have been
_appropriate_--the President uses this word rather than _improper_, as
he cannot dispense with either the Secretary or his assistant just
now--to have consulted him before taking any steps whatever in the
business. He seems vexed, even at Mr. S.
OCTOBER 15TH.--A bright and glorious day--above.
All was quiet yesterday below, indicating that the enemy suffered
severely in the last assault on our lines.
But we have nothing from Georgia. From the Valley, our cavalry had the
misfortune to lose eleven guns by indiscreetly venturing too far in
pursuit.
And the news from the United States indicates that Pennsylvania, Ohio,
and Indiana have gone for the Republican candidates. This foreshadows
Lincoln's re-election, and admonishes us to prepare for other campaigns,
though languishing for peace.
The farmers are now pouring in to replenish the armies, under the recent
order revoking the details of agriculturists; and these are fine-looking
men, and there will soon be successes in the field. Lately the
indulgence of details to an immoderate extent, and corruption in the
business of conscription, had depleted the armies extensively of men of
substance and standing, and this may account for our disasters. Men, to
fight well, must have something to fight for.
Gen. Price, at the head of 20,000 men, is in Missouri. To expel him,
many troops will be required; and this may relieve us a little in the
East.
My wife lost her purse in market this morning, before making any
purchases; it contained $22 and her eye-glasses. I don't think there are
any pickpockets except the extortioners.
OCTOBER 16TH, SUNDAY.--A pleasant sunny Sabbath morn.
The quiet below continues. Not a gun has been heard for three days; the
longest intermission we have had for many months. What can it mean?
Sheridan has spread desolation in the Shenandoah Valley, perhaps to
prevent Early from penetrating Pennsylvania, etc., intending to come
with all expedition to Grant.
Troops, or rather detailed men, and late exempts, are beginning to
arrive from North Carolina. I saw 250 this morning. Some of them were
farmers who had complied with the terms prescribed, and a week ago
thought themselves safe from the toils and dangers of war. They murmur,
but there is no escape. They say the Governor has called out the militia
officers, and magistrates also.
Desertion is the order of the day, on both sides. Would that the _men_
would take matters in their own hands, and end the war, establishing our
independence. Let every man in both armies desert and go home!
Some one has sent a "Circular" of the "Bureau of Conscription" to the
President, dated some few weeks ago, and authorizing enrolling officers
everywhere to furlough farmers and others for sixty days, to make out
their claims for exemption. This the President says in his indorsement
defeats his efforts to put the whole able-bodied male population in the
field; and no doubt has been the source of the many abuses charged
against the "bureau." The Secretary sends the paper to the "bureau" for
report, stating that he felt great surprise at the terms of the
"Circular," and had no recollection of having seen or sanctioned such a
document. The Superintendent reports that it was issued by the authority
of the Secretary of War, and was warranted by law--looking to the
interests of agriculture, etc. The truth is that the Circular was
prepared by a subordinate in the Bureau of Conscription, and signed by
Col. August, "Acting Superintendent." It was approved by Judge Campbell,
Assistant Secretary of War, "by order of the Secretary of War" who never
saw it. Mr. Seddon has left all the business of conscription in the
hands of Judge Campbell; and poor Gen. Preston--indolent and ill--has
been compelled to sign, sanction, and defend documents he knew nothing
about; and Mr. Seddon is in a similar predicament.
The Secretary of War has written a long letter to Gen. Lee, suggesting
that he assemble a council of officers to decide what measure shall be
adopted in regard to the treatment of prisoners in the hands of the
enemy. It appears that Gen. Butler has notified Gen. Lee that he is now
retaliating fearfully--making them work in his canal--on certain
Confederates for some alleged harsh treatment of _negro_ prisoners in
our hands--sending slaves back to their masters. Mr. Seddon, without
assuming any responsibility himself, yet intimates the idea that this
government is prepared to sanction the most sanguinary remedy; and I
understand several members of the cabinet to have always been in favor
of fighting--that is, having others fight--under the black flag. If the
government had only listened to Gen. Lee's suggestions, we should have
had abundance of men in the field to beat the enemy out of Virginia. I
hope the present recruiting excitement comes not too late. And I trust
he will interpose so far in behalf of the country as to wrest the
railroads from the hands of the speculators and the dishonest
quartermasters.
Not a gun has been heard by me to-day, and the mysterious silence defies
my powers of penetration. I only hope it may continue _sine die_.
OCTOBER 17TH.--Bright and beautiful.
Still all quiet below, and reinforcements (details revoked) are now
arriving--1000 per day.
The Northern news makes some doubt as to the result of the election in
Pennsylvania.
From the Valley we have rumors of victory, etc.
A thrill of horror has been produced by a report that Gen. Butler has,
for some time past, kept a number of his prisoners (Confederates) at
work in his canal down the river, and supposing they were Federals, our
batteries and gun-boats have been shelling our own men!
OCTOBER 18TH.--Cloudy and cool.
Quiet below, but it is rumored that the enemy has erected one or two
sand batteries, mounted with 400-pounders, bearing on our fleet of
gun-boats.
The following dispatch was received from Gen. Hood to-day:
"9 MILES SOUTH OF LAFAYETTE, GA.,
"Oct. 15th, via SELMA, Oct. 17th, 1864.
"GEN. BRAGG.
"This army struck the communications of the enemy about a mile
above Resaca on the 12th inst, completely destroying the railroad,
including block-houses, from that point to within a short distance
of Tunnel Hill, and about four miles of the Cleaveland Railroad,
capturing Dalton and all intermediate garrisons, with their stores,
arms, and equipments, and about 1000 prisoners.
"The main body of Sherman's army seems to be moving toward
Dalton. J. B. HOOD, _General_."
The following was received from Gen. Lee yesterday:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"Oct. 16th, 1864.
"HON. JAMES A. SEDDON, SECRETARY OF WAR.
"On the 14th instant, Col. Moseby struck the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad at Duffield, and destroyed a United States mail train,
consisting of a locomotive and ten cars, and securing twenty
prisoners and fifteen horses.
"Among the prisoners are two paymasters, with one hundred and
sixty-eight thousand dollars in government funds.
"R. E. LEE."
It is reported also that Gen. Early has gained some advantage in a
battle; not authentic.
Gen. Bragg is going away, probably to Wilmington. The combination
against him was too strong.
But "the Bureau of Conscription" is pretty nearly demolished under his
blows. Order 81 directs the generals of Reserves to appoint inspecting
officers for all the Congressional Districts, to revise all exemptions,
details, etc., with plenary powers, without reference to "the Bureau."
The passport checks on travel Northward are now the merest farce, and
valuable information is daily conveyed to the enemy.
OCTOBER 19TH.--Bright and beautiful.
Still all quiet below, the occasional bombarding near Petersburg being
beyond our hearing.
Yesterday, Gen. Preston, a millionaire, who can stalk stiffly anywhere,
had an interview with the President, who admitted that he had dictated
the General Orders--"76," "77," "78,"--rushing almost everybody into the
army, but that it was not his meaning to take the whole business of
conscription from "the Bureau." Yet Gen. P., the superintendent, thinks
the _reading_ of the orders will admit of that construction, and he has
written to the President asking another order, defining his position,
etc., else his occupation is gone. The President cannot afford to lose
Gen. P.
From Gen. Early's army we learn that the detailed men and reserves are
joining in great numbers, and the general asks 1000 muskets. Col.
Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, says he has but 300 available, his shops
being closed, the workmen in the trenches, etc.
All the ordnance, quartermaster, and commissary stores of Hood's army
were ordered to Columbus, Ga. We expect stirring news from Georgia
daily, and the opinion prevails that Sherman will "come to grief."
The militia, furloughed by Gov. Brown so inopportunely, are returning to
the front, the time having expired.
A Mr. B. is making Lincoln speeches in New York. It seems to me he had a
passport from Mr. Benjamin, Secretary of State.
Gen. Lee writes to-day that negroes taken from the enemy, penitentiary
convicts, and recaptured deserters ought not to be sent by the Secretary
to work on the fortifications.
OCTOBER 20TH.--Cloudy. There is a street rumor of a battle below, and on
the Petersburg line. The wind is from the west, and yet we hear no guns.
The Secretary of the Treasury sent to the Secretary of War to-day an
argument showing that, without a violation of the Constitution, clerks
appointed to places created by Congress cannot be removed. We shall see
what the Secretary says to that.
OCTOBER 21ST.--Bright.
Fort Harrison (Federal) opened its batteries on our lines at Chaffin's
Farm yesterday evening, without effect. An officer tells me that heavy
and quick firing was also heard on the Petersburg lines, indicating, he
thought, a battle. We have nothing of this in the papers, or in any
dispatch I have seen.
Assistant Secretary Campbell is writing a portion of Mr. Secretary
Seddon's report for him. Mr. C.'s son was promoted to a majority
yesterday.
At 2 P.M. we have a rumor that Gen. Early has been defeated, losing all
his guns but one.
A letter from the Secretary of the Treasury recommends the detail or
exemption of the bank officers of South Carolina. The poor country
clod-hoppers have no friends, and must do the fighting.
The following order, dictated by the President, has been published:
"ADJUTANT AND INSPECTOR-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
"RICHMOND, October 20th, 1864.
"GENERAL ORDERS NO. 82.
"I. The Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance will, without delay, take
measures to place in the field one-fifth of all the men employed
in his department (including contractors and their employees) of
the classes specified in General Order No. 77, A. and I. G. Office
(current series). To this end he will direct the several officers
in charge of arsenals, workshops, depots, etc. to turn over to the
nearest enrolling officers, by lists showing their ages,
occupations, and residences, such proportion of their employees
(including contractors and employees under them) of the classes
above referred to as will constitute in the aggregate one-fifth of
the whole number in the said classes, according to returns in his
office of Sept. 30th, 1864. Duplicates of such lists will be sent
to the Generals of Reserves of the States, and triplicates to the
Chief of Ordnance. Three days are allowed for the execution of this
Order after its reception at any post or station of the Ordnance
Department.
"II. The Chief of the Niter and Mining Bureau will, in like manner,
turn over, on similar lists, one-fifth of all men of the classes
specified in General Order No. 77, employed in iron, lead, copper,
and coal mines, and all service appertaining thereto, whether
directly under officers of his Bureau or by contractors. Duplicate
and triplicate lists to be furnished as above directed in the
Ordnance Bureau, and will in the same manner turn over one-fifth of
all such men now employed in the Niter service.
"The period of three days, under the same conditions as above
mentioned, is allowed for the execution of this order.
"III. The list of persons directed in the foregoing sections to be
turned over to the enrolling officers will be prepared at once on
the reception of this Order, and will be furnished to the said
officers within three days, as above prescribed, by the various
officers of each of the above Bureaus, having men under their
charge, and every assistance will be rendered by the latter to the
enrolling officer to carry out the intention of this order.
"IV. So much of General Order No. 77 as relates to men employed in
the two Bureaus named above is hereby suspended, and the foregoing
Orders will stand in lieu of all requirements under the former.
"By order. S. COOPER,
"_A. and I. General_."
OCTOBER 22D.--Cloudy; rained last night. 2 P.M.--Cold, and prospects of
snow.
The news of Early's disaster, and loss of artillery at Strasburg, is
confirmed, and casts a new vexation over the country.
Mr. M. Byrd, Selma, Ala., is addressing some bold letters to the
President on the blunders of the administration.
Gen. Longstreet has resumed command of the first army corps.
G. W. Custis Lee (son of the general) has been made a major-general.
There was no fighting below yesterday, that I have heard of.
Gold, which was $1 for $30 in Confederate States notes, commands $35 for
$1 to-day, under the news from the Valley. Yet our sagacious statesmen
regard the re-election of Lincoln (likely to follow our reverses) as
favorable to independence, though it may prolong the war. It is thought
there will certainly be revolution or civil war in the North, if the
Democrats be beaten; and that will relieve us of the vast armies
precipitated on our soil. Many of the faint-hearted croakers are anxious
for peace and reconstruction.
Gen. Butler, called "the Beast" by the press, has certainly performed a
generous action. Messrs. McRae and Henley, two government clerks in the
local battalion, wandered into the enemy's lines, and were put to work
in the canal by Gen. Butler, who had been informed that we made some
prisoners taken from him work on the fortifications. This was done but a
short time, when they were relieved; and Mr. McRae was permitted to
return to the city, to learn whether the Federal prisoners were really
required to perform the labor named. No restrictions were imposed on
him, no parole required. He came with Gen. B.'s passport, but felt in
honor bound to communicate no intelligence, and voluntarily returned to
captivity. We _had_ Federal prisoners at work, but they were remanded to
prison.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23D.--Bright and frosty.
From the United States papers we learn that a great victory is claimed
over Gen. Early, with the capture of forty-three guns!
It is also stated that a party of "Copperheads" (Democrats), who had
taken refuge in Canada, have made a raid into Vermont, and robbed some
of the banks of their specie.
The fact that Mr. McRae, who, with Mr. Henley (local forces), fell into
the hands of the enemy a few miles below the city, was permitted to
return within our own lines with a passport (without restrictions, etc.)
from Gen. Butler, has not been mentioned by any of the newspapers, gives
rise to many conjectures. Some say that "somebody" prohibited the
publication; others, that the press has long been misrepresenting the
conduct of the enemy; there being policy in keeping alive the
animosities of the army and the people.
The poor clerks in the trenches are in a demoralized condition. It is
announced that the Secretary of War has resolved to send them all to
Camp Lee, for medical examination: those that have proved their ability
to bear arms (in defense of the city) _are to be removed from office_,
and put in the army. One-half of them will desert to the enemy, and
injure the cause. About one hundred of them were appointed before the
enactment of the act of Conscription, under the express guarantee of the
Constitution that they should not be molested during life. If the
President removes these, mostly refugees with families dependent upon
their salaries, it will be a plain violation of the Constitution; and
the victims cannot be relied on for their loyalty to the government. If
the government wastes precious time in such small matters, while events
of magnitude demand attention, the cause is fast reaching a hopeless
condition. The able-bodied money-changer, speculator, and extortioner is
still seen in the street; and their number is legion.
The generals in the field are sending back the poor, sickly recruits
ordered out by the Medical Board: the able-bodied rich men escape by
bribery and corruption; and the hearty _officers_--acting
adjutant-generals, quartermasters, and commissaries--ride their sleek
horses through the city every afternoon. This, while the cause is
perishing for want of men and horses!
OCTOBER 24TH.--Clouds and sunshine. Nothing new of importance from the
army.
Gov. Smith has been writing letters to Gen. Lee, asking that Gen. Early
be superseded in the Valley. Pity it had not been done! Gen. Lee
replied, expressing confidence in Early; and the President (since the
disaster!) coincides with Lee.
The President administers a sharp rebuke to Gen. Whiting, for
irregularly corresponding with Generals Lee and Beauregard on the
subject of Lieut. Taylor Wood's naval expedition, fitting out at
Wilmington.
The President and cabinet are still at work on the one hundred clerks in
the departments whom they wish to displace.
I append the result of my gardening this year. The dry weather in May
and June injured the crop, or the amount would have been much larger.
Total valuation, at market prices, $347.
OCTOBER 25TH.--Bright and beautiful morning.
All quiet below. Mr. McRae has been permitted by Gen. Butler to return
again to the city to await his exchange, pledged not to bear arms, etc.
Many more of the government employees, forced into the trenches, would
be happy to be in the same predicament. A great many are deserting under
a deliberate conviction that their rights have been despotically invaded
by the government; and that this government is, and is likely to be, as
tyrannous as Lincoln's. No doubt many give valuable information to the
enemy.
The Superintendent of the Bureau of Conscription is at open war with the
General of Reserves in Virginia, and confusion is likely to be worse
confounded.
Gen. Cooper, A. and I. General (Pennsylvanian), suggests to the
President the appointment of Gen. Lovell to the command of all the
prisons containing Federal captives. Gen. Lovell, too, is a Northern
man.
OCTOBER 26TH.--Clear and frosty. Quiet below.
Gen. W. M. Gardner (in Gen. Winder's place here) has just got from Judge
Campbell passports for his cousin, Mary E. Gardner, and for his
brother-in-law F. M. White, to go to Memphis, Tenn., where they mean to
reside.
Mr. Benjamin publishes a copy of a dispatch to Mr. Mason, in London, for
publication there, showing that if the United States continue the war,
she will be unable to pay her debts abroad, and therefore foreigners
ought not to lend her any more money, or they may be ruined. This from a
Secretary of State! It may be an electioneering card in the United
States, and it may reconcile some of our members of Congress to the
incumbency of Mr. B. in a sinecure position.
A friend of Mr. Seddon, near Vicksburg, writes for permission to sell
thirty bales of cotton--$20,000 worth--to the enemy. He says Mr.
Seddon's estate, on the Sunflower, has not been destroyed by the enemy.
That's fortunate, for other places have been utterly ruined.
Investigations going on in the courts show that during Gen. Winder's
"Reign of Terror," passports sold for $2000. Some outside party
negotiated the business and procured the passport.
Gen. Early has issued an address to his army, reproaching it for having
victory wrested out of its hands by a criminal indulgence in the plunder
found in the camps captured from the enemy. He hopes they will retrieve
everything in the next battle.
Governor Smith's exemptions of magistrates, deputy sheriffs, clerks, and
constables, to-day, 56.
OCTOBER 27TH.--Slightly hazy and sunshine.
Quiet, save aimless and bootless shelling and picket firing along the
lines on the south side of the river.
Hon. Geo. Davis, Attorney-General, to whom was referred the question of
the constitutionality of the purposed removal from office of clerks
appointed to fill places specifically created by act of Congress
previous to the enactment of the Conscript law, without there being
alleged against them any misconduct, inefficiency, dishonesty, etc., has
reported that as several subsequent acts of Congress already indicate an
intention to put all capable of bearing arms in the army, it is the duty
of the President and the Secretary of War _to carry out the intentions
of Congress_, leaving the constitutional question to the decision of the
courts! The Constitution they swore upon the holy, etc. to support!
Thus, a refugee must either starve his wife and children by
relinquishing office, or be disgraced by appealing to the courts!
It is reported that 30,000 of the enemy crossed to this side of the
river last night, and that fighting has began at 10 A.M.; but I hear
nothing save an occasional report of cannon.
It is said brisk skirmishing is now (12 M.) going on along the lines.
Gen. Cooper and Mr. Secretary Seddon wants Brig.-Gen. R. (Charleston)
relieved, for insulting a lady in one of his fits of drunkenness. The
President is reluctant to consent.
We have intelligence to-day of gun-boats and transports ascending the
Rappahannock River. Another squall from that quarter!
Three P.M. The cannonading has grown quick and terrific along the
lines, below the city (north side), with occasional discharges nearer,
and farther to the left (north), as if the enemy were attempting to
flank our army.
The sounds are very distinctly heard, the weather being damp and the
wind from the southeast. We can distinguish the bursting of the shell
quickly after the discharge of the cannon.
The firing ceased at dark. It rains hard and steadily, now. What a life!
what suffering, in mud and water, without tents (in the trenches),
burdened with wet blankets, and perhaps without food! To-morrow, in all
probability, a battle will be fought.
Gen. Lee, for several weeks, as if aware of the impending operations in
this vicinity, has been on this side of the river, superintending in
person the fortifications multiplied everywhere for the defense of the
city, while reinforcements have been pouring in by thousands. It must be
a fearful struggle, if Gen. Grant really intends to make another effort
to capture Richmond by assault! Our works, mostly made by the negroes,
under the direction of skillful engineers, must be nearly impregnable,
and the attempt to take them will involve a prodigious expenditure of
blood.
OCTOBER 28TH.--Rained all night, but bright this morning.
We have no clear account yet of the fighting yesterday; but we know the
enemy was repulsed on this side of the river. It is thought that the
operations on the south side were of greater magnitude, where we lost a
brigadier-general (Dearing) of cavalry. We shall know all in a few days.
The fighting was not resumed this morning.
It is rumored that Mr. Seddon will resign, and be succeeded by Gen.
Kemper. I am incredulous.
The "dog-catchers," as the guards are called, are out again, arresting
able-bodied men (and sometimes others) in the streets, and locking them
up until they can be sent to the front. There must be extraordinary
danger anticipated by the authorities to induce a resort to so extreme a
measure.
Two P.M. No news from the field---no cannon heard to-day.
Large amounts of cloth from Europe for the army have recently arrived at
Wilmington, N. C.; but the speculators occupy so much space in the cars,
that transportation cannot be had for it. The poor soldiers are likely
to suffer in consequence of this neglect of duty on the part of the
government.
OCTOBER 29TH.--Clear and pleasant.
We are beginning to get authentic accounts of the operations on
Thursday; and yet, from the newspaper publications, we see that the
government has withheld one of Gen. Lee's dispatches from publication.
Altogether, it must be regarded as a decisive failure on the part of the
enemy to obtain any lodgment nearer to the objective point; while his
loss was perhaps two to our one.
A letter from Gen. Howell Cobb, Macon, Ga., in reply to one from the
Secretary by the President's direction, states that Gen. Beauregard, in
arranging difficulties with Gov. Brown, did not compromise the dignity
or interests of the Confederate States Government, or violate any law.
It is now said Sheridan is retreating toward the Potomac, followed by
Early. Some 500 more recruits for Early left Richmond yesterday. This
would indicate that Gen. Lee has men enough here.
The President suggests that confidential inspectors be sent to ascertain
whether Gen. Early's army has lost confidence in him. Both Gen. Lee and
the President are satisfied that the charges of drunkenness against Gen.
E. merit no attention. The Secretary had indorsed on a paper (referred
by him to the President) that he shared the belief in the "want of
confidence," etc.--and no doubt would have him removed.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30TH.--Bright and beautiful.
Some firing was heard early this morning on the Darbytown road, or in
that direction; but it soon ceased, and no fighting of moment is
anticipated to-day, for Gen. Longstreet is in the city.
My son Thomas drew a month's rations yesterday, being detailed for
clerical service with Gen. Kemper. He got 35 pounds of flour (market
value $70), 31 pounds of beef ($100.75), 3 pounds of rice ($6), one
sixth of a cord of wood ($13.33), salt ($2), tobacco ($5), vinegar
($3)--making $200 per month; clothing furnished by government,$500 per
annum; cash, $18 per month; $4 per day extra, and $40 per month for
quarters; or $5000 per annum. Custis and I get $4000 each--making in all
$13,000! Yet we cannot subsist and clothe the family; for, alas, the
paper money is $30 for one in specie!
The steamers have brought into Wilmington immense amounts of
quartermaster stores, and perhaps our armies are the best clad in the
world. If the spirit of speculation be laid, and all the men and
resources of the country be devoted to defense (as seems now to be the
intention), the United States could never find men and material
sufficient for our subjugation. We could maintain the war for an
indefinite period, unless, indeed, fatal dissensions should spring up
among ourselves.
OCTOBER 31ST.--Bright. Tom's rations came in--worth $200--for a month.
Gen. Lee writes that it is necessary for the gun-boats to guard the
river as far below Chaffin's Bluffs as possible, to prevent the enemy
from throwing a force to the south bank in the rear of Gen. Pickett's
lines; for then Gen. P. must withdraw his forces, and the abandonment of
Petersburg will follow, "with its railroad connections, throwing the
whole army back to the defense of Richmond. I should regard this as a
great disaster, and as seriously endangering the safety of the city. We
should not only lose a large section of country from which our position
enables us to draw supplies, but the enemy would be brought nearer to
the only remaining railway communication between Richmond and the South.
It would make the tenure of the city depend upon our ability to hold
this long line of communication against the largely superior force of
the enemy, and I think would greatly diminish the prospects of
successful defense." He suggests that more men and small boats be put in
the river to prevent the enemy from placing torpedoes in the rear of the
iron-clads, when on duty down the river at night.
J. H. Reagan, Postmaster-General, has written a furious letter to the
Secretary, complaining of incivility on the part of Mr. Wilson,
Commissary Agent to issue beef in Richmond. Judge R. went there to draw
the beef ration for Col. Lubbock, one of the President's aid-de-camps
(late Governor of Texas). He says he is able-bodied and ought to be in
the army. Mr. Wilson sends in certificates of two men who were present,
contradicting the judge's statement of the language used by Mr. W. The
Secretary has not yet acted in the case.
Beverly Tucker is in Canada, and has made a contract for the Confederate
States Government with ------ & Co., of New York, to deliver bacon for
cotton, pound for pound. It was made by authority of the Secretary of
War, certified to by Hon. C. C. Clay and J. Thompson, both in Canada.
The Secretary of the Treasury don't like it.
It is reported that after the success reported by Gen. Lee, Early was
_again_ defeated.
CHAPTER XLIV.
Proclamation for a day of public worship.--Gov. Allen, of Louisiana.--
Letter from Gen. Beauregard.--Departure for Europe.--Congress
assembles.--Quarrel between Gens. Kemper and Preston.--Gen. Forrest
doing wonders.--Tennessee.--Gen. Johnston on his Georgia campaign.--
John Mitchel and Senator Foote.--Progress of Sherman.--From Gov.
Brown, of Georgia.--Capture of Gen. Pryor.
NOVEMBER 1ST.--Bright and frosty morning.
All quiet. No confirmation of Early's defeat; and the night-feat of
Mahone puts the people in better hope.
One-third of all our lead comes from the mines near Wytheville,
Virginia.
I got 128 pounds of flour from the investment in supplies in North
Carolina, and one-fourth of that amount is still behind. We got 26
pounds of bacon, worth $260; the flour received, and to be received, 160
pounds, $320; and we expect to get 6 gallons molasses, $30 per gallon,
$180: total, $760; and only $200 invested. This shows the profits of the
speculators!
Gov. Yates, of Illinois, has declared Richmond will be in the hands of
the Federals before the 8th of November. This is the 1st. It may be so;
but I doubt it. It cannot be so without the effusion of an ocean of
blood!
I learned to-day that every tree on Gov. Wise's farm of any size has
been felled by the enemy. What harm have the poor trees done the enemy?
I love trees, anywhere.
The President attends to many little matters, such as solicitations for
passports to leave the country, details or exemptions of husbands and
sons; and generally the ladies who address him, knowing his religious
bias, frame their phraseology accordingly, and often with effect.
The following is his last proclamation:
_Proclamation appointing a Day for Public Worship._
"It is meet that the people of the Confederate States should, from
time to time, assemble to acknowledge their dependence on Almighty
God, to render devout thanks for his manifold blessings, to worship
his holy name, to bend in prayer at his footstool, and to accept,
with reverent submission, the chastening of his all-wise and
all-merciful Providence.
"Let us, then, in temples and in fields, unite our voices in
recognizing, with adoring gratitude, the manifestations of his
protecting care in the many signal victories with which our arms
have been crowned; in the fruitfulness with which our land has been
blessed, and in the unimpaired energy and fortitude with which he
has inspired our hearts and strengthened our arms in resistance to
the iniquitous designs of our enemies.
"And let us not forget that, while graciously vouchsafing to us his
protection, our sins have merited and received grievous
chastisement; that many of our best and bravest have fallen in
battle; that many others are still held in foreign prisons; that
large districts of our country have been devastated with savage
ferocity, the peaceful homes destroyed, and helpless women and
children driven away in destitution; and that with fiendish
malignity the passions of a servile race have been excited by our
foes into the commission of atrocities from which death is a
welcome escape.
"Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate
States of America, do issue this my proclamation, setting apart
Wednesday, the sixteenth day of November next, as a day to be
specially devoted to the worship of Almighty God; and I do invite
and invoke all the people of these Confederate States to assemble
on the day aforesaid, in their respective places of public worship,
there to unite in prayer to our heavenly Father, that he bestow his
favor upon us; that he extend over us the protection of his
Almighty arm; that he sanctify his chastisement to our improvement,
so that we may turn away from evil paths and walk righteously in
his sight; that he restore peace to our beloved country, healing
its bleeding wounds, and securing to us the continued enjoyment of
our right of self-government and independence; and that he
graciously hearken to us, while we ascribe to him the power and
glory of our deliverance.
"Given under my hand and the seal of the Confederate States, at
Richmond, this 26th day of October, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
"JEFFERSON DAVIS.
"By the President:
"J. P. BENJAMIN, _Secretary of State_."
The President gets but few letters from members of Congress.
NOVEMBER 2D.--Dark and dismal.
The Governor continues his exemptions, now amounting to thousands. S.
Basset French (State agent to buy and sell supplies to the people), with
one or more clerks, and such laborers, etc. as may be necessary, I find
among his last exemptions. A smart and corrupt agent could make a
fortune out of these exemptions. Of course, the _Governor's_ A. D. C.
will do no such thing.
No news from below.
Rev. John Clark writes from Stafford County that the conscripts there
have hid themselves in White Oak Swamp, because the Secretary of War has
exempted an able-bodied man to work for Mrs. ----, his ---- widow.
Gen. Winder, with the prisoners in the South, is in hot water again. He
wants to make Cashmyer suttler (like ancient Pistol), and Major ----,
the Secretary's agent, opposes it, on the ground that he is a "Plug Ugly
rogue and cut-throat."
Mr. George Davis, Attorney-General Confederate States, has given it as
his opinion that although certain civil officers of the government were
exempted from military service by the Constitution, yet a recent act of
Congress, decreeing that all residents between the ages of 17 and 50 are
in the military service, must be executed. In other words, the cabinet
ministers must "see that the laws be faithfully executed," even should
they be clearly and expressly unconstitutional. Is not the Constitution
the law? Have they not sworn to support it, etc.? It seems to me that
this is a weak opinion.
It makes the President ABSOLUTE. I fear this government in future times
will be denounced as a Cabal of bandits and outlaws, making and
executing the most despotic decrees. This decision will look bad in
history, and will do no good at present. How _could_ the President
"approve" such a law?
The desertions from the Tredegar Battalion and other workshops--local
defense--amount to between one and two hundred since the 1st of
September.
NOVEMBER 3D.--Cold rain; rained all night.
Gen. Lee, urging that his regiments from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Georgia, etc. etc. be recruited from their respective States, concludes
a recent letter thus: "I hope immediate action will be taken upon this
subject, as I think our success depends much upon a speedy increase of
our armies in every possible way."
This dismal weather casts a deeper gloom upon the spirits of the
croakers. They fear Richmond cannot be long defended.
Plymouth, N. C., has been retaken by the enemy.
During this damp weather the deep and sullen sounds of cannon can be
heard at all hours, day and night. The firing is mostly from our
iron-clads.
The market was well supplied this morning with abundance of good meat,
vegetables, fruit, etc.; and I was glad to see but few making purchases.
The reason may have been that the extortionate prices repelled the
people; or it may have been the rain. I passed on.
NOVEMBER 4TH.--Rained all night; glimpses of the sun between the running
clouds this morning. Windy, and likely to be cold.
Our iron-clad "Albemarle" was blown up by a handful of the enemy at
Plymouth--surprising the water pickets (all asleep). The _manner_ of the
loss of the town, and of the counties east of it, is not known yet; but
everything was foretold by Mr. Burgyson to the cabinet then devoting
their attention to the problem how to violate the Constitution, and put
into the trenches some fifty delicate clerks, that their places might be
filled by some of their own special favorites. Mr. George Davis,
Attorney-General, the instrument selected to rend the Constitution, or
rather to remove the obstacles out of the way, is from North Carolina;
and this blow has fallen upon his own State!
We learn that gold is rising rapidly in the North, which may be
significant of President Lincoln's re-election next week.
We get no news from our armies except through the Northern papers--not
reliable just now.
Gov. Allen, of Louisiana, writes a furious letter to the Secretary of
War, who ordered the disbandment of the State Battalion. He says the
order is a personal offense to him and an insult to his State (he is a
native Virginian), and he will resent it and resist it to the last
extremity. He gives notice that the 3d battalion has been ordered back
from the east side of the Mississippi River. The battalion disbanded
numbered but 150 men! A little business--like losing one-fourth of North
Carolina, to put out of office fifty clerks, whose tenure, by the
Constitution, is for life!
NOVEMBER 5TH.--Clear and cold.
Grant has attempted nothing this week, and it is probably too late for
any demonstration to affect the election. I infer that the government is
convinced President Lincoln will be re-elected, else some desperate
effort would have been made in his behalf by his generals. Will he float
on a sea of blood another four years? I doubt it. One side or the other
must, I think, give up the contest. _He_ can afford to break with the
Abolitionists now. We _cannot_ submit without the loss of everything.
It is thought Grant will continue to "swing to the left," making a
winter campaign on the coasts of North and South Carolina--mean time
leaving Butler's army here, always menacing Richmond.
Gen. Beauregard writes from Gadsden, Ala., October 24th, that his
headquarters will be at Tuscumbia, Ala.; will get supplies from Corinth
to Tuscumbia. Forrest has been ordered to report to Gen. Hood, in Middle
Tennessee. The railroad iron between Corinth and Memphis will be taken
to supply wants elsewhere. Gen. Dick Taylor is to guard communications,
etc., has directed Gen. Cheatham to issue an address to the people of
Tennessee, saying his and Gen. Forrest's command have entered the State
for its redemption, etc., and calling upon the people to aid in
destroying the _enemy's communications_, while the main army is between
Atlanta and Chattanooga, when the purpose is to precipitate the _whole
army_ upon it, etc. Gen. B. doubts not he will soon be able to announce
good tidings, etc. etc. This letter to Gen. Cooper is "submitted to the
Secretary of War," by whom it is "submitted for the information of the
President," and sent back by him--"Read and returned, 4th Nov. '64.--J.
D."
Gen. B. was to leave that day to join Gen. Hood, in vicinity of
Guntersville, on Tennessee River. Sherman's army was between Dalton and
Gadsden, 15 miles from Gadsden.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6TH.--Bright and frosty.
All quiet below. Another day, and if it remains quiet, we may know that
Lincoln will be re-elected.
It is said news came from the North last night, that gold sold for $2 60,
and that Governor Seymour had ordered the militia of New York to be in
readiness for the protection of the polls on Tuesday next.
G. W. Randolph, late Secretary of War, has sailed for Europe, taking his
family with him. Other quondam Confederate States functionaries have
gone, or are going. Many have realized fortunes, who were poor, and this
country has ceased to be the one to _enjoy_ them in.
A parting letter was written by Mr. Randolph to his friend, R. G. H.
Kean, Chief of the Bureau of War--appointed by Mr. R., and from whom I
derived the information of the sailing of his patron. Such departures,
at a crisis like this, spread additional doubts in the community. Mr. R.
was not liable to conscription, if averse to fighting more in our cause,
being exempted by Governor Smith as a member of the Common Council.
To-morrow is the day fixed for the reassembling of our Congress, but
doubts are entertained whether there will be a quorum.
We shall soon have lively news from Beauregard. If I understand his
letter of the 24th ult., he is determined to march the army without
delay into Middle Tennessee, leaving Sherman on his right flank and
rear. It is a desperate conception, and will probably be a brilliant
success--or a sad disaster. Napoleon liked such games. If Beauregard
really has great genius, he has now the field on which to display it. If
the Tennesseeans and Kentuckians rise, momentous events may follow; if
not, it is probably the last opportunity they will have. They have their
choice--_but blood is the price of independence_.
NOVEMBER 7TH.--Dark and raining. Cannon heard down the river.
To-day our Congress assembles. Senator Johnson, of Missouri (who
relinquished six years in United States Senate and $200,000 for the
cause), called to see me. He is hopeful of success in the West.
By the Northern papers we see that Mr. Seward has discovered a
"conspiracy" to burn all the Northern cities on election day. It may be
so--by Northern incendiaries.
Our citizens are still asking permits to bring flour and meal to the
city (free from liability to impressment) for "family use." The
speculators divide and subdivide their lots, and get them in, to sell at
extortionate prices.
Rumors of fighting toward Petersburg--nothing reliable.
Gen. Lee writes that he sent in the Tredegar Battalion to the foundry a
few days ago (desertions being frequent from it); and now he learns it
is ordered out to report to Lieut.-Col. Pemberton. He requests that it
be ordered back to the foundry, where it is absolutely necessary for the
supply of munitions, etc.
NOVEMBER 8TH.--Wet and warm; all quiet below, and much mud there.
Congress assembled yesterday, and the President's message was read. He
recommends the employment of 40,000 slaves in the army, not as soldiers,
unless in the last extremity; and _after_ the war he proposes their
_emancipation_. This is supposed to be the idea of Mr. Benjamin, for
foreign effect. It is denounced by the _Examiner_. The message also
recommends the abolition of all class exemptions, such as editors, etc.
The _Examiner_ denounces this as a blow at the freedom of the press.
The message is cheerful and full of hope, showing that the operations of
the year, in the field, have resulted in no disadvantage to us.
By the Northern papers we find that a fleet of four or five cruisers is
devastating their commerce. They sailed recently from Wilmington, in
spite of Gen. Whiting.
No attack was made on Richmond during the last few days. I have no doubt
it was deemed unnecessary by the enemy to secure Mr. Lincoln's
re-election. To-day, no doubt, the election in the United States will
result in a new lease of presidential life for Mr. Lincoln. If this
result should really have been his _motive_ in the conduct of the war,
perhaps there may soon be some relaxation of its rigors--and possibly
peace, for it is obvious that subjugation is not possible. President
Lincoln may afford to break with the Abolition party now, and, as has
been often done before, kick down the ladder by which he ascended to
power. This is merely speculation, however; he may resolve to wield the
whole military strength and resources of the United States with more
fury than ever. But there will henceforth be a dangerous party against
him in the rear. The defeated Democrats will throw every obstruction in
his path--and they may _chock_ his wheels--or even give him employment
for the bayonet at home.
Dispatches from Beauregard and Hood, November 4th, at Tuscumbia, say
that Sherman is concentrating at Huntsville and Decatur. Part of our
army is at Florence. Gen. B. says his advance has been retarded by bad
weather and want of supplies, but that he will march into Tennessee
immediately. Gen. Forrest is throwing difficulties in the way of
Sherman. The armies are equidistant from Nashville, and if Sherman's
supplies fail, his condition becomes desperate.
Captain Manico (acting lieutenant-colonel Departmental Regiment) informs
me that the enemy will certainly open batteries in a day or two on our
troops at Chaffin's Bluff, and will be replied to vigorously, which he
thinks will bring on a battle. We shall hear more thunder, as the
distance is only seven or eight miles.
It seems to be clearing up, and there may be news before night. When
election news arrives per telegraph from the North--if favorable--it is
supposed the enemy will celebrate it by _shotted_ salutes, and thus
recommence the slaughter.
NOVEMBER 9TH.--Rained last night; clear this morning, and warm. All
quiet below, except the occasional bombs thrown at the canal by our
iron-clads.
The press is mostly opposed to the President's _project_ of employing
40,000 slaves in the army, under promise of emancipation. Some indicate
the belief that the President thinks the alternatives are subjugation or
abolition, and is preparing the way for the latter.
The _Enquirer_ is averse to conscribing editors between the ages of
eighteen and forty-five. The editor says it would be a violation of the
Constitution, etc.
We all believe Lincoln has been easily re-elected.
It is supposed Grant will soon receive large accessions from Sheridan's
army, and make another attempt to take Richmond. It will be the most
formidable attempt, and will be the most formidably resisted.
A row between Gen. Kemper and Gen. Preston: latter refers papers
directly to Col. Shields, Gen. K.'s subordinate. Gen. K. asks to be
relieved: Secretary Seddon agrees to it, taking sides with the Bureau of
Conscription. But the President does not (yet) agree to it, asks
investigation of Gen. K.'s complaints, etc.; and so it rests at the
present. The Assistant Secretary of War, his son-in-law Lieut.-Col. Lay,
etc. etc. are all on the side of the Bureau of Conscription; but I
suspect the President is on the _other_ side. My opinion is that unless
the Bureau of Conscription be abolished or renovated, our cause will
fare badly. The President states his suspicions of "malpractice" in his
indorsement.
Much cheering has been heard this morning in the enemy's lines--over
election news, probably: whether McClellan's or Lincoln's success, no
one here knows; but no doubt the latter.
NOVEMBER 10TH.--Warm; rain and wind (south) all night.
Quiet below. One of the enemy's pickets said to one of ours, last night,
that Warren's corps had voted unanimously for McClellan, and that New
York City has given a majority of 40,000 for him. This is hardly
reliable.
Mr. Foote offered a resolution, yesterday, condemning the President's
suggestion that _editors_ be put in the ranks as well as other classes.
Now I think the President's suggestion will be adopted, as Mr. Foote is
unfortunate in his resolutions. Mr. Barksdale (President's friend) had
it easily referred to the Committee on Military Affairs.
Hon. J. A. Gilmer, North Carolina, is applying for many passports
through the lines for people in his district. He applies to Judge
Campbell.
Coal is selling at $90 per load, twenty-five bushels.
The vote referring Foote's resolution (on the exemption of editors) was
passed unanimously, which is regarded as favoring the President's
recommendation. Mr. Foote had denounced the President as a despot.
Bought two excellent knit undershirts, to-day, of a woman who gets her
supplies from passing soldiers. Being washed, etc., they bore no
evidences of having been worn, _except two small round holes in the
body_. Such are the straits to which we are reduced. I paid $15 each;
the price for new ones, of inferior quality, is $50 a piece.
NOVEMBER 11TH.--Clear and pleasant. All quiet. No doubt, from the
indications, Lincoln has been re-elected.
Now preparations must be made for the further "conflict of opposing
forces." All our physical power must be exerted, else all is lost.
Mr. Sparrow, Louisiana, chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs,
introduced a measure, yesterday, in the Senate, which, if consummated,
might put all our able-bodied men in the field. It would equalize prices
of the necessaries of life, and produce a panic among the speculators. I
append it. But, probably, the press will have to be suppressed, "as a
war measure," too, to pass it:
_"A bill to extend the assessment of prices for the army to all citizens
of the Confederate States:_
"_Whereas_, the depreciation of our currency is, in a great measure,
produced by the extortion of those who sell the necessaries of life; and
whereas, such depreciation is ruinous to our Confederacy and to the
means of prosecuting the war; therefore
"_The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, as a
necessary war measure_, That the prices assessed for the army by the
commissioners of assessment shall be the prices established for all
citizens of the Confederate States; and that any person who shall charge
any price beyond such assessment shall be deemed guilty of a criminal
offense, and be subject to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars
and to imprisonment not exceeding one year."
We are now tending rapidly, under fearful exigencies, to the absolutism
which, in a republic, alone can summon the full forces into the field.
Power must be concentrated, and wielded with promptitude and precision,
else we shall fail to achieve our independence. All obstructions in the
way of necessary war measures must be speedily removed, or the finances,
and the war itself, will speedily come to an ignominious end.
The Secretary recommends, and the President orders, that Gen. Bragg be
assigned to the command of North Carolina. The President yields; Bragg
is "given up."
The Richmond _Enquirer_ is out, to-day, in an article advocating the
employment of 250,000 negroes in our army.
NOVEMBER 12TH.--Bright and pleasant.
The rumor is revived that Mr. Seddon will resign. If he really does
resign, I shall regard it as a _bad_ sign. He must despair of the
Republic; but, then, his successor may be a man of greater energy and
knowledge of war.
We are destitute of news, with an awful silence between the armies. We
believe this cannot last long, and we know Grant has a great superiority
of numbers. And he knows our weakness; for the government will persist
in keeping "at the front" local defense troops, smarting under a sense
of wrong, some of whom are continually deserting.
The money-changers and speculators, who have lavished their bribes, are
all in their places, preying upon the helpless women and children; while
the clerks--the permanence of whose tenure of office was guaranteed by
the Constitution--are still kept in the trenches, and their families,
many of them refugees, are suffering in destitution. But Mr. Seddon says
they _volunteered_. This is not candid. They were told by Mr. Memminger
and others that, unless they _volunteered_, the President had decided
their dismissal--when conscription into the army followed, of course!
NOVEMBER 13TH.--Bright and cold; ice on the porch. All quiet below, save
the booming of bombs every night from our iron-clads, thrown at the
workmen in the canal.
There is a dispatch from the West, relating to Gen. Forrest's operations
in Tennessee, understood to be good news. I did not wait to see, knowing
the papers will have it to-morrow.
Mr. Hunter was with Mr. Secretary Seddon, as usual, this Sunday morning,
begging him not to resign. This is flattery to Mr. Seddon.
NOVEMBER 14TH.--Clear and cold.
Lincoln is re-elected, and has called for a _million_ of men! This makes
many of our croaking people despondent; others think it only a game of
brag.
I saw the President to-day in earnest conversation with several members
of Congress, standing in the street. It is not often he descends from
his office to this mode of conference.
Some one of the family intimating that stains of blood were on my
undershirts (second hand), I was amused to see Mrs. J. lifting them with
the _tongs_. They have been thoroughly washed, and prove to be a
first-rate article. I am proud of them, for they are truly comfortable
garments.
Gen. Forrest is doing wonders in Tennessee, as the appended dispatch
from Gen. Beauregard shows:
"TUSCUMBIA, ALA., Nov. 8th, 1864.
"GEN. S. COOPER, A. AND I. GENERAL.
"Gen. Forrest reports on the 5th instant that he was then engaged
fighting the enemy at Johnsonville, having already destroyed four
gun-boats, of eight guns each, fourteen steamers, and twenty
barges, with a large quantity of quartermaster and commissary
stores, on the landing and in warehouses, estimated at between
seventy-five and one hundred thousand tons. Six gun-boats were then
approaching, which he hoped to capture or destroy.
"G. T. BEAUREGARD."
NOVEMBER 15TH.--Fair and cold; ice. Quiet below; rumors of further
successes in the Southwest, but not official.
Congress did nothing of interest yesterday in open session, but spent
most of its time in secret session. There will probably be stringent
martial law, for the strong hand of unlimited power will be required to
correct abuses, repress discontent, and bring into the field the whole
military strength of the Confederacy. The large majorities for Lincoln
in the United States clearly indicate a purpose to make renewed efforts
to accomplish our destruction.
It is now contradicted that Lincoln has called for 1,000,000 men.
Three P.M. Cloudy, and threatening snow.
An attack upon the city seems to be apprehended. All men must now have
passes from Mr. Carrington, Provost Marshal, or be liable to arrest in
the street. Such are the changes, indicating _panic_ on the part of
official dignitaries.
NOVEMBER 16TH.--Bright and frosty.
This is the day designated by the President for worship, etc., and the
offices and places of business are all closed. It is like Sunday, with
an occasional report of cannon down the river.
I doubt whether the clerks in the trenches will pray for the President.
Compelled to _volunteer_ under a threat of removal, they were assured
that they would only be called out in times of great urgency, and then
be returned to their offices in a few days. They have now been in the
front trenches several months; while the different secretaries are
quietly having their kinsmen and favorites detailed back to their civil
positions, the poor and friendless are still "left out in the cold."
Many of these have refugee families dependent on them, while those
brought in are mostly rich, having sought office merely to avoid service
in the field. The battalion, numbering 700, has less than 200 now in the
trenches. Hundreds of the local forces, under a sense of wrong, have
deserted to the enemy.
Gen. Breckinridge has beaten the enemy at Bull's Gap, Tenn., taking
several hundred prisoners, 6 guns, etc.
Mr. Hunter was at the department early this morning in quest of news.
Gave $75 for a load of coal.
Messrs. Evans & Cogswell, Columbia, S. C., have sent me some of their
recent publications: "A Manual of Military Surgery, by I. Julian
Chisolm, M.D., 3d edition;" "Digest of the Military and Naval Laws," by
Lester & Bromwell; "Duties of a Judge Advocate, etc." by Capt R. C.
Gilchrist; and "A Map of East Virginia and North Carolina;" all
beautifully printed and bound.
NOVEMBER 17TH.--Dark and dismal--threatening rain or snow. Quiet below;
but we have no papers to-day, yesterday being holiday.
It is rumored that Gen. Sheridan (Federal) is sailing from Washington to
reinforce Grant, and that Gen. Early is marching hitherward from the
Valley. There may be renewed operations against Richmond, or Grant may
penetrate North Carolina. No one knows what will happen a month or a
week hence.
Mr. Hunter was again with Mr. Seddon this morning.
Governor Smith's exemption mill is yet grinding out exemptions,
sometimes fifty per day. Constables, department clerks, and sheriffs,
commonwealth's attorneys, commissioners of the revenue, etc. etc., who
win his favor, get his certificate of exemption, as necessary for the
State administration.
A dispatch from Gen. Wheeler, Jonesborough, November 14th, says Sherman
has three corps at _Atlanta_, and is destroying railroads between him
and Marietta, probably intending to move forward--farther South.
Another dispatch from Gen. W., dated 14th inst., Lovejoy's, Georgia,
says scouts from enemy's rear report that Sherman left Atlanta yesterday
morning, with 15th, 17th, and 21st corps, in two columns, one on the
Jonesborough, and one on the McDonough Roads--cavalry on his flanks.
Many houses have been burned in Rome, Marietta, and Atlanta, and the
railroad bridge over Chattanooga River (in his rear)! Enemy advancing
this morning. To Gen. Bragg.
Twelve M. Still another dispatch from Gen. Wheeler to Gen. Bragg, dated
Jonesborough, 3 P.M., 15th inst. "Enemy advanced early this morning with
infantry, cavalry, artillery, and wagons--have driven our cavalry back
upon this place--strength not yet ascertained, etc."
Still another dispatch:
"GRIFFIN, GA., November 16th, 1864.
"TO GEN. BRAGG.
"Enemy checked this evening near Bear Creek--enemy evidently
marching to Macon.
"JOS. WHEELER, _Major-General_."
The dispatches from Gen. Wheeler have produced no little commotion in
the War Office.
Gen. J. E. Johnston's report of his Georgia campaign concludes by
asserting that he _did_ intend to defend Atlanta; that he retreated
before overwhelming numbers; that the President did not favor him with
any directions; that Lee retreated before Grant, and everybody praised
him for it; that Gen. Hood professed to be his friend, when seeking his
removal, or cognizant of the purpose to remove him; and that the
vituperation heaped upon him in certain papers seemed to have Executive
authorization at Richmond.
The President indorses this growlingly; that it all differs with his
understanding of the facts at the time, etc.
NOVEMBER 18TH.--Bright, calm, and pleasant.
All quiet below, save our bombardment of Dutch Gap Canal.
The Senate passed a resolution yesterday, calling on the President for a
statement of the number of exemptions granted by the Governors. This
will, perhaps, startle Governor Smith, of Virginia, who has already kept
out of the army at least a thousand.
Perhaps it will hit Governor Brown, of Georgia, also; but Sherman will
hit him hardest. He must call out all his fighting people now, or see
his State ravaged with impunity.
Both Houses of Congress sit most of the time in secret session, no doubt
concocting strong measures under the influence of the existing crisis.
Good news only can throw open the doors, and restore the hilarity of the
members. When not in session, they usually denounce the President; in
session, they are wholly subservient to him.
Hon. R. L. Montague has written to the Secretary of War, on behalf of
the entire Virginia delegation, requesting a suspension of the
impressment of slaves until further legislation by Congress; what that
legislation will be, the President might tell, if he would.
A dispatch from Gen. Wheeler, dated to-day, 12 miles from Forsyth,
states that Sherman advances by the most direct route toward Macon, Ga.
My wife presented me to-day an excellent pocket-handkerchief, my old
ones being honey-combed and unfit for another washing. Upon inquiry
(since the cost of a single handkerchief is now $20), I ascertained it
to be a portion of one of my linen shirts bought in London in 1846.
We have now 200 pounds of flour in the house; 1 bushel meal; 1 bushel
sweet potatoes; 1 bushel Irish potatoes; 3 half pecks white beans; 4
pumpkins; 10 pounds beef; 2 pounds butter, and 3 pounds sugar, with
salt, etc. This seems like moderate stores for a family of seven, but it
is a larger supply than we ever had before, and will suffice for a
month. At the market price, they would cost $620. Add to this 1-1/2
loads coal and a quarter cord of wood--the first at $75, the last at
$80--the total is $762.50. This sum in ordinary times, and in specie,
would subsist my family twelve months.
NOVEMBER 19TH.--Rained all night, and still rains. All quiet below, save
the occasional bomb thrown by our iron-clads.
Gen. and Hon. R. K. Wright, of Georgia, is said to have gone to
Washington to negotiate a peace for Georgia.
A dispatch from Gen. Wheeler, dated yesterday, 12 miles from Forsyth,
says: "I think definite orders should be sent to officers in command
here, as to the line of policy to be pursued--particularly as to
defending Macon, Augusta, or Columbus. If not to be defended, government
stores should be removed, on enemy's approach, if possible. An officer
should be sent to command everything, who knows the views, wishes, and
plans of the government." I think so too!
The papers think that Grant is about to try again to force his way into
Richmond, as soon as the weather will permit.
We had a delicious treat of persimmons to-night--a quart bought for a
dollar. They were delicious, and we enjoyed them hugely. Also a quart of
apples, for which we paid a dollar.
NOVEMBER 20TH, SUNDAY.--Rained all night--raining this morning. A
dispatch from Gen. Wheeler, 18th, at Forsyth, Ga., says: "The enemy
rapidly advancing."
It is said Gov. Brown has called out the men _en masse_. I think Sherman
is in danger.
Mr. Foote made what is called "a compromise speech" in Congress
yesterday. But although there is vacillation in the government, no
compromise measures will be tolerated yet--if ever. Everything still
depends upon events in the field. I think the government at Washington
and the people of the United States are very weary of the war, and that
peace of some sort must ensue. We shall be recognized by European powers
upon the first symptoms of exhaustion in the United States; and there
soon will be such symptoms, if we can only keep up a determined
resistance.
Besides, the seizure of our cruiser Florida in a neutral port (Brazil)
will furnish a pretext for a quarrel with the United States by the
maritime powers.
I am amused by our fireside conversations at night. They relate mostly
to the savory dishes we once enjoyed, and hope to enjoy again.
Gen. Butler's speech in New York, suggesting that the rebels be allowed
a last chance for submission, and failing to embrace it, that their
lands be divided among the Northern soldiers, has a maddening effect
upon our people.
NOVEMBER 21ST.--Wet, dark, and dismal. Quiet below.
In Congress, Mr. Staples, of Virginia, unfortunately exhibited a
statement obtained from the Bureau of Conscription, to the effect that
while 1400 State officers, etc were exempted in Virginia, there were
14,000 in North Carolina. This produced acrimonious debate, which is
not the end of it, I fear. I don't believe the statement. Gov. Smith, of
Virginia, is exempting a full share of constables, etc. etc. The Bureau
of Conscription strikes, perhaps, at Gen. Bragg, a North Carolinian. It
is not the end.
An anonymous letter to Gov. Bonham states that Capt. Hugener and all his
officers at Fort Sumter are drunkards or gamblers, and that the place is
in great danger. Gov. B. sends the letter to the President, who directs
the Secretary of War to make inquiry, etc. Perhaps it will be done in
time--since the fall of Plymouth.
Gold, to-day, brings $40 for $1.
Oak wood sells to-day at $100 per cord.
A large amount of apple-brandy has been made this year. A lady, whose
husband is a prisoner in the North, writes to the Secretary, asking the
release of her apple-brandy (in Virginia) from the clutches of the
impressing officer. She and her daughters had distilled 500 gallons,
upon which they depended to procure other supplies, etc. Brandy is
selling at $75 per gallon--$37,500. Pretty well for the old woman and
her three daughters! Apples are worth $100 per barrel; but the currency
(Confederate) is nearly worthless.
NOVEMBER 22D.--Rained in torrents last night; cold this morning and
cloudy.
All quiet below. But there was an alarm, night before last, growing out
of a stampede of some 50 of the enemy's beeves. They charged upon our
line, regardless of the fire of cannon and musketry, and were all
captured after penetrating our works. Brave cattle!
Gov. Vance writes that if Wilmington be attacked by a large force in the
rear of Fort Fisher, its fall is inevitable, unless two brigades of
veteran troops be sent from Gen. Lee's army. He says the defense of
Wilmington is as important as that of Richmond. The President directs
the Secretary of War to communicate with Gen. Lee on the subject.
We learn that Gen. Grant is on a visit to his family at Burlington, N. J.;
and yet the departmental troops (clerks) are still kept in the
trenches. It is said the _President's family_ keep them there by the
most imploring appeals to Gen. Lee, and that the President himself does
not feel altogether safe while the Federal army is so near him. His
house is on the side of the city most exposed, if a sudden attack were
made, of which, however, there seems to be no danger at present. Several
brigades of Gen. Early's troops have arrived from the Valley.
Gold sells to-day at $42 for $1. And it rises in the United States. This
produces trepidation in the cabinet.
Snowed a few minutes to-day, 4 P.M. The clouds are breaking--cold.
What appetites we have! Shin-soup and bean-soup alternately are relished
with shark-like appetites.
NOVEMBER 23D.--Snowed last night three inches. Clear and cold this
morning; ground frozen.
Had a dream last night--that meeting a few men in my _wood and
coal-house_, I nominated R. Tyler for the Presidency, and it was well
received. I must tell this to Mr. T.
I narrated my dream to Mr. T. Before I left, he said a clerkship _was at
the disposal of my son Thomas_; but Thomas is clerk in the conscription
service, getting rations, etc. etc., better than the $4000 per annum.
But still that dream may be realized. He is the son of President Tyler,
deceased.
John Mitchel is now editor of the _Examiner_, and challenged _Mr. Foote
yesterday_--the note was borne by Mr. Swan, of Tennessee, Mr. Foote's
colleague. Mr. Foote would not receive it; and Mr. S. took offense and
assaulted Mr. F. in his own house, when Mrs. F. interposed and beat Mr.
S. away.
Gen. Winder has been appointed, by _Gen. Cooper_, commander of all
prisons east of the Mississippi.
Gen. Winder has been made Commissary-General of all prisons and
prisoners of war. The Bureau of Conscription is yet sustained in power.
All this is done by Gen. Cooper,--unwise, probably _fatal_ measures!
NOVEMBER 24TH.--Clear and frosty. Ice half an inch thick this morning.
All quiet below.
Col. St. John, Niter and Mining Bureau, required 13,000 men to furnish
ammunition, etc.
Col. Northrop, Commissary-General, reports only 15 days' bread rations
in Richmond for 100,000 men, and that we must rely upon supplies
hereafter from the Carolinas and Virginia alone. The difficulty is want
of adequate transportation, of course. The speculators and railroad
companies being in partnership, very naturally exclude the government
from the track. The only remedy, the only salvation, in my opinion, is
for the government to take exclusive control of the railroads, abate
speculation, and change most of the quartermasters and commissaries.
Hon. J. B. Clarke proposed a resolution of inquiry in the House of
Representatives, which was adopted, calling for the number and name of
employees in the departments, and the State they were appointed from.
Virginia has more than half of them.
Gen. Cooper, the Adjutant-General, Northern by birth, turned out twenty
of his eighty clerks yesterday, to replace them with ladies.
It is said and believed that Sherman's cavalry has reached
Milledgeville, and destroyed the public buildings, etc.
We have nothing from Wheeler since the 18th inst.
NOVEMBER 25TH.--Bright and frosty.
A report from the Bureau of Conscription shows after all that only some
3000 men have been sent to the army during the last two months, under
General Order 77, revoking details, etc. I don't wonder, for there has
been the natural confusion consequent upon a conflict of authority
between Gen. Kemper and the Bureau of Conscription. About as many
details have been made by the one authority as have been enrolled by the
other.
NOVEMBER 26TH.--Clear and frosty.
The following dispatch was received to-day from Gen. Bragg:
"AUGUSTA, Nov. 25th, 1864.
"Arrived late last night, and take command this morning. We learn
from Gen. Wagner, who holds the Oconee Railroad bridge, that the
enemy has not crossed the river in any force. He has concentrated
in Milledgeville, and seems to be tending South. Our cavalry, under
Wheeler, is in his front, and has been ordered to destroy every
vestige of subsistence and forage as it retires; to hang upon his
flanks, and retard his progress by every possible means. I am
informed the brigades from Southwest Virginia have joined Wheeler.
President's dispatch of 23d just received.
"BRAXTON BRAGG, _General_."
When I carried this dispatch to the Secretary I found him sitting in
close conference with Mr. Hunter, both with rather lugubrious faces.
Another dispatch from Bragg:
"AUGUSTA, Nov. 25th, 8 P.M.
"The enemy has crossed the Oconee; was met this morning, in force,
at Buffalo Creek, near Sandersville. His movements from that point
will determine whether he designs attacking here or on Savannah."
Hon. I. T. Leach from North Carolina, yesterday introduced _submission_
resolutions in the House of Representatives, which were voted down, of
course,--Messrs. Logan and Turner, of North Carolina, however, voting
_for_ them. A party of that sort is forming, and may necessitate harsh
measures.
The President orders detail of fifty men for _express company_. _I
feared so!_
NOVEMBER 27TH.--Cloudy and warmer; slight rain. Nothing from Bragg this
morning. Nothing from below the city.
When I entered the Secretary's room this morning, I found him as grave
as usual. L. Q. Washington, son of Peter Washington, once a clerk under
President Tyler (and he still remains in the United States), and
grandson of Lund Washington, who, we learn by one of the published
letters of Gen. Washington, was his overseer, with no traceable
relationship to his family, was seated with him. He is chief clerk to
Mr. Benjamin, a sinecure position in the State Department. He was placed
there by Mr. Hunter, after writing a series of communications for the
_Examiner_, as Mr. Pollard informed me, denunciatory of Mr. Stephens,
Vice-President Confederate States. Mr. Kean and Mr. Shepherd, the clean
chief clerk, were also present, enjoying the Hon. Secretary's
confidence. They are all comparatively _young men_, whom the Secretary
has not assigned to positions in the field, although _men_ are alone
wanted to achieve independence. They were discussing a resolution of
Congress, calling for the names, ages, etc. of the civil and military
officers employed by the Secretary in Richmond, or it might have been
the subject of the removal of the government, or the chances of success,
etc., or the President's appointment of Gen. Bragg to command the army
in Georgia, or Mr. Hunter's prospects for the Presidency. No matter
what.
It is a dismal day, and a settled vexation is on the faces of many of
the officials. But if the time should come for flight, etc., I predict
many will have abundance of funds in Europe. The quartermasters,
commissaries, etc. will take care of themselves by submission. The
railroad companies have already taken care of themselves by their
partnership with the speculators. The express company bribes all
branches of the government, and I fear it has _obliged_ some of the
members of the President's military or domestic family.
By a report from the Niter and Mining Bureau, it appears that thirteen
furnaces of the thirty odd in Virginia have ceased operations. Several
have been destroyed by the enemy; the ore and fuel of others have become
exhausted; and those in blast threaten to cease work for want of hands,
the men being put in the army.
NOVEMBER 28TH.--Calm and warm; clouds and sunshine, without wind.
All quiet below. It is reported that one of our picket boats in the
James River deserted last night. It is said the crew overpowered the
officers and put them ashore, and then the boat rowed down to the enemy.
I am informed by Capt. Warner that there are 12,000 graves of Federal
prisoners at Andersonville, Ga. That climate is fatal to them; but the
government cannot feed them here, and the enemy won't exchange.
A dispatch from Gen. Bragg:
"AUGUSTA, November 27th, 1864.--We have lost communication with the
front. A small cavalry raid cut the Savannah Railroad and telegraph,
this morning, at Brier Creek, twenty-six miles from here. Gen. Wheeler
was, yesterday, confronting the enemy's infantry at Sandersville. An
officer, who left Macon on the 23d, states that one corps of the enemy
was still confronting us there; our force not exceeding 5000, nearly all
militia. The force here, including all available reserves, does not
exceed 6000 effectives: only one battery. I am not yet advised from
Charleston and Savannah, but know the means are small. Neither point
could long resist the enemy's whole force; hence my remarks about
concentration. Gen. Hardee has gone to Savannah. Wheeler will continue
to confront and harass the enemy. I have not learned the strength of his
command. He estimates the enemy's force at about 30,000."
Gen. Beauregard has published a short proclamation, saying he will soon
arrive to the rescue in Georgia. Here, then, will be war between the two
B's--Bragg and Beauregard; and the President will be as busy as a bee.
Meantime, Sherman may possess the land at pleasure.
A long letter (twenty-five pages) from Gov. Brown, Georgia, came to hand
to-day, combating, in replication, one from the Secretary relating to
calling out all the militia of Georgia, etc. _State rights_ and the
Constitution are discussed _in extenso_, and many a hard blow is aimed
at the President. The Governor regards the Secretary as merely the
instrument or head clerk of the President, whom he sneers at
occasionally. But he denounces as _vile_ the President himself, _and
refuses to obey the call_. What he will do with the militia must soon be
known, for Sherman is _there_.
A great stir among the _officers_ on bureau and department duty in
Richmond! Congress has called on the President for a list of all
commissioned officers here, their ages, etc., and how many of them are
fit for duty in the field. This will be dodged, of course, if possible.
NOVEMBER 29TH.--Clear, and warm as summer almost.
Another dispatch from Bragg:
"AUGUSTA, November 28th, 1864--On the 26th instant, the enemy started a
heavy cavalry force in this direction, from his main body near
Sandersville; Gen. Wheeler promptly following, leaving a portion of his
force to confront Sherman. Kilpatrick reached vicinity of Waynesborough
yesterday, where Wheeler overtook and attacked him. A running fight has
continued to this time; the advantage with us. We are driving them
toward Millen. Young's command has just arrived, and will go forward to
Wheeler, who will, I hope, be able to mount most of them from his
captures. Devastation marks the enemy's route. Hear nothing from the
movements of the enemy's infantry, since Wheeler left their front. I
fear they may cross the Savannah, and make for Beaufort. It is perfectly
practicable."
The number of deserters, under General Order 65, received here and sent
to Abingdon, Va., is 1224 men.
Senator Waldo P. Johnson, Missouri, told me he would move, to-day, to
allow the civil officers, etc. to buy rations and clothes of government,
at schedule prices. This would be better than an increase of salary.
No movements below, to-day, that I hear of.
Gen. Jos. E. Johnston was at the department to-day, and was warmly
greeted by his friends. If Sherman's campaign should be a success,
Johnston will be a hero; if the reverse, he will sink to rise no more. A
sad condition, for one's greatness to depend upon calamity to his
country!
NOVEMBER 30TH.--Clear, and warm as summer. No fires.
It is reported that Gen. Hood is still marching North, and is near
Nashville.
The following telegrams were received this morning:
"AUGUSTA, November 29th, 1864.--It is reported, _via_ Savannah, the
enemy, with infantry and artillery, entered Millen yesterday. Wheeler is
rapidly pursuing Kilpatrick, who retreats in that direction from
Waynesborough.--B. B."
"AUGUSTA, November 29th, 1864.--6-1/2 P.M.--Gen. Jones telegraphs from
Charleston: 'Ten (10) gun-boats with transports landing troops at
Boykins on Broad River. Four gun-boats with transports and barges are,
by this time, at Mackay's Point, junction of Pocotaligo with Broad
River. I am sending all assistance from here, and think we must make the
struggle near the coast.' As this movement relieves Wilmington, might
not some of the North Carolina reserves be sent to Gen. Jones?--B.
BRAGG."
The following items were in the papers this morning:
"NEGRO PICKETS.--Monday morning negro pickets were placed in front of
Gen. Pickett's division. Our men, taking it as an insult, yesterday
fired upon them, causing a stampede among them. Their places have been
supplied with white Yankees, and the lines have resumed the usual quiet.
"Two negroes, captured by Gen. Hunter in the Valley last summer, and
forced into the Yankee army, deserted yesterday and came into Gen.
Pickett's lines, and were brought over to this city."
"CAPTURE OF GEN. PRYOR.--The _Express_ gives the following account of
the capture of the Hon. Roger A. Pryor, on Monday morning:
"While riding along the lines on our right, he stopped at one of our
vidette posts, and left his horse and private arms with one or two other
articles in charge of the pickets, stated that he intended, as was often
his custom, to go forward and exchange papers with the enemy's
videttes. He advanced in the direction of the Yankee lines, flourishing
a paper in his hand, in token of his object, and after proceeding some
distance was met by a Yankee officer. An exchange of papers was
effected, and Gen. Pryor had turned to retrace his steps, when he was
suddenly seized by two or three armed men, who were lying in ambush, and
hurried away. The whole transaction, we understand, was witnessed by
some of our men, but at too great a distance to render any assistance.
Gen. Pryor had frequently exchanged papers with the enemy, and his name
and character had, no doubt, been reported to them. They resolved to
have him, by fair means or foul, and descended to the basest treachery
to accomplish their purpose.
"We trust that some notice may be taken of the matter by our military
authorities, and every effort used to secure his early return. During
the last few months the general has been acting as an independent scout,
in which capacity he has rendered valuable service."
CHAPTER XLV.
Desertions.--Bragg and Kilpatrick.--Rents.--Gen. Winder's management of
prisoners.--Rumored disasters in Tennessee.--Prices.--Progress of
Sherman.--Around Richmond.--Capture of Fort McAlister.--Rumored death
of the President.--Yankee line of spies.--From Wilmington and
Charleston.--Evacuation of Savannah.
DECEMBER 1ST.--Bright and warm.
It is said there is a movement of the enemy menacing our works on the
north side of the river. There was shelling down the river yesterday and
day before, officially announced by Gen. Lee--two of the enemy's
monitors retired.
Gen. Longstreet says "over 100 of Gen. Pickett's men are in the
guard-house for desertion, and that the cause of it may be attributed to
the numerous reprieves, no one being executed for two months." Gen. Lee
indorses on the paper: "Desertion is increasing in the army,
notwithstanding all my efforts to stop it. I think a rigid execution of
the law is mercy in the end. The great want in our army is firm
discipline." The Secretary of War sent it to the President "for his
information." The President sent it back with the following biting
indorsement: "When deserters are arrested they should be tried, and if
the sentences are reviewed and remitted, that is not a proper subject
for the criticism of a military commander.--JEFF. DAVIS. November 29th,
1864."
Another dispatch from Gen. Bragg:
"AUGUSTA, November 30th, 1864.--Following just received from Major-Gen.
Wheeler: _'Four Miles West Buckhead Church_, November 29th, 9 P.M.--We
fought Gen. Kilpatrick all night and all day, charging him at every
opportunity. Enemy fought stubbornly, and left a considerable number of
their killed. He stampeded, and came near capturing Kilpatrick twice;
but having a fleet horse, he escaped, bareheaded, leaving his hat in our
hands. Our own loss about 70, including the gallant Gen. Robertson,
severely wounded. Our troops all acted handsomely.'
"Gen. Robertson has arrived here. His left arm is badly broken at the
elbow, but he is doing well.--B. B."
Another dispatch of the same date: "To establish our communications
west, I have ordered the immediate repair of the Georgia Railroad to
Atlanta. With the exception of bridges, the damage is reported as
slight. We should also have a line of telegraph on that route.--B. B."
I succeeded to-day in buying of Government Quartermaster (Major
Ferguson) four yards of dark-gray cloth, at $12 per yard, for a full
suit. The merchants ask $125 per yard--a saving of $450. I hope to have
it cut and made by one of the government tailors, for about $50,
trimmings included. A citizen tailor asks $350!
The Senate passed a bill, yesterday, increasing my salary and Custis's
$500, which we don't thank them for unless we can buy rations, etc. at
schedule prices. The money is worthless when we go into the open market.
My landlord, Mr. King, has gone into the grocery business; and, although
he did not raise the rent for the present year, still asked more upon my
offer to pay the amount of the first quarter to-day--$500, six months
ago, were really worth more than $1000 to-day. At that time I
acknowledged the house would bring more than $500. To-day it would rent
for more than $1000. He left it to me to do what was right. I think it
right to pay $800 or $1000, and will do so.
This evening our servant stepped into the yard just in time to save some
clothes drying on the line. A thief was in the act of stealing them, and
made his escape, springing over the fence into the alley.
DECEMBER 2D.--Warm, and raining moderately.
My landlord gets $400 of the $500 increase of my salary.
Dispatches from Gen. Bragg:
"AUGUSTA, December 1st, 1864.--Following received from Lieut.-Gen. R.
Taylor, Savannah, Ga.: 'Gen. Hardee is at Grahamville. No fighting there
since yesterday evening, when the enemy was driven five miles, leaving
their dead upon the field.--B. B.'"
Another:
"AUGUSTA, December 1st, 1864, 12M.--The (enemy's) cavalry having been
driven in, the enemy's main force was yesterday found near Louisville,
with strong outposts in this direction. They have secured large supplies
in the country; but our cavalry is now all up, and it is hoped they will
be prevented to a great extent in the future. The report from Savannah,
of the enemy's entrance into Millen, on the 27th, was premature.
Telegraphic communication was reopened to Savannah by that route
yesterday. The enemy is just now reported as at Station 9, on Central
Railroad, advancing.--B. B."
During the last month, 100 passports were given to leave the Confederate
States by Provost Marshal Carrington and War Department.
Mr. G. B. Lamar, Savannah, Ga., tenders his services to go to New York
and purchase supplies for our prisoners in the hands of the enemy, and
to negotiate the sale of 1000 bales of cotton, etc.
Twelve M. Heavy and pretty rapid shelling is heard down the river.
Col. Chandler, Inspecting Officer, makes an ugly report of Gen. Winder's
management of the prisons in Georgia. Brig.-Gen. Chilton appends a
rebuking indorsement on Gen. W.'s conduct. The inspector characterizes
Gen. W.'s treatment of the prisoners as barbarous, and their condition
as a "hell on earth." And Gen. W. says his statements are "false."
DECEMBER 3D.--Very warm--clouds and sunshine, like April.
Roger A. Pryor, who resigned his brigadiership, and has been acting as a
_scout_ (private), fell into the hands of the enemy the other day while
exchanging newspapers with their pickets. They have him at Washington,
and the United States newspapers say he makes revelations of a sad state
of affairs in Georgia, etc. This is doubtless erroneous.
A "peace resolution" has been introduced in the North Carolina
Legislature.
Hon. Mr. Foote yesterday introduced a resolution in Congress, calling
for a convention of the States--or appointment of commissioners from the
States. Voted down by a large majority.
Gen. Rosser (two brigades) made a descent, a few days ago, on the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, capturing some nine guns altogether,
including four siege, which he spiked. The others he brought off, with
800 prisoners. He destroyed 200 wagons and a large amount of
quartermaster and ordnance stores.
Per contra. Grant has pounced upon one of our depots at Stony Creek,
Weldon Railroad, getting some 80 prisoners, and destroying a few stores.
It is said he still holds the position--of some importance.
Gen. Ewell still thinks the aspect here is "threatening."
Brig.-Gen. Chilton, Inspector-General, has ordered investigations of the
fortunes of bonded officers, who have become rich during the war.
A strong effort has been made to have Gen. Ripley removed from
Charleston. He is a Northern man, and said to be dissipated. Senator Orr
opposes the change; the Secretary recommends his retention, and the
President indorses: "I prefer that Gen. Ripley should remain.--J. D."
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4TH.--Bright, clear, and warm.
A dispatch from Gen. Bragg. "AUGUSTA, December 3d, 6 P.M.--A strong
force of the enemy's cavalry and infantry advanced from Louisville and
encamped last night six miles from Waynesborough. They turned off this
morning toward Savannah. Our cavalry is pressing in the rear, and all
available means is being thrown to their front by rail. There is time
yet for any assistance which can be spared, to be sent by way of
Charleston.--B. B."
The Northern papers say our army under Hood in Tennessee has met with a
great disaster. We are still incredulous--although it may be true. If
so, the President will suffer, and Johnston and Beauregard will escape
censure--both being supplanted in the command by a subordinate.
Brig.-Gen. Preston is still directing orders to Col. Shields, who is
under the command of Major-Gen. Kemper, and the conflict of conscription
authorities goes on, while the country perishes. Preston is a South
Carolina politician--Kemper a Virginian. Mr. Secretary Seddon leans to
the former.
The law allowing exemptions to owners of a certain number of slaves is
creating an antislavery party. The non-slaveholders will not long fight
for the benefit of such a "privileged class." There is madness in our
counsels!
We are still favored by Providence in our family. We have, at the market
prices, some $800 worth of provisions, fuel, etc., at the beginning of
winter, and my son Thomas is well clad and has his order for a month's
rations of beef, etc., which we get as we want it at the government shop
near at hand in Broad Street. His pay and allowances are worth some
$4500 per annum.
Major Ferguson having got permission of the Quartermaster-General to
sell me a suit of cloth--there being a piece too dark for the army, I
got four yards, enough for coat, pants, and vest, at $12 per yard--the
price in the stores is $125; and I have the promise of the government
tailor to make it up for some $30 or $40, the ordinary price being $350;
the trimmings my family will furnish--if bought, they would cost $100.
Tom has bought a new black coat, made before the war, for $175, the
peace price $15, in specie, equivalent to $600. And my daughter Anne has
made three fine bonnets (for her mother, sister, and herself), from the
debris of old ones; the price of these would be $700. So I fear not but
we shall be fed and clad by the providence of God.
DECEMBER 5TH.--Bright and beautiful.
Anne Samuels and many other ladies, Harrisonburg, Virginia, have
petitioned the government for authority to organize themselves into a
regiment for local defense.
Great excitement was produced in the House of Representatives (Congress)
this morning by the entrance of a lady who proceeded vigorously to
cowhide the Hon. Mr. V----, from Missouri.
Congress has passed a resolution declaring that it was not meant, in
calling for the ages of the clerks in the departments, to include the
ladies.
Vice-President Stephens has arrived in the city.
Our people think, in the Federal accounts of a victory over Gen. Hood,
at Franklin, Tenn., they perceive a Confederate victory. It is
understood that the enemy fell back upon Nashville after the battle,
pursued by Hood.
We are also hopeful of the defeat of Sherman--a little delay on his part
will render it pretty certain. If it should occur, will it give us
peace?
The _Tribune_ says President Lincoln is more determined than ever to
restore the Union. But disaster will surely dishearten either side--that
is, the people.
The following dispatch has been received from Gen. Bragg:
"AUGUSTA, December 4th, 1864.--The column is moving on what is known as
Eastern Road, to Savannah. There are several ferries from the mouth of
---- Creek to Charleston and Savannah Railroad bridge--none below that.
Gen. Hardee reports he is patrolling the river with a gun-boat. I have
had all ferry boats destroyed, and ordered all roads to and from the
river to be broken up and blockaded by felling heavy timber. The roads
are all passed by causeways to the river on both sides over dense
swamps. None of enemy's forces remain near Macon; and from best
information I can obtain, it is thought all of ours have left there for
Savannah. The Georgia militia, who were on Central Railroad, moved back
toward Savannah, and at last accounts were at Station 4-1/2; our
cavalry, however, far in advance of them.--B. B."
At night--mended broken china and glassware again with white lead, very
successfully. Such ware can hardly be bought at all--except by the rich.
DECEMBER 6TH.--Bright and beautiful. Indian summer apparently.
All quiet below--but it is anticipated by some that a battle will occur
to-day, or in a day or so.
The enemy's negro troops have been brought to this side of the river,
and are in full view on picket duty.
The Signal Bureau reports a large number of transports descending the
Potomac a few days ago; probably Sheridan's army, to reinforce Grant.
And yet our conscription superintendents, under orders, are busily
engaged furloughing and detailing the rich slaveowners! It is developing
a rapidly growing _Emancipation party_, for it is the establishment of a
privileged class, and may speedily prove fatal to our cause. Our leaders
are _mad_, and will be destroyed, if they persist in this policy.
DECEMBER 7TH.--Raining, and warm.
It is said several hundred of the prisoners taken by Rosser in the
Valley escaped, on the way to Richmond. A relaxation of vigilance always
follows success. How long can this war last?
Hon. Mr. Staples procured four and two months' details yesterday for two
rich farmers, Messrs. McGehee and Heard, both rosy-faced, robust men,
and yet found for "light duty" by a medical board. Thus we go. The poor
and weakly are kept in the trenches, to desert the first opportunity.
It is said a dispatch came from Bragg yesterday (I saw it not) stating
that Wheeler and some infantry had a sharp battle with Sherman's
advance, near Millen, in which the latter suffered greatly. But
reinforcements coming up, our forces fell back in order, disputing the
way.
Tea is held at $100 per pound! Wood still $100 per cord.
I saw Gen. Rains to-day. He says he has over 2000 shell torpedoes
planted along our lines around Richmond and Petersburg.
Col. Bayne reports the importation of 6400 packages salted meats, fish,
coffee, preserved vegetables, from Nassau, Bermuda, and Halifax, _since
October 1st, 1864_, in fourteen different steamers.
DECEMBER 8TH.--Rained hard in the night; clear and pleasant in the
morning.
A letter from John T. Bourne, St. Georges, Bermuda, says he has some
1800 barrels government gunpowder under his care, of which he desires to
be relieved.
Gen. Lee sent to the Secretary the following dispatch this morning: "2d
and 5th corps, Gregg's division of [enemy's] cavalry, are moving South,
on Jerusalem Plank Road. Cavalry reached Sussex Court House at 7 P.M.
yesterday. Hill and Hampton [Confederate States generals] are
following. Appearances indicate they are moving against Weldon, where I
am concentrating all the depot guards I can.
"R. E. LEE, _General_.
"PETERSBURG, Dec. 8th, 1864."
There are rumors of the enemy having effected a lodgment on the south
side of the river, between Howell and Drewry's Bluff. This may be
serious. I do not learn (yet) that the Dutch Gap Canal is finished; but
the enemy landed from barges in the fog. Gen. Lee, some weeks ago,
designated such a movement and lodgment as important and embarrassing,
probably involving the holding of Petersburg.
Nothing from Bragg.
One of Gen. Early's divisions is passing through the city toward
Petersburg.
DECEMBER 9TH.--Cold and cloudy; surface of the ground frozen.
Cannon heard below. More of Gen. Early's corps arriving. The papers
contradict the report that Howlett's Battery has been taken. The opinion
prevails that a battle will occur to-day.
It appears that but few of the enemy's forces were engaged in the
demonstration on the south side, below Drewry's Bluff, and no uneasiness
is felt on account of it.
We have nothing so far to-day from the enemy's column marching toward
Weldon.
Gov. Smith, in his message to the Legislature now in session, recommends
the employment of negro troops, even if it results in their
emancipation. He also suggests an act, putting into the army civil
officers of the State under forty-five years of age. At the same time he
is exempting officers (State) _under forty-five_, and there is no
compulsion on him.
A dispatch from Gen. Lee last night states that from the great number of
wagons taken by the enemy on the Weldon Road, the movement is
formidable, and indicates a purpose of prolonged operations.
At night--and snowing--a terrible night for the poor soldiers in the
field!
DECEMBER 10TH.--Snowed two inches last night. Cloudy and damp this
morning.
Guns were heard down the river last night at a late hour. Perhaps it was
nothing more than shelling the enemy's canal.
We have nothing yet authentic from Georgia; but many rumors of much
fighting.
It is said Gen. Hampton has got in front of the enemy's column at the
Weldon Railroad, and is driving them back. Gen. Hill, it is presumed, is
_this_ side of them.
It is also reported that Gen. Longstreet is now (12 M.) attacking the
enemy on _this_ side of the river, and driving them. Distant guns can be
heard southeast of us, and it may be true.
Major Cummings, Confederate States, Georgia, dispatches that the
railroad between Atlanta and Chattanooga should be repaired immediately,
to bring off supplies from Middle Tennessee. Gen. Bragg concurs.
The following was received from Gen. Bragg to-day, 11 A.M.:
"AUGUSTA, December 10th, 1864.--The following dispatch is just received
from Gen. Wheeler, twenty-seven miles from Savannah, 10 P.M., 8th
December. Enemy are still moving toward Savannah, obstructing the road
in the rear, and resisting warmly this morning. I cannot learn that any
have crossed the Savannah River. I hear artillery firing, far in my
front; do not know what it means: 14th corps and Kilpatrick's cavalry on
the river road; 15th on middle ground road; and 17th, and probably 20th,
on Central Railroad.
"I think the force on the right bank of Ogeechee must be small."
DECEMBER 11TH, SUNDAY.--Cloudy and melting--snow vanishing rapidly. The
thousand and one rumors of great achievements of Gen. Longstreet on the
north side of the river seem to have been premature. Nothing official of
any advantage gained over the enemy near the city has been received so
far as I can learn. Gen. Lee, no doubt, directed Longstreet to make
demonstrations on the enemy's lines near the city, to ascertain their
strength, and to prevent more reinforcements being sent on the south
side, where the struggle will occur, if it has not already occurred.
There is no doubt that the enemy's column sent toward Weldon has been
checked, and great things are reported of Gen. Hampton's cavalry.
A battle must certainly occur near Savannah, Ga. Sherman _must_ assail
our lines, or perish between two fires.
President Lincoln's message to the Congress of the United States,
republished in our papers, produces no marked effect. His adherence to a
purpose of emancipation of the slaves, and his employment of them in his
armies, will suffice for an indefinite prolongation of the war, and
perhaps result in the employment of hundreds of thousands of slaves in
our armies. The intimation, however, that all applications for "pardon,"
etc. have been and are still favorably entertained, will certainly cause
many of our croakers who fall into the lines of the United States forces
to submit. Others, though so disposed, have not an opportunity to
signify their submission. But everything depends upon events in the
field.
DECEMBER 12TH.--Clear and cold. Ice half an inch thick.
Gen. Longstreet is again in the old lines on this side of the river. The
reconnoissance, however, is said to have been successful. Only a few
were killed and wounded on either side.
And Grant's column was turned back from Meherrin bridge. Results of the
movement unimportant, and the supposition is that both armies will now
go into winter quarters, after a taste of this rigorous weather.
It is rumored and believed (though I have seen no dispatch to that
effect) that Sherman has beaten and out-manoeuvred our generals, and
got into communication with the Federal fleet.
I read President Lincoln's message carefully last night. By its
commissions and omissions on Mexican affairs, I think he means to menace
Louis Napoleon, who may _speak out_ January 1st, 1865. Lincoln says:
"Mexico continues to be a theater of civil war. While our political
relations with that country have undergone no change, we have at the
same time strictly maintained neutrality between the belligerents."
And his reference to England is so equivocal, and his grouping of the
Central and South American _Republics_ so prominent, and the boastful
allusion to the "inexhaustible" resources of the United States, may be
considered as a premeditated threat to Great Britain.
A "confidential" letter came in to-day from Mr. Benjamin to the
Secretary of War.
Dr. Powell has sent us a dozen ruta baga turnips, and a couple of
quarts of excellent persimmons, which the family enjoys most thankfully.
Dispatches from Lee:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"December 10th, 1864.
"HON. JAMES A. SEDDON, SECRETARY OF WAR.
"Gen. Hampton, after driving the enemy's cavalry upon his infantry,
on the afternoon of the 8th, recrossed the Nottoway and reached
Bellfield at daylight yesterday.
"In the afternoon the enemy attacked the position, but were
successfully resisted. This morning the enemy is reported retiring
and Hampton following.
"The bridge over the Meherrin was saved. Our loss, as far as known,
was small. The garrison, under Garnett, and the reserves, behaved
well. R. E. LEE."
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"December 10th, 1864.
"HON. JAMES A. SEDDON, SECRETARY OF WAR.
"About noon yesterday the first division of the Second Corps of the
enemy, supporting their cavalry, forced back our cavalry pickets on
the Vaughan Road, south of the Appomattox, and advanced toward
Dinwiddie Court House.
"To-day our cavalry, reinforced by infantry, drove them back across
Hatcher's Run, capturing a few prisoners and re-establishing our
lines. R. E. LEE."
DECEMBER 13TH.--Cloudy and cold, but wind southeast.
The sullen sound of cannon heard this morning as usual down the river. I
hear of no active operations there, although the ground is sufficiently
frozen to bear horses and artillery.
Rumors of successes on the part of Sherman near Savannah are still in
circulation.
The rich men are generally indignant at the President and Gov. Smith for
proposing to bring a portion of the negroes into the army. They have not
yet awakened to a consciousness that there is danger of losing _all_,
and of their being made to fight against us. They do not even remove
them beyond the reach of the enemy, and hundreds are daily lost, but
still they slumber on. They abuse the government for its impressments,
and yet repose in fancied security, holding the President responsible
for the defense of the country, without sufficient men and adequate
means.
The following dispatch from Gen. Bragg was received to-day at 10 P.M.:
"AUGUSTA, Dec. 12th.
"The telegraph having been cut, we get nothing from Savannah. A
dispatch from Wheeler gives a copy of enemy's order for the line of
investment around Savannah. It is about eight miles from the city,
and was to have been reached on the 9th.
"B. BRAGG."
I have at length succeeded in getting a suit of clothes; it was made at
the government shop for $50, the trimmings having been found (in the
house) by my wife. The suit, if bought of a merchant and made by the
city tailors, would cost some $1000. A Yankee prisoner (deserter) made
the coat at a low price. The government means to employ them, if they
desire it, in this manner. I am very thankful for my good fortune.
DECEMBER 14TH.--Cloudy, and thawing rapidly. All quiet below.
The bill to employ 40,000 negroes, as recommended by the President, for
army purposes, though not _avowedly_ to fight, has passed one House of
Congress. So the President is _master_ yet. There ought to be 100,000
now in the field.
An effort will be made by the government to put into the field the
able-bodied staff and other officers on duty in the bureaus here. It
will fail, probably, since all efforts have failed to put in their
able-bodied clerks. If Bragg were here, and allowed his way, he would
move them to the front.
The following dispatch was received from Gen. Bragg to-day:
"AUGUSTA, GA., Dec. 13th, 1864.--I go to Charleston to-morrow to see
Gen. Beauregard, at his request. He has assigned me to duty.--B. B."
I got to-day from Major Cross, A. Q. M. Gen., an order to buy a pair of
government shoes (British) for $10. They are most excellent in quality,
heavy, with iron heels, etc., and would cost, if made here, $150. This
good fortune is worthy of being thankful for.
The military officers in the bureaus, responsive to a resolution of the
House of Representatives, are reporting their ages, and most of them
admit they are able-bodied and fit for service in the field. They have
no fear of being transferred to the front, supposing themselves
indispensable as bureau officers.
DECEMBER 15TH.--Cloudy and cool.
A dispatch from the West states that the enemy have made a heavy raid
from Bean's Station, Ky., cutting the railroad between Abingdon and
Bristol, destroying government stores, engines, etc. Breckinridge and
Vaughan, I suppose, have been ordered away. Dr. Morris, Telegraph
Superintendent, wants to know of the Secretary if this news shall be
allowed to go to the press.
The President is ill, some say very ill, but I saw indorsements with his
own hand on the 13th (day before yesterday).
Our affairs seem in a bad train. But many have unlimited confidence in
Gen. Beauregard, who commands in South Carolina and Georgia, and all
repose implicit trust in Lee.
A writer in the _Sentinel_ suggests that if we should be hard pressed,
the States ought to repeal the old Declaration of Independence, and
voluntarily revert to their original proprietors--England, France, and
Spain, and by them be protected from the North, etc. Ill-timed and
injurious publication!
A letter from G. N. Sanders, Montreal, Canada E., asks copies of orders
(to be certified by Secretary of War) commanding the raid into Vermont,
the burning, pillaging, etc., _to save Lieut. Young's life_. I doubt if
such written orders are in existence--but no matter.
It is said the enemy have captured Fort McAlister, Savannah Harbor.
Mr. Hunter is very solicitous about the President's health--said to be
an affection of the head; but the Vice-President has taken his seat in
the Senate.
It was rumored yesterday that the President would surely die,--an idle
rumor, perhaps. I hope it is not a disease of the brain, and incurable.
DECEMBER 16TH.--Clear and pleasant; subsequently cloudy and chilly.
All quiet below, save the occasional booming of our guns from the
iron-clads.
The capture of Fort McAlister, Savannah, has caused a painful
sensation. It is believed we have as many men on the Georgia coast as
the enemy; but they are not the men of _property_--men of 1861-62; and
those _without_ property (many of them) are reluctant to fight for the
benefit of the wealthy class, remaining at home.
The following dispatch from Gen. Bragg was received this morning:
"CHARLESTON, December 15th, 1864.--My services not being longer
needed in this department, I shall leave this evening for Wilmington,
and resume my command.
"Sherman has opened communication with his new base, by the Ogeechee.
The means to meet him do not exceed one-half the estimate in yours of
the 7th instant. BRAXTON BRAGG."
So ends Gen. Bragg's campaign against Sherman!
I have not heard about the President's health to-day. But no papers have
come in from his office.
Lieut.-Col. Ruffin, Commissary Department, certifies (or Col. Northrop
for him) that he is "not fit for duty in the field."
DECEMBER 17TH.--Warm and cloudy.
Quiet below.
The President was reported better, yesterday, to my wife, who called.
It is said Gen. Cooper, R. Ould, etc. etc. have never taken their
compensation in Confederate States Treasury notes, hoping at a future
day (which may not come) to draw specie or its equivalent!
It was reported on the streets, to-day, that the President was dead. He
is much better; and will probably be at his office to-day.
The following telegram was sent over by the President this morning:
"SAVANNAH, GA., December 16th, 1864.--Sherman has secured a water base,
and Foster, who is already nearly on my communications, can be safely
and expeditiously reinforced. Unless assured that force sufficient to
keep open my communications can be sent me, I shall be compelled to
evacuate Savannah.--W. J. HARDEE, Lieut.-Gen."
Alas for President Davis's government! It is now in a painful strait. If
reinforcements be sent from here, both Savannah and Richmond may fall.
Gen. Bragg will be crucified by the enemies of the President, for
staying at Augusta while Sherman made his triumphant march through
Georgia; and the President's party will make Beauregard the scape-goat,
for staying at Charleston--for sending Hood North--which I am inclined
to think he did not do, but the government itself.
Capt. Weiniger (government clothing warehouse) employs about 4000
females on soldiers' clothes.
Some people still believe the President is dead, and that it is
attempted to conceal his death by saying he is better, etc. I saw his
indorsements on papers, to-day, dated the 15th, day before yesterday,
and it was a bold hand. I am inclined almost to believe he has not been
sick at all! His death would excite sympathy: and now his enemies are
assailing him bitterly, attributing all our misfortunes to his
incompetence, etc. etc.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18TH.--Raining.
The old dull sound of bombs down the river. Nothing further from
Savannah. It is now believed that the raiders in Western Virginia did
not attack Saltville, and that the works are safe. For two days the
speculators have been buying salt, and have put up the price to $1.50
per pound. I hope they will be losers. The State distributes salt
to-morrow: ten pounds to each member of a family, at 20 cents per pound.
The President's malady is said to be neuralgia in the head--an
evanescent affliction, and by no means considered dangerous. At least
such is the experience in my family.
It was amusing, however, to observe the change of manner of the
Secretaries and of heads of bureaus toward Vice-President Stephens, when
it was feared the President was in _extremis_. Mr. Hunter, fat as he is,
flew about right briskly.
If Savannah falls, our currency will experience another depreciation,
and the croaking reconstructionists will be bolder.
The members of the Virginia Assembly propose paying themselves $50 per
day!
Congress has not yet passed the act increasing the compensation of
members.
DECEMBER 19TH.--The darkest and most dismal day that ever dawned upon
the earth, except one. There was no light when the usual hour came
round, and later the sun refused to shine. There was fog, and afterward
rain.
Northern papers say Hood has been utterly routed, losing all his guns!
A letter from Mr. ------ to ------, dated Richmond, December 17th, 1864,
says: "I have the honor to report my success as most remarkable and
satisfactory. I have ascertained the _whole Yankee mail line, from the
gun-boats to your city, with all the agents_ save one. You will be
_surprised_ when informed, from the lowest to the highest class. The
agent in your city, and most likely in your department, has yet to be
discovered. This is as certain as what we have learned (his arrest, I
mean), for the party in whose hands the mail is put coming from your
city is known to us; and we have only to learn who gives him the mail,
which can be done upon arrest, if _not sooner_, to know everything. What
shall be done with the parties (spies, of course) when we are ready to
act? If you ever intimate that _trials are tedious_, etc., the enemy
seize citizens from some neighborhood as hostages, when their emissaries
are disturbed. _I will dispatch_, if it be authorized, and that will end
the matter. The lady I spoke to you of is the fountain-head. What to do
with females troubles me, for I dislike to be identified with their
arrest.
"I request that a good boat, with three torpedoes, and a man who
understands working them, be sent to Milford to report to me at Edge
Hill. Let the man be _mum_ on all questions. I would meet him at
Milford, if I knew the day (distance is twenty-five miles), with a
wagon, to take him, torpedoes, and boat to the point required. I must be
sure of the day.
"Have the following advertisement published in Monday's papers:
"'YANKEES ESCAPED! $1000 REWARD!--A Yankee officer and three privates
escaped from prison on Thursday night, with important matter upon their
persons. The above reward will be given for their detection.'
"Let me hear from you through Cawood's Line, upon receipt of this.
Respectfully, etc. ------."
We have the spectacle now of three full generals--Johnston, Beauregard,
and Bragg--without armies to command; and the armies in the field
apparently melting away under the lead of subordinate, if not
incompetent leaders. So much for the administration of the
Adjutant-General's office.
Governor Smith is still exempting deputy sheriffs, constables, etc.--all
able-bodied.
It is rumored on the street that we intend evacuating Savannah. How did
that get out--if, indeed, such is the determination? There _are_
traitors in high places--or near them.
It is also rumored that the Danville Railroad has been cut. I don't
believe it--yet.
There is deep vexation in the city--a general apprehension that our
affairs are rapidly approaching a crisis such as has not been
experienced before. There is also much denunciation of the President for
the removal of Gen. Johnston from the command of the Army of Tennessee.
Hon. Mr. Foote declared, Saturday, that he would resign his seat if the
bill to suspend the writ of _habeas corpus_, now pending, became a law.
There is much consternation--but it is of a sullen character, without
excitement.
The United States Congress has ordered that notice be given Great
Britain of an intention on the part of the Federal Government to
increase the naval force on the lakes; also a proposition has been
introduced to terminate the Reciprocity Treaty. And Gen. Dix orders his
military subordinates to pursue any rebel raiders even _into_ Canada and
bring them over. So, light may come from _that_ quarter. A war with
England would be our peace.
At 2 P.M. it was rumored that Charleston is taken and Beauregard a
prisoner. Also that Gen. Jos. E. Johnston (in the city) says Richmond
will be evacuated in ten days. I do not learn what gold sells at to-day!
I suspect some _coup d'état_ is meditated.
DECEMBER 20TH.--A brighter morning, cool and clear.
The _President_ was at work yesterday. He and the Secretary and Gen.
Cooper put their heads together to make up a _regiment_ for Col. Miller
in Mississippi, and designate the two field officers to be under
him--from two battalions and two unattached companies.
If the Northern (purporting to be official) accounts be true, Gen. Hood
has sustained an irretrievable disaster, which may involve the loss of
Tennessee, Georgia, etc.
Hon. Mr. Foote declared last night his purpose to leave the city in a
few days, never to resume his seat in Congress, if martial law should be
allowed. He said he had information that when Charleston _fell_, South
Carolina would conclude a treaty of peace (submission?) with the United
States; and that North Carolina was prepared to follow the example! I
have observed that these two States do not often incline to go together.
The _great_ disaster would be the loss of Richmond and retreat of Lee's
army southward. This would probably be followed by the downfall of
slavery in Virginia.
The Secretary of War has sent an agent to the Governor of North
Carolina, to ask for special aid in supplying Lee's army with
meat--which is deficient here--or else it cannot be maintained in the
field in Virginia! Very bad, and perhaps worse coming.
There is a rumor that Gen. Breckinridge has beaten Gen. Burbridge in
Tennessee or Western Virginia.
Gen. R. E. Lee is in town, looking robust, though weather-worn. He
complains that the department is depleting his army by details, often
for private and speculative purposes, to the benefit of private
individuals--speculators.
I drew my (State) salt to-day, 70 pounds, for 7 in family--20 cents per
pound. It retails at a $1 per pound!
Mr. Secretary ---- has sent (per Lieut.-Col. Bayne) some gold to
Wilmington, to buy (in Nassau) loaf sugar for his family, to be brought
in government steamers.
My son Thomas could get no beef ration to-day--too scarce.
DECEMBER 21ST.--Raining; rained all night.
The following dispatch was received this morning:
"WILMINGTON, December 20th, 1864,10 A.M.--The head of the enemy's fleet
arrived off this port during last night. Over thirty steamers are now
assembling, and more are following.--BRAXTON BRAGG."
It may be hoped that Gen. Bragg will do something more than chronicle
the successes of the enemy this time. He is nearer to him than when he
remained at Augusta; and yet the press could be made reticent on
arrivals, etc.
Lieut.-Col. Sims, Assistant Quartermaster General, has contracted with
the _Southern Express Company_ to transport all the funds of the
Quartermaster's Department--hundreds of millions!
Mr. Hunter was with the Secretary this morning, when I laid before the
latter Bragg's dispatch. I doubt not it failed to contribute to a
mollification of their painful forebodings.
By Northern papers I see President Lincoln disapproves Gen. Dix's order
to troops to cross the Canada line in pursuit of raiders.
Gold is $45 for one to-day.
The army has no meat this day, the commissaries, etc. have it all, and
are speculating with it--it is said. So many high officials are
_interested_, there is no remedy. We are at the mercy of the
quartermasters, commissaries, railroad companies, and the _Southern_
Express Company. The President and Secretary either cannot or will not
break our shackles.
An official account states the number of houses burnt by the enemy in
Atlanta to be 5000!
There is a rumor of another and a formidable raid on Gordonsville. The
railroad is now exclusively occupied with the transportation of
troops--perhaps for Wilmington. The raid may be a ruse to prevent
reinforcements being sent thither.
The Andersonville Report belongs to the Adjutant-General's Office, and
therefore has not come back to me.
DECEMBER 22D.--Clear and cold. We have nothing from below. From
Wilmington, we learn there is much commotion to resist the armada
launched against that port. Gen. Lee is sending troops _via_ the
Danville Road in that direction.
The wire has been cut between this and Gordonsville, by the scouts of
the raiders launched in that direction. We breakfast, dine, and sup on
horrors now, and digest them all quite sullenly.
I am invited to a turkey dinner to-day (at Mr. Waterhouse's), and have
some hesitation in accepting it at a time like this. Ought I to go? He
is a skilled artisan and has made money, and no doubt the turkey is
destined to be eaten by somebody.
At an auction this morning, a Jew bid off an old set of tablespoons,
weighing twelve ounces and much worn, at $575. He will next _buy_ his
way out of the Confederacy. Mr. Benjamin and Judge Campbell have much to
answer for in allowing such men to deplete the South of its specie,
plate, etc. There were some commissaries and quartermasters present, who
are supposed to have stolen much from the government, and desire to
exchange the currency they have ruined for imperishable wealth. They,
too, will run away the first opportunity.
The sun shines brightly this beautiful cold day; but all is dark in
Congress. The Tennessee members say Hood's army is destroyed, that he
will not get 1000 men out of the State, for the Tennesseeans,
Kentuckians, etc. refuse to retire farther south, but straggle and
scatter to their homes, where they will remain.
I am told we have but a thin curtain of pickets on the north side of the
James River, between us and 15,000 negro troops.
The President is at work at his residence, not having yet come down to
his office; and I learn it is difficult to get his attention to any
business just now but _appointments_; had to get him to sign a bill
passed by Congress to pay the civil officers of the government. No doubt
he is anxious and very unhappy.
Hon. Mr. Foote's wife has just got a passport to return home to
Nashville, Tennessee!
DECEMBER 23D.--Bright and very cold.
A storm has driven off a portion of the enemy's fleet before Wilmington.
The raid toward Gordonsville and Charlottesville is not progressing
rapidly. We shall have a force to meet it.
Besides the demonstration against Savannah (from which place we have no
recent tidings), it appears that an attempt on Mobile is in progress.
Too many attempts--some of them must fail, I hope.
From the last accounts, I doubted whether Hood's army has been so badly
shattered as was apprehended yesterday.
Gen. Price (trans-Mississippi) has brought out a large number of
recruits from Missouri.
I dined out yesterday, and sumptuously; the first time for two years.
Congress has done but little, so far. They are at work on the Currency
bill!
Mr. Enders, broker, and exempted as one of the Ambulance Committee, I am
informed paid some $8000 yesterday to Mitchell & Tyler for a few
articles of jewelry for his daughter. And R. Hill, who has a provision
shop near the President's office, I understand expended some $30,000 on
the wedding of his daughter. He was poor, I believe, before the war.
I got an order from Lieut. Parker, Confederate States Navy, for a load
of coal to-day. Good! I hope it will be received before the last on hand
is gone.
The enemy's raiders camped within seven miles of Gordonsville, last
night; and it will be ten o'clock to-day before our reinforcements can
reach there. I hope our stores (commissary) will not be lost--as usual.
Mr. S. Norris, Signal Bureau, has just (1 P.M.) sent the following: "I
am just informed that Mr. Smithers, telegraph operator at Gordonsville,
is again in his office. He says fighting is going on in sight--that
troops from Richmond have arrived, and arriving--and it is expected that
Gen. Lomax will be able to drive the enemy back."
Just before 3 P.M. to-day a dispatch came from Mr. Smithers, telegraph
operator at Gordonsville, dated 1 o'clock, saying the enemy have been
repulsed and severely punished, and are retreating the way they came,
toward Sperryville. He adds that many of the enemy's dead now lie in
sight of the town. So much for this gleam of good fortune, for I believe
the military authorities here were meditating an evacuation of the city.
Gen. Custis Lee was at the department to-day, after the clerks detailed
from his command. All, all are to be dragged out in this bitter cold
weather for defense, except the speculators, the extortioners, the land
and slave owners, who really have something tangible to defend, and
these have exemptions or "soft places."
DECEMBER 24TH.--Christmas eve! Clear and cold.
A dispatch from Hon. J. L. Orr and H. V. Johnson (on their way home)
informs the Secretary that from the delay in the transportation of
troops over the Piedmont Railroad, there must be either criminal neglect
or treachery concerned in it.
Again it is rumored that Savannah has been evacuated. There is something
in the air that causes agitation in official circles. Mr. Secretary
Seddon's room was locked nearly all day yesterday.
If troops cannot be transported expeditiously over the Piedmont Road,
fears may be entertained for Wilmington, when, the gale subsiding, the
enemy's fleet has reappeared.
There is a rumor on the street that the government is to be removed to
Lynchburg.
Gen. Lee has induced the President and Secretary of War to call for the
clerks (detailed ones) to repair to the trenches again--this weather.
The emergency must be great, as these soldiers get, as clerks, $4000 per
annum, and rations, etc.
A dispatch from Gen. Bragg.
"WILMINGTON, N. C., December 23d, 1864.--The fleet, which drew off in
the rough weather, is again assembled; seventy vessels now in sight on
the coast. The advance of the troops (C. S.) only reached here
to-night.--B. B."
The clerks are drawing lots; one-half being ordered to the trenches. Of
two drawn in this bureau (out of five) one is peremptorily ordered by
the Secretary to remain, being sickly, and the other has an order to go
before a medical board "to determine whether he is fit for service in
the trenches for a few days." Great commotion naturally prevails in the
departments, and it is whispered that Gen. Lee was governed in the
matter by the family of the President, fearing a Christmas visit from
the negro troops on this side the river.
The following note was received to-day from the Vice-President:
"RICHMOND, VA., December 23d, 1864.--Hon. Jas. A. Seddon, Secretary
of War: Will you please send me, through the post-office, a
passport to leave the city? I wish to depart in a few
days. Yours respectfully,
"ALEX. H. STEPHENS."
The President is hard at work making majors, etc.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25TH. CHRISTMAS!--Clear and pleasant--white frost.
All quiet below. But it is believed on the street that Savannah has been
evacuated, some days ago. I have not yet seen any official admission of
the fact.
We have quite a merry Christmas in the family; and a compact that no
unpleasant word shall be uttered, and no _scramble_ for anything. The
family were baking cakes and pies until late last night, and to-day we
shall have _full_ rations. I have found enough celery in the little
garden for dinner.
Last night and this morning the boys have been firing Christmas guns
incessantly--no doubt pilfering from their fathers' cartridge-boxes.
There is much jollity and some drunkenness in the streets,
notwithstanding the enemy's pickets are within an hour's march of the
city.
A large number of the croaking inhabitants censure the President for our
many misfortunes, and openly declare in favor of Lee as Dictator.
Another month, and he may be unfortunate or unpopular. His son, Gen.
Custis Lee, has mortally offended the clerks by putting them in the
trenches yesterday, and some of them may desert.
Many members of Congress have gone home. But it is still said they
invested the President with extraordinary powers, in secret session. I
am not quite sure this is so.
I append the following dispatches:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"December 23d, 1864.
"HON. JAMES A. SEDDON, SECRETARY OF WAR.
"On the 20th, Gen. Early reported one division of the enemy's
cavalry, under Gen. Custer, coming up the valley, and two
divisions, under Gen. Torbert, moving through Chester Gap, with
four pieces of artillery and thirty wagons.
"On the 22d, Rosser attacked Custer's division, nine miles from
Harrisonburg, and drove it back, capturing forty prisoners.
"This morning, Torbert attacked Lomax near Gordonsville, and was
repulsed and severely punished. He is retreating, and Lomax
preparing to follow. R. E. LEE."
"DUBLIN, December 20th, 1864.
"A dispatch from Gen. Breckinridge to-day, dated at Mount Airy,
sixteen miles west of Wytheville, says he had fought the enemy for
two days, successfully, near Marion. The enemy had retired from his
front; but whether they were retreating to East Tennessee or not,
he had not ascertained."
"CHARLESTON, December 22d, 1864.
"TO GEN. S. COOPER.
"On the 16th inst., the enemy, 800 strong, occupied Pollard. After
burning the government and railroad buildings, they retired in the
direction they came.
"They were pursued thirty miles, losing a portion of their
transportation, baggage, and supplies, and leaving many dead negro
troops on the road.
"Our force, commanded by Gen. Liddell, acted with spirit and
gallantry. G. T. BEAUREGARD, _General_."
"OUR INDIAN TROOPS.--Gen. Stand Watie, commanding our Indian troops
in the trans-Mississippi Department, has fully clothed and armed
all his men, and is in the vicinity of Fort Smith, attacking and
destroying Yankee wagon trains."
DECEMBER 26TH.--Raining--rained all night. The dark and dismal weather,
together with our sad reverses, have made the countenances of croakers
in the streets and in the offices more gloomy and somber than ever,
foreboding evil in the future. No one doubts the evacuation of Savannah,
and I suppose it must be so. Hardee had but 8000 reliable men. The
Georgians in Lee's army are more or less demoralized, and a reward of a
sixty days' furlough is given for shooting any deserter from our ranks.
An old black chest, containing mostly scraps and odds and ends of
housekeeping, yet brought on by my family from Burlington, has remained
four years unopened, the key being lost. We have felt an irrepressible
anxiety to see its contents, for even rubbish is now valuable. I got a
locksmith to send a man to pick the lock, last week, but he failed to
find the house, and subsequently was sent to the trenches. I borrowed
twenty-five keys, and none of them would fit. I got wire, and tried to
pick the lock, but failed. Yesterday, however, when all were at church,
I made another effort, prizing at the same time with the poker, when the
screws of the hasp came out and the top flew up, revealing only "odds
and ends" so far as I could see. I closed it, replaced the striped
cover, and put the cage with the parrot on it, where it usually remains.
The day, and the expressed objection of my wife to have the lock broken
or injured, have, until to-day, restrained me from revealing to the
family what I had done. But now I shall assemble them, and by a sort of
Christmas story, endeavor to mollify my wife's anticipated displeasure.
The examination of the contents will be a delightful diversion for the
children, old and young.
My impromptu Christmas tale of the old Black Chest interested the
family, and my wife was not angry. Immediately after its conclusion, the
old chest was surrounded and opened, and among an infinite variety of
rubbish were some articles of value, viz., of chemises (greatly needed),
several pairs of stockings, 1 Marseilles petticoat, lace collars,
several pretty baskets, 4 pair ladies' slippers (nearly new), and
several books--one from my library, an octavo volume on Midwifery, 500
pages, placed there to prevent the children from seeing the
illustrations, given me by the publisher for a notice in my paper, _The
Madisonian_, more than twenty years ago. There were also many toys and
keepsakes presented Mrs. J. when she was an infant, forty years ago, and
many given our children when they were infants, besides various articles
of infants' clothing, etc. etc., both of intrinsic value, and prized as
reminiscences. The available articles, though once considered rubbish,
would sell, and could not be bought here for less than $500.
This examination occupied the family the remainder of the day and
night--all content with this Christmas diversion--and oblivious of the
calamities which have befallen the country. It was a providential
distraction.
DECEMBER 27TH.--A night of rain--morning of fog and gloom. At last we
have an account of the evacuation of Savannah. Also of the beginning of
the assault on Port Fisher and Caswell below Wilmington, with painful
apprehensions of the result; for the enemy have landed troops above the
former fort, and found no adequate force to meet them, thanks to the
_policy_ of the government in allowing the _property holders_ to escape
the toils and dangers of the field, while the poor, who have nothing
tangible to fight for, are thrust to the front, where many desert. Our
condition is also largely attributable to the management of the Bureau
of Conscription--really the Bureau of _Exemption_.
I saw to-day a letter from Gen. Beauregard to Gen. Cooper, wherein it
was indicated that Gen. Hood's plan of penetrating Tennessee was adopted
before he (Gen. B.) was ordered to that section.
The enemy _did_ occupy Saltville last week, and damaged the works. No
doubt salt will "go up" now. The enemy, however, have retired from the
place, and the works can be repaired. Luckily I drew 70 pounds last
week, and have six months' supply. I have two months' supply of coal and
wood--long enough, perhaps, for our residence in Richmond, unless the
property owners be required to defend their property. I almost despair
of a change of policy.
It is reported that Sherman is marching south of Savannah, on some new
enterprise; probably a detachment merely to destroy the railroad.
An expedition is attacking, or about to attack, Mobile.
All our possessions on the coast seem to be the special objects of
attack this winter. If Wilmington falls, "Richmond next," is the
prevalent supposition.
The brokers are offering $50 Confederate States notes for $1 of gold.
Men are silent, and some dejected. It is unquestionably the darkest
period we have yet experienced. Intervention on the part of European
powers is the only hope of many. Failing that, no doubt a negro army
will be organized--and it might be too late!
And yet, with such a preponderance of numbers and material against us,
the wonder is that we have not lost all the sea-board before this. I
long since supposed the country would be penetrated and overrun in most
of its ports, during the second or third year of the war. If the
government would foster a spirit of patriotism, the country would always
rise again, after these invasions, like the water of the sea plowed by
ships of war. But the government must not crush the spirit of the people
relied upon for defense, and the rich must fight side by side with the
poor, or the poor will abandon the rich, and that will be an abandonment
of the cause.
It is said Gen. Lee is to be invested with dictatorial powers, so far as
our armies are concerned. This will inspire new confidence. He is
represented as being in favor of employing negro troops.
A dispatch from Lieut.-Gen. Hardee (to the President), December 24th,
1864, at Charleston, S. C., says he may have to take the field any
moment (against Sherman), and asks a chief quartermaster and chief
commissary. The President invokes the special scrupulosity of the
Secretary in the names of these staff officers.
DECEMBER 28TH.--Rained all night; warm.
A large stable burned down within sixty yards of our dwelling, last
night, and not one of the family heard the uproar attending it.
Gen. Bragg telegraphs the President that the enemy failed to reduce Fort
Fisher, and that the troops landed above the fort have re-embarked. But
he says the enemy's designs are not yet developed; and he is such an
unlucky general.
We found a caricature in the old black chest, of 1844, in which I am
engaged in fight with the elder Blair. Calhoun, Buchanan, etc. are in
the picture.
It is still believed that Gen. Lee is to be generalissimo, and most
people rejoice at it. It is said the President and Gen. Jos. E. Johnston
have become friends again.
DECEMBER 29TH.--Rained all night; spitting snow this morning.
Although Gen. Bragg announces that the enemy's fleet has disappeared off
Wilmington, still the despondency which has seized the croakers remains.
It has probably sailed against Charleston, to co-operate with Sherman.
Sherman says officially that he got, with Savannah, about 1000
prisoners, 150 heavy guns, nearly 200 cars and several locomotives,
35,000 bales of cotton, etc. etc. And Gen. Foster says the inhabitants
(20,000) were "quiet, and well disposed." Most people believe Charleston
will fall next, to be followed by a sweep of the entire sea-board; and
grave men fear that the impetus thus given the invader cannot be checked
or resisted.
The great want is _fighting men_, and they are mostly exempted or
detailed under that portion of the "War Department" which is quietly
worked by Judge Campbell, who is, of course, governed by his own great
legal judgment. Well, the President has been informed of this, and yet
waits for Mr. Secretary Seddon to suggest a remedy. I have often
thought, and still think, that either the Bureau of Conscription must be
abolished or the government must fail. The best generals will not avail
without sufficient men to fight.
Gen. Beauregard telegraphs from Charleston, December 26th, that there is
a conflict of authority at Mobile as to which branch of the service,
navy or army, shall command the torpedo boat. The two Secretaries are
referring it to commanders, and I fear that, by the time the question is
settled, some calamity will befall the boat, and the city, and the
country.
Grant is said to be moving troops to the north side of the river again,
fearing an attack from us, or intending one himself.
DECEMBER 30TH.--A clear night and frosty morning.
We have no news except that gleaned from Northern papers. Gen. Hood is
unable to cross the Tennessee River (now swollen), and would soon be
attacked again by superior numbers.
Congress was in secret session yesterday, probably perfecting the bill
for the suspension of the privilege of _habeas corpus_.
Gen. Bragg is credited with the repulse of the enemy at Wilmington.
During the late raid a close-fisted farmer lost heavily: several hundred
barrels of flour and corn, one hundred barrels of apples, a large
amount of bacon and sorghum, which he was hoarding, and thus
contributing to produce famine in the midst of plenty. His neighbors
(those few not following his example) express no sympathy for him. The
enemy did not burn Liberty Mills--once in their possession, in which is
stored a large amount of grain--for some unexplained reason.
The enemy's papers show that they have regular and expeditious
intercourse with parties here, and are kept correctly advised of
everything that transpires. This is a continuance of Mr. Benjamin's
policy by Mr. Seddon. It may be lucrative to those immediately
interested; but if not abated, will be the death of the Confederate
States Government--as I have told them all repeatedly.
And the "Bureau of Conscription" still exists, and seems destined to "be
in at the death."
I paid Lieut. Parker just $30.75 for a load of coal; selling at $75.
I saw selling at auction, to-day, second-hand shirts at $40 each, and
blankets at $75. A bedstead, such as I have bought for $10, brought
$700. But $50 in Confederate States paper are really worth only $1 in
specie.
Jos. R. Anderson & Co. writes that unless their hands are sent in from
the trenches, they cannot fill orders for ordnance stores; and Gen.
Gorgas (he has been promoted) approves it, saying it is known that a
number of these hands intend to desert the first opportunity.
The last call for the clerks to return to the trenches was responded to
by not a man of Capt. Manico's company, War Department proper.
DECEMBER 31ST.--The last day of the year. Snowing and wet.
Gen. H. Cobb writes that the existing Conscription Bureau is a failure
so far as Georgia, Alabama, etc. are concerned, and can never put the
men in the field.
Wm. Johnston, president of the Charlotte (N. C.) and South Carolina
Railroad, suggests the construction, immediately, of a railroad from
Columbia, S. C, to Augusta, Ga., which might be easily accomplished by
April or May. It would take that length of time for the government to
"consider of it." It will lose two railroads before it will order the
building of one.
There is supposed to be a conspiracy on foot to transfer some of the
powers of the Executive to Gen. Lee. It can only be done by revolution,
and the overthrow of the Constitution. Nevertheless, it is believed many
executive officers, some high in position, favor the scheme.
To-morrow Gen. Lee's army is to be feasted with turkeys, etc.
contributed by the country, if the enemy will permit them to dine
without molestation. The enemy are kept fully informed of everything
transpiring here, thanks to the vigilance of the Provost Marshal,
detectives, etc. etc.
Gen. Cobb writes that he is arresting the men who remained in Atlanta
during its occupation by Sherman, and subjecting themselves to
suspicion, etc. Better march the men we have against Sherman now, who is
still in Georgia!
Gen. Lee writes that Grant is concentrating (probably for an attack on
Richmond), bringing another corps from the Valley; and if the local
troops are brought in, he does not know how to replace them. His army
diminishes, rather than increases, under the manipulations of the Bureau
of Conscription. It is a dark and dreary hour, when Lee is so
despondent!
Senator Henry writes that any delay in impressing the railroad from
Danville to Greensborough will be fatal.
CHAPTER XLVI.
Waning confidence in the President.--Blockade running.--From the South.--
Beauregard on Sherman.--The expeditions against Wilmington.--Return
of Mr. Pollard.--The Blairs in Richmond.--Arrest of Hon. H. S.
Foote.--Fall of Fort Fisher.--Views of Gen. Cobb.--Dismal.--
Casualties of the War.--Peace commissioners for Washington.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 1ST, 1865.--Snowed a few inches in depth during the
night--clear and cool morning. The new year begins with the new rumor
that Gen. Hood has turned upon Gen. Thomas and beaten him. This is
believed by many. Hood's army was _not_ destroyed, and he retreated from
before Nashville with some 20,000 men. Doubtless he lost many cannon;
but the Federal accounts of his disaster were probably much
exaggerated.
The cabinet still remains.
The President is considered really a man of ability, and eminently
qualified to preside over the Confederate States, if independence were
attained and we had peace. But he is probably not equal to the role he
is now called upon to play. He has not the broad intellect requisite for
the gigantic measures needed in such a crisis, nor the health and
physique for the labors devolving on him. Besides he is too much of a
politician still to discard his old prejudices, and persists in keeping
aloof from him, and from commanding positions, all the great statesmen
and patriots who contributed most in the work of preparing the minds of
the people for resistance to Northern domination. And the consequence is
that many of these influential men are laboring to break down his
administration, or else preparing the people for a return to the old
Union. The disaffection is intense and wide-spread among the politicians
of 1860, and consternation and despair are expanding among the people.
Nearly all desire to see Gen. Lee at the head of affairs; and the
President is resolved to yield the position to no man during his term of
service. Nor would Gen. Lee take it.
The proposition to organize an army of negroes gains friends; because
the owners of the slaves are no longer willing to fight themselves, at
least they are not as "eager for the fray" as they were in 1861; and the
armies _must_ be replenished, or else the slaves will certainly be lost.
Thus we begin the new year--Heaven only knows how we shall end it! I
trust we may be in a better condition then. Of one thing I am certain,
the PEOPLE are capable of achieving independence, if they only had
capable men in all departments of the government.
The President was at St. Paul's to-day, with a knit woolen cap on his
head. Dr. Minnegerode preached a sermon against the croakers. His son
has been appointed a midshipman by the President.
JANUARY 2D.--Cold, and indications of snow.
Offered the owner of our servant $400 per annum. He wants $150 and
clothing for her. Clothing would cost perhaps $1000. It remains in
abeyance.
Saw Gen. Wise dancing attendance in the Secretary's room. He looks
seasoned and well, and may be destined to play a leading part "in human
affairs" yet, notwithstanding his hands have been so long bound by those
who contrive "to get possession." It is this very thing of keeping our
great men in the "background" which is often the cause of calamities,
and if persisted in, may bring irretrievable ruin upon the cause.
The government has forbidden the transportation of freight, etc.
(private) from Georgia to Virginia, and perhaps from the intermediate
States.
On Saturday the government entered the market to sell gold, and brought
down the price some 33 per cent. A spasmodic effort, the currency is
gone beyond redemption.
It is said Gen. Hood has collected a large amount of supplies of meat,
etc. He is in North Alabama, and probably Gen. Thomas will march toward
Virginia.
The Secretary had his head between his knees before the fire when I
first went in this morning. Affairs are gloomy enough--and the question
is how Richmond and Virginia shall be saved. Gen. Lee is despondent.
From the Northern papers we learn that Gen. Butler's expedition against
Wilmington, N. C, was a failure. Gen. Bragg is applauded here for this
successful defense.
The salaries of the clergymen have been raised by their congregations to
$10,000 and $12,000. I hear that Dr. Woodbridge received a Christmas
gift from his people of upwards of $4000, besides seven barrels of
flour, etc. _He owns his own house, his own servants_, stocks, etc. Most
of these fortunate ministers are natives of the North, but true to the
Southern cause, so far as we know. God knows I am glad to hear of any
one, and especially a minister, being made comfortable.
JANUARY 3D.--Calm and quiet; indications of snow.
By a communication sent to Congress, by the President, it is ascertained
that 500,000 pairs shoes, 8,000,000 pounds bacon, 2,000,000 pounds
saltpeter, 50 cannon, etc. etc., have been imported since October 1st,
1864.
When the enemy's fleet threatened Wilmington, the brokers here (who have
bribed the conscript officers) bought up all the coffee and sugar in the
city. They raised the price of the former from $15 to $45 per pound,
and the latter to $15, from $10. An application has been made to Mr.
Secretary Seddon to order the impressment of it all, at schedule prices,
which he will be sure not to do.
Congress paid their respects to the President yesterday, by waiting upon
him in a body.
There is a rumor of some fighting (12 M.) below, but I have not learned
on which side of the river. It arises from brisk cannonading, heard in
the city, I suppose.
I bought an ax (of Starke) for $15, mine having been stolen. I was asked
from $25 to $35 for no better. Mr. Starke has no garden seeds yet.
The following article in the _Dispatch_ to-day, seemingly well
authenticated, would seem to indicate that our armies are in no danger
of immediately becoming destitute of supplies; but, alas! the
publication itself may cause the immediate fall of Wilmington.
"BLOCKADE-RUNNING.--Notwithstanding the alleged ceaseless vigilance of
the Yankee navy in watching blockade-runners on the Atlantic and Gulf
Coast of the Confederate States, their close attention has amounted to
comparatively little. Setting aside all that has been imported on State
and individual account, the proceeds of the blockade have been very
great. The restrictions imposed upon foreign commerce by the act of
Congress of last session prohibiting, absolutely, during the pending
war, the importation of any articles not necessary for the defense of
the country--namely: wines, spirits, jewelry, cigars, and all the finer
fabrics of cotton, flax, wool, or silk, as well as all other merchandise
serving only for the indulgence of luxurious habits,--has not had the
effect to reduce the number of vessels engaged in blockade-running; but,
on the contrary, the number has steadily increased within the last year,
and many are understood to be now on the way to engage in the business.
"The President, in a communication to Congress on the subject, says that
the number of vessels arriving at two ports only from the 1st of
November to the 6th of December was _forty-three_, and but a very small
proportion of those outward bound were captured. Out of 11,796 bales of
cotton shipped since the 1st of July last, but 1272 were lost--not quite
11 per cent.
"The special report of the Secretary of the Treasury in relation to the
matter shows that there have been imported into the Confederacy at the
ports of Wilmington and Charleston since October 26th, 1864, 8,632,000
pounds of meat, 1,507,000 pounds of lead, 1,933,000 pounds of saltpeter,
546,000 pairs of shoes, 316,000 pairs of blankets, 520,000 pounds of
coffee, 69,000 rifles, 97 packages of revolvers, 2639 packages of
medicine, 43 cannon, with a large quantity of other articles of which we
need make no mention. Besides these, many valuable stores and supplies
are brought, by way of the Northern lines, into Florida; by the port of
Galveston and through Mexico, across the Rio Grande.
"The shipments of cotton made on government account since March 1st,
1864, amount to $5,296,000 in specie. Of this, cotton, to the value of
$1,500,000, has been shipped since the 1st of July and up to the 1st of
December.
"It is a matter of absolute impossibility for the Federals to stop our
blockade-running at the port of Wilmington. If the wind blows off the
coast, the blockading fleet is driven off. If the wind blows landward,
they are compelled to haul off to a great distance to escape the
terrible sea which dashes on a rocky coast without a harbor within three
days' sail. The shoals on the North Carolina Coast are from five to
twenty miles wide; and they are, moreover, composed of the most
treacherous and bottomless quicksands. The whole coast is scarcely
equaled in the world for danger and fearful appearance, particularly
when a strong easterly wind meets the ebb tide.
"It is an easy matter for a good pilot to run a vessel directly out to
sea or into port; but in the stormy months, from October to April, no
blockading vessel can lie at anchor in safety off the Carolina Coast.
Therefore supplies will be brought in despite the keenest vigilance."
JANUARY 4TH.--Bright, but several inches of snow fell last night.
The President wrote a long letter to the Secretary yesterday concerning
the _assignment of conscripts in Western North Carolina_, at most only a
few hundred, and the appointment of officers, etc. A small subject.
Congress has passed a resolution calling on the Secretary of War for
information concerning certain youths, alleged to have received
passports to Europe, etc. Also one relating to the Commissary-General's
traffic in Eastern North Carolina, within the enemy's lines. Also one
relating to instructions to Gen. Smith, trans-Mississippi Department,
who assumes control of matters pertaining to the Treasury Department.
General J. S. Preston, Superintendent Bureau of Conscription, writes a
long letter from South Carolina indorsing an act of the Legislature
authorizing the impressment of one-fifth of the slaves between eighteen
and fifty, for work on the fortifications within the State, but also
providing for impressment of an additional number by the Confederate
States Government. This, Gen. P. considers a treasonable move,
indicating that South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi,
etc. have a purpose to disintegrate Confederate authority, and that they
will not contribute another man, black or white, to the Confederate
service, to be commanded by Confederate States authority. And he has
several thrusts at Gen. Bragg and Gen. Kemper, and, indirectly, at the
President, for interfering with _his_ bureau. I see nothing in the act
to warrant his interpretations, and I have no faith in his predictions.
W. F. D. Saussure and others, Columbia, S. C., petition the government
to send a corps of Lee's army to save their State and Georgia from
devastation, as there are no adequate forces in them for defense. They
confess that Richmond is important to hold, but insist that Georgia and
South Carolina must be defended to hold it, etc. They are frightened
evidently.
Gen. Withers, Alabama, denounces the inefficiency of the conscript
system.
Lieut. Beverly Kermon writes from the Rappahannock that "thus far (to
Jan. 1st) our movements (in connection with Capt. T. N. Conrad) are
perfectly secret." The next day he was to go to the Potomac. What has
the Secretary sent him _there_ for?
J. R. Bledsoe presents a design for a "_new flag_," red, white, and blue
cross, which Gen. Lee thinks both original and beautiful.
Judge Campbell has a box of clothing, sent from London by J. B.
Bloodgood.
JANUARY 5TH.--Clear and cold.
It is understood now that Gen. Hood has crossed to the south side of the
Tennessee River with the debris of his army.
Gen. Butler has returned to Virginia from his fruitless North Carolina
expedition. It is supposed we shall have active operations again before
this city as soon as the weather and roads will permit.
But it really does seem that the States respectively mean to take
control of all their men not now in the Confederate States armies, and I
apprehend we shall soon have "confusion worse confounded."
The President sends, "for his information," to the Secretary of War, a
letter from Gen. Beauregard, dated at Augusta, Ga., Dec. 6th, 1864, in
relation to Gen. Sherman's movement eastward, and Gen. Hood's Middle
Tennessee campaign. It appears from Gen. B.'s letter to the President
that he (Gen. B.) had control of everything. He says he did not
countermand Gen. Hood's campaign, because Sherman had 275 miles the
start, and the roads were impracticable in Northern Georgia and Alabama.
But he telegraphed the Governors of Alabama, Georgia, etc., to
concentrate troops rapidly in Sherman's front, ordered a brigade of
cavalry from Hood to Wheeler, etc., and supposed some 30,000 men could
be collected to oppose Sherman's march, and destroy him. He computed
Sherman's strength at 36,000 of all arms. The result shows how much he
was mistaken. He will be held accountable for all the disasters. Alas
for Beauregard! Bragg only played the part of chronicler of the sad
events from Augusta. Yet the President cannot publish this letter of
Beauregard's, and the country will still fix upon him the responsibility
and the odium. Gen. Beauregard is still in front of Sherman, with
inadequate forces, and may again be responsible for additional
calamities.
Old Mr. F. P. Blair and his son Montgomery Blair are on their way here,
with authority to confer on peace and submission, etc.
Mr. Lewis, Disbursing Clerk of the Post-Office Department, on behalf of
lady clerks has laid a complaint before the President that Mr. Peck, a
clerk in the department, to whom was intrusted money to buy supplies in
North Carolina, has failed to make return of provisions or money,
retaining the latter for several months, while some of his friends have
received returns, besides 10 barrels flour bought for himself, and
transported at government expense. Some of the clerks think the money
has been retained for speculative purposes. It remains to be seen
whether the President will do anything in the premises.
The grand New Year's dinner to the soldiers, as I supposed, has produced
discontent in the army, from unequal distribution, etc. No doubt the
speculators got control of it, and made money, at least provided for
their families, etc.
Hon. J. R. Baylor proposes recruiting in New Mexico and Lower
California. The Secretary of War opposes it, saying we shall probably
require all the trans-Mississippi troops on this side the river. The
President differs with the Secretary, and writes a long indorsement,
showing the importance of Baylor's project, etc. Of course the Secretary
will "stint and say ay." The President thinks Col. B. can enlist the
Indian tribes on our side also.
There is a rumor that Mr. Foote, M. C., has gone into the enemy's lines.
He considered the difference between Davis and Lincoln as "between
tweedledum and tweedledee."
The prisoners of war (foreigners) that took the oath of allegiance and
enlisted in the Confederate States service, are deserting _back_ to the
Federal service, under Gen. Sherman's promise of amnesty.
JANUARY 6TH.--Cloudy and thawing.
No war news,--but it is known Sherman's army is not quiet, and must soon
be heard from in spite of the interdict of the government.
It is said Mr. Trenholm, Secretary of the Treasury, is in the market
buying gold, and that the fall has already been from $50 to $30 for one.
Corn-meal has risen from $50 up to $75 per bushel. Flour to $500 per
barrel.
Vice-President Stephens has not left the city, but presides in the
Senate.
Messrs. B. Woolley, Hart & Co., Nassau, N. P., write most pressing
letters for the liquidation of their claims against the Confederate
States Government. Perhaps they are becoming alarmed after making
prodigious profits, etc.
Conner's brigade and other troops are en route for South Carolina from
Lee's army.
Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War, was _smoked_ out of his room
to-day, and came into mine.
The judge, however, does but little more just now than grant passports
into the enemy's lines; permission to speculators to bring into the city
supplies for sale, often under pretense of being intended for their own
use; exemptions, details, etc. If he were disposed, he could realize a
million of dollars.
It is said the Hon. A. R. Wright went North to get his son paroled, who
is in prison there.
Judge Campbell talks of resigning.
JANUARY 7TH.--Rained yesterday and last night. Clear and windy to-day.
It is said the Blairs (who have been looked for on some sort of mission)
turned back after arriving in the camp of Gen. Grant. Of course they
could not treat with this government, under existing circumstances. The
President and his cabinet could not be expected to listen to such
proposals as they might be authorized to tender.
Butler's canal is said to be completed, and probably operations will
soon be recommenced in this vicinity.
Congress seems to be doing little or nothing; but before it adjourns it
is supposed it will, as usual, pass the measures dictated by the
President. How insignificant a legislative body becomes when it is not
independent. The Confederate States Congress will not live in history,
for it never really existed at all, but has always been merely a body of
subservient men, registering the decrees of the Executive. Even Mr.
Miles, of South Carolina, before introducing a bill, sends it to this
department for approval or rejection.
Detailed soldiers here are restricted in their rations this month to 31
pounds of meal, 21 pounds of salt beef, etc. The commissary agent, Mr.
Wilson, thinks no more "beef shanks" can be sold. I have been living on
them!
An order has been issued that all detailed men in the bureaus
(able-bodied) must go into Gen. Lee's army; and the local defense troops
will not be called out again except in the last necessity, and then only
during the emergency. I have not seen it, but believe Gen. Lee has some
such understanding with the President.
Mayor Arnold, and other rich citizens of Savannah, have held a meeting
(Union), and called upon Gov. Brown to assemble a State Convention, etc.
Mr. Hunter followed Judge Campbell into his office this morning (a
second visit), as if there were "any more news." The judge gravely
beckoned him into the office. I was out; so there must be news, when Mr.
H. (so fat) is on the _qui vive_.
Gen. Beauregard has been ordered to the West to take command of Hood's
army.
The Secretary of War has ordered Col. Bayne to have as much cotton as
possible _east_ of Branchville, S. C.
The farmers down the river report that Grant is sending off large bodies
of troops--so the Secretary says in a letter to _Gen. Lee_.
JANUARY 8TH.--Bright and cold. Snowed yesterday, and windy.
Gen. Whiting writes that he had only 400 men in Fort Fisher, and it was
a miracle that it was not taken. He looked for it, and a determined
effort would have carried it. He says there is no reason to suppose the
attempt has been abandoned, and it must fall if a sufficient force be
not sent thither.
If the enemy are apprised of the weak condition of the fort, it is
probable Grant has been sending another and a stronger expedition there,
and it may be apprehended that before many days Wilmington will cease to
be of value to us as a blockade-running port of entry.
I saw the Hon. Mr. Montague to-day, who told me there was a strong party
in Congress (which he opposed) in favor of making Gen. Lee generalissimo
without the previous concurrence of the President. He says some of the
Georgia members declare that their State will re-enter the Union unless
Lee be speedily put at the head of military affairs in the field--he
being the only man possessing the unlimited confidence of the people. I
agreed with him that the President ought to be approached in a proper
manner, and freely consulted, before any action such as he indicated;
and I told him that a letter from Gen. Beauregard, dated 6th of
December, to the President, if ever published, would exculpate the
latter from all blame for the march (unopposed) of Sherman through
Georgia.
Col. Baylor, whom the President designated the other day as the proper
man to raise troops in New Mexico, Arizona, Lower California and in
Mexico, is the same man who invited the Indians to a council in 1861, to
receive presents, whisky, etc., and then ordered them, men, women, and
children, to be _slaughtered_. Even Mr. Randolph revolted at such
conduct. But now the government must employ him.
The rotund Mr. Hunter is rolling about actively to-day, hunting for more
news. His cheeks, though fat, are flat and emaciated--for he sees
affairs in a desperate condition, and he has much to lose.
JANUARY 9TH.--Bright, clear, and cold.
It is said the government depot at Charlotte, N. C., has been burned
(accidentally), consuming a large amount of corn.
We have nothing further of the movement of Grant's troops.
We have Hood's acknowledgment of defeat, and loss of 50 guns before
Nashville.
The papers contain the proceedings of a meeting in Savannah, over which
the Mayor presided, embracing the terms of submission offered in
President Lincoln's message. They have sent North for
provisions--indicating that the city was in a famishing condition. Our
government is to blame for this! The proceedings will be used as a
"form," probably, by other cities--thanks to the press!
The _Examiner_ is out this morning for a convention of all the
(Confederate) States, and denouncing the President. I presume the object
is to put Lee at the head of military affairs.
The rumor of the death of Gen. Price is not confirmed.
Gen. Pemberton has been relieved _here_ and sent _elsewhere_.
The Piedmont Railroad has been impressed. A _secret_ act of Congress
authorizes it.
Miers W. Fisher writes that if the cabinet indorses the newspaper
suggestions of giving up slavery and going under true monarchies, it is
an invitation to refugees like himself to return to their homes, and
probably some of the States will elect to return to the Union for the
sake of being under a republican government, etc. He says it is
understood that the Assistant Secretary often answers letters unseen by
the Secretary; and if so, he can expect no answer from Mr. S., but will
put the proper construction on his silence, etc.
Flour is $700 per barrel to-day; meal, $80 per bushel; coal and wood,
$100 per load. Does the government (alone to blame) mean to allow the
rich speculators, the quartermasters, etc. to starve honest men into the
Union?
JANUARY 10TH.--Rained hard all night. House leaking badly!
We have nothing new in the papers this morning. It is said with more
confidence, however, that Butler's canal is not yet a success. Daily and
nightly our cannon play upon the works, and the deep sounds in this
moist weather are distinctly heard in the city.
The amount of requisition for the War Department for 1865 is
$670,000,000, and a deficiency of $400,000,000!
Mr. Hunter had his accustomed interview with Judge Campbell this morning
in quest of news, and relating to his horoscope. His face is not plump
and round yet.
A Mr. Lehman, a burly Jew, about thirty-five years old, got a passport
to-day on the recommendation of the Secretary of the Treasury, to
arrange (as agent, no doubt) for the shipment of several thousand bales
of cotton, for which sterling funds are to be paid. No doubt it is
important to keep the government cotton out of the hands of the enemy;
and this operation seems to indicate that some fear of its loss exists.
Some 40,000 bushels of corn, etc. were consumed at Charlotte, N. C., the
other day. A heavy loss! Both the army and the people will feel it.
There seems already to exist the preliminary symptoms of panic and
anarchy in the government. All the dignitaries wear gloomy faces; and
this is a gloomy day--raining incessantly. A blue day--a miserable day!
The city council put up the price of gas yesterday to $50 per 1000 feet.
JANUARY 11TH.--Clear and pleasant. Cannon heard down the river.
Mr. E. A. Pollard, taken by the Federals in an attempt to run the
blockade last spring, has returned, and reports that Gen. Butler has
been relieved of his command--probably for his failure to capture
Wilmington. Mr. Pollard says that during his captivity he was permitted,
on parole, to visit the Northern cities, and he thinks the Northern
conscription will ruin the war party.
But, alas! the lax policy inaugurated by Mr. Benjamin, and continued by
every succeeding Secretary of War, enables the enemy to obtain
information of all our troubles and all our vulnerable points. The
United States can get recruits under the conviction that there will be
little or no more fighting.
Some $40,000 worth of provisions, belonging to speculators, but marked
for a naval bureau and the Mining and Niter Bureau, have been seized at
Danville. This is well--if it be not too late.
A letter from Mr. Trenholm, Secretary of the Treasury, to Mr. Wagner,
Charleston, S. C. (sent over for approval), appoints him agent to
proceed to Augusta, etc., with authority to buy all the cotton for the
government, at $1 to $1.25 per pound; and then sell it for sterling
bills of exchange to certain parties, giving them permission _to remove
it within the enemy's lines_; or "better still," to have it shipped
abroad on government account by _reliable_ parties. This indicates a
purpose to die "full-handed," if the government _must_ die, and to
defeat the plans of the enemy to get the cotton. Is the Federal
_Government_ a party to this arrangement? Gold was $60 for one
yesterday. I suppose there is no change to-day.
Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary, returned to his room to-day, mine
not suiting him.
Col. Sale, Gen. Bragg's military secretary, told me to-day that the
general would probably return from Wilmington soon. His plan for filling
the ranks by renovating the whole conscription system, will, he fears,
slumber until it is too late, when ruin will overtake us! If the
President would only put Bragg at the head of the conscription
business--_and in time_--we might be saved.
JANUARY 12TH.--Bright and frosty. Gold at $66 for one yesterday, at
auction.
Major R. J. Echols, Quartermaster, Charlotte, N. C., says the fire there
destroyed 70,000 bushels of grain, a large amount of sugar, molasses,
clothing, blankets, etc. He knows not whether it was the result of
design or accident. All his papers were consumed. A part of Conner's
brigade on the way to South Carolina, 500 men, under Lieut.-Col.
Wallace, refused to aid in saving property, but plundered it! This
proves that the soldiers were all poor men, the rich having bought
exemptions or details!
Gen. Lee writes on the 8th instant, that the troops sailing out of James
River are, he thinks, destined for another attack on Wilmington. But
none have left the lines in front of him, etc.
Gen. Lee also writes on the 9th instant, that the commissary agents have
established "a large traffic through our lines, in North Carolina, for
supplies;" and he desires the press to say nothing on the subject.
Mr. Ould, to whom it appears the Secretary has written for his opinion
(he was editor once, and fought a duel with Jennings Wise, Mr. Seddon
being his second), gives a very bad one on the condition of affairs. He
says the people have confidence in Mr. _Seddon_, but not in President
_Davis_, and a strong reconstruction party will spring up in Virginia
rather than adopt the President's ideas about the slaves, etc.
The Chief of the Treasury Note Bureau, at Columbia, S. C., asks where he
shall fly to if the enemy approaches. It is understood one of our
generals, when appealed to by the Secretary, exclaimed: "To the devil!"
Mr. Miles introduced a resolution yesterday (in Congress) affirming that
for any State to negotiate peace is _revolutionary_. _Ill timed, because
self-evident._
Gen. Bradley T. Johnson writes from Salisbury, N. C., that because the
travel hither has been suspended by the government, the Central Railroad
Company of that State _refuse_ to send the full amount of trains for the
transportation of soldiers. It must be impressed too.
I am assured by one of the President's special detectives that Francis
P. Blair, Sr. is truly in this city. What for? A rumor spreads that
Richmond is to be evacuated.
Gen. Lee writes for the Secretary's sanction to send officers everywhere
in Virginia and North Carolina, to collect provisions and to control
railroads, etc. The Secretary is sending orders to different commanders,
and says _he_ would rather have the odium than that it should fall on
Lee! The Commissary General approves Lee's measure.
Gen. Lee's dispatch was dated last night. He says he has not _two days'_
rations for his army!
Commissary-General Northrop writes to the Secretary that the hour of
emergency is upon us, and that Gen. Lee's name may "save the cause," if
he proclaims the necessity of indiscriminate impressment, etc.
JANUARY 13TH.--Clear and pleasant--but little frost. Beef (what little
there is in market) sells to-day at $6 per pound; meal, $80 per bushel;
white beans, $5 per quart, or $160 per bushel. And yet Congress is
fiddling over stupid abstractions!
The government will awake speedily, however; and after Congress hurries
through its business (when roused), the adjournment of that body will
speedily ensue. But will the President dismiss his cabinet in time to
save Richmond, Virginia, and the cause? That is the question. He can
easily manage Congress, by a few letters from Gen. Lee. But will the
potency of his cabinet feed Lee's army?
A great panic still prevails in the city, arising from rumors of
contemplated evacuation. If it should be evacuated, the greater portion
of the inhabitants will remain, besides many of the employees of
government and others liable to military service, unless they be forced
away. But how can they be fed? The government cannot feed, sufficiently,
the men already in the field.
Everybody is conjecturing what Mr. Blair has proposed; but no one
expects relief from his mission, if indeed he be clothed with diplomatic
powers--which I doubt.
The President, I believe, is calm, relying upon the loyalty of his
cabinet. But he is aware of the crisis; and I think his great reliance
is on Gen. Lee, and herein he agrees with the people. What will be the
issue of the present exigency, God only knows!
I believe there is a project on foot to borrow flour, etc. from citizens
for Gen. Lee's army. Many officers and men from the army are in the city
to-day, confirming the reports of suffering for food in the field.
There is a rumor that Goldsborough has been taken.
Mr. Secretary Seddon is appointing men in the various districts of the
city to hunt up speculators and flour; appointing such men as W. H.
McFarland and others, who aspire to office by the suffrages of the
people. _They_ will not offend the speculators and hoarders by taking
much flour from them. No--domiciliary visits with _bayonets_ alone will
suffice.
Of thirty Federal deserters sent to work on the fortifications of
Lynchburg, all but four ran away.
It is understood that the President announced to Congress to-day the
arrest of the Hon. H. S. Foote, member of that body, near
Fredericksburg, while attempting to pass into the enemy's lines. This,
then, may have been Capt. Norton's secret mission; and I believe the
government had traps set for him at other places of egress. Meantime the
enemy _came in_ at Savannah. This is considered the President's
foible--a triumph over a political or personal enemy will occupy his
attention and afford more delight than an ordinary victory over the
common enemy. Most men will say Mr. Foote should have been permitted to
go--if he desired it.
JANUARY 14TH.--Cloudy and cool. The news that Goldsborough, N. C., had
been taken is not confirmed. Nor have we intelligence of the renewal of
the assault on Fort Fisher--but no one doubts it.
The government sent pork, butchered and salted a few weeks ago, to the
army. An order has been issued to borrow, buy, or impress flour,
wherever found; but our _political_ functionaries will see that it be
not executed. The rich hoarders may control votes hereafter, when they
may be candidates, etc. If domiciliary visits were made, many thousands
of barrels of flour would be found. The speculators have not only
escaped hitherto, but they have been exempted besides.
The Assembly of Virginia passed a resolution yesterday, calling upon the
President to have revoked any orders placing restrictions upon the
transportation of provisions to Richmond and Petersburg. The President
sends this to the Secretary, asking a copy of any orders _preventing
carts from coming to market_.
Flour is $1000 per barrel to-day!
F. P. Blair, Sr., has been here several days, the guest of Mr. Ould,
agent of exchange. He left this morning for Grant's lines below the
city. I saw him in an open carriage with Mr. Ould, going down Main
Street. He looks no _older_ than he did twenty years ago. Many consider
Ould a fortunate man, though he is represented as a loser in the war.
Blair seemed struck by the great number of able-bodied men in the
streets.
Major Maynard, Quartermaster, says he will be able next week to bring
120 cords of wood to the city daily.
If Richmond be relinquished, it ought to be by convention and
capitulation, getting the best possible terms for the citizens; and not
by evacuation, leaving them at the mercy of the invaders. Will our
authorities think of this? Doubtful.
One of the President's pages told me to-day that Mr. Blair had several
interviews with the President at the latter's residence. Nothing
relating to _propositions_ has transpired.
The clerks are again sending out agents to purchase supplies. The
President has decided that such agents have no right to expend any money
but that contributed. This hits the Assistant Secretary of War, and Mr.
Kean, Chief of Bureau, and our agent, Mr. Peck, for whom so many barrels
of flour were purchased by the latter as agent, leaving the greater part
of the contribution unexpended; nay, more, the money has not _yet_ been
refunded, although contributed five months ago!
Some 700 barrels of flour were realized yesterday for the army.
JANUARY 15TH.--Clear and frosty. Guns heard down the river.
Dispatches came last night for ammunition--to Wilmington, I believe. We
have nothing yet decisive from Fort Fisher, but I fear it will fall.
Mr. Hunter was in the Secretary's office this morning before the
Secretary came. I could give him no news from Wilmington. He is much
distressed; but if the enemy prevails, I have no doubt he will stipulate
saving terms for Virginia. He cannot contemplate the ruin of his
fortune; political ruin is quite as much as he can bear. Always at the
elbow of the Secretary, he will have timely notice of any fatal
disaster. He is too fat to run, too heavy to swim, and therefore must
provide some other means of escape.
Last night and early this morning the Jews and others were busy, with
hand-carts and wheelbarrows, removing barrels of flour from the center
to the outskirts of the city, fearful of impressment. They need not
fear.
I have enough flour, meal, and beans (black) to subsist my family two
weeks. After that, I look to the kind Providence which has hitherto
always fed us.
It is now rumored that Mr. Blair came to negotiate terms for the
capitulation of Richmond, and that none were listened to. Better that,
if it must fall, than be given up to pillage and the flames. If burning
our cities had been the order in 1862, it might have been well; it is
too late now!
JANUARY 16TH.--Clear and frosty.
We learn vaguely that the attack on the defenses of Wilmington has been
progressing since Friday, and that the enemy's land forces have effected
a lodgment between Fort Fisher and the town.
Another "peace" visitor has arrived--Hon. Mr. Singleton, of the United
States Congress. It is _said_ that the President (Confederate States)
has pledged himself to appoint commissioners to fix terms of peace. This
is but a forlorn-hope. No terms of peace are contemplated by any of
these visitors but on the basis of reconstruction; and their utmost
liberality could reach no further than a permission for the Southern
States to decide, in convention, the question of emancipation. The
President having suggested, however, the propriety of putting the
negroes into the service, and emancipating them afterward, has aroused
the fears and suspicions of many of the people; and but few have
confidence in the integrity of the Secretary of State. Hence the
universal gloom and despondency of the croakers. There may be difficulty
in replenishing the Federal armies, and they may be depleted by spring;
and if so, Gen. Lee may be able to make another grand campaign with the
men and material now at his command. The issue of the next campaign may
inaugurate _real_ negotiations. Wilmington may be taken,
blockade-running may cease; but we have ammunition and other stores for
another campaign.
At last we have a dispatch from Gen. Lee, announcing the fall of Fort
Fisher. Most of the garrison, supposed to be 1500, were taken.
Gold was $70 for $1 on Saturday: what will it be to-day or to-morrow?
A voluminous correspondence is going on between Mr. Conrad (secret agent
to arrest disloyal men endeavoring to cross the Potomac) and Mr.
Secretary Seddon. Mr. Foote, arrested by their great skill, has applied,
indignantly, for a writ of _habeas corpus_. Thus the time of our _great_
dignitaries is consumed removing molehills, while mountains are looming
up everywhere.
The following dispatch was received here at 11 A.M. to-day from Gen.
Bragg's A. D. C.: "January 15th, 1865.--Official information from Gen.
Whiting, at Fort Fisher, up to 8 o'clock this evening, reports enemy's
attack on fort unsuccessful. Fresh troops are being sent to him."
This does not agree with the dispatch from Gen. Lee. It must have been
taken _last_ night, and after the hour indicated. Gen. Lee certainly
says it has fallen. It is gone, and I fear the "reinforcements"
also--with Gen. Whiting "to boot."
Alas for Bragg the unfortunate! He seems to be another BOABDIL the
Unlucky.
Dr. Woodbridge announced in the Monumental Church, yesterday, that only
five ladies had responded to the call to knit socks for the soldiers! A
_rich_ congregation, too. My daughters (poor) were among the five, and
handed him several pairs. They sent one pair to their cousin S. Custis,
Clingman's brigade, Hoke's North Carolina division.
Mr. Lewis, disbursing clerk of Post-Office Department, has sent in a
communication asking an investigation of the conduct of Mr. Peck, agent
to buy supplies for clerks. What will Mr. Seddon do now?
The Commissary-General says 100,000 bushels corn for Lee's army may be
got in Southwest Virginia.
JANUARY 17TH.--Cloudy, and spitting snow.
Mr. Foote's release from custody has been ordered by Congress.
The news of the fall of Wilmington, and the cessation of importations at
that port, falls upon the ears of the community with stunning effect.
Again we have a rumor of the retirement of Mr. Seddon.
There are more rumors of revolution, and even of displacement of the
President by Congress, and investiture of Gen. Lee. It is said the
President has done something, recently, which Congress will not
tolerate. Idle talk!
Mr. Foote, when arrested, was accompanied by his wife, who had a
passport to Tennessee. He said to the Provost Marshal, Doggett,
Fredericksburg, that he intended to accompany his family, passing
through Washington, and to endeavor to negotiate a peace. He deposited a
resignation of his seat in Congress with a friend, which he withdrew
upon being arrested. He was arrested and detained "until further
orders," by command of the Secretary of War.
Lieut.-Gen. Hood has been relieved, and ordered to report here.
The rumor gains belief that Gen. Breckinridge has been offered the
portfolio of the War Department by the President. This may be the act
alluded to which Congress will not agree to, perhaps, on the ground that
Gen. B. remained in the United States Senate long after secession. The
general is understood to be staying at G. A. Myers's house, which adds
strength to the rumor, for Myers has a keen scent for the sources of
power and patronage.
The Surgeon-General states that, during the years 1862 and 1863, there
were 1,600,000 cases of disease in hospitals and in the field, with only
74,000 deaths. There have been 23,000 discharges from the armies since
the war began.
The Provost Marshal at Fredericksburg telegraphs that his scouts report
the enemy have arrested Mrs. Foote, and threaten to rescue Mr. Foote.
The Secretary and the President concur in ordering his discharge. The
President says that will not be permission for him to pass our lines. He
will come here, I suppose.
Mentioning to R. Tyler the fact that many of the clerks, etc. of the War
Department favored revolution and the overthrow of the President, he
replied that it was a known fact, and that some of them would be hung
soon. He feared Mr. Hunter was a submissionist.
The Northern papers say Mr. _G. B. Lamar_ has applied to take the oath
of allegiance, to save his cotton and other property.
The _Examiner_ to-day has another article calling for a convention to
abolish the Constitution and remove President Davis.
Mr. Seward, United States Secretary of State, escorted Mrs. Foote to her
hotel, upon her arrival in Washington.
The following official telegram was received at the War Department last
night:
"HEADQUARTERS, January 15th, 1865.
"HON. J. A. SEDDON.
"Gen. Early reports that Gen. Rosser, at the head of three hundred
men, surprised and captured the garrison at Beverly, Randolph
County, on the 11th instant, killing and wounding a considerable
number and taking five hundred and eighty prisoners. His loss
slight. R. E. LEE."
JANUARY 18TH.--Cloudy and cool. Cannon heard down the river.
No war news. But blockade-running at Wilmington has ceased; and common
calico, now at $25 per yard, will soon be $50.
The stupor in official circles continues, and seems likely to continue.
A secret detective told the Assistant Secretary, yesterday, that a
certain member of Congress was uttering treasonable language; and, for
his pains, was told that matters of that sort (pertaining to members of
Congress) did not fall within his (detective's) jurisdiction. It is the
policy now not to _agitate_ the matter of disloyalty, but rather to wink
at it, and let it die out--if it will; if it _won't_, I suppose the
government must take its chances, whatever they may be.
Breckinridge, it is now said, will not be Secretary of War: the position
which Mr. Seddon is willing to abandon, cannot be desirable. And
Northrop, Commissary-General, is still held by the President, contrary
to the wishes of the whole Confederacy.
Flour is $1250 per barrel, to-day.
A detective reports that one of the committee (Mr. Mc------?) selected
by Mr. Secretary Seddon to hunt up flour for Gen. Lee's army, has a
large number of barrels secreted in his own dwelling! But they must not
be touched.
Gen. Lee writes that he thinks the crisis (starvation in the army) past.
Good.
In South Carolina we hear of public meetings of submission, etc.
JANUARY 19TH.--Clear and frosty. Among the rumors, it would appear that
the Senate in secret session has passed a resolution making Lee
generalissimo.
It is again said Mr. Seddon will resign, and be followed by Messrs.
Benjamin and Mallory, etc.
The following dispatch was received by the President yesterday:
"TUPELO, MISS., January 17th, 1865.--Roddy's brigade (cav.) is useless
as at present located by the War Department. I desire authority to
dispose of it to the best advantage, according to circumstances.--G. T.
BEAUREGARD, _General_."
The President sends it to the Secretary of War with this indorsement:
"On each occasion, when this officer has been sent with his command to
distant service, serious calamity to Alabama has followed. It is
desirable to know what disposition Gen. Beauregard proposes to make of
this force.--J. D."
We have nothing further from Wilmington. Bad enough.
Sherman is said to be marching on Charleston. Bad enough, too!
Our papers have glowing accounts of the good treatment the citizens of
Savannah received from the enemy.
Mr. Foote has arrived in the city--and it is said he will take his seat
in Congress to-day.
Gen. Whiting and Col. Lamb were taken at Fort Fisher--both wounded, it
is said--and 1000 of the garrison.
Mr. Peck paid back to the clerks to-day the unexpended balance of their
contributions for supplies, etc. The money is not worth half its value
some months ago. But Mr. P. secured ten barrels of flour for himself and
as many more for the Assistant Secretary, Mr. Kean, etc. etc.
One o'clock P.M. The day has grown dark and cold, indicating snow, and
a dismal gloom rests upon the faces of the increasing party of croakers.
We have famine, owing to the incapacity of the government, and the
rapacity of speculators. Wood, however, is coming in, but it is only for
_military_ officers, etc. No one can live on wood. Gold is $70 for $1,
and meal about $100 per bushel.
The House of Representatives (in secret session) has passed the Senate
joint resolution creating the office of commander-in-chief (for Gen.
Lee), and recommending that Gen. Johnston be reinstated, etc. It passed
by a vote of 62 to 14.
What will result from this? Is it not a condemnation of the President
and the administration that displaced Gen. J., etc.? Who will resign?
_Nous verrons!_
JANUARY 20TH.--Clear and cold. No news--that is bad news. Nothing has
transpired officially of the events and details near Wilmington, but
there is a rumor, exaggerated perhaps, of the fall of Wilmington itself.
No doubt Sherman is marching on Charleston, and if there be no battle
soon, it is feared he will take the city without one.
Mr. Foote made a speech in Congress yesterday--a savage one, I am told.
Going home yesterday at 3 o'clock, I met Mr. Foote, and told him what I
had heard. He said he could have wished me to hear every word of it. I
asked if it would not be printed. He held up a roll of manuscript,
saying he had written it in full, and that it would certainly be
published. The papers say in their brief reports, that he disavowed all
ideas of reconstruction. After he left the House, one of the Missouri
members offered a resolution for his expulsion, on the ground that he
had, unlawfully, attempted to pass into the enemy's lines, for the
purpose of negotiating a peace, etc. It was referred to the Committee on
Elections.
After this a resolution was introduced, that a joint committee be
appointed to prepare an address, etc., solemnly declaring that the war
shall be waged until independence be achieved, etc. Such addresses have
been repeatedly made, and at last seem to have a demoralizing effect.
People remember how many test votes were taken in the Virginia
Convention, showing that the State never would secede--and at length the
Convention passed an ordinance of secession! Nothing can save this
government long but military successes, and these depend upon having the
slave and other property owners in the field. This can never be done
without a renovation of the machinery used to fill up the ranks.
The President is calm. Some think him subdued. A few days or weeks will
determine.
Gen. Howell Cobb writes his views, etc. Utterly opposed to arming the
slaves--better emancipate them at once, conceding to the "_demands of
England and France_," and then enlist them. But he thinks a return to
the system of volunteering would answer to fill the ranks with white
men; also suggests that the President concede something to popular
sentiment--restore Gen. J. E. Johnston, etc. He says gloom and despair
are fast settling on the people.
J. P. McLean, Greensborough, N. C., in response to the request of Mr.
Secretary Seddon, gives information of the existence of many Union men
in that section, and suggests sudden death to ---- etc. The Secretary
_is diligent_ in getting such information; but lately it seems he never
applies the remedy.
Mr. Secretary Seddon thinks Mr. Peck's explanation of his purchasing
satisfactory; the Assistant Secretary, Chief of Bureau of War, and Mr.
Seddon's private clerk got an abundance of flour, etc.
Major Harman, Staunton, says provisions cannot be had in that section to
feed Early's army, unless one-fourth of all produce be bought at market
prices, and the people go on half rations. The _slaves_ everywhere are
on _full_ rations.
JANUARY 21ST.--A dark, cold, sleety day, with rain. Troopers and scouts
from the army have icicles hanging from their hats and caps, and their
clothes covered with frost, and dripping.
The _Examiner_ this morning says very positively that Mr. Secretary
Seddon has resigned. Not a word about Messrs. Benjamin and Mallory--yet.
The recent action of Congress is certainly a vote of censure, with great
unanimity.
It is said Congress, in secret session, has decreed the purchase of all
the cotton and tobacco! The stable locked after the horse is gone! If it
had been done in 1861----
Mr. Secretary Trenholm is making spasmodic efforts to mend the
currency--selling cotton and tobacco to foreign (Yankee) agents for gold
and sterling bills, and buying Treasury notes at the market
depreciation. For a moment he has reduced the price of gold from $80 to
$50 for $1; but the flood will soon overwhelm all opposition, sweeping
every obstruction away.
The Federal papers say they got 2500 prisoners at Fort Fisher.
It is said the President refuses to accept Mr. Seddon's resignation.
A rumor has sprung up to the effect that Judge Campbell, Assistant
Secretary of War, has also resigned. If this be so, it will soon produce
a great commotion among detailed and exempted men all over the country.
Rumors fly thick these dark days. It is a good time, however, for some
to resign. The President has need even of incompetent men, and may beg
them to remain, etc., and thus they are flattered. But if they really
feel that the ship is sinking, they will endeavor to jump ashore,
notwithstanding the efforts made to retain them. And then, if the ship
should _not_ sink, manned by different men!
I hear nothing more about Gen. Breckinridge as Mr. Seddon's successor,
but he is the guest of the old lawyer, G. A. Myers; and it is not
probable he is bestowing his bread and meat, in such times as these,
_for nothing_. He has made a fortune, and knows how to increase it--and
even Gen. B. would never be the wiser.
We have at last a letter from Gen. Hood, narrating the battle of
Franklin, Tenn. He says he lost about 4500 men--enemy's loss not stated.
Failure of Gen. Cheatham to execute an order the day before, prevented
him from routing the enemy. His account of the battle of Nashville I
have not yet seen--but know enough about it.
Both the Secretary and his Assistant have been pretty constantly
engaged, for some time past, in granting passports beyond our lines, and
generally into those of the enemy.
Congress has passed an act allowing reserve forces to be ordered
anywhere. Upon the heels of this, Governor Smith notifies the Secretary
of War that the two regiments of second class militia here, acting with
the reserves, shall no longer be under the orders of Gen. Kemper. He
means to run a tilt against the President, whereby Richmond may be lost!
Now "Tray, Blanche, and Sweetheart, bark at him."
JANUARY 22D.--Another day of sleet and gloom. The pavements are almost
impassable from the enamel of ice; large icicles hang from the houses,
and the trees are bent down with the weight of frost.
The mails have failed, and there is no telegraphic intelligence, the
wires being down probably. It rained very fast all day yesterday, and I
apprehend the railroad bridges have been destroyed in many places.
The young men (able-bodied) near the Secretary of War and the Assistant
Secretary, at the War Department, say, this morning, that both have
resigned.
It is said the Kentucky Congressmen oppose the acceptance of the
portfolio of war by Gen. Breckinridge.
Whoever accepts it must reform the conscription business and the
passport business, else the cause will speedily be lost. Most of our
calamities may be traced to these two sources.
JANUARY 23D.--Foggy, and raining. F. P. Blair is here again. If enemies
are permitted to exist in the political edifice, there is danger of a
crash. This weather, bad news, etc. etc. predispose both the people and
the army for _peace_--while the papers are filled with accounts of the
_leniency_ of Sherman at Savannah, and his forbearance to interfere with
the slaves. The enemy cannot take care of the negroes--and to feed them
in idleness would produce a famine North and South. Emancipation now is
physically impossible. Where is the surplus food to come from to feed
4,000,000 idle non-producers?
It is said by the press that Mr. Seddon resigned because the Virginia
Congressmen expressed in some way a want of confidence in the cabinet.
But Mr. Hunter was in the Secretary's office early this morning, and may
prevail on him to withdraw his resignation again, or to hold on until
---- all is accomplished.
Gen. Breckinridge, it is said, requires the removal of Northrop, before
his acceptance. Gen. Bragg is also named.
Congress, in creating the office of a commander-in-chief, also aimed a
blow at Bragg's staff; and this may decide the President to appoint him
Secretary of War.
A long letter came to-day from Governor Brown, dated Macon, Ga., Jan.
6th, 1865, in reply to a long one from the Secretary of War, filled with
criminations and recriminations, and a flat refusal to yield the old men
and boys in State service, in obedience to the call of the "usurping"
and "despotic" demand of the Confederate States Executive. Georgia
trembles, and may topple over any day!
Mr. Blair's return has excited many vague hopes--among the rest, even of
recognition by the United States Government! Yet many, very many
croakers, weary of the war, would acquiesce in reconstruction, if they
might save their property. Vain hopes.
It is rumored that a commissioner (a Louisianian) sailed to-day for
England, to make overtures to that government.
The government has ordered the military authorities at Augusta, Ga.
(Jan. 21), to remove or burn _all_ the cotton in that town if it is
likely to be occupied by the enemy.
Senator Hunter sends a letter to Mr. Seddon which he has just received
from Randolph Dickinson, Camp 57th Virginia, stating that it is needful
to inaugurate negotiations for the best possible terms without delay, as
the army, demoralized and crumbling, cannot be relied upon to do more
fighting, etc. Mr. Hunter indorses: "My dear sir, will you read the
inclosed? I fear there is too much truth in it. Can't the troops be
paid?
"Yours most truly, R. M. T. HUNTER."
JANUARY 24TH.--Clear and cool. It is now said Mr. Seddon's resignation
has not yet been accepted, and that his friends are urging the President
to persuade him to remain. Another rumor says ex-Gov. Letcher is to be
his successor, and that Mr. Benjamin has sent in his resignation.
Nothing seems to be definitely settled. I wrote the President yesterday
that, in my opinion, there was no ground for hope unless communication
with the enemy's country were checked, and an entire change in the
conscription business speedily ordered. I was sincere, and wrote plain
truths, however they might be relished. It is my _birth-right_.
It is said (I doubt it) that Mr. Blair left the city early yesterday.
To add to the confusion and despair of the country, the Secretary of the
Treasury is experimenting on the currency, ceasing to issue Treasury
notes, with unsettled claims demanding liquidation to the amount of
hundreds of millions. Even the clerks, almost in a starving condition,
it is said will not be paid at the end of the month; and the troops have
not been paid for many months; but they are fed and clothed. Mr.
Trenholm will fail to raise our credit in this way; and he may be
instrumental in precipitating a _crash_ of the government itself. No
doubt large amounts of gold have been shipped every month to Europe
from Wilmington; and the government may be now selling the money
intended to go out from that port. But it will be only a drop to the
ocean.
The Northern papers say Mr. Blair is authorized to offer an amnesty,
including all persons, with the "Union as it was, the Constitution as it
is" (my old motto on the "Southern Monitor," in 1857); but gradual
emancipation. No doubt some of the people here would be glad to accept
this; but the President will fight more, and desperately yet, still
hoping for foreign assistance.
What I fear is _starvation_; and I sincerely wish my family were on the
old farm on the Eastern Shore of Virginia until the next campaign is
over.
It is believed Gen. Grant meditates an early movement on our left--north
side of the river; and many believe we are in no condition to resist
him. Still, we have faith in Lee, and the President remains here. If he
and the principal members of the government were captured by a sudden
surprise, no doubt there would be a clamor in the North for their trial
and execution!
Guns have been heard to-day, and there are rumors of fighting below;
that Longstreet has marched to this side of the river; that one of our
gun-boats has been sunk; that Fort Harrison has been retaken; and,
finally, that an armistice of ninety days has been agreed to by both
governments.
JANUARY 25TH.--Clear, and very cold. We lost gun-boat Drewry yesterday
in an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the enemy's pontoon bridge down
the river. Fort Harrison was not taken as reported, nor is it likely to
be.
The rumor of an armistice remains, nevertheless, and Mr. Blair dined
with the President on _Sunday_, and has had frequent interviews with
him. This is published in the papers, and will cause the President to be
severely censured.
Congress failed to expel Mr. Foote yesterday (he is off again), not
having a two-thirds vote, but censured him by a decided majority. What
will it end in?
No successors yet announced to Seddon and Campbell--Secretary and
Assistant Secretary of War. Perhaps they can be persuaded to remain.
After all, it appears that our fleet did not return, but remains down
the river; and as the enemy's gun-boats have been mostly sent to North
Carolina, Gen. Lee may give Grant some trouble. If he destroys the
bridges, the Federal troops on this side the river will be cut off from
their main army.
It is said the President has signed the bill creating a
commander-in-chief.
Rev. W. Spottswood Fontaine writes from Greensborough, N. C., that ----
reports that Senator Hunter is in favor of Virginia negotiating a
separate peace with the United States, as the other States will probably
abandon her to her fate, etc.
I saw Mr. Lyons to-day, who told me Mr. Hunter dined with him yesterday,
and that Gen. Lee took tea with him last evening, and seemed in good
spirits, hope, etc. Mr. Lyons thinks Gen. Lee was always a thorough
emancipationist. He owns no slaves. He (Mr. Lyons) thinks that using the
negroes in the war will be equivalent to universal emancipation, that
not a slave will remain after the President's idea (which he don't seem
to condemn) is expanded and reduced to practice. He favors sending out a
commissioner to Europe for aid, on the basis of emancipation, etc., as a
dernier ressort. He thinks our cause has received most injury from
Congress, of which he is no longer a member.
If it be really so, and if it were generally known, that Gen. Lee is,
and always has been opposed to slavery, how soon would his great
popularity vanish like the mist of the morning! Can it be possible that
_he_ has influenced the President's mind on this subject? Did he
influence the mind of his father-in-law, G. W. Park Custis, to
emancipate his hundreds of slaves? Gen. Lee would have been heir to all,
as his wife was an only child. There's some mistake about it.
The Secretary of State (still there!) informs the Secretary of War
(still here!) that the gold he wrote about to the President on the 18th
inst. for Gen. Hardee and for Mr. Conrad, is ready and subject to his
order.
_Four_ steamers have run into Charleston with a large amount of
commissary stores. This is providential.
JANUARY 26TH.--Clear and cold. No further news from the iron-clad fleet
that went down the river.
Beef is selling at $8 per pound this morning; wood at $150 per cord.
Major Maynard, instead of bringing 120, gets in but 30 or 40 cords per
day. I am out of wood, and must do my little cooking in the parlor with
the coal in the grate. This is famine!
Congress passed a bill a few days ago increasing the number of
midshipmen, and allowing _themselves_ to appoint a large proportion of
them. Yesterday the President vetoed the bill, he alone, by the
Constitution, being authorized to make all appointments. But the Senate
immediately repassed it over the veto--only three votes in the negative.
Thus the war progresses! And Mr. Hunter was one of the three.
The President, in reply to a committee of the State Legislature, says
Gen. Lee has always refused to accept the command of all the armies
unless he could relinquish the immediate command of the Army of Northern
Virginia defending the capital; and that he is and ever has been willing
to bestow larger powers on Gen. Lee; but he would not accept them.
This makes me doubt whether the President has signed the bill creating a
commander-in-chief.
It is _said again_, that Commissary-General Northrop has resigned.
Doubtful.
Still, there are no beggars in the streets, except a few women of
foreign or Northern birth. What a people! If our affairs were managed
properly, subjugation would be utterly impossible. But all the statesmen
of the years preceding the war have been, somehow, "ruled out" of
positions, and wield no influence, unless it be a vengeful one in
private. Where are the patriots of the decade between 1850 and 1860?
"Echo answers where?" Who is responsible for their absence? A fearful
responsibility!
Gold is _quoted_ at $35 for $1--illusory! Perhaps worse.
The statistics furnished by my son Custis of the military strength of
the Confederate States, and ordered by the President to be preserved on
file in the department, seems to have attracted the attention of Mr.
Assistant Secretary Campbell, and elicited a long indorsement, saying a
calculation of the number of casualties of war was not made--all this
_after_ the paper was sent in by the President. But the estimate _was_
made, and included in the reduction from the 800,000, leaving 600,000.
Judge C thinks 200,000 have been killed, 50,000 permanently disabled,
and 55,000 are prisoners; still 500,000 availables would be left.
Custis has drafted, and will send to the President, a bill establishing
a Corps of Honor, with a view to excite emulation and to popularize the
service, now sadly needed.
JANUARY 27TH.--Clear, and coldest morning of the winter. None but the
rich speculators and quartermaster and commissary peculators have a
supply of food and fuel. Much suffering exists in the city; and prices
are indeed fabulous, notwithstanding the efforts of the Secretary of the
Treasury and the press to bring down the premium on gold. Many fear the
high members of the government have turned brokers and speculators, and
are robbing the country--making friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness, against the day of wrath which they see approaching.
The idea that Confederate States notes are improving in value, when
every commodity, even wood and coal, daily increases in price, is very
absurd!
The iron-clad fleet returned, without accomplishing anything--losing one
gun-boat and having some fifteen killed and wounded. The lower house of
Congress failed yesterday to pass the Midshipman bill over the
President's veto--though a majority was against the President.
It is said, and published in the papers, that Mrs. Davis threw her arms
around Mr. Blair and embraced him. This, too, is injurious to the
President.
My wood-house was broken into last night, and two (of the nine) sticks
of wood taken. Wood is selling at $5 a stick this cold morning; mercury
at zero.
A broker told me that he had an order (from government) to sell gold at
$35 for $1. But that is not the market price.
It is believed (by some credulous people) that Gen. J. E. Johnston will
command the army in Virginia, and that Lee will reside here and be
commander-in-chief. I doubt. The clamor for Gen. J. seems to be the
result of a _political_ combination.
Mr. Hunter came to the department to-day almost in a run. He is excited.
Lieut.-Gen. Hardee, of Charleston, 26th (yesterday), dispatches to the
Secretary that he has received an order from Gen. Cooper
(Adjutant-General) for the return of the 15th Regiment and 10th
Battalion North Carolina troops to North Carolina. He says these are
nearly the only regular troops he has to defend the line of the
Combahee--the rest being reserves, disaffected at being detained out of
their States. The withdrawal may cause the loss of the State line, and
great disaster, etc. etc.
Official statement of Gen. Hood's losses shows 66 guns, 13,000 small
arms, etc. The report says the army was saved by sacrificing
transportation; and but for this the losses would have been nothing.
JANUARY 28TH.--Clear and very cold; can't find a thermometer in the
city.
The President _did_ sign the bill creating a general-in-chief, and
depriving Gen. Bragg of his staff.
Major-Gen. Jno. C. Breckinridge _has_ been appointed Secretary of War.
May our success be greater hereafter!
Gen. Lee has sent a letter from Gen. Imboden, exposing the wretched
management of the Piedmont Railroad, and showing that salt and corn, in
"immense quantity," have been daily left piled in the mud and water, and
exposed to rain, etc., while the army has been starving. Complaints and
representations of this state of things have been made repeatedly.
Gold sold at $47 for one at auction yesterday.
Mr. Hunter was seen early this morning running (almost) toward the
President's office, to pick up news. He and Breckinridge were old rivals
in the United States.
The _Enquirer_ seems in favor of listening to Blair's propositions.
Judge Campbell thinks Gen. Breckinridge will not make a good Secretary
of War, as he is not a man of small _details_. I hope he is not going to
indulge in so many of them as the judge and Mr. Seddon have done, else
all is lost! The judge's successor will be recommended soon to the new
Secretary. There will be applicants enough, even if the ship of State
were visibly going down.
Although it is understood that Gen. Breckinridge has been confirmed by
the Senate, he has not yet taken his seat in the department.
The President has issued a proclamation for the observance of Friday,
March 10th, as a day of "fasting, humiliation, and prayer, with
thanksgiving," in pursuance of a resolution of Congress.
It seems that Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee will not be
represented in the cabinet; this may breed trouble, and we have trouble
enough, in all conscience.
It is said Mr. Blair has returned again to Richmond--third visit. Can
there be war brewing between the United States and England or France? We
shall know all soon. Or have propositions been made _on our part_ for
reconstruction? There are many smiling faces in the streets, betokening
a profound desire for peace.
JANUARY 29TH.--Clear, and moderating.
To-day at 10 A.M. three commissioners start for Washington on a mission
of peace, which may be possibly attained. They are Vice-President
Stephens, Senator R. M. T. Hunter, and James A. Campbell, Assistant
Secretary of War, and formerly a judge on the bench of the Supreme Court
of the United States, all of them heartily sick of war, and languishing
for peace. If _they_ cannot devise a mode of putting an end to the war,
none can. Of course they have the instructions of the President, with
his ultimata, etc., but they will strive earnestly for peace.
What terms may be expected? Not independence, unless the United States
may be on the eve of embarking in a foreign war, and in that event that
government will require all the resources it can command, and they would
not be ample if the war should continue to be prosecuted against us.
Hence it would be policy to hasten a peace with us, stipulating for
valuable commercial advantages, being the first to recognize us over all
other powers, hoping to restore the old trade, and _ultimately_ to
reconstruct the Union. Or it may proceed from intimations of a purpose
on the part of France and England to recognize us, which, of itself,
would lead inevitably to war. The refusal of the United States to
recognize the Empire of Mexico is an offense to France, and the
augmentation of the armament of the lakes, etc. is an offense to
England. Besides, if it were possible to subjugate us, it would be only
killing the goose that lays the golden egg, for the Southern trade would
be destroyed, and the Northern people are a race of manufacturers and
merchants. If the war goes on, 300,000 men must be immediately detailed
in the United States, and their heavy losses heretofore are now sorely
felt. We have no alternative but to fight on, they have the option of
ceasing hostilities. And we have suffered so much that almost any
treaty, granting us independence, will be accepted by the people. All
the commissioners must guard against is any appearance of a PROTECTORATE
on the part of the United States. If the _honor_ of the Southern people
be saved, they will not haggle about material losses. If negotiations
fail, our people will receive a new impulse for the war, and great will
be the slaughter. Every one will feel and know that these commissioners
sincerely desired an end of hostilities. Two, perhaps all of them, even
look upon eventual reconstruction without much repugnance, so that
slavery be preserved.
JANUARY 30TH.--Bright and beautiful, but quite cold; skating in the
basin, etc.
The departure of the commissioners has produced much speculation.
The enemy's fleet has gone, it is supposed to Sherman at Charleston.
No doubt the Government of the United States imagines the "rebellion"
_in articulo mortis_, and supposes the reconstruction of the Union a
very practicable thing, and the men selected as our commissioners may
confirm the belief. They can do nothing, of course, if independence is
the ultimatum given them.
Among the rumors now current, it is stated that the French Minister at
Washington has demanded his passports. Mr. Lincoln's message, in
December, certainly gave Napoleon grounds for a quarrel by ignoring his
empire erected in Mexico.
Mr. Seddon still awaits his successor. He has removed Col. and
Lieut.-Col. Ruffin from office.
Mr. Bruce, M. C. from Kentucky, and brother-in-law to Mr. Seddon, is
named as Commissary-General.
The President has vetoed another bill, granting the privilege to
soldiers to receive papers free of postage, and the Senate has passed it
again by a two-thirds vote. Thus the breach widens.
Some of our sensible men have strong hopes of peace immediately, on
terms of alliance against European powers, and commercial advantages to
the United States. I hope for even this for the sake of repose and
independence, if we come off with honor. We owe nothing to any of the
European governments. What has Blair been running backward and forward
so often for between the two Presidents? Has it not been clearly stated
that independence alone will content us? Blair _must_ have understood
this, and made it known to _his_ President. Then what else but
independence, on some terms, could be the basis for _further_
conference? I believe our people would, for the sake of independence,
agree to an alliance offensive and defensive with the United States, and
agree to furnish an army of volunteers in the event of a war with
France or England. The President has stigmatized the affected neutrality
of those powers in one of his annual messages. Still, such a treaty
would be unpopular after a term of peace with the United States. If the
United States be upon the eve of war with France and England, or either
of them, our commissioners abroad will soon have proposals from those
governments, which would be accepted, if the United States did not act
speedily.
JANUARY 31ST.--Bright and frosty.
The "peace commissioners" remained Sunday night at Petersburg, and
proceeded on their way yesterday morning. As they passed our lines, our
troops cheered them very heartily, and when they reached the enemy's
lines, they were cheered more vociferously than ever. Is not this an
evidence of a mutual desire for peace?
Yesterday, Mr. De Jarnette, of Virginia, introduced in Congress a
resolution intimating a disposition on the part of our government to
unite with the United States in vindication of the "Monroe doctrine,"
_i.e._ expulsion of monarchies established on this continent by European
powers. This aims at France, and to aid our commissioners in their
endeavors to divert the blows of the United States from us to France.
The resolution was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
If there be complication with France, the United States may accept our
overtures of alliance, and our people and government will acquiesce, but
it would soon grow an _unpopular_ treaty. At this moment we are hard
pressed, pushed to the wall, and prepared to catch at anything affording
relief. We pant for a "breathing spell." Sherman is advancing, but the
conquest of territory and liberation of slaves, while they injure us,
only embarrass the enemy, and add to their burdens. Now is the time for
the United States to avert another year of slaughter and expense.
Mr. Foote has been denouncing Mr. Secretary Seddon for selling his wheat
at $40 per bushel.
It is rumored that a column of the enemy's cavalry is on a raid
somewhere, I suppose sent out from Grant's army. This does not look like
peace and independence. An extract from the New York _Tribune_ states
that peace must come soon, because it has _reliable information_ of the
exhaustion of our resources. This means that we must submit
unconditionally, which may be a fatal mistake.
The raiders are said to be on the Brooke Turnpike and Westhaven Road,
northeast of the city, and menacing us in a weak place. Perhaps they are
from the Valley. The militia regiments are ordered out, and the locals
will follow of course, as when Dahlgren came.
Hon. Mr. Haynes of the Senate gives information of a raid organizing in
East Tennessee on Salisbury, N. C., to liberate the prisoners, cut the
Piedmont Road, etc.
Half-past two P.M. Nothing definite of the reported raid near the city.
False, perhaps.
No papers from the President to-day; he is disabled again by neuralgia,
in his _hand_, they say.
CHAPTER XLVII.
Gen. Lee appointed General-in-Chief.--Progress of Sherman.--The markets.--
Letter from Gen. Butler.--Return of the Peace Commissioners.--The
situation.--From Gen. Lee.--Use of negroes as soldiers.--Patriotism
of the women.--Pardon of deserters.--The passport system.--Oh for
peace!--Gen. Lee on negro soldiers.--Conventions in Georgia and
Mississippi.
FEBRUARY 1ST.--Clear and pleasant; subsequently thawing and foggy. Gen.
R. E. Lee has been appointed General-in-Chief by the President, in
response to the recent action of Congress and the clamorous demands of
the people. It is to be hoped he will, nevertheless, remain in person at
the head of the Army of Virginia, else the change may be fraught with
disaster, and then his popularity will vanish! He has not been fortunate
when not present with the troops under his command, as evidenced by
Early's defeat and Jones's disaster in the Valley last year. A general
must continue to reap successes if he retains his popularity.
Gen. Lee has called upon the people everywhere to send in any cavalry
arms and equipments in their possession--the importation being stopped.
The report of a raid yesterday, grew out of the return to the city of a
small body of our own cavalry that had been on detached service. Quite
an alarm was raised!
The President was better yesterday; it is neuralgia in the right
shoulder, disabling his arm.
Our "commissioners" were delayed until yesterday morning at Petersburg;
during which there was a sort of truce, and the troops of the opposing
fortifications ventured out, both sides cheering vociferously.
Gen. Lee writes that his army is suffering for want of soap. The
Secretary sends the letter to Commissary-General Northrop (neither of
their successors being inducted yet) for "prompt attention." The
Commissary-General sends it back, saying 800 barrels of soap are now,
and have been for _months_, lying at Charlotte, N. C., awaiting
transportation! The speculators get from Charlotte that much freight
every week. The Commissary-General says 800 barrels of soap ought to
last Gen. Lee's army one month. It must be a large army to consume that
amount of soap in a month.
Yesterday Congress passed another bill over the President's veto, to
allow soldiers to receive letters, etc. free. Thus the war progresses
between the executive and the legislative branches of the government.
In future revolutions, never let a "permanent government" be established
until independence is achieved!
FEBRUARY 2D.--Bright and beautiful, and pleasantly frosty. Gen. Sherman
is advancing as usual in such dubiety as to distract Gen. Hardee, who
knows not whether Branchville or Augusta is his objective point. I
suppose Sherman will be successful in cutting our communications with
the South--and in depreciating Confederate States Treasury notes still
more, in spite of Mr. Trenholm's spasmodic efforts to _depreciate_ gold.
Yesterday the Senate passed a bill _dropping_ all commissaries and
quartermasters not in the field, and not in the bureaus in Richmond, and
appointing _agents_ instead, over 45 years of age. This will make a
great fluttering, but the Richmond rascals will probably escape.
Military men here consider Augusta in danger; of course it is! How could
it be otherwise?
Information from the United States shows that an effort to obtain
"peace" will certainly be made. President Lincoln has appointed
ex-Presidents Fillmore and Pierce and Hon. S. P. Chase, commissioners,
to treat with ours. The two first are avowed "peace men;" and may God
grant that their endeavors may prove successful! Such is the newspaper
information.
A kind Providence watches over my family. The disbursing clerk is paying
us "half salaries" to-day, as suggested in a note I wrote the Secretary
yesterday. And Mr. Price informs me that the flour (Capt. Warner's) so
long held at Greensborough has arrived! I shall get my barrel. It cost
originally $150; but subsequent expenses may make it cost me, perhaps,
$300. The market price is from $800 to $1000. I bought also of Mr. Price
one-half bushel of red or "cow-peas" for $30; the market price being $80
per bushel. And Major Maynard says I shall have a load of government
wood in a few days!
FEBRUARY 3D.--The report that the United States Government had appointed
commissioners to meet ours is contradicted. On the contrary, it is
believed that Gen. Grant has been reinforced by 30,000 men from
Tennessee; and that we shall soon hear thunder in Richmond.
Gen. Lee writes urgently in behalf of Major Tannahill's traffic for
supplies, in Northeastern North Carolina and Southeastern Virginia, for
the army. Large amounts of commissary stores are obtained in exchange
for cotton, tobacco, etc; but the traffic is in danger of being broken
up by the efforts of bureau officials and civilian speculators to
participate in it--among them he mentions Major Brower
(Commissary-General's office, and formerly a clerk)--and asks such
orders as will be likely to avert the danger. The traffic is with the
_enemy_; but if conducted under the exclusive control of Gen. Lee, it
would be of vast benefit to the army.
The House of Representatives yesterday passed a singular compensation
bill, benefiting two disbursing clerks and others already rich enough. I
have written a note to Senator Johnson, of Missouri, hoping to head it
off there, or to so amend it as to make it equable and just. All the
paths of error lead to destruction; and every one seems inclined to be
pressing therein.
The freezing of the canal has put up the price of wood to about $500 per
cord--judging from the little one-horse loads for which they ask $50.
One o'clock P.M. Dark and dismal; more rain or snow looked for.
Certainly we are in a dark period of the war--encompassed by augmenting
armies, almost starving in the midst of plenty (hoarded by the
speculators), our men deserting--and others skulking duty, while
Congress and the Executive seem paralyzed or incapable of thought or
action.
The President was better yesterday; but not out. They say it is
neuralgia in the shoulder, disabling his right arm. Yet he orders
appointments, etc., or forbids others.
Major Noland, Commissary-General, has refused to impress the coffee in
the hands of speculators; saying there is no law authorizing it. The
speculators rule the hour--for all, nearly, are speculators! God save
us! we seem incapable of saving ourselves.
No news to-day from Georgia and South Carolina--which means there is no
good news. If it be true that Gen. Thomas has reinforced Grant with
30,000 men, we shall soon _hear_ news without seeking it! The enemy will
not rest content with their recent series of successes; for system of
_easy communication_ will enable them to learn all they want to know
about our weak points, and our childish dependence on the speculators
for subsistence.
After leaving thirty days' supplies in Charleston for 20,000 men--all
the rest have been ordered to Richmond.
FEBRUARY 4TH.--Clear, but rained last night. From the South we learn
that Sherman is marching on Branchville, and that Beauregard is at
Augusta.
The _great struggle_ will be in Virginia, south of Richmond, and both
sides will gather up their forces for that event. We can probably get
men enough, if we can feed them.
The City Council is having green "old field pine" wood brought in on the
Fredericksburg railroad, to sell to citizens at $80 per cord--a
speculation.
The Quartermaster's Department is also bringing in large quantities of
wood, costing the government about $40 per cord. Prior to the 1st inst.,
the Quartermaster's Department _commuted_ officer's (themselves)
allowance of wood at $130 per cord!
The President still suffers, but is said to be "better."
Yesterday much of the day was consumed by Congress in displaying a _new
flag_ for the Confederacy--before the old one is worn out! Idiots!
I have just seen on file a characteristic letter from Major-Gen. Butler,
of which this is a literal copy:
"HEADQUARTERS DEPT. VA. AND N. C.,
"ARMY OF THE JAMES IN THE FIELD,
"FORTRESS MONROE, Oct. 9th, 1864.
"HON. ROBT. OULD--SIR:
"An attempt was made this morning by private Roucher, Co. B, 5th
Penna. cavalry, to commit a rape upon the persons of Mrs. Minzer
and Mrs. Anderson, living on the Darbytown Road.
"On the outrage being discovered, he broke through the picket line,
and fled for your lines. Our soldiers chased him, but were unable
to overtake him.
"I have therefore the honor to request that you will return him,
that I may inflict the punishment which his dastardly offense
merits. I cannot be responsible for the good conduct of my
soldiers, _if they are to find protection from punishment by
entering your lines_.
"I have the honor to be, your obt. servt.,
"(Signed) B. F. BUTLER,
"_Major-Gen. Comd'g and Com. for Exchange_."
The ladies were Virginians.
I got my barrel (2 bags) flour to-day; 1 bushel meal, 1/2 bushel peas,
1/2 bushel potatoes ($50 per bushel); and feel pretty well. Major
Maynard, Quartermaster, has promised a load of wood. _Will these last
until_----? I believe I would make a good commissary.
FEBRUARY 5TH.--Clear and cold. Our commissioners are back again! It is
said Lincoln and Seward met them at Fortress Monroe, and they proceeded
no further. No basis of negotiation but reconstruction could be listened
to by the Federal authorities. How could it be otherwise, when their
armies are marching without resistance from one triumph to
another--while the government "allows" as many emissaries as choose to
pass into the enemy's country, with the most solemn assurances that the
Union cause is spreading throughout the South with great
rapidity--while the President is incapacitated both mentally and
physically by disease, disaster, and an inflexible defiance of his
opponents--and while Congress wastes its time in discussions on the
adoption of a _flag_ for future generations!
This fruitless mission, I apprehend, will be fraught with evil, unless
the career of Sherman be checked; and in that event the BATTLE for
RICHMOND, and Virginia, and the Confederacy, will occur within a few
months--perhaps weeks. The sooner the better for us, as delay will only
serve to organize the UNION PARTY sure to spring up; for many of the
people are not only weary of the war, but they have no longer any faith
in the President, his cabinet, Congress, the commissaries,
quartermasters, enrolling officers, and most of the generals.
Judge Campbell was closeted for hours last night with Mr. Secretary
Seddon at the department. I have not recently seen Mr. Hunter.
We have news from the Eastern Shore of Virginia. My wife's aunt, Miss
Sally Parsons, is dead--over 90 years of age. The slaves are free, but
remain with their owners--on wages. The people are prosperous, getting
fine prices for abundant crops. Only a few hundred Federal troops are in
the two counties; but these, under the despotic orders of Butler, levy
heavy "war contributions" from the unoffending farmers.
FEBRUARY 6TH.--Bright and frosty. As I supposed, the peace commissioners
have returned from their fruitless errand. President Lincoln and Mr.
Seward, it appears, had nothing to propose, and would listen to nothing
but unconditional submission. The Congress of the United States has just
passed, by a two-thirds vote, an amendment to the Constitution
_abolishing slavery_.
Now the South will soon be fired up again, perhaps with a new
impulse--and WAR will rage with greater fury than ever. Mr. Stephens
will go into Georgia, and reanimate his people. Gen. Wise spoke at
length for independence at the Capitol on Saturday night amidst
applauding listeners, and Governor Smith speaks to-night.
Gen. Breckinridge is here and will take his seat to-morrow. Every effort
will be made to popularize the cause again.
Hon. Mr. Foote is at Washington, in _prison_.
Gen. Wise's brigade has sent up resolutions consenting to gradual
_emancipation_--but never to reunion with the North.
There is a more cheerful aspect on the countenances of the people in the
streets. All hope of peace with independence is extinct--and valor alone
is relied upon now for our salvation. Every one thinks the Confederacy
will at once gather up its military strength and strike such blows as
will astonish the world. There will be desperate conflicts!
Vice-President Stephens is in his seat to-day, and seems determined.
Mr. Hunter is rolling about industriously.
Gen. Lee writes that desertions are caused by the bad management of the
Commissary Department, and that there are supplies enough in the
country, if the proper means were used to procure them.
Gen. Taylor sends a telegram from Meridian, Miss., stating that he had
ordered Stewart's corps to Augusta, Ga., as Sherman's movement rendered
a _victory necessary at once_. The dispatch was to the President, and
seems to be in response to one from him. So we may expect a battle
immediately near Augusta, Ga. Beauregard should have some 20,000 men,
besides Hardee's 15,000--which ought to be enough for victory; and then
good-by to Sherman!
FEBRUARY 7TH.--A snow four inches in depth on the ground, and snowing.
Last night Governor Smith, President Davis, Senator Oldham (Texas), Rev.
Mr. Duncan, Methodist preacher, and a Yankee Baptist preacher, named
Doggell, or Burroughs, I believe, addressed a large meeting in the
African Church, on the subject of the Peace Mission, and the ultimatum
of the United States authorities. The speakers were very patriotic and
much applauded. President Davis (whose health is so feeble he should
have remained away) denounced President Lincoln as "His Majesty Abraham
the First"--in the language of the press--and said before the campaign
was over he and Seward might find "they had been speaking to their
masters," when demanding unconditional submission. He promised the
people great successes, after our destined reverses had run out,
provided they kept from despondency and speculation, and filled the
ranks of the army. He denounced the speculators, and intimated that they
might yet be called upon to "disgorge their earnings."
A grand assemblage is called for next Thursday, to meet in the Capitol
Square.
Congress will soon be likely to vote a negro army, and their
emancipation after the war--as Lee favors it.
There was some fighting near Petersburg yesterday and the day before;
but the press is reticent--a bad sign.
There is a rumor that Charleston has been evacuated!
Gen. Lee again writes that desertions occur to an alarming extent, for
want of sufficient food. And he says there is enough subsistence in the
country, but that the Commissary Department is inefficiently
administered.
Gen. Breckinridge is in his office to-day.
A scramble is going on by the young politicians for the position of
Assistant Secretary of War, and Mr. Kean is supposed to be ahead in the
race. When a ship is thought to be sinking, even the cook may be
appointed captain! Anything, now, to keep out of the _field_--such is
the word among the mere politicians.
It is rumored that Gen. Pegram (since confirmed) was killed in the
enemy's attack on our right near Petersburg, and that seven brigades
were engaged and repulsed the enemy. Still, there is no official
confirmation--and the silence of Gen. Lee is interpreted adversely.
Senator Haynes, of Tennessee, and Senator Wigfall, of Texas, denounced
the President yesterday as mediocre and malicious--and that his blunders
had caused all our disasters.
Our commissioners were not permitted to land at Fortress Monroe, but
Lincoln and Seward came on board.
Judge Campbell is still acting as Assistant Secretary; but he looks very
despondent. If Beauregard gains a victory ----.
FEBRUARY 8TH.--Rained all day yesterday--slush--bright this morning and
cool--ground still covered with snow. It is reported by Gen. Lee that
the losses on both sides on Monday were light, but the enemy have
established themselves on Hatcher's Run, and intrenched; still menacing
the South Side Railroad. It is also said fighting was going on yesterday
afternoon, when the dreadful snow and sleet were enough to subdue an
army!
We have nothing from Charleston or Branchville, but the wires are said
to be working to Augusta.
A deficiency of between $300,000,000 and $400,000,000 has been
discovered in the amount of our indebtedness! the present Secretary
being led into the error by the estimates of his predecessor, Memminger.
Congress is elaborating a bill, increasing taxation 100 per cent! An
acquaintance, who has 16 acres near the city, says he will sell, to
escape a tax of $5000.
Senator Brown, of Mississippi, has introduced a resolution for the
employment of 200,000 negroes, giving them their freedom.
Gen. Kemper is strongly recommended as Assistant Secretary of War.
The wounded are still coming in from the fight beyond Petersburg.
Horrible weather, yesterday, for fighting--and yet it is said much of it
was done.
Vice-President Stephens was in the department to-day. He has a ghostly
appearance. He is announced to speak in Richmond to-morrow; but I
believe he starts for Georgia _to-day_. He may publish a letter. He had
a long interview with Judge Campbell--with locked doors.
Twelve M. The sun is melting the snow rapidly.
The Legislature of Virginia has passed resolutions in favor of the
restoration of Gen. J. E. Johnston to a command. What will the President
_do_, after _saying_ he should never have another command?
Intelligence was received to-day of the sudden death of Brig.-Gen.
Winder, in Georgia; from apoplexy, it is supposed. He was in command of
the prisons, with his staff of "Plug Uglies" around him, and Cashmeyer,
their sutler.
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
"February 6th, 1865.
"GENERAL S. COOPER.
"The enemy moved in strong force yesterday to Hatcher's Run. Part
of his infantry, with Gregg's cavalry, crossed and proceeded on the
Vaughan Road--the infantry to Cattail Creek, the cavalry to
Dinwiddie Court House, when its advance encountered a portion of
our cavalry, and retreated.
"In the afternoon, parts of Hill's and Gordon's troops demonstrated
against the enemy on the left of Hatcher's Run, near Armstrong's
Mill. Finding him intrenched, they were withdrawn after dark.
During the night, the force that had advanced beyond the creek
retired to it, and were reported to be recrossing.
"This morning, Pegram's division moved down the right bank of the
creek to reconnoiter, when it was vigorously attacked. The battle
was obstinately contested several hours, but Gen. Pegram being
killed while bravely encouraging his men, and Col. Hoffman wounded,
some confusion occurred, and the division was pressed back to its
original position. Evans's division, ordered by Gen. Gordon to
support Pegram's, charged the enemy and forced him back, but was,
in turn, compelled to retire. Mahone's division arriving, the enemy
was driven rapidly to his defenses on Hatcher's Run.
"Our loss is reported to be small; that of the enemy not supposed
great. R. E. LEE."
FEBRUARY 9TH.--Bright, frosty, beautiful, after a cold night.
We have nothing more specific from the fight of Tuesday, when we learn
another general was killed. It seems that most of Grant's army was in
the movement, and they have a lodgment several miles nearer the South
Side Railroad--the objective point. Their superior numbers must
ultimately prevail in maintaining the _longest line_.
There is to be public speaking in the African Church to-day, or in the
Square, to reanimate the people for another carnival of blood. Mr.
Hunter, it is said, has been chosen to preside, and no man living has a
greater abhorrence of blood! But, perhaps, he cannot decline.
Papers from the United States indicate that the peace epidemic prevails
in that country also to an _alarming_ extent: for the day (15th instant)
of drafting is near at hand; and even the Republican papers hope and
pray for peace, and reconstruction without slavery.
Senator Brown's resolution to put 200,000 slaves in the army was voted
down in secret session. Now the slave_owners_ must go in themselves, or
all is lost.
One of the President's pages says the President will make a speech at
the meeting to-day. He is a good political speaker, and will leave no
stone unturned to disconcert his political enemies in Congress and
elsewhere--and their name is legion.
The President has ordered the nomination of ex-Gov. Bonham as
brigadier-general of a brigade of South Carolina cavalry, in opposition
to _Gen. Cooper's_ opinion: a rare occurrence, showing that Mr. Davis
can be flexible when necessity urges. Gen. Hampton recommended Bonham.
The day is bright, but the snow is not quite all gone: else the meeting
would be very large, and in the Capitol Square. There will be much
cheering; but the rich men will be still resolved to keep out of the
army themselves.
We have nothing from Charleston for several days. No doubt preparations
are being made for its evacuation. The stores will be brought here for
Lee's army. What will be the price of gold then?
Mr. Seddon has published a correspondence with the President, showing
why he resigned: which was a declaration on the part of Congress of a
want of confidence in the cabinet. The President says such a declaration
on the part of Congress is extra-official, and subversive of the
constitutional jurisdiction of the Executive; and, in short, he would
not accept the resignation, if Mr. S. would agree to withdraw it. So, I
suppose the other members will hold on, in spite of Congress.
FEBRUARY 10TH.--Bright and cold. It is estimated that the enemy lost
1500 men in the fight near Petersburg, and we 500.
Sherman has got to the railroad near Branchville, and cut communications
with Augusta.
At the meeting, yesterday, Mr. Hunter presided, sure enough; and made a
carefully prepared patriotic speech. There was no other alternative. And
Mr. Benjamin, being a member of the cabinet, made a significant and most
extraordinary speech. He said the white fighting men were exhausted, and
that black men must recruit the army--and it must be done at once; that
Gen. Lee had informed him he must abandon Richmond, if not soon
reinforced, and that negroes would answer. The _States_ must send them,
Congress having no authority. Virginia must lead, and send 20,000 to the
trenches in twenty days. Let the negroes volunteer, and be emancipated.
It was the only way to save the slaves--the women and children. He also
said all who had cotton, tobacco, corn, meat, etc. must _give_ them to
the government, not sell them. These remarks were not literally reported
in the _Dispatch_, but they were uttered. He read resolutions, adopted
in certain regiments, indorsing the President and his cabinet--of which
Mr. B. said, playfully, he was one.
Yesterday, in the House, upon the passage of a bill revising the
Commissary Department, Mr. Miles said the object was to remove Col.
Northrop. [His removal _has_ been determined.] Mr. Baldwin said the
department had been well conducted. Mr. Miles said in these times the
test of merit must be success. The bill passed.
Senator Hunter is at the department this morning, calling for the
statistics, prepared by my son Custis, of the fighting men in the
Southern States. Doubtless Mr. Hunter is averse to using the slaves.
The new Secretary of War is calling for reports of "means and resources"
from all the bureaus. This has been done by no other Secretary. The
government allowed Lee's army to suffer for months with the _itch_,
without knowing there were eight hundred barrels of soap within a few
hours' run of it.
From the ordnance report, I see we shall have plenty of powder--making
7000 pounds per day; and 55,000 rifles per annum, besides importations.
So, if there must be another carnival of blood, the defense can be
maintained at least another year, provided the _right men_ have the
management.
A violent opposition is likely to spring up against Mr. Benjamin's
suggestions. No doubt he is for a desperate stroke for independence,
being out of the pale of mercy; but his moral integrity is impugned by
the representatives from Louisiana, who believe he has taken bribes for
passports, etc., to the injury of the cause. He feels strong, however,
in the strength of the President, who still adheres to him.
There is much excitement among the slaveowners, caused by Mr. Benjamin's
speech. They must either fight themselves or let the slaves fight. Many
would prefer submission to Lincoln; but that would not save their
slaves! The Proclamation of Emancipation in the United States may yet
free the South of Northern domination.
FEBRUARY 11TH.--Cloudy and cold; froze hard last night.
Yesterday a bill was introduced into both houses of Congress authorizing
the enlistment of 200,000 slaves, _with consent of their owners_, which
will probably be amended. Mr. Miles, as a test vote, moved the rejection
of the bill; and the vote _not_ to reject it was more than two to one,
an indication that it will pass.
The failure of the peace conference seems to have been made the
occasion of inspiring renewed zeal and enthusiasm for the war in the
United States, as well as here. So the carnival of blood will be a
"success."
The enemy claim an advantage in the late battle on the south side of the
James River.
Sherman's movements are still shrouded in mystery, and our generals seem
to be _waiting_ for a development of his intentions. Meantime he is
getting nearer to Charleston, and cutting railroad communications
between that city and the interior. The city is doomed, unless Hardee or
Beauregard, or both, successfully take the initiative.
Here the price of slaves, men, is about $5000 Confederate States notes,
or $100 in specie. A great depreciation. Before the war, they commanded
ten times that price.
It is rumored that _hundreds_ of the enemy's transports have come into
the James River. If it be Thomas's army reinforcing Grant, Richmond is
in immediate peril! Information of our numbers, condition, etc. has
been, doubtless, communicated to the enemy--and our slumbering
government could not be awakened!
Wigfall, of Texas, Graham, of North Carolina, Orr and Miles, of South
Carolina, oppose the employment of negro troops, and Gen. Wickham, of
this department, openly proclaims such a measure as the end of the
Confederacy! We are upon stirring times! Senator Wigfall demands a new
cabinet, etc.
Two P.M. The sun has come out; warmer. But it does not disperse the
prevailing gloom. It is feared Richmond must be abandoned, and our
forces concentrated farther South, where supplies may be more easily
had, and where it will be a greater labor and expense for the enemy to
subsist his armies.
Assistant Secretary of War, Judge Campbell, is still furloughing,
detailing, and discharging men from the army; and yet he thinks the
country is pretty nearly exhausted of its fighting population! His
successor is not yet appointed; the sooner the better, perhaps.
FEBRUARY 12TH.--Bright, windy, cold, and disagreeable.
There was nothing new at the department this morning. Nothing from
below; nothing from South Carolina. Perhaps communications are cut
between this and Charleston. All are anxious to hear the result of the
anticipated battle with Sherman, for somehow all know that the order to
fight him was sent from Richmond more than a week ago.
People's thoughts very naturally now dwell upon the proximate future,
and the alternatives likely to be presented in the event of the
abandonment of Richmond, and consequently Virginia, by Lee's army. Most
of the _male_ population would probably (if permitted) elect to remain
at their homes, braving the fate that might await them. But the women
are more patriotic, and would brave all in following the fortunes of the
Confederate States Government. Is this because they do not participate
in the hardships and dangers of the field? But many of our men are weary
and worn, and languish for repose. These would probably remain quiescent
on parole, submitting to the rule of the conqueror; but hoping still for
foreign intervention or Confederate victories, and ultimate
independence.
Doubtless Lee could protract the war, and, by concentrating farther
South, embarrass the enemy by compelling him to maintain a longer line
of communication by land and by sea, and at the same time be enabled to
fall upon him, as occasion might offer, in heavier force. No doubt many
would fall out of the ranks, if Virginia were abandoned; but Lee could
have an army of 100,000 effective men for years.
Still, these dire necessities may not come. The slaveowners,
speculators, etc., hitherto contriving to evade the service, may take
the alarm at the present aspect of affairs, and both recruit and subsist
the army sufficiently for victory over both Grant and Sherman; and then
Richmond will be held by us, and Virginia and the Cotton States remain
in our possession; and we shall have peace, for exhaustion will manifest
itself in the United States.
We have dangerous discussions among our leaders, it is true; and there
may be convulsions, and possibly expulsion of the men at the head of
civil affairs: but the war will not be affected. Such things occurred in
France at a time when the armies achieved their greatest triumphs.
One of the greatest blunders of the war was the abandonment of Norfolk;
and the then Secretary of War (Randolph) is now safely in Europe. That
blunder brought the enemy to the gates of the capital, and relinquished
a fertile source of supplies; however, at this moment Lee is deriving
some subsistence from that source by connivance with the enemy, who get
our cotton and tobacco.
Another blunder was Hood's campaign into Tennessee, allowing Sherman to
raid through Georgia.
FEBRUARY 13TH.--Coldest morning of the winter.
My exposure to the cold wind yesterday, when returning from the
department, caused an attack of indigestion, and I have suffered much
this morning from disordered stomach and bowels.
From Northern papers we learn that Gen. Grant's demonstration last week
was a very formidable effort to reach the South Side Railroad, and was,
as yet, a decided failure. It seems that his spies informed him that
Gen. Lee was evacuating Richmond, and under the supposition of Lee's
great weakness, and of great consequent demoralization in the army, the
Federal general was induced to make an attempt to intercept what he
supposed might be a retreat of the Confederate army. There will be more
fighting yet before Richmond is abandoned, probably such a carnival of
blood as will make the world start in horror.
The New York _Tribune_ still affects to believe that good results may
come from the recent peace conference, on the basis of reunion, other
basis being out of the question. The new amnesty which it was said
President Lincoln intended to proclaim has not appeared, at least our
papers make no mention of it.
Gen. Lee has proclaimed a pardon for all soldiers, now absent without
leave, who report for duty within 20 days, and he appeals to their
patriotism. I copy it.
"HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES,
"February 11th, 1865.
"GENERAL ORDERS NO. 2.
"In entering upon the campaign about to open, the general-in-chief
feels assured that the soldiers who have so long and so nobly borne
the hardships and dangers of the war require no exhortation to
respond to the calls of honor and duty.
"With the liberty transmitted by their forefathers they have
inherited the spirit to defend it.
"The choice between war and abject submission is before them.
"To such a proposal brave men, with arms in their hands, can have
but one answer.
"They cannot barter manhood for peace, nor the right of
self-government for life or property.
"But justice to them requires a sterner admonition to those who
have abandoned their comrades in the hour of peril.
"A last opportunity is offered them to wipe out the disgrace and
escape the punishment of their crimes.
"By authority of the President of the Confederate States, a pardon
is announced to such deserters and men improperly absent as shall
return to the commands to which they belong within the shortest
possible time, not exceeding twenty days from the publication of
this order, at the headquarters of the department in which they may
be.
"Those who may be prevented by interruption of communications, may
report within the time specified to the nearest enrolling officer,
or other officer on duty, to be forwarded as soon as practicable;
and upon presenting a certificate from such officer, showing
compliance with this requirement, will receive the pardon hereby
offered.
"Those who have deserted to the service of the enemy, or who have
deserted after having been once pardoned for the same offense, and
those who shall desert, or absent themselves without authority,
after the publication of this order, are excluded from its
benefits. Nor does the offer of pardon extend to other offenses
than desertion and absence without permission.
"By the same authority, it is also declared that no general amnesty
will again be granted, and those who refuse to accept the pardon
now offered, or who shall hereafter desert or absent themselves
without leave, shall suffer such punishment as the courts may
impose, and no application for clemency will be entertained.
"Taking new resolution from the fate which our enemies intend for
us, let every man devote all his energies to the common defense.
"Our resources, wisely and vigorously employed, are ample, and with
a brave army, sustained by a determined and united people, success,
with God's assistance, cannot be doubtful.
"The advantages of the enemy will have but little value if we do
not permit them to impair our resolution. Let us, then, oppose
constancy to adversity, fortitude to suffering, and courage to
danger, with the firm assurance that He who gave freedom to our
fathers will bless the efforts of their children to preserve it.
"R. E. LEE, _General_."
The Senate did nothing on Saturday but discuss the policy of abolishing
the Bureau of Conscription, the office of provost marshal outside of our
military lines.
Gov. Smith's salary is to be increased to $20,000, and he is still
exempting young justices, deputy sheriffs, deputy clerks, constables,
etc.
FEBRUARY 14TH.--Bright and cold. Very cold, and fuel unattainable.
The papers speak of heavy raids in process of organization: one from
Newbern, N. C., against Raleigh, and one from East Tennessee against
Salisbury and our communications.
The news from South Carolina is vague, only that the armies are in
active motion. So long as Sherman keeps the initiative, of course he
will succeed, but if Beauregard should attack, it may be different.
Yesterday some progress was made with the measure of 200,000 negroes for
the army. Something must be done--and _soon_.
Gen. Wise sent me a letter of introduction to Gen. Breckinridge
yesterday. I sent it in to-day. I want the system of passports changed,
and speculation annihilated, else the cause is lost. I expect no action,
for impediments will be interposed by others. But my duty is done. I
have as little to lose as any of them. The generals all say the system
of passports in use has inflicted great detriment to the service, a fact
none can deny, and if it be continued, it will be indeed "idiotic
suicide," as Gen. Preston says.
The weather is moderating, but it is the most wintry 14th of February I
remember to have seen. Yet, as soon as the weather will admit of it, the
carnival of blood must begin. At Washington they demand unconditional
submission or extermination, the language once applied to the Florida
Indians, a few hundred of whom maintained a war of seven years. Our
cities may fall into the hands of the enemy, but then the populations
will cease to subsist on the Confederacy. There is no prospect of peace
on terms of "unconditional submission," and most of the veteran troops
of the enemy will return to their homes upon the expiration of their
terms of enlistment, leaving mostly raw recruits to prosecute the work
of "extermination."
Meantime the war of the factions proceeds with activity, the cabinet and
the majority in both Houses of Congress. The President remains
immovable in his determination not to yield to the demand for new men in
the government, and the country seems to have lost confidence in the
old. God help us, or we are lost! The feeble health of the President is
supposed to have enfeebled his intellect, and if this be so, of course
_he_ would not be likely to discover and admit it. Mr. Speaker Bocock
signs a communication in behalf of the Virginia delegation in Congress
asking the dismissal of the cabinet.
The Northern papers mention a gigantic raid in motion from Tennessee to
Selma, Montgomery, and Mobile, Ala., consisting of 40,000 cavalry and
mounted infantry, _a la Sherman_. They are resolved to give us no rest,
while we are distracted among ourselves, and the President refuses to
change his cabinet, etc.
Gen. Grant telegraphed the Secretary of War at Washington, when our
commissioners were in his camp, that he understood both Messrs. Stephens
and Hunter to say that peace might be restored on the basis of REUNION.
FEBRUARY 15TH.--Moderated last night; this morning sleety and dangerous.
Gen. Lee was in the city yesterday, walking about briskly, as if some
great event was imminent. His gray locks and beard have become white,
but his countenance is cheerful, and his health vigorous.
The papers say Wheeler has beaten Kilpatrick (Federal cavalry general)
back five miles, somewhere between Branchville and Augusta. So he did
once or twice when Sherman was marching on Savannah, and he took it
while Bragg remained at Augusta. The news of a victory by Beauregard
over Sherman would change the face of affairs in that quarter, and
nothing less will suffice.
It is surprising that the Federal authorities do not seem to perceive
that in the event of a forced reconstruction of the Union, and a war
with any European power, the South would rise again and join the latter.
Better recognize a separate nationality, secure commercial advantages,
and have guarantees of neutrality, etc.
Scouts report Gen. Thomas (Federal), with 30,000 men, encamped in the
vicinity of Alexandria, Va., awaiting fair weather to march upon
Richmond from that direction. The number is exaggerated no doubt, but
that Richmond is to be subjected to renewed perils, while Congress is
wasting its time in idle debate, is pretty certain.
The Senate passed a bill yesterday abolishing the Bureau of
Conscription, and I think it will pass the House. The President ought to
have abolished it months ago--years ago. It may be too late.
Col. St. John, Chief Mining and Niter Bureau, has been nominated as the
new Commissary-General.
FEBRUARY 16TH.--Cloudy; rained yesterday and last night.
We have no important news from South Carolina, except the falling back
toward Columbia of our troops; I suppose before superior numbers.
Branchville is evacuated.
The roads will not admit of much movement in the field for some days.
But pretty heavy cannonading is heard down the river.
Congress did nothing yesterday; it is supposed, however, that the bill
recruiting negro troops will pass--I fear when it is too late.
Meantime the President is as busy as a bee making appointments and
promotions, and many meritorious men are offended, supposing themselves
to be overslaughed or neglected.
The published letter taking leave of Mr. Secretary Seddon rasps Congress
severely, and is full of professions of esteem, etc. for the retiring
Secretary. The members of Congress reply with acrimony.
The quartermaster at Charlotte, N. C., dispatches the Secretary of War
that he has there some millions in specie, government funds, besides
specie of the banks for safe keeping. He also desires the removal of the
"Foreign Legion" there, paroled prisoners taken from the enemy and
enlisting in our service. They are committing robberies, etc.
I saw Gen. Lee at the department again this morning. He seems vigorous,
his face quite red, and very cheerful. He was in gray uniform, with a
blue cloth cape over his shoulders.
Exchange of prisoners has been resumed, and many of our men are
returning from captivity. Gen. Grant has the matter under his control.
Gen. Pillow has been appointed commander of prisons in place of Gen.
Winder, deceased.
Only 4-5/8 pounds bacon were issued as meat ration to detailed men this
month.
I learn that some 2000 of our men, confined at Point Lookout, Md., as
prisoners of war, during the last two months, offered to take the oath
of allegiance, which was refused, because it would reduce the number to
exchange.
By the last flag of truce boat a negro slave returned. His master took
the oath, the slave _refused_. He says "Massa had no principles."
FEBRUARY 17TH.--Frosty morning, after a rain last night.
We have no authentic war news this morning, from any quarter.
Congress is at work in both Houses on the Negro bill. It will pass, of
course, without some unforeseen obstacle is interposed.
A letter from Gen. Lee to Gen. Wise is published, thanking the latter's
brigade for resolutions recently adopted, declaring that they would
consent to gradual emancipation for the sake of independence and peace.
This is a strong indication (confirmatory) that Gen. Lee is an
emancipationist. From all the signs slavery is doomed! But if 200,000
negro recruits can be made to fight, and can be enlisted, Gen. Lee may
maintain the war very easily and successfully; and the powers at
Washington may soon become disposed to abate the hard terms of peace now
exacted.
How our fancies paint the scenes of peace now which were never
appreciated before! Sitting by our cheerless fires, we summon up
countless blessings that we could enjoy, if this war were only over. We
plan and imagine many things that would be bliss to us in comparison
with the privations we suffer. Oh, what fine _eating_ and comfortable
_clothes_ we shall have when we enjoy another season of repose! We will
hunt, we will "go fishing," we will cultivate nice gardens, etc. Oh for
peace once more! Will this generation, with their eyes open, and their
memories fresh, ever, ever go to war again?
There is a _dark_ rumor that Columbia, S. C., has been taken possession
of by the enemy; but I hardly believe it, for Gen. Beauregard would
fight for it.
Gen. Beauregard telegraphs from Columbia, S. C., _yesterday_, that Gen.
Pillow proposes to gather troops west of that point, and Gen. B.
approves it. The President hesitates, and refers to _Gen. Cooper_, etc.
Eleven o'clock A.M. Raining again; wind east.
Mr. Hunter looks rather cadaverous to-day; he does not call on the new
Secretary often. Gen. B. is a formidable rival for the _succession_--if
there should be such a thing.
To-day my son Thomas drew his rations. I have also had another load of
coal from Lieut. Parker, C. S. N., out of his contract, at $30, a saving
of nearly $100! that will take us through the winter and spring. We also
bought another bushel of black beans at $65.
Alas! we have news now of the capture of Columbia, S. C., the capital of
the State. A dark day, truly! And only this morning--not three short
hours ago--the President hesitated to second Beauregard's desire that
Gen. Pillow--although not a "red tapist"--should rouse the people to the
rescue; but _Gen. Cooper_ must be consulted to throw obstacles in the
way! This will be a terrible blow; and its consequences maybe calamitous
beyond calculation. Poor South Carolina! her day of agony has come!
FEBRUARY 18TH.--Rained last night; but this is as lovely a morning as
ever dawned on earth. A gentle southern breeze, a cloudless sky, and a
glorious morning sun, whose genial warmth dispels the moisture of the
late showers in smoky vapors.
But how dark and dismal the aspect of our military affairs! Columbia
fallen and Charleston (of course) evacuated. My wife wept, my daughter
prayed, upon hearing the news. South Carolina was superior to all the
States in the estimation of my wife, and she regarded it as the last
stronghold. Now she despairs, and seems reckless of whatever else may
happen in Sherman's career of conquest.
A dispatch to Gen. Bragg states that Thomas's army (the ubiquitous) is
landing at Newbern, N. C.! This is to cut Lee's communications and
strike at Raleigh perhaps.
The people are stunned and sullen; sometimes execrating the President
for retaining a cabinet in which the country has no confidence, etc.
One hundred for one is asked for gold.
The President was at work very early this morning making appointments in
the army. But that does no good to the cause, I fear. A sufficient
number of men must _be_ placed in the ranks, or there will be no
military success.
The Senate has passed a bill abolishing the "Bureau of Conscription,"
and it is now before the House. That is one step in the right
direction. Hon. J. Goode yesterday made a speech in favor of its
abolition, in which he said 150,000 men had been "handled" by the bureau
during the last twelve months, and only 13,000 had been sent to the
army! But it did not pass--no vote was taken; it is to be hoped it will
pass to-day.
It is rumored that the "money-printing machine" was lost at Columbia,
including a large amount of "treasure"--if Confederate Treasury notes be
worthy that appellation.
FEBRUARY 19TH.--Another bright and glorious morning. I hear of no news
whatever from the South--although I know that important events are
transpiring--and the reticence of the government is construed very
unfavorably. Hence if Beauregard has fought a battle, it is to be
apprehended that he did not gain the day; and if this be so, South
Carolina lies at the conqueror's feet.
I thought I heard brisk cannonading in the distance (down the river)
this morning, but am not certain. I saw Mr. Hunter going briskly toward
the Executive department. He does not come often now to the War Office.
The new Secretary has a large audience of members of Congress every
morning.
The President and three of his aids rode out this afternoon (past our
house), seemingly as cheerful as if each day did not have its calamity!
No one who beheld them would have seen anything to suppose that the
capital itself was in almost immediate danger of falling into the hands
of the enemy; much less that the President himself meditated its
abandonment at an early day, and the concentration of all the armies in
the Cotton States!
FEBRUARY 20TH.--Another morning of blue skies and glorious sunshine.
Sherman is reported to be marching northward, and to have progressed
one-third of the way between Columbia and Charlotte, N. C.; where we had
"millions of specie" a few days ago.
Some of the lady employees, sent by Mr. Memminger to Columbia last year,
have returned to this city, having left and lost their beds, etc.
Grant's campaign seems developed at last. Sherman and Thomas will
concentrate on his left, massing 200,000 men between Lee and his
supplies, effectually cutting his communications by flanking with
superior numbers. It is probable Charleston, Wilmington, and Richmond
will fall without a battle; for how can they be held when the enemy
stops supplies? and how could the garrisons escape when once cut off
from the interior?
And yet Congress has done nothing, and does nothing, but waste the
precious time. I fear it is too late now! It is certainly too late to
raise recruits for service in the campaign now in _active operation_, a
fact which our politician leaders seem to be unconscious of. Even our
furloughed troops cannot now rejoin their regiments from their distant
homes.
Then, if Lee must evacuate Richmond, where can he go? No one knows!
My belief is that the only chance for Lee--and a desperate one--is to
beat Grant _immediately_, before the grand junction can be formed.
Letters are beginning to come in from the South, advocating the
abandonment of Richmond, and the march of Lee's army into East Tennessee
and Northern Georgia, and so on down to Montgomery, Ala., etc. etc.;
concentrating in the Cotton States. What an ugly programme! How many
would then follow the fortunes of this government? How many heads of
bureaus, etc. would abandon it? How would it be possible for those with
families on their hands to get transportation? A great many other
questions might be asked, that few could answer at this time.
Charleston was evacuated on Tuesday last--nearly a week ago--so says the
_Examiner_, and no one doubts it.
Mr. Hunter seems more depressed to-day than I have ever seen him. He
walks with his head down, looking neither to the right nor the left.
I shall expect soon to hear of a battle. Beauregard must have nearly
50,000 men--such as they are, poor fellows! The rich have generally
bribed themselves out of the service through the complicated machinery
of the "Bureau of Conscription."
Senator Brown, of Mississippi, I am sorry to see, often retards
legislation by motions to postpone; and the Senate listens to him, not
knowing what to do. Hours now are worth weeks hereafter.
The President has made Wm. M. Browne--one of his aids, an Englishman and
a Northern newspaper reporter--a brigadier-general. This does not help
the cause. Mr. B. knows no more about war than a cat; while many a
scarred colonel, native-born, and participants in a hundred fights, sue
in vain for promotion.
Governor Clarke (Mississippi) telegraphs the President that nothing
keeps the negroes from going to the enemy but the fear of being put in
the Federal army; and that if it be attempted to put them in ours, all
will run away, etc.
FEBRUARY 21ST.--Another bright and glorious morning.
Charleston fell on Thursday night last. A large number of heavy guns
fell into the hands of the enemy. The _confidential_ telegraph operators
remained with the enemy. They were Northern men; but it is the policy of
those in possession of this government to trust their enemies and
neglect their friends.
Congress passed yesterday a bill abolishing the "Bureau of Conscription"
in name--nothing more, if I understand it. The bill was manipulated by
Judge Campbell, who has really directed the operations of the bureau
from the beginning.
The negro bill also passed one House, and will pass the other to-day.
Also a bill (in one House) abolishing provost marshals, except in camps
of the army.
These measures may come too late. The enemy is inclosing us on all sides
with great vigor and rapidity. A victory by Beauregard would lift up the
hearts of the people, now prone in the dust.
Mr. D. H. London (on the street) is smiling this morning. He says there
is no doubt but that we shall be speedily recognized by France, and that
Gen. Lee has gone South to checkmate Sherman. I fear some one has been
deceiving Mr. London, knowing how eager he is for a few grains of
comfort. He is a rich man.
A dispatch was sent from the department to Gen. Lee this morning, at his
headquarters, supposed to be near Petersburg. Gold was selling at $60
for $1 yesterday. This may be a "dodge" of the brokers, who want to
purchase; or it may be the government selling specie.
A gentleman from South Carolina reports that the Georgians (militia and
reserves, I suppose) refused to enter South. Carolina in obedience to
Gen. Beauregard's orders, and that Gen. B. has not exceeding 10,000
reliable men. If this be so, Sherman may march whither he chooses! This
is very bad, if it be true, and more and more endangers the capital.
Surgeon-General S. P. Moore's estimates for the year's expenses of his
bureau are $46,000,000.
FEBRUARY 22D.--Bright and frosty. A fine February for fruit.
Yesterday the Senate postponed action on the Negro bill. What this means
I cannot conjecture, unless there are dispatches from abroad, with
assurances of recognition based upon stipulations of emancipation, which
cannot be carried into effect without the consent of the States, and a
majority of these seem in a fair way of falling into the hands of the
Federal generals.
The House passed the bill to abolish quartermasters and commissaries in
a modified form, excepting those collecting tax in kind; and this
morning those officers in this city under forty-five years of age
advertise the location of their places of business as collectors of tax
in kind, Capt. Wellford, a kinsman of Mr. Seddon, among the rest, the
very men the bill was intended to remove! Alas for Breckinridge and
independence!
The following dispatch has just been received from Gen. R. E. Lee:
"HEADQUARTERS, February 22d, 1865.
"From dispatches of Gen. Bragg of 21st, I conclude he has abandoned
Cape Fear River. He says he is embarrassed by prisoners. Enemy
refuses to receive or entertain propositions. I expect no change
will be made by Gen. Grant. It is his policy to delay. Have
directed prisoners to be sent to Richmond by rail or highway, as
may be most practicable; if wrong, correct it.
"R. E. LEE."
This looks like the speedy fall of Wilmington, but not of Richmond.
To-day is the anniversary of the birth of Washington, and of the
inauguration of Davis; but I hear of no holiday. Not much is doing,
however, in the departments; simply a waiting for calamities, which come
with stunning rapidity. The next news, I suppose, will be the evacuation
of Wilmington! Then Raleigh may tremble. Unless there is a speedy turn
in the tide of affairs, confusion will reign supreme and universally.
We have here now some 4000 or 5000 paroled prisoners returned by the
Federal authorities, without sufficient food for them, and soon there
may be 10,000 Federal prisoners from Wilmington, which it seems cannot
be exchanged there. Is it the policy of their own government to starve
them?
Mr. Burgwyn, of North Carolina, writes to the President (11th inst.)
that some 15,000 bales of cotton are locked up in Wilmington, belonging
to speculators, awaiting the coming of the enemy, when the city will
certainly fall into their hands. He says Gen. Bragg's orders regarding
its removal are wholly disregarded; and he implores the President to
prevent its falling into the enemy's hands, and disgracing his State as
Georgia was disgraced by the cotton taken at Savannah. He says these
speculators have an understanding with the enemy. The President
indorses, simply, "For attention--J. D."
I bought quarter ounce early York cabbage-seed to-day at $10 per ounce.
FEBRUARY 23D.--Raining; the most inclement February for years.
It is stated that Gen. J. E. Johnston has been replaced in command of
the army in front of Sherman; a blunder, for Beauregard's friends will
raise a clamor.
Grant's men fired salutes yesterday in honor of the DAY--22d--and had
the Richmond papers read to them by order of Gen. Grant--accounts of the
fall of Charleston. Our government will continue this fatal policy of
allowing easy communication between Richmond and the enemy, begun by Mr.
Benjamin, and continued by his successors! It will ruin us, and would
destroy any cause. Next, our papers will announce the fall of
Wilmington.
Three preachers--Hoge, Burroughs, and Edwards--have sent in a
proposition to the President, to take the stump and obtain subscriptions
of rations for the troops. The President marks it "special," and refers
it to the Secretary "for attention and advice." Humbugged to the end!
These men might fight, but they won't. They will speak two words for the
soldiers, and one for themselves. I believe two of them are _Northern_
men. What idiocy! If they meddle at all in the carnival of blood, I
would put them in the ranks.
Gen. Bragg says he is greatly outnumbered by the enemy's two corps near
Wilmington. Of course he will evacuate.
There is no money (paper) in the Treasury. Mr. Trenholm, seeing Mr.
Memminger abused for issuing too much paper money, seems likely to fall
into the opposite error of printing too little, leaving hundreds of
millions of indebtedness unpaid. This will soon rouse a hornet's nest
about his ears!
Gold is arriving from Charlotte, N. C., and I suppose from other places.
Its accumulation here, when known to the enemy, as it certainly will be,
only endangers the city more and more.
Mr. Harman, of Staunton, suggests that every house in Virginia be
visited, and one third the subsistence for man and beast be bought at
market price. He says that would subsist the army.
FEBRUARY 24TH.--Rained all day yesterday; cloudy and cool this morning.
We have no news--only rumors that Wilmington has been abandoned, that A.
P. Hill's corps (Lee's army) has marched into North Carolina, etc.
Yesterday the Senate voted down the bill to put 200,000 negroes in the
army. The papers to-day contain a letter from Gen. Lee, advocating the
measure as a _necessity_. Mr. Hunter's vote defeated it. He has many
negroes, and will probably lose them; but the loss of popularity, and
fear of forfeiting all chance of the succession, may have operated on
him as a politician. What madness! "Under which King, Benzonian?"
The President and Gen. Breckinridge rode out to Camp Lee yesterday, and
mingled with the returned prisoners, not yet exchanged. They made
speeches to them. The President, being chilled, went into a hut and sat
down before a fire, looking ill and wan.
The Bureau of Conscription being abolished, the business is to be turned
over to the generals of reserves, who will employ the reserves mainly in
returning deserters and absentees to the army. The deserters and
absentees will be too many for them perhaps, at this late day. The
mischief already effected may prove irremediable.
A dispatch from Gen. Lee, this morning, states that Lieut. McNeill, with
30 men, entered Cumberland, Maryland, on the 21st inst., and brought off
Gens. Crook and Kelly, etc. This is a little affair, but will make a
great noise. We want 300,000 men in the field instead of 30. However,
this may be the beginning of a new species of warfare, by detached
parties. Our men, of course, have the best knowledge of the country, and
small bands may subsist where armies would starve. The war can be
prolonged indefinitely, if necessary, and probably will be, unless there
should be some relaxation of the stringency of measures on the part of
the United States Government.
The markets are now almost abandoned, both by sellers and purchasers.
Beef and pork are sold at $7 to $9 per pound, and everything else in
proportion. Butter, from $15 to $20.
The President walked down to his office after 11 o'clock this morning,
very erect, having heard of Lieut. McNeill's exploit.
Another dispatch from Gen. Lee says detachments of Gen. Vaughan's
cavalry a few days ago captured two of the enemy's posts in Tennessee
beyond Knoxville, with 60 prisoners, horses, etc.
The following letter from Gen. Lee, on the subject of putting negroes
into the army, clearly defines his views on that important subject:
"HEADQUARTERS CONFEDERATE STATES ARMIES,
"February 18th, 1865.
"HON. E. BARKSDALE, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, RICHMOND.
"SIR:--I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
of the 12th inst., with reference to the employment of negroes as
soldiers. I think the measure not only expedient, but necessary.
The enemy will certainly use them against us if he can get
possession of them; and as his present numerical superiority will
enable him to penetrate many parts of the country, I cannot see the
wisdom of the policy of holding them to await his arrival, when we
may, by timely action and judicious management, use them to arrest
his progress. I do not think that our white population can supply
the necessities of a long war without overtaxing its capacity and
imposing great suffering upon our people; and I believe we should
provide resources for a protracted struggle--not merely for a
battle or a campaign.
"In answer to your second question, I can only say that, in my
opinion, the negroes, under proper circumstances, will make
efficient soldiers. I think we could at least do as well with them
as the enemy, and he attaches great importance to their assistance.
Under good officers, and good instructions, I do not see why they
should not become soldiers. They possess all the physical
qualifications, and their habits of obedience constitute a good
foundation for discipline. They furnish a more promising material
than many armies of which we read in history, which owed their
efficiency to discipline alone. I think those who are employed
should be freed. It would be neither just nor wise, in my opinion,
to require them to serve as slaves. The best course to pursue, it
seems to me, would be to call for such as are willing to come with
the consent of their owners. An impressment or draft would not be
likely to bring out the best class, and the use of coercion would
make the measure distasteful to them and to their owners.
"I have no doubt that if Congress would authorize their reception
into service, and empower the President to call upon individuals or
States for such as they are willing to contribute, with the
condition of emancipation to all enrolled, a sufficient number
would be forthcoming to enable us to try the experiment. If it
proved successful, most of the objections to the measure would
disappear, and if individuals still remained unwilling to send
their negroes to the army, the force of public opinion in the
States would soon bring about such legislation as would remove all
obstacles. I think the matter should be left, as far as possible,
to the people and to the States, which alone can legislate as the
necessities of this particular service may require. As to the mode
of organizing them, it should be left as free from restraint as
possible. Experience will suggest the best course, and it would be
inexpedient to trammel the subject with provisions that might, in
the end, prevent the adoption of reforms suggested by actual trial.
"With great respect,
"Your obedient servant,
"R. E. LEE, _General_."
FEBRUARY 25TH.--Raining. There are more rumors of the evacuation of
Wilmington and even _Petersburg_. No doubt that stores, etc. are leaving
Petersburg; but I doubt whether it will be evacuated, or Richmond,
either. Grant may, and probably will, get the Danville Railroad, but I
think Lee will disappoint him in the item of evacuation, nevertheless;
for we have some millions in gold--equal to 300,000,000 paper--to
purchase subsistence; and it is believed Virginia alone, for _specie_,
can feed the army. Then _another_ army may arise in Grant's rear.
From the published accounts in the enemy's journals, we learn that
Charleston fell on the 18th inst. They say one-third of the city was
burned by us. I presume they saw the ruins of the old fire; and that
most of the citizens, except the destitute, had left the town. All the
cotton was destroyed by the inhabitants. They say an explosion killed
several hundred of our people. They boast of capturing 200 guns, and a
fine lot of ammunition--the latter, it seems to me, might have been
destroyed.
I hear the deep booming of guns occasionally--but still doubt the policy
or purpose of evacuating Petersburg.
Mr. Hunter's eyes seem blood-shotten since he voted against Lee's plan
of organizing negro troops. He also voted against displacing the brood
of quartermasters and commissioners.
The papers are requested to say nothing relative to military operations
in South and North Carolina, for they are read by Gen. Grant every
morning of their publication. The garrisons of Charleston and Wilmington
may add 20,000 men to our force opposing Sherman, and may beat him yet.
FEBRUARY 26TH.--Cloudy and cool; rained all night. No news from the
South, this morning. But there is an ugly rumor that Beauregard's men
have deserted to a frightful extent, and that the general himself is
afflicted with disease of mind, etc.
Mr. Hunter is now reproached by the slaveowners, whom he thought to
please, for defeating the Negro bill. They say his vote will make
Virginia a free State, inasmuch as Gen. Lee must evacuate it for the
want of negro troops.
There is much alarm on the streets. Orders have been given to prepare
all the tobacco and cotton, which cannot be removed immediately, for
destruction by fire. And it is generally believed that Lieut.-Gen. A. P.
Hill's corps has marched away to North Carolina. This would leave some
25,000 men to defend Richmond and Petersburg, against, probably, 60,000.
If Richmond be evacuated, most of the population will remain, not
knowing whither to go.
The new Secretary of War was at work quite early this morning.
The "Bureau of Conscription" and the Provost Marshal's office are still
"operating," notwithstanding Congress has abolished them both.
FEBRUARY 27TH.--Bright and windy. The Virginia Assembly has passed
resolutions _instructing_ the Senators to vote for the negro troops
bill--so Mr. Hunter must obey or resign.
It is authoritatively announced in the papers that Gen. J. E. Johnston
has taken command of the army in front of Sherman (a perilous
undertaking), superseding Beauregard.
Grant is said to be massing his troops on our right, to precipitate
them upon the South Side Railroad. Has Hill marched his corps away to
North Carolina? If so, Richmond is in very great danger.
The _Examiner_ to-day labors to show that the evacuation of Richmond
would be fatal to the cause. The _Sentinel_ says it has authority for
saying that Richmond will _not_ be given up. "Man proposes--God
disposes." It is rumored that Fayetteville, N. C., has fallen into the
hands of the enemy.
I saw Col. Northrop, late Commissary-General, to-day. He looks down,
dark, and dissatisfied. Lee's army _eats_ without him. I see nothing of
Lieut.-Col. Ruffin. He always looks down and darkly. Gen. Breckinridge
seems to have his heart in the cause--not his soul in his pocket, like
most of his predecessors.
I saw Admiral Buchanan to-day, limping a little. He says the enemy tried
to shoot away his legs to keep him from dancing at his granddaughter's
wedding, but won't succeed.
Robert Tyler told me that it was feared Governor Brown, and probably
Stephens and Toombs, were sowing disaffection among the Georgia troops,
hoping to get them out of the army; but that if faction can be kept down
thirty days, our cause would assume a new phase. He thinks Breckinridge
will make a successful Secretary.
The President and Gen. Lee were out at Camp Lee to-day, urging the
returned soldiers (from captivity) to forego the usual furlough and
enter upon the spring campaign now about to begin. The other day, when
the President made a speech to them, he was often interrupted by cries
of "furlough!"
The ladies in the Treasury Department are ordered to Lynchburg, whither
the process of manufacturing Confederate States notes is to be
transferred.
A committee of the Virginia Assembly waited on the President on
Saturday, who told them it was no part of his intention to evacuate
Richmond. But some construed his words as equivocal. Tobacco, cotton,
etc. are leaving the city daily. The city _is_ in danger.
FEBRUARY 28TH.--Raining; warm. The Northern papers announce the capture
of Wilmington. No doubt the city has fallen, although the sapient
dignitaries of this government deem it a matter of policy to withhold
such intelligence from the people and the army. And wherefore, since the
enemy's papers have a circulation here--at least their items of news are
sure to be reproduced immediately.
The Governor of Mississippi has called the Legislature of the State
together, for the purpose of summoning a convention of the people.
Governor Brown, of Georgia, likewise calls for a convention. One more
State calling a convention of all the States may be the consequence--if,
indeed, rent by faction, the whole country does not fall a prey to the
Federal armies immediately. Governor Brown alleges many bitter things in
the conduct of affairs at Richmond, and stigmatizes the President most
vehemently. He denounces the President's generalship, the Provost
Marshals, the passport system, the "Bureau of Conscription," etc. etc.
He says it is attempted to establish a despotism, where the people are
sovereigns, and our whole policy should be sanctioned by popular favor.
Instead of this it must be admitted that the President's inflexible
adherence to obnoxious and incompetent men in his cabinet is too well
calculated to produce a depressing effect on the spirits of the people
and the army.
T. N. Conrad, one of the government's secret agents, says 35,000 of
Thomas's army passed down the Potomac several weeks ago. He says also
_that our telegraph operator in Augusta, Ga., sent all the military
dispatches to Grant_!
CHAPTER XLVIII
From the North.--Rumored defeat of Gen. Early.--Panic among officials.--
Moving the archives.--Lincoln's inaugural.--Victory in North
Carolina.--Rumored treaty with France.--Sheridan's movements.--Letter
from Lord John Russell.--Sherman's progress.--Desperate condition of
the Government.--Disagreement between the President and Congress.--
Development of Grant's combination.--Assault at Hare's Hill.--
Departure of Mrs. President Davis.
MARCH 1ST.--Cloudy, cold, and dismal. We have no news, except from the
North, whence we learn Lieut. Beall, one of our Canada raiders, has been
hung; that some little cotton and turpentine were burnt at Wilmington;
and that the enemy's columns are approaching us from all directions.
They say the rebellion will be crushed very soon, and really seem to
have speedy and accurate information from Richmond not only of all
movements of our army, but of the intentions of the government. They say
Lynchburg and East Tennessee now occupy the mind of Gen. Lee; and they
know every disposition of our forces from day to day sooner than our own
people! What imbecile stolidity! Will we thus blunder on to the end?
Congress has passed an act organizing the artillery force of Lee's
army--submitted by Gen. Pendleton (Episcopal clergyman), who writes the
Secretary that Col. Pemberton (Northern man and once lieutenant-general)
is making efforts to induce the President to withhold his approval of
the bill, which he deprecates and resents, as the bill is sanctioned by
the judgment of Gen. Lee. From this letter I learn we have 330 guns and
90 mortars under Lee; enough to make a _great noise_ yet!
Lieut.-Gen. Grant has directed Col. Mulford, Agent of Exchange, to say
that some 200 prisoners escaped from us, when taken to Wilmington for
exchange, and now in his lines, will be held as paroled, and credited in
the general exchange. Moreover, all prisoners in transitu for any point
of exchange, falling into their hands, will be held as paroled, and
exchanged. He states also that all prisoners held by the United States,
whether in close confinement, in irons, or under sentence, are to be
exchanged. Surely Gen. Grant is trying to please us in this matter. Yet
Lieut. Beall was executed!
MARCH 2D.--Raining. No well-authenticated news; but by many it is
believed Staunton is in the hands of the enemy, and Lynchburg menaced.
Nevertheless, the government is sending a portion of the archives and
stores to Lynchburg!
The clergymen are at work begging supplies for the soldiers; and they
say the holding of Richmond and the success of the cause depend upon the
success of their efforts, the government being null! A large per cent.
of these preachers is of Northern birth--and some of them may possibly
betray the cause if they deem it desperate. This is the history of such
men in the South so far. But the President trusts them, and we must
trust the President.
Hon. Wm. C. Rives has resigned his seat in Congress. Alleged causes, ill
health and great age--over 70.
The Negro bill still hangs fire in Congress.
Roger A. Pryor is to be exchanged. He was the guest of Forney in
Washington, and had interviews with President Lincoln.
The government is impressing horses in the streets, to collect the
tobacco preparatory for its destruction in the event of the city falling
into the hands of the enemy. This fact is already known in the North and
published in the papers there. A pretty passport and police system,
truly!
I saw a paper to-day from Mr. Benjamin, saying it had been determined,
in the event of burning the tobacco, to exempt that belonging to other
governments--French and Austrian; but that belonging to foreign subjects
is not to be spared. This he says is with the concurrence of the British
Government. Tobacco is being moved from the city with all possible
expedition.
MARCH 3D.--Raining and cold. This morning there was another arrival of
our prisoners on parole, and not yet exchanged. Many thousands have
arrived this week, and many more are on the way. How shall we feed them?
Will _they_ compel the evacuation of the city? I hope not. Capt. Warner,
Commissary-General, is here again; and if assigned to duty, has
sufficient business qualifications to collect supplies.
Thank God, I have some 300 pounds of flour and half that amount of
meal--bread rations for my family, seven in number, for more than two
months! I have but 7-1/2 pounds of meat; but we can live without it, as
we have often done. I have a bushel of peas also, and coal and wood for
a month. This is a guarantee against immediate starvation, should the
famine become more rigorous, upon which we may felicitate ourselves.
Our nominal income has been increased; amounting now to some $16,000 in
paper--less than $300 in specie. But, for the next six months (if we can
stay here), our rent will be only $75 per month--a little over one
dollar; and servant hire, $40--less than eighty cents.
It is rumored that Gen. Early has been beaten again at Waynesborough,
and that the enemy have reached _Charlottesville_ for the first time.
Thus it seems our downward career continues. We _must_ have a victory
soon, else Virginia is irretrievably lost.
Two P.M. The wind has shifted to the south; warm showers.
Three P.M. It is said they are fighting at Gordonsville; whether or not
the enemy have Charlottesville is therefore uncertain. I presume it is
an advance of Sheridan's cavalry whom our troops have engaged at
Gordonsville.
MARCH 4TH.--Raining hard, and warm. We have vague reports of Early's
defeat in the Valley by an overwhelming force; and the gloom and
despondency among the people are in accordance with the hue of the
constantly-occurring disasters.
Brig.-Gen. J. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, has been rebuked by Gen. Lee
for constantly striving to get mechanics out of the service. Gen. Lee
says the time has arrived when the necessity of having able-bodied men
in the field is paramount to all other considerations.
Brig.-Gen. Preston (Bureau of Conscription) takes issue with Gen. Lee on
the best mode of sending back deserters to the field. He says there are
at this time 100,000 _deserters_!
C. Lamar, Bath, S. C, writes to the President that ----, a bonded
farmer, secretly removed his meat and then burnt his smoke-house,
conveying the impression that all his meat was destroyed. The President
sends this to the Secretary of War with the following indorsement: "For
attention--this example shows the vice of class exemption, as well as
the practices resorted to to avoid yielding supplies to the government."
The Legislature of North Carolina has passed resolutions exempting
millers, blacksmith, etc.--in contravention of the act of Congress--and
directing Gov. Vance to correspond with the Secretary of War on the
subject. This bears an ugly aspect.
Gen. Early's little army is scattered to the winds. Charlottesville has
been in possession of the enemy, but at last accounts Gen. Rosser, in
Sheridan's rear, held it. Sheridan advanced to Scottsville; and is no
doubt still advancing. Lynchburg is rendered unsafe; and yet some of the
bureaus are packing up and preparing to send the archives thither. They
would probably fall into the hands of the enemy.
Gen. Lee is in the city--where there is much confusion of tongues--and
impatient, waiting for the next scene of the drama. If there was to be
concert of action between Grant and Sheridan, probably the copious rains
have prevented it.
Two P.M. There is almost a panic among officials here who have their
families with them, under the belief that the city may be suddenly
evacuated, and the impossibility of getting transportation. I do not
share the belief--that is, that the event is likely to occur
immediately; but if it should occur, I know my wife and children will
remain--for a season. We must "pray that our flight be not in the
winter."
Gen. Lee was closeted with the Secretary of War several hours to-day. It
is reported that Gen. L.'s family are preparing to leave the city.
MARCH 5TH.--Bright and cool; some frost this morning.
I saw an officer yesterday from Early's command. He said the enemy
entered Charlottesville on Friday at half-past two o'clock P.M., between
2000 and 3000 strong, cavalry, and had made no advance at the latest
accounts. He says Gen. Early, when last seen, was flying, and pursued by
some fifteen well-mounted Federals, only fifty paces in his rear. The
general being a large heavy man, and badly mounted, was undoubtedly
captured. He intimated that Early's _army_ consisted of only about 1000
men! Whether he had more elsewhere, I was unable to learn. I have not
heard of any destruction of property by the enemy.
There is still an accredited rumor of the defeat of Sherman. Perhaps he
may have been checked, and turned toward his supplies on the coast.
I learn by a paper from Gen. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, that the
machinery of the workshops here is being moved to Danville, Salisbury,
and other places in North Carolina. He recommends that transportation be
given the families of the operatives; and that houses be built for them,
with permission to buy subsistence at government prices, for twelve
months, that the mechanics may be contented and kept from deserting.
This would rid the city of some thousands of its population, and be some
measure of relief to those that remain. But how long will we be allowed
to remain? All depends upon the operations in the field during the next
few weeks--and these may depend upon the wisdom of those in possession
of the government, which is now at a discount.
The Secretary of the Treasury is selling gold for Confederate States
notes for reissue to meet pressing demands; the machinery for
manufacturing paper money having just at present no certain abiding
place. The government gives $1 of gold for sixty of its own paper; but
were it to cease selling gold, it would command $100 for $1.
MARCH 6TH.--A bright frosty morning.
This day I am fifty-five years of age.
It is now reported that Gen. Early made his escape, and that most of his
men have straggled into this city.
One body of Sheridan's men are said to have been at Gordonsville
yesterday, coming hitherward, while another were near Scottsville,
aiming for the South Side Railroad.
The Adjutant-General, having granted furloughs to the returned prisoners
two days ago, to-day revokes them. Will such vacillating policy
conciliate the troops, and incite them to heroic deeds?
The President and his wife were at church yesterday; so they have not
left the city; but Gen. Lee's family, it is rumored, are packing up to
leave.
I bought a quarter of a cord of oak wood this morning to mix with the
green pine, and paid $55 for it.
Gen. Early's cavalry, being mostly men of property, were two-thirds of
them on furlough or detail, when the enemy advanced on Charlottesville;
and the infantry, being poor, with no means either to bribe the
authorities, to fee members of Congress, or to aid their suffering
families, declined to fight in defense of the property of their rich and
_absent_ neighbors! We lost four guns beyond Charlottesville, and our
forces were completely routed.
There are rumors to-day that a column of the enemy's cavalry has reached
Hanover County. Gen. R. E. Lee has ordered Major-Gen. Fitz Lee's cavalry
to march against them.
Twelve M. They are bringing boxes to the War Office, to pack up the
archives. This certainly indicates a sudden removal in an emergency. It
is not understood whether they go to Danville or to Lynchburg; that may
depend upon _Grant's_ movements. It may, however, be Lee's purpose to
_attack_ Grant; meantime preparing to fall back in the event of losing
the day.
Four days hence we have a day of fasting, etc., appointed by the
President; and I understand there are but _three_ day's rations for the
army--a nice calculation.
Gen. Johnston telegraphs the Secretary that his army must suffer, if not
allowed to get commissary stores in the North Carolina depots. The
Secretary replies that of course his army must be fed, but hopes he can
buy enough, etc., leaving the stores already collected for Lee's army,
_which is in great straits_.
MARCH 7TH.--Bright and frosty.
Yesterday we had no certain accounts of the movements of Sheridan. His
force was said to be near Charlottesville--at Keswich. Fitz Lee's
cavalry and Pickett's infantry were sent in that direction. Not a word
has yet appeared in the Richmond papers concerning this movement from
the Valley--the papers being read daily in the enemy's camp below. We
hear of no corresponding movement on the part of Grant; and perhaps
there was none.
Preparations to evacuate the city are still being made with due
diligence. If these indications do not suffice to bring the speculators
into the ranks to defend their own property (they have no honor, of
course), the city and the State are lost; and the property owners will
deserve their fate. The extortioners ought to be hung, besides losing
their property. This would be a very popular act on the part of the
conquerors.
On the 4th inst., the day of inauguration at Washington, the troops
(Federal) near Petersburg got drunk, and proposed an hour's truce to
have a friendly talk. It was refused.
I met my friend Brooks to-day, just from Georgia, in a pucker. He says
the people there are for reunion. Mr. B. rented his house to Secretary
Trenholm for $15,000--furnished. It would now bring $30,000. But he is
now running after teams to save his tobacco--_he_ a speculator!
A letter was received yesterday from ----, Selma accusing the Assistant
Secretary of War, Judge Campbell, his brother-in-law, Judge Goldthwait,
and Judge Parsons, of Alabama, with disloyalty, and says Judge C. is
about to issue passports for delegates to go to the _Chicago_
Convention, soon to assemble, etc. etc. He says Judge C. is the Fouche
of the South. The letter is dated August 23d, 1864, and the President
_now_ sends it to the Secretary "for his information."
Judge Campbell has exercised almost exclusive control of the
conscription and the passport business of the government since his
appointment. The President and Secretary must attach some importance to
the communication of Mr. ----, the first for sending over the letter at
this juncture--the latter, for having just called in Lieut.-Col. Melton,
A. A. G., who is assigned a position in his office, and is now
superintending the business of _passports_. This arrangement also cuts
the earth under the feet of Mr. Kean, Chief of the Bureau of War.
The raid of Sheridan has caused some speculators to send their surplus
flour into the city for sale. Some sold for $700 per barrel to-day, a
decline of $50.
D. H. London says the enemy captured the tobacco at Hamilton's Crossing
(near Fredericksburg) this morning. I doubt it, but would not deplore
it, as it belongs to speculators, sent thither for barter with the
enemy. No doubt many articles will decline in price--the owners fearing
the coming of the enemy.
The packing up of the archives goes on, with directions to be as quiet
as possible, so as "not to alarm the people." A large per cent. of the
population would behold the exodus with pleasure!
MARCH 8TH.--Damp and foggy. We have no military news yet--9 A.M.
President Lincoln's short inaugural message, or homily, or sermon, has
been received. It is filled with texts from the Bible. He says both
sides pray to the same God for aid--one upholding and the other
destroying African slavery. If slavery be an offense,--and woe shall
fall upon those by whom offenses come,--perhaps not only all the slaves
will be lost, but all the accumulated products of their labor be swept
away. In short, he "quotes Scripture for the deed" quite as fluently as
our President; and since both Presidents resort to religious
justification, it may be feared the war is about to assume a more
sanguinary aspect and a more cruel nature than ever before. God help us!
The history of man, even in the Bible, is but a series of bloody wars.
It must be thus to make us appreciate the blessings of peace, and to bow
in humble adoration of the great Father of all. The Garden of Eden could
not yield contentment to man, nor heaven satisfy all the angels.
It is said the enemy have left Fredericksburg--bought all the tobacco, I
suppose.
To-day the _State_ made distribution in this city of cotton cloth, three
yards to each member of a family, at $5.50 for 7-8 and $6.25 for 4-4
width. The State paid about $3 per yard for it, and the profits make a
portion of its revenue, or, perhaps, the revenue of its _officers_ and
_agents_. Nevertheless, there was a large crowd, and one man fainted.
The shops sell at $12 to $15 per yard.
Raining at 12 M. All quiet below.
Another report of the defeat of Sherman is current to-day, and believed
by many.
MARCH 9TH.--Rained all night; clearing away this morning. Warm. Nothing
positive from Sherman, Grant, or Sheridan. The enemy's papers say Gen.
Early and 18,000 men were captured--which is nonsense.
Yesterday the Senate passed the Negro troops bill--Mr. Hunter voting for
it under instructions.
The enemy did capture or destroy the tobacco sent to Fredericksburg by
the speculators to exchange for bacon--and 31 cars were burned. No one
regrets this, so far as the speculators are concerned.
Letters from North Carolina state that the country is swarming with
deserters--perhaps many supposed to be deserters are furloughed soldiers
just exchanged. It is stated that there are 800 in Randolph County,
committing depredations on the _rich_ farmers, etc.; and that the
quartermaster and commissary stores at Greensborough are threatened.
Meal is selling at $2 per pound, or $100 per bushel, to-day. Bacon, $13
per pound.
Two P.M. Cloudy, and prospect of more rain. It is quite warm.
A great many officers are here on leave from Lee's army--all operations
being, probably, interdicted by the mud and swollen streams. Sheridan
failed to cross to the south side of James River, it being certainly his
intention to cross and form a junction with Grant, cutting the Danville
and South Side Roads on his way.
I saw Mr. Benjamin to-day without his usual smile. He is not at ease.
The country demands a change of men in the cabinet, and he is the most
obnoxious of all.
Again, there is a rumor of peace negotiations. All men know that no
peace can be negotiated except for reconstruction--and, I suppose,
emancipation.
MARCH 10TH.--Raining and cold. This is the day appointed by the
government for prayer, fasting, etc.; and the departments, shops, etc.
are closed. The people, notwithstanding the bad weather, pretty
generally proceeded to the churches, which will be open morning, noon,
and night, for it is a solemn occasion, and thousands will supplicate
Almighty God to be pleased to look upon us with compassion, and aid us,
in this hour of extremity, to resist the endeavors of our enemies to
reduce us to bondage.
The morning papers contain a dispatch from Lee, giving an account of a
successful battle in North Carolina. I append it, as the first success
chronicled for a great length of time.
"HEADQUARTERS, ETC., March 9th, 1865.
"HON. J. C. BRECKINRIDGE, SECRETARY OF WAR.
"Gen. Bragg reports that he attacked the enemy, yesterday, four
miles in front of Kinston, and drove him from his position. He
disputed the ground obstinately, and took up a new line three miles
from his first.
"We captured 3 pieces of artillery and 1500 prisoners.
"The number of the enemy's dead and wounded left on the field is
large. Ours comparatively small.
"The troops behaved most handsomely, and Major-Gens. Hill and Hoke
exhibited their usual zeal and energy. R. E. LEE."
MARCH 11TH.--Bright and frosty. From a published correspondence between
Gens. Hampton and Sherman, on the subject of retaliatory executions, it
is mentioned by the former that the City of Columbia, S. C. was burned
by the latter.
Dispatches this morning inform us of some little successes--Hampton over
Kilpatrick in the South, and Rosser over a body of the enemy at
Harrisonburg, in the North.
Some 1500 prisoners, paroled, arrived this morning--making some 10,000
in the last fortnight. I fear there will soon be a great scarcity of
arms, when the negroes are drilled, etc.
Mrs. Hobson, of Goochland County, a relative of my wife, has offered a
home to my eldest daughter Anne. Mr. H. is wealthy, and his mansion is
magnificent. It is lighted with gas, made on the plantation.
I am often called upon to lend a copy of the "Wild Western Scenes." My
copy is lost. I learn that new editions of my works are published in the
United States, where the stereotype plates were deposited. _Here_, as in
old times in the North, the publishers prefer to issue publications upon
which they pay no copyright--and, I believe, most of our publishers are
not Southern men by birth, and hence have no care but for the profits of
the business.
Congress was to adjourn to-day. But it is said the President has
requested them to remain a short time longer, as further legislation
will be required _growing out of a treaty with France, about to be
consummated_. It is said an alliance has been agreed upon, offensive and
defensive, etc. etc. If this should be true! It is but rumor yet--but
was first mentioned, gravely, by Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of
War.
MARCH 12TH.--Bright and frosty. About one o'clock last night, there was
an alarm, supposed to be the approach of the enemy from the
West--Sheridan's cavalry--and the tocsin sounded until daylight. It was
a calm moonlight night, without a cloud in the sky. Couriers reported
that the enemy were at the outer fortifications, and had burned Ben
Green's house. Corse's brigade and one or two batteries passed through
the city in the direction of the menaced point; and all the local
organizations were ordered to march early in the morning. Mr. Secretary
Mallory and Postmaster-General Reagan were in the saddle; and rumor says
the President and the remainder of the cabinet had their horses saddled
in readiness for flight. About a year ago we had Dahlgren's raid, and it
was then announced that the purpose was to burn the city and put to
death the President, the cabinet, and other prominent leaders of the
"rebellion." Perhaps our leaders had some apprehension of the fate
prepared for them on that occasion, and may have concerted a plan of
escape.
As well as I can learn from couriers, it appears that only some 1200 or
1500 of the enemy's cavalry advanced toward the city, and are now (10
A.M.) retiring--or driven back by our cavalry. But it is a little
extraordinary that Gen. Lee, with almost unlimited power, has not been
able to prevent 1200 Federals riding from Winchester to Richmond, over
almost impracticable roads, without even a respectable skirmish wherein
1000 men were opposed to them. It is true Early was routed--but that was
more than a week ago, and we have no particulars yet. The enemy's papers
will contain them, however.
MARCH 13TH.--Bright and pleasant.
The reports of the army of Sheridan (mostly mounted infantry) being
within a few miles of the city were at least premature. Subsequent
reports indicate that none of the enemy's cavalry have been in the
vicinity of Richmond, but that his force, a pretty strong one, is some
20 miles up the river, with pontoon trains, etc., manifesting a purpose
to cross the James and cut the Danville Road. In this they will be
disappointed probably.
The President vetoed several bills last week, among them the one
legislating out of office most of the able-bodied post-quarter-masters
and commissaries. There is much anxiety to learn the nature of the
communication he intends laying before Congress in a few days, and for
the reception of which the session has been prolonged. The prevalent
supposition is that it relates to foreign complications. Some think the
President means to tender his resignation, but this is absurd, for he
would be the last man to yield. To-day it is understood the Secretary of
War is to be absent from his office, closeted with the President.
Gen. Johnston is concentrating on the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad,
and perhaps a battle will occur near Goldsborough. Its issue will decide
the fate of Raleigh, perhaps of Richmond.
The President had the Secretary of War and Mr. Benjamin closeted nearly
the entire day yesterday, Sunday. Some important event is in embryo. If
Lee's army can be fed--as long as it can be fed--Richmond is safe. Its
abandonment will be the loss of Virginia, and perhaps the cause. To save
it, therefore, is the problem for those in authority to solve. If we had
had competent and honest men always directing the affairs of the
Confederacy, Richmond never would have been in danger, and long ere this
independence would have been achieved. But passports have been sold,
political enemies have been persecuted, conscription has been converted
into an engine of vengeance, of cupidity, and has been often made to
subserve the ends of the invader, until at last we find ourselves in a
deplorable and desperate condition.
Gen. Wise, who has been here a few days on sick furlough, has returned
to his command, still coughing distressfully, and distressed at the
prospect.
Miers W. Fisher, member of the Virginia Secession Convention, neglected
by the government, and racked with disease, is about to return to the
Eastern Shore of Virginia. He may submit and die. He might have done
good service, but the politicians who controlled the Confederate States
Government ignored him because he had once been a supporter of Gov. Wise
for the Presidency.
There is a report that Sheridan's force has crossed the James River. If
this be so, the Danville Road is in danger, and the President and his
cabinet and Congress are all in a predicament. No wonder there is some
commotion! But the report may not be true. It is also said Grant is
crossing his army to the north side of the river. This may be a feint,
but stirring events are casting their shadows before!
MARCH 14TH.--Bright and pleasant, but indications of change.
The papers contain no news from the armies, near or remote. But there
was some alarm in the upper portion of the city about 9 P.M. last night,
from a signal seen (appended to a balloon) just over the western
horizon. It was stationary for ten minutes, a blood-red light, seen
through a hazy atmosphere. I thought it was Mars, but my eldest
daughter, a better astronomer than I, said it was neither the time nor
place for it to be visible. The air was still, and the dismal barking of
the ban-dogs conjured up the most direful portents. All my neighbors
supposed it to be a signal from Sheridan to Grant, and that the city
would certainly be attacked before morning. It was only a camp signal of
one of our own detachments awaiting the approach of Sheridan.
Sheridan's passage of the James River has not been confirmed, and so the
belief revives that he will assault the city fortifications on the
northwest side, while Grant attacks elsewhere.
Yesterday the President vetoed several bills, and sent back others
unsigned, suggesting alterations. Among them is the Conscript and
Exemption bills, which he has detained _ten days_, as Senators say, on a
point of constructive etiquette, insisting that the President and
Secretary ought to make certain details and exemptions instead of
Congress, etc. It is precious time lost, but perhaps in view of the
great calamities immediately threatening the country, Congress may
yield. But ten days might be enough time lost to lose the cause.
The communication referred to by the President, in detaining Congress,
has not yet been sent in, unless it be one of his qualified vetoes, and
conjecture is still busy, some persons going so far as to hint that it
relates to a _capitulation_, yielding up Richmond on certain terms. I
have not heard of any demands of Grant of that nature.
A dispatch from Gen. R. E. Lee, received this morning, says Fitz Lee's
cavalry was at Powhatan C. H. last night (so it was not Fitz's signal),
and had been ordered to cross to the north side of the James, which may
not be practicable above Richmond. We shall probably see them pass
through the city to-day. He says the roads are bad, etc. Sheridan, then,
has not crossed the river.
Gen. Lee sends to the department this morning a copy of a fierce letter
from Lord John Russell, British Secretary of State, to our commissioners
abroad, demanding a discontinuance of expeditions fitted out in Canada,
and the building and equipping of cruisers in British ports. It says
such practices must cease, for they are not only in violation of British
law, but calculated to foment war between Great Britain and the United
States, which Lord John is very much averse to. The communication is
sent to _Washington, D. C._, and thence forwarded by Mr. Seward to
Lieut.-Gen. Grant, who sends it by flag of truce to Gen. Lee. Great
Britain gives us a kick while the Federal generals are pounding us.
The enemy have Fayetteville, N. C. Hardee and Hampton crossed the Cape
Fear on the 11th inst. Sherman's army was then within 7 miles of
Fayetteville. Bragg, after his fight near Kinston, had to fall back, his
rear and right wing being threatened by heavy forces of the enemy coming
up from Wilmington.
Some of Sheridan's force did cross the James, but retired to the north
side. So telegraphs Gen. Lee.
MARCH 15TH.--Warm and cloudy. My cabbages coming up in the garden.
The papers contain no war news whatever, yet there is great activity in
the army.
Sheridan's column is said to be at Ashland, and Grant is reported to be
sending swarms of troops to the north side of the river, below, "in
countless thousands."
The President's message, for the completion of which Congress was
desired to remain, has been sent in. I will preserve this splendidly
exordiumed and most extraordinary document. It is a great legal triumph,
achieved by the President over his enemies in Congress, and if we are
permitted to have more elections, many obnoxious members will be
defeated, for the sins of omission and commission. The President strikes
them "between wind and water," at a time, too, when no defense would be
listened to, for he says the capital was never in such danger before,
and shows that without prodigious effort, and perfect co-operation of
all branches of the government, the cause is lost, and we shall have
negro garrisons to keep us in subjection, commanded by Northern
officers. He will have the satisfaction, at least, of having to say a
portion of the responsibility rested with his political opponents. Mr.
Benjamin, who is supposed to have written a portion of the message, was
very jubilant yesterday, and it is said the President himself was almost
jocund as he walked through the Capitol Square, returning home from his
office.
It is now rumored that a French agent is in the city, and that the
President, besides his message, sent to Congress a secret communication.
I doubt--but it may be so.
Gen. Hood is here, on crutches, attracting no attention, for he was not
successful.
Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War, said to Mr. Wattles, a
clerk, to-day, that we were now arrived at the last days of the
Confederacy. Mr. Wattles told me that the judge had been convinced, as
far back as 1863, that the cause was nearly hopeless.
Some 1200 of Fitz Lee's cavalry passed through the city at 2 P.M. Gen.
Longstreet has been ordered by Gen. Lee to attack Sheridan. He
telegraphs back from north of the city that he "cannot find them," and
this body of cavalry is ordered to reconnoiter their position. I know
not how many more men Fitz Lee has in his division, but fear at least
_half_ have passed.
MARCH 16TH.--Clouds and sunshine; warm. Splendid rainbow last evening.
We have nothing new in the papers from any quarter. Sheridan's position
is not known yet, though it must be within a short distance of the city.
There was no battle yesterday. Sheridan reports the killing of Commodore
Hollins, and says it was done because he attempted to escape at
Gordonsville.
Sherman's march through South Carolina is reported to have been cruel
and devastating. Fire and the sword did their worst.
Congress, the House of Representatives rather, yesterday passed a bill
suspending the privilege of the writ of _habeas corpus_. The Senate will
concur probably. Also the President's suggestion amending the Conscript
act has been passed. The President has the reins now, and Congress will
be more obedient; but can they save this city? Advertisements for
recruiting negro troops are in the papers this morning.
It is rumored that Sheridan has crossed the Chickahominy and got off
without hinderance. If this be so, Gen. Lee will be criticised.
One P.M. It is ascertained that Sheridan has withdrawn to the York
River, and abandoned any attempt on Richmond.
And it is supposed by high military authority that but for the
providential freshet, Sheridan would have succeeded in crossing the
James River, and cutting the Danville Railroad, which would have
deprived Lee's army of supplies. The freshet rendered his pontoon bridge
too short, etc. This may be claimed as a direct interposition of
Providence, at a time when we were fasting, praying, etc., in accordance
with the recommendation of the government.
MARCH 17TH.--Bright and cool. A violent southeast gale prevailed last
evening, with rain. Of course we have no news in the papers from any
quarter. Sheridan having retired, all the local troops returned
yesterday.
After all, the President does not reap a perfect triumph over Congress.
The bill suspending the writ of _habeas corpus_ passed the House by only
four majority; and in the Senate it was defeated by nine against six for
it! So the President cannot enjoy Cromwell's power without the exercise
of Cromwell's violence.
We shall have a negro army. Letters are pouring into the department from
men of military skill and character, asking authority to raise
companies, battalions, and regiments of negro troops. It is the
desperate remedy for the very desperate case--and may be successful. If
300,000 efficient soldiers can be made of this material, there is no
conjecturing where the next campaign may end. Possibly "over the
border," for a little success will elate our spirits extravagantly; and
the blackened ruins of our towns, and the moans of women and children
bereft of shelter, will appeal strongly to the army for vengeance.
There is a vague rumor of another battle by Bragg, in which he did not
gain the victory. This is not authentic; and would be very bad, if true,
for then Sherman's army would soon loom up in our vicinity like a
portentous cloud.
The Commissary-General, in a communication to the Secretary urging the
necessity of keeping the trade for supplies for Lee's army, now going on
in Eastern North Carolina, a profound secret, mentions the "miscarriage
of the Fredericksburg affair," which proves that the government _did_
send cotton and tobacco thither for barter with the enemy.
One reason alleged for the refusal of Congress to suspend the writ of
_habeas corpus_, is the continuance of Mr. Benjamin in the cabinet.
MARCH 18TH.--Bright and windy. The following telegram was received this
morning from Gen. R. E. Lee: "Gen. Johnston reports that on the 16th
Gen. Hardee was repeatedly attacked by four divisions of the enemy a few
miles south of Averysborough, but always (cipher). The enemy was
reported at night to have crossed Black River, to the east of Varina
Point, with the rest of the army. Gen. Hardee is moving to a point
twelve miles from Smithfield. Scofield's troops reported at Kinston,
repairing railroad. Cheatham's corps not yet up. North Carolina
Railroad, with its enormous amount of rolling stock, only conveys about
500 men a day."
There has always been corruption--if not treason--among those having
charge of transportation.
Yesterday the President vetoed another bill--to pay certain arrears to
the army and navy; but the House resented this by passing it over his
head by more than a two-thirds vote. The Senate will probably do the
same. We have a spectacle of war among the politicians as well as in the
field!
Gen. Whiting, captured at Wilmington, died of his wounds. The government
would never listen to his plans for saving Wilmington, and rebuked him
for his pertinacity.
It is now said Sheridan has crossed the Pamunky, and is returning toward
the Rappahannock, instead of forming a junction with Grant. Senator
Hunter's place in Essex will probably be visited, and all that region of
country ravaged.
It is rumored that RALEIGH has fallen!
By consulting the map, I perceive that after the battle of Thursday (day
before yesterday), Hardee fell back and Sherman advanced, and was within
less than thirty miles of Raleigh.
The President, it is understood, favors a great and _decisive_ battle.
Judge Campbell said to-day that Mr. Wigfall had sent him Mr.
Dejarnette's speech (advocating the Monroe doctrine and alliance with
the United States), with a message that he (Mr. W.) intended to read it
between his sentence and execution, thinking it would tend to reconcile
him to death. The judge said, for his own part, he would postpone
reading it until after execution.
MARCH 19TH.--As beautiful a spring morning as ever dawned since the sun
spread its glorious light over the Garden of Eden.
Cannon is heard at intervals down the river; and as we have had a few
days of wind and sunshine, the surface of the earth is becoming
practicable for military operations.
I heard no news at the department; but the belief prevails that Raleigh
has fallen, or must speedily fall, and that Richmond is in danger--a
danger increasing daily.
Thousands of non-combatants and families, falling weekly within the
power of Sherman's army, have succumbed to circumstances and perforce
submitted. I suppose most of those remaining in Savannah, Charleston,
Wilmington, etc. have taken the oath of allegiance to the United States;
and I hear of no censures upon them for doing so. Whether they will be
permitted long to enjoy their property--not their slaves, of
course--will depend upon the policy adopted at Washington. If it be
confiscated, the war will certainly continue for years, even under the
direction of President Davis, who is now quite unpopular. If a contrary
course be pursued, the struggle may be more speedily terminated--perhaps
after the next great battle.
And Mrs. Davis has become unpopular with the ladies belonging to the old
families. Her father, Mr. Howell, it is said was of low origin, and this
is quite enough to disgust others of "high birth," but yet occupying
less exalted positions.
Ladies are now offering their jewels and plate at the Treasury for the
subsistence of the army. It is not a general thing, however.
Yesterday bacon was selling at $20 per pound, and meal at $140 per
bushel. If Sherman cuts the communication with North Carolina, no one
doubts that this city must be abandoned by Lee's army--and yet it may
not be so if diligent search be made for food. The soldiers and the
people may suffer, but still subsist until harvest; and meantime the God
of battles may change the face of affairs, or France may come to our
relief.
Four P.M. It is reported that the enemy have taken Weldon. They seem to
be closing in on every hand. Lee must soon determine to march
away--whether northward or to the southwest, a few weeks, perhaps days,
will decide. The unworthy men who have been detained in high civil
positions begin now to reap their reward! And the President must
reproach himself for his inflexible adherence to a _narrow idea_. He
_might_ have been successful.
MARCH 20TH.--Sunny and pleasant, but hazy in the south.
Cannon heard, quite briskly, south of the city. The papers report that
Gen. Hardee repulsed Sherman on the 16th. But the official dispatch of
Gen. Johnston says Hardee retired, and Sherman advanced after the
fighting was over.
Congress adjourned _sine die_ on Saturday, without passing the measures
recommended by the President. On the contrary, a committee of the Senate
has reported and published an acrimonious reply to certain allegations
in the message, and severely resenting the "admonitions" of the
Executive.
When the joint committee waited on the President to inform him that if
he had no further communication to make them they would adjourn, he took
occasion to fire another broadside, saying that the measures he had just
recommended he sincerely deemed essential for the success of the armies,
etc., and, since Congress differed with him in opinion, and did not
adopt them, he could only hope that the result would prove he was
mistaken and that Congress was right. But if the contrary should appear,
_he_ could not be held responsible, etc. This is the mere _squibbing_ of
politicians, while the enemy's artillery is thundering at the gates!
The Secretary of War visited Gen. Lee's headquarters on Saturday
afternoon, and has not yet returned. Breath is suspended in expectation
of some event; and the bickering between the President and the Congress
has had a bad effect--demoralizing the community.
Governor Vance writes (17th instant) to the Secretary of War, that he
learns an important secret communication had been sent to Congress,
concerning probably his State, and asks a copy of it, etc. The Secretary
sends this to the President, intimating that the communication referred
to was one inclosing a view of our military "situation" by Gen. Lee, in
which he concurred. The President returns Gov. V.'s letter, stating that
he does not know his purpose, or exactly what he refers to; but [red
tape!] until Congress removes the injunction of secrecy, no one can have
copies, etc. Yet he suggests that Gov. V. be written to.
Flour is held at $1500 per barrel.
Senator Hunter publishes a card to-day, denying that he is in favor of
reconstruction, which has been rumored, he says, to his injury, and
might injure the country if not denied.
A correspondence between Generals Lee and Grant is published, showing
that Gen. Longstreet has misunderstood Gen. Ord (Federal) in a late
conversation, to the effect that Gen. Grant would be willing to meet
Gen. Lee to consult on the means of putting an end to the war. The
President gave Lee full powers; but Gen. Grant writes Gen. Lee that Gen.
Ord must have been misunderstood, and that he (Grant) had no right to
settle such matters, etc. Sad delusion!
Assistant Secretary Campbell has given one of his clerks (Cohen, a Jew)
a passport to return home--New Orleans--_via_ the United States.
The government is still sending away the archives.
MARCH 21ST.--Clear and warm. Apricots in blossom. At last we have
reliable information that Johnston has checked one of Sherman's columns,
at Bentonville, capturing three guns. This success is a great
relief--more as an indication of what is to follow, than for what is
accomplished. So Bragg and Johnston have both shown successful fight
lately. Beauregard next. Sherman has three full generals in his front,
with accumulating forces. A few days more will decide his fate--for
immortality or destruction.
There are many red flags displayed this morning in Clay Street, for
sales of furniture and renting of houses to the highest bidders. They
have postponed it until the last moment to realize the highest possible
prices--and they will get them, in consequence of Johnston's success,
which revives the conviction that Richmond will not be evacuated. But
they have overreached themselves in demanding extortionate prices--such
prices depreciating the currency--$1500 being equivalent to one barrel
of flour! If it be determined to abandon the city, what will houses rent
for then?
Lord Russell's letter, forwarded from Washington some days ago, after
much consultation here, was sent back to Gen. Lee by the Secretary of
State, declining to receive a communication from a neutral power through
a hostile one, and expressing doubts of its _authenticity_. Gen. Lee
returns the papers to-day, suggesting that the expression of doubts of
the _authenticity_ be omitted--but will, at all events, when returned to
him again, have it delivered to Gen. Grant. Mr. Benjamin thinks there is
some occult diplomatic danger in the papers--at least he is idle, and
wants some diplomatic work on his hands, in the regular way. How to
avoid doing anything whatever, diplomatically, with this matter before
him, is the very quintessence of diplomacy! He can look at it, read it,
handle it, and return it to Lord John, and then diplomatically prove
that this government never had any knowledge of its existence!
The following official dispatch, from Gen. Lee, was received yesterday:
"HEADQUARTERS ARMIES CONFEDERATE STATES,
"March 20th, 1865.
"HON. JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE, SECRETARY OF WAR.
"Gen. J. E. Johnston reports that about 5 P.M. on the 19th inst. he
attacked the enemy near Bentonsville, routed him, capturing three
guns. A mile in rear, the enemy rallied upon fresh troops, but was
forced back slowly until 6 o'clock P.M., when, receiving more
troops, he apparently assumed the offensive, which movement was
resisted without difficulty until dark. This morning he is
intrenched.
"Our loss is small. The troops behaved admirably well.
"Dense thickets prevented rapid operations. R. E. LEE."
MARCH 22D.--Rained last night; clear and cool this morning. The report
of another battle, since Sunday, in North Carolina, is not confirmed.
The "Bureau of Conscription" still lives, notwithstanding the action of
Congress! The President himself, who favored its abolition, yet being
displeased with some of the details of the act, seems to have finally
withheld his approval; and so Col. G. W. Lay, son-in-law of Judge
Campbell, is again acting Superintendent. The great weight (wealth) of
Gen. Preston perhaps saved it--and may have lost the cause. However, it
is again said Judge Campbell will soon retire from office. He considers
the cause already lost--the work quite accomplished.
To-day some of our negro troops will parade in the Capitol Square.
The Texas cavalry in Virginia--originally 5000--now number 180!
Congress adjourned without adopting any plan to reduce the currency,
deeming it hopeless, since the discovery of a deficiency, in Mr.
Memminger's accounts, of $400,000,000! So the depreciation will go on,
since the collection of taxes is rendered quite impracticable by the
operations of the enemy. Yet buying and selling, for what they call
"dollars," are still extensively indulged; and although the insecurity
of slave property is so manifest, yet a negro man will bring $10,000 at
auction. This, however, is only equivalent to about $100. Land, when the
price is reduced to the gold standard, is similarly diminished in price.
MARCH 23D.--Clear, with high wind. Nothing further from North Carolina.
A dispatch from Gen. Lee states that he has directed Gen. Cobb to
organize an expedition into _Tennessee_, to cut the enemy's
communications. Gen. Wafford, of Kentucky, is in Georgia, with 2000
mounted men, etc.
Beef in market this morning sold at $12 to $15 per pound; bacon at $20,
and butter at $20.
The parade of a few companies of negro troops yesterday was rather a
ridiculous affair. The owners are opposed to it.
Gen. Rains sends in an indorsement, alleging that owing to the deception
of Quartermaster Rhett (not furnishing transportation), he failed to
arrest the approach of the enemy on a narrow causeway; and Columbia,
S. C., and his shells, etc. fell into the hands of the enemy.
A dispatch from Lee states that Gen. Thomas is at Knoxville, and that
the enemy has commenced his advance from _that_ direction--is repairing
railroads, etc. The same dispatch says Gen. J. E. Johnston is removing
his wounded to Smithsville from Bentonville; that the intrenchments of
the enemy and greatly superior numbers of Sherman render further
offensive operations impracticable.
Grant's grand combination is now developed. Sherman from the Southwest,
70,000; Grant himself from the South, 70,000; Thomas, from the West,
40,000; and Sheridan, with 15,000 cavalry from the North--some 200,000
men converging toward this point. To defend it we shall have 120,000
men, without provisions, and, without some speedy successes, no
communications with the regions of supply or transportation! Now is
coming the time for the exercise of great generalship!
Gen. Early has been sent to the West--Tennessee.
MARCH 24TH.--Clear and very windy. The fear of utter famine is now
assuming form. Those who have the means are laying up stores for the day
of siege,--I mean a closer and more rigorous siege,--when all
communications with the country shall cease; and this makes the
commodities scarcer and the prices higher. There is a project on foot to
send away some thousands of useless consumers; but how it is to be
effected by the city authorities, and where they will be sent to, are
questions I have not heard answered. The population of the city is not
less than 100,000, and the markets cannot subsist 70,000. Then there is
the army in the vicinity, which _must_ be fed. I suppose the poultry and
the sheep will be eaten, and something like a pro rata distribution of
flour and meal ordered.
There is a rumor of a great victory by Gen. Johnston in North Carolina,
the taking of 4500 prisoners, 70 guns, etc.--merely a rumor, I am sure.
On the contrary, I apprehend that we shall soon have news of the capture
of Raleigh by Sherman. Should this be our fate, we shall soon have three
or four different armies encompassing us!
I tried in vain this morning to buy a small fish-hook; but could not
find one in the city. None but coarse large ones are in the stores. A
friend has promised me one--and I can make _pin-hooks_, that will catch
minnows. I am too skillful an angler to starve where water runs; and
even minnows can be eaten. Besides, there are eels and catfish in the
river. The water is always muddy.
MARCH 25TH.--Clear and cool.
It is reported that Grant is reinforcing Sherman, and that the latter
has fallen back upon Goldsborough. This is not yet confirmed by any
official statement. A single retrograde movement by Sherman, or even a
delay in advancing, would snatch some of his laurels away, and enable
Lee to obtain supplies. Yet it may be so. He may have been careering the
last month on the unexpended momentum of his recent successes, and
really operating on a scale something more than commensurate with the
forces of his command. Should this be the case, the moral effect on our
people and the army will be prodigious, and a series of triumphs on our
side may be the consequence.
The Northern papers chronicle the rise in flour here--to $1500 per
barrel--a few days ago, and this affords proof of the fact that every
occurrence of military importance in Richmond is immediately made known
in Washington. How can success be possible? But our authorities are
confirmed in their madness.
There were some movements yesterday. Pickett's division was ordered from
this side of the river to the Petersburg depot, to be transported in
haste to that town; but it was countermanded, and the troops now (9
A.M.) are marching back, down Main Street. I have not learned what
occasioned all this.
The marching and countermarching of troops on this side of the river
very much alarmed some of the people, who believed Lee was about to
evacuate the city.
Eleven A.M. Gen. Lee attacked the enemy's fort (Battery No. 5) near
Petersburg this morning, the one which has so long been shelling the
town, and captured it, with 600 prisoners, and several guns. This may
interfere with Gen. Grant's projects on his left wing, against the
railroad.
It is rumored that Gen. Grant is moving heavy bodies of troops toward
Weldon, to reinforce Sherman.
MARCH 26TH.--Frost last night. Cloudy, cold, and windy to-day.
Suffered much yesterday and last night with disordered bowels--from
cold. This, however, may relieve me of the distressing cough I have had
for months.
After all, I fear Lee's attempt on the enemy's lines yesterday was a
failure. We were compelled to relinquish the fort or battery we had
taken, with all the guns we had captured. Our men were exposed to an
enfilading fire, not being supported by the divisions intended to
co-operate in the movement. The 600 prisoners were completely
surprised--their pickets supposing our troops to be merely _deserters_.
This indicates an awful state of things, the enemy being convinced that
we are beaten, demoralized, etc.
There was a communication for the Secretary this morning, from
"headquarters;" but being marked "confidential," I did not open it, but
sent it to Gen. Breckinridge.
Pickett's division has been marching for Petersburg all the morning.
MARCH 27TH.--Bright, calm, but cold,--my disorder keeping me at home.
The dispatch of Gen. Lee, I fear, indicates that our late attempt to
break the enemy's lines was at least prematurely undertaken.
The _Dispatch_ newspaper has an article entreating the people not to
submit "_too hastily_," as in that event we shall have no benefit of the
war between France and the United States--a certain event, the editor
thinks.
"HEADQUARTERS ARMY CONFEDERATE STATES,
"March 25th, 1865--11.20 P.M.
"HON. J. C. BRECKINRIDGE, SECRETARY OF WAR.
"At daylight this morning, Gen. Gordon assaulted and carried the
enemy's works at Hare's Hill, capturing 9 pieces of artillery, 8
mortars, and between 500 and 600 prisoners, among them one
brigadier-general and a number of officers of lower grade.
"The lines were swept for a distance of four or five hundred yards
to the right and left, and two efforts made to recover the captured
works were handsomely repulsed. But it was found that the inclosed
works in rear, commanding the enemy's main line, could only be
taken at a great sacrifice, and our troops were withdrawn to their
original position.
"It being impracticable to bring off the captured guns, owing to
the nature of the ground, they were disabled and left.
"Our loss, as reported, is not heavy. Among the wounded are Brig.
Gen. Terry, flesh wound, and Brig.-Gen. Phil. Cooke, in the arm.
"All the troops engaged, including two brigades under Brig.-Gen.
Ransom, behaved most handsomely. The conduct of the sharpshooters
of Gordon's corps, who led the assault, deserves the highest
commendation.
"This afternoon there was skirmishing on the right, between the
picket lines, with varied success. At dark the enemy held a
considerable portion of the line farthest in advance of our main
work.
"[Signed] R. E. LEE."
MARCH 28TH.--Cloudy and sunshine; but little wind. Too ill to go to the
department, and I get nothing new except what I read in the papers. Some
of the editorials are very equivocal, and have a squint toward
reconstruction.
The President, and one of his Aids, Col. Lubbock, ex-Governor of Texas,
rode by my house, going toward Camp Lee. If driven from this side the
Mississippi, no doubt the President would retire into Texas.
And Lee must gain a victory soon, or his communications will be likely
to be interrupted. Richmond and Virginia are probably in extreme peril
at this moment.
MARCH 29TH.--Slightly overcast, but calm and pleasant.
I am better, after the worst attack for twenty years. The only medicine
I took was blue mass--ten grains. My wife had a little tea and
loaf-sugar, and a solitary smoked herring--and this I relish; and have
nothing else. A chicken, I believe, would cost $50. I must be careful
now, and recuperate. Fine weather, and an indulgence of my old passion
for angling, would soon build me up again.
The papers give forth an uncertain sound of what is going on in the
field, or of what is likely to occur. Unless food and men can be had,
Virginia must be lost. The negro experiment will soon be tested. Custis
says letters are pouring in at the department from all quarters, asking
authority to raise and command negro troops: 100,000 recruits from this
source might do wonders.
I think Lee's demonstrations on Grant's front have mainly in view the
transportation of subsistence from North Carolina.
Mrs. President Davis has left the city, with her children, for the
South. I believe it is her purpose to go no farther at present than
Charlotte, N. C.--rear of Sherman. Some of their furniture has been sent
to auction. Furniture will soon be _low_ again.
It is now believed that the government will be removed with all
expedition to Columbus, Ga. But it is said Richmond will still be held
by our army. _Said!_ Alas! would it not be too expensive--"too much for
the whistle?"
Shad are selling at $50 per pair. If Richmond should be left to strictly
military rule, I hope it will rule the prices.
It is reported that Gen. Johnston has fallen back on Weldon; some
suppose to attack _Grant's_ rear, but no doubt it is because he is
pressed by Sherman with superior numbers.
A dispatch from Gen. Lee, to-day, states the important fact that Grant's
left wing (cavalry and infantry) passed Hatcher's Run this morning,
marching to Dinwiddie C. H. The purpose is to cut the South Side and
Danville Roads; and it may be accomplished, for we have "here no
adequate force of cavalry to oppose Sheridan; and it may be possible, if
Sheridan turns his head this way, that shell may be thrown into the
city. At all events, he may destroy some bridges--costing him dear." But
pontoon bridges were sent up the Danville Road yesterday and to-day, in
anticipation, beyond the bridges to be destroyed.
MARCH 30TH.--Raining rapidly, and warm.
Again the sudden change of weather may be an interposition of Providence
to defeat the effort of the enemy to destroy Gen. Lee's communications
with his Southern depots of supplies. I hope so, for faith in man is
growing weaker.
Our loss in the affair of the 25th instant was heavy, and is now
admitted to be a disaster; and Lee himself was there! It amounted,
probably, to 3000 men. Grant says over 2000 prisoners were registered by
his Provost Marshal. It is believed the President advised the desperate
undertaking; be that as it may, many such blows cannot follow in quick
succession without producing the most deplorable results. The government
would soon make its escape--_if it could_. Mrs. Davis, however, soonest
informed of our condition, got away in time.
Dispatches from Generalissimo Lee inform the Secretary that large
expeditions are on foot in Alabama, Mississippi, etc., and that Thomas's
army is rapidly advancing upon Virginia from East Tennessee, while no
general has yet been designated to command our troops.
The papers say nothing of the flank movement commenced yesterday by
Grant. This reticence cannot be for the purpose of keeping _the enemy_
in ignorance of it!
I am convalescent, but too weak to walk to the department to-day. The
deathly "sick man," as the Emperor of Russia used to designate the
Sultan of Turkey, is our President. His mind has never yet comprehended
the magnitude of the crisis.
Custis says letters still flow in asking authority to raise negro
troops.
In the North the evacuation of Richmond is looked for between the 1st
and 25th of April. They may be fooled. But if we lose the Danville Road,
it will only be a question of time. Yet there will remain too great a
breadth of territory for subjugation--if the _people_ choose to hold
out, and soldiers can be made of negroes.
It is reported (believed) that several determined assaults were made on
our lines yesterday evening and last night at Petersburg, and repulsed
with slaughter; and that the attack has been renewed to-day. Very heavy
firing has been heard in that direction. Gen. Lee announces no result
yet.
We have 2,000,000 bread rations in the depots in North Carolina.
MARCH 31ST.--Raining; rained all night. My health improving, but
prudence requires me to still keep within the house.
The reports of terrific fighting near Petersburg on Wednesday evening
have not been confirmed. Although Gen. Lee's dispatch shows they were
not quite without foundation, I have no doubt there was a false alarm on
both sides, and a large amount of ammunition vainly expended.
"HEADQUARTERS, March 30th, 1865.
"GEN. J. C. BRECKINRIDGE, SECRETARY OF WAR.
"Gen. Gordon reports that the enemy, at 11 A.M. yesterday, advanced
against a part of his lines, defended by Brig.-Gen. Lewis, but was
repulsed.
"The fire of artillery and mortars continued for several hours with
considerable activity.
"No damage on our lines reported. R. E. LEE."
We are sinking our gun-boats at Chaffin's Bluff, to obstruct the passage
of the enemy's fleet, expected soon to advance.
Congress passed two acts, and proper ones, to which the Executive has
yet paid no attention whatever, viz.: the abolition of the Bureau of
Conscription, and of all Provost Marshals, their guards, etc. not
attached to armies in the field. If the new Secretary has consented to
be burdened with the responsibility of this contumacy and violation of
the Constitution, it will break his back, and ruin our already desperate
cause.
Four P.M.--Since writing the above, I learn that an order has been
published abolishing the "Bureau of Conscription."
Gov. Vance has written to know why the government wants the track of the
North Carolina Railroad altered to the width of those in Virginia, and
has been answered: 1st, to facilitate the transportation of supplies to
Gen. Lee's army from North Carolina; and 2d, in the event of disaster,
to enable the government to run all the locomotives, cars, etc. of the
Virginia roads into North Carolina.
CHAPTER XLIX.
Rumors of battles.--Excitement in the churches.--The South Side Road
captured by the enemy.--Evacuation of Richmond.--Surrender of Gen.
Lee.--Occupation of Richmond by Federal forces.--Address to the
people of Virginia by J. A. Campbell and others.--Assassination of
President Lincoln.
APRIL 1ST.--Clear and pleasant. Walked to the department.
We have vague and incoherent accounts from excited couriers of fighting,
without result, in Dinwiddie County, near the South Side Railroad.
It is rumored that a battle will probably occur in that vicinity to-day.
I have leave of absence, to improve my health; and propose accompanying
my daughter Anne, next week, to Mr. Hobson's mansion in Goochland
County. The Hobsons are opulent, and she will have an excellent asylum
there, if the vicissitudes of the war do not spoil her calculations. I
shall look for angling streams: and if successful, hope for both sport
and better health.
The books at the conscript office show a frightful list of deserters or
absentees without leave--60,000--all Virginians. Speculation!
Jno. M. Daniel, editor of the _Examiner_, is dead.
The following dispatch from Gen. Lee is just (10 A.M.) received:
"HEADQUARTERS, April 1st, 1865.
"HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT DAVIS.
"Gen. Beauregard has been ordered to make arrangements to defend
the railroad in North Carolina against Stoneman. Generals Echols
and Martin are directed to co-operate, and obey his
orders. R. E. LEE."
A rumor (perhaps a 1st of April rumor) is current that a treaty has been
signed between the Confederate States Government and Maximilian.
APRIL 2D.--Bright and beautiful. The tocsin was sounded this morning at
daybreak, and the militia ordered to the fortifications, to relieve some
regiments of Longstreet's corps, posted on this side of the river. These
latter were hurried off to Petersburg, where a battle is impending, I
suppose, if not in progress.
A street rumor says there was bloody fighting yesterday a little beyond
Petersburg, near the South Side Road, in which Gen. Pickett's division
met with fearful loss, being engaged with superior numbers. It is said
the enemy's line of intrenchments was carried once or twice, but was
retaken, and remained in their hands.
I hear nothing of all this at the department; but the absence of
dispatches there is now interpreted as bad news! Certain it is, the
marching of veteran troops from the defenses of Richmond, and replacing
them hurriedly with militia, can only indicate an emergency of alarming
importance. A decisive struggle is probably at hand--and may possibly be
in progress while I write. Or there may be nothing in it--more than a
precautionary concentration to preserve our communications.
Mrs. Davis sold nearly all her movables--including presents--before
leaving the city. She sent them to different stores.
An intense excitement prevails, at 2 P.M. It pervaded the churches. Dr.
Hoge intermitted his services. Gen. Cooper and the President left their
respective churches, St. James's and St. Paul's. Dr. Minnegerode, before
dismissing his congregation, gave notice that Gen. Ewell desired the
local forces to assemble at 3 P.M.--and afternoon services will not be
held. The excited women in this neighborhood say they have learned the
city is to be evacuated to-night.
No doubt our army sustained a serious blow yesterday; and Gen. Lee may
not have troops sufficient to defend both the city and the Danville Road
at the same time.
It is true! The enemy have broken through our lines and attained the
South Side Road. Gen. Lee has dispatched the Secretary to have
everything in readiness to _evacuate the city to-night_. The President
told a lady that Lieut.-Gen. Hardee was only twelve miles distant, and
might get up in time to save the day. But then Sherman must be in _his_
rear. There is no wild excitement--_yet_. Gen. Kemper was at the
department looking for Gen. Ewell, and told me he could find no one to
apply to for orders. The banks will move to-night. Eight trains are
provided for the transportation of the archives, etc. No provision for
civil employees and their families.
At 6 P.M. I saw the Hon. James Lyons, and asked him what he intended to
do. He said many of his friends advised him to leave, while his
inclination was to remain with his sick family. He said, being an
original secessionist, his friends apprehended that the Federals would
arrest him the first man, and hang him. I told him I differed with them,
and believed his presence here might result in benefit to the
population.
Passing down Ninth Street to the department, I observed quite a number
of men--some in uniform, and some of them officers--hurrying away with
their trunks. I believe they are not allowed to put them in the cars.
The Secretary of War intends to leave at 8 P.M. this evening. The
President and the rest of the functionaries, I suppose, will leave at
the same time.
I met Judge Campbell in Ninth Street, talking rapidly to himself, with
two books under his arm, which he had been using in his office. He told
me that the chiefs of bureaus determined which clerks would have
transportation--embracing only a small proportion of them, which I found
to be correct.
At the department I learned that all who had families were advised to
remain. No compulsion is seen anywhere; even the artisans and mechanics
of the government shops are left free to choose--to go or to stay.
A few squads of local troops and reserves--guards--may be seen marching
here and there. Perhaps they are to burn the tobacco, cotton, etc., if
indeed anything is to be burned.
Lee must have met with an awful calamity. The President said to several
ladies to-day he had hopes of Hardee coming up in time to save Lee--else
Richmond must succumb. He said he had done his best, etc. to save it.
Hardee is distant two or three days' march.
The negroes stand about mostly silent, as if wondering what will be
their fate. They make no demonstrations of joy.
Several hundred prisoners were brought into the city this
afternoon--captured yesterday. Why they were brought here I am at a
loss to conjecture. Why were they not paroled and sent into the enemy's
lines?
At night. All is yet quiet. No explosion, no conflagration, no riots,
etc. How long will this continue? When will the enemy come?
It was after 2 o'clock P.M. before the purpose to evacuate the city was
announced; and the government had gone at 8 P.M.! Short notice! and
small railroad facilities to get away. All horses were impressed.
There is a report that Lieut.-Gen. A. P. Hill was killed, and that Gen.
Lee was wounded. Doubtless it was a battle of great magnitude, wherein
both sides had all their forces engaged.
I remain here, broken in health and bankrupt in fortune, awaiting my
fate, whatever it may be. I can do no more. If I could, I would.
APRIL 3D.--Another clear and bright morning. It was a quiet night, with
its million of stars. And yet how few could sleep, in anticipation of
the entrance of the enemy! But no enemy came until 9 A.M., when some 500
were posted at the Capitol Square. They had been waited upon previously
by the City Council, and the surrender of the city stipulated--to occur
this morning. They were asked to post guards for the protection of
property from pillage, etc., and promised to do so.
At dawn there were two tremendous explosions, seeming to startle the
very earth, and crashing the glass throughout the western end of the
city. One of these was the blowing up of the magazine, near the new
almshouse--the other probably the destruction of an iron-clad ram. But
subsequently there were others. I was sleeping soundly when awakened by
them.
All night long they were burning the papers of the Second Auditor's
office in the street--claims of the survivors of deceased soldiers,
accounts of contractors, etc.
At 7 A.M. Committees appointed by the city government visited the liquor
shops and had the spirits (such as they could find) destroyed. The
streets ran with liquor; and women and boys, black and white, were seen
filling pitchers and buckets from the gutters.
A lady sold me a bushel of potatoes in Broad Street for $75, Confederate
States money--$5 less than the price a few days ago. I bought them at
her request. And some of the shops gave clothing to our last retiring
guards.
Goods, etc. at the government depots were distributed to the poor, to a
limited extent, there being a limited amount.
A dark volume of smoke rises from the southeastern section of the city,
and spreads like a pall over the zenith. It proceeds from the tobacco
warehouse, ignited, I suppose, hours ago, and now just bursting forth.
At 8-1/2 A.M. The armory, arsenal, and laboratory (Seventh and Canal
Streets), which had been previously fired, gave forth terrific sounds
from thousands of bursting shells. This continued for more than an hour.
Some fragments of shell fell within a few hundred yards of my house.
The pavements are filled with pulverized glass.
Some of the great flour mills have taken fire from the burning
government warehouses, and the flames are spreading through the lower
part of the city. A great conflagration is apprehended.
The doors of the government bakery (Clay Street) were thrown open this
morning, and flour and crackers were freely distributed, until the
little stock was exhausted. I got a barrel of the latter, paying a negro
man $5 to wheel it home--a short distance.
Ten A.M. A battery (United States) passed my house, Clay Street, and
proceeded toward Camp Lee. Soon after the officers returned, when I
asked the one in command if guards would be placed in this part of the
city to prevent disturbance, etc. He paused, with his suite, and
answered that such was the intention, and that every precaution would be
used to preserve order. He said the only disturbances were caused by our
people. I asked if there was any disturbance. He pointed to the black
columns of smoke rising from the eastern part of the city, and referred
to the incessant bursting of shell. I remarked that the storehouses had
doubtless been ignited hours previously. To this he assented, and
assuring me that _they_ did not intend to disturb us, rode on. But
immediately meeting two negro women laden with plunder, they wheeled
them to the right about, and marched them off, to the manifest chagrin
of the newly emancipated citizens.
Eleven A.M. I walked down Brad Street to the Capitol Square. The street
was filled with _negro troops_, cavalry and infantry, and were cheered
by hundreds of negroes at the corners.
I met Mr. T. Cropper (lawyer from the E. Shore) driving a one-horse
wagon containing his bedding and other property of his quarters. He said
he had just been burnt out--at Belom's Block--and that St. Paul's Church
(Episcopal) was, he thought, on fire. This I found incorrect; but Dr.
Reed's (Presbyterian) was in ruins. The leaping and lapping flames were
roaring in Main Street up to Ninth; and Goddin's Building (late General
Post-Office) was on fire, as well as all the houses in Governor Street
up to Franklin.
The grass of Capitol Square is covered with parcels of goods snatched
from the raging conflagration, and each parcel guarded by a Federal
soldier.
A general officer rode up and asked me what building that was--pointing
to the old stone United States Custom House--late Treasury and State
Departments, also the President's office. He said, "Then it is
fire-proof, and the fire will be arrested in this direction." He said he
was sorry to behold such destruction; and regretted that there was not
an adequate supply of engines and other apparatus.
Shells are still bursting in the ashes of the armory, etc.
All the stores are closed; most of the largest (in Main Street) have
been burned.
There are supposed to be 10,000 negro troops at Camp Lee, west of my
dwelling.
An officer told me, 3 P.M., that a white brigade will picket the city
to-night; and he assured the ladies standing near that there would not
be a particle of danger of molestation. After 9 P.M., all will be
required to remain in their houses. Soldiers or citizens, after that
hour, will be arrested. He said we had done ourselves great injury by
the fire, the lower part of the city being in ashes, and declared that
the United States troops had no hand in it. I acquitted them of the
deed, and told him that the fire had spread from the tobacco warehouses
and military depots, fired by our troops as a military necessity.
Four P.M. Thirty-four guns announced the arrival of President Lincoln.
He flitted through the mass of human beings in Capitol Square, his
carriage drawn by four horses, preceded by out-riders, motioning the
people, etc. out of the way, and followed by a mounted guard of thirty.
The cortege passed rapidly, precisely as I had seen royal parties ride
in Europe.
APRIL 4TH.--Another bright and beautiful day.
I walked around the burnt district this morning. Some seven hundred
houses, from Main Street to the canal, comprising the most valuable
stores, and the best business establishments, were consumed. All the
bridges across the James were destroyed, the work being done
effectually. Shells were placed in all the warehouses where the tobacco
was stored, to prevent the saving of any.
The War Department was burned after I returned yesterday; and soon after
the flames were arrested, mainly by the efforts of the Federal troops.
Gen. Weitzel commanded the troops that occupied the city upon its
abandonment.
The troops do not interfere with the citizens here any more than they do
in New York--yet. Last night everything was quiet, and perfect order
prevails.
A few thousand negroes (mostly women) are idle in the streets, or lying
in the Capitol Square, or crowding about headquarters, at the Capitol.
Gen. Lee's family remain in the city. I saw a Federal guard promenading
in front of the door, his breakfast being just sent to him from within.
Brig.-Gen. Gorgas's family remain also. They are Northern-born.
It is rumored that another great battle was fought yesterday, at Amelia
Court House, on the Danville Road, and that Lee, Johnston and Hardee
having come up, defeated Grant. It is only rumor, so far. If it be true,
Richmond was evacuated prematurely; for the local defense troops might
have held it against the few white troops brought in by Weitzel. The
negroes never would have been relied on to take it by assault.
I see many of the civil employees left behind. It was the merest
accident (being Sunday) that any were apprised, in time, of the purpose
to evacuate the city. It was a shameful _abandonment_ on the part of the
heads of departments and bureaus.
Confederate money is not taken to-day. However, the shops are still
closed.
APRIL 5TH.--Bright and pleasant.
Stayed with my next door neighbors at their request last night--all
females. It was quiet; and so far the United States pickets and guards
have preserved perfect order.
The cheers that greeted President Lincoln were mostly from the negroes
and Federals comprising the great mass of humanity. The white citizens
felt annoyed that the city should be held mostly by negro troops. If
this measure were not unavoidable, it was impolitic if conciliation be
the purpose.
Mr. Lincoln, after driving to the mansion lately occupied by Mr. Davis,
Confederate States President, where he rested, returned, I believe, to
the fleet at Rocketts.
This morning thousands of negroes and many white females are besieging
the public officers for provisions. I do not observe any getting them,
and their faces begin to express disappointment.
It is said all the negro men, not entering the army, will be put to
work, rebuilding bridges, repairing railroads, etc.
I have seen a _New York Herald_ of the 3d, with dispatches of the 1st
and 2d inst. from Mr. Lincoln, who was at City Point during the progress
of the battle. He sums up with estimate of 12,000 prisoners captured,
and 50 guns.
The rumor of a success by Gen. Lee on Monday is still credited. _Per
contra_, it is reported that President Davis is not only a captive, but
will soon be exhibited in Capitol Square.
The Rev. Mr. Dashiell, who visited us to-day, said it was reported and
believed that 6000 South Carolina troops threw down their arms; and that
a large number of Mississippians deserted--giving such information to
the enemy as betrayed our weak points, etc.
Three P.M. I feel that this Diary is near its end.
The burnt district includes all the banks, money-changers, and principal
speculators and extortioners. This seems like a decree from above!
Four P.M. The Square is nearly vacated by the negroes. An officer told
me they intended to put them in the army in a few days, and that the
Northern people did not really like negro equality any better than we
did.
Two rumors prevail: that Lee gained a victory on Monday, and that Lee
has capitulated, with 35,000 men.
The policy of the conquerors here, I believe, is still undecided, and
occupies the attention of Mr. Lincoln and his cabinet.
APRIL 6TH.--Showery morning.
I perceive no change, except, perhaps, a diminution of troops, which
seems to confirm the reports of recent battles, and the probable success
of Lee and Johnston. But all is doubt and uncertainty.
The military authorities are still reticent regarding the fate of those
remaining in Richmond. We are at their mercy, and prepared for our fate.
I except some of our ladies, who are hysterical, and want to set out on
foot "for the Confederacy."
APRIL 7TH.--Slight showers.
Wm. Ira Smith, tailor, and part owner of the _Whig_, has continued the
publication as a Union paper.
I visited the awful crater of the magazine. One current or stream of
fire and bricks knocked down the east wall of the cemetery, and swept
away many head and foot stones, demolishing trees, plants, etc.
It is said President Lincoln is still in the city. Dr. Ellison informed
me to-day of the prospect of Judge Campbell's conference with Mr.
Lincoln. It appears that the judge had prepared statistics of our
resources in men and materials, showing them to be utterly inadequate
for a prolongation of the contest, and these he exhibited to certain
prominent citizens, whom he wished to accompany him. Whether they were
designed also for the eye of President Lincoln, or whether he saw them,
I did not learn. But one citizen accompanied him--GUSTAVUS A. MYERS, the
little old lawyer, who has certainly cultivated the most friendly
relations with all the members of President Davis's cabinet, and it is
supposed he prosecuted a lucrative business procuring substitutes,
obtaining discharges, getting passports, etc.
The ultimatum of President Lincoln was Union, emancipation, disbandment
of the Confederate States armies. Then no oath of allegiance would be
required, no confiscation exacted, or other penalty; and the Governor
and Legislature to assemble and readjust the affairs of Virginia without
molestation of any character.
Negotiations are in progress by the clergymen, who are directed to open
the churches on Sunday, and it was intimated to the Episcopalians that
they should pray for the President of the United States. To this they
demur, being ordered by the Convention to pray for the President of the
Confederate States. They are willing to omit the prayer altogether, and
await the decision of the military authority on that proposition.
APRIL 8TH.--Bright and pleasant weather.
We are still in uncertainty as to our fate, or whether an oath of
allegiance will be demanded.
Efforts by Judge Campbell, Jos. R. Anderson, N. P. Tyler, G. A. Myers
and others, are being made to assemble a convention which shall withdraw
Virginia from the Confederacy.
Hundreds of civil employees remained, many because they had been
required to _volunteer_ in the local defense organization or lose their
employment, and the fear of being still further perfidiously dealt with,
forced into the army, notwithstanding their legal exemptions. Most of
them had families whose subsistence depended upon their salaries. It is
with governments as with individuals, injustice is sooner or later
overtaken by its merited punishment.
The people are kinder to each other, sharing provisions, etc.
A New York paper says Gen. H. A. Wise was killed; we hear nothing of
this here.
Roger A. Pryor is said to have remained voluntarily in Petersburg, and
announces his abandonment of the Confederate States cause.
APRIL 9TH.--Bright and beautiful. Rev. Mr. Dashiell called, after
services. The prayer for the President was omitted, by a previous
understanding.
Rev. Dr. Minnegerode, and others, leading clergymen, consider the cause
at an end. A letter from Gen. Lee has been found, and its authenticity
vouched for (Rev. Dr. M. says) by Judge Campbell, in which he avows his
conviction that further resistance will be in vain--but that so long as
it is desired, he will do his utmost in the field.
And Dr. M. has information of the capture of three divisions of
Longstreet since the battle of Sunday last, with some eight
generals--among them Lieut.-Gen. Ewell, Major-Gen. G. W. Custis Lee,
etc.
The clergy also seem to favor a convention, and the resumption by
Virginia of her old position in the Union--minus slavery.
Charlottesville has been named as the place for the assembling of the
convention. They also believe that Judge Campbell remained to treat with
the United States at the request of the Confederate States Government. I
doubt. We shall now have no more interference in Cæsar's affairs by the
clergy--may they attend to God's hereafter!
Ten o'clock P.M. A salute fired--100 guns--from the forts across the
river, which was succeeded by music from all the bands. The guard
promenading in front of the house says a dispatch has been received from
Grant announcing the surrender of Lee!
I hear that Gen. Pickett was killed in the recent battle!
APRIL 10TH.--Raining. I was startled in bed by the sound of cannon from
the new southside fort again. I suppose another hundred guns were fired;
and I learn this morning that the Federals declare, and most people
believe, that Lee has really surrendered his army--if not indeed all the
armies.
My Diary is surely drawing to a close, and I feel as one about to take
leave of some old familiar associate. A _habit_ is to be
discontinued--and that is no trifling thing to one of my age. But I may
find sufficient employment in revising, correcting, etc. what I have
written. I never supposed it would end in this way.
Ten A.M. It is true! Yesterday Gen. Lee surrendered the "Army of
Northern Virginia." His son, Custis Lee, and other generals, had
surrendered a few days previously. The men are paroled by regimental
commanders, from the muster rolls, and are permitted to return to their
homes and remain undisturbed until exchanged. The officers to take their
side-arms and baggage to their homes, on the same conditions, etc. There
_were_ 290 pieces of artillery belonging to this army a few weeks ago.
This army was the pride, the hope, the prop of the Confederate cause,
and numbered, I believe, on the rolls, 120,000 men. All is lost! No head
can be made by any other general or army--if indeed any other army
remains. If Mr. Davis had been present, he never would have consented to
it; and I doubt if he will ever forgive Gen. Lee.
APRIL 11TH.--Cloudy and misty. It is reported that Gen. Johnston has
surrendered his army in North Carolina, following the example of Gen.
Lee. But no salutes have been fired in honor of the event. The President
(Davis) is supposed to be flying toward the Mississippi River, but this
is merely conjectural. Undoubtedly the war is at an end, and the
Confederate States Government will be immediately extinct--its members
fugitives. From the tone of leading Northern papers, we have reason to
believe President Lincoln will call Congress together, and proclaim an
amnesty, etc.
Judge Campbell said to Mr. Hart (clerk in the Confederate States War
Department) yesterday that there would be no arrests, and no oath would
be required. Yet ex-Captain Warner was arrested yesterday, charged with
ill treating Federal prisoners, with registering a false name, and as a
dangerous character. I know the contrary of all this; for he has been
persecuted by the Confederate States authorities for a year, and forced
to resign his commission.
My application to Gen. Shepley for permission to remove my family to the
Eastern Shore, where they have relatives and friends, and may find
subsistence, still hangs fire. Every day I am told to call the _next_
day, as it has not been acted upon.
APRIL 12TH.--Warm and cloudy. Gen. Weitzel publishes an order to-day,
requiring all ministers who have prayed for the President of the
Confederate States to pray hereafter for the President of the United
States. He will not allow them to omit the prayer.
In answer to my application for permission to take my family to the
Eastern Shore of Virginia, where among their relations and friends
shelter and food may be had, Brevet Brig.-Gen. Ludlow indorsed:
"Disallowed--as none but loyal people, who have taken the oath, are
permitted to reside on the Eastern Shore of Virginia." This paper I left
at Judge Campbell's residence (he was out) for his inspection, being
contrary in spirit to the terms he is represented to have said would be
imposed on us.
At 1-1/2 P.M. Another 100 guns were fired in Capitol Square, in honor, I
suppose, of the surrender of JOHNSTON'S army. I must go and see.
Captain Warner is still in prison, and no one is allowed to visit him, I
learn.
Three P.M. Saw Judge Campbell, who will lay my paper before the military
authorities for reconsideration to-morrow. He thinks they have acted
unwisely. I said to him that a gentleman's _word_ was better than an
enforced oath--and that if persecution and confiscation are to follow,
instead of organized armies we shall have bands of assassins everywhere
in the field, and the stiletto and the torch will take the place of the
sword and the musket--and there can be no solid reconstruction, etc. He
says he told the Confederate States authorities months ago that the
cause had failed, but they would not listen. He said he had telegraphed
something to Lieut.-Gen. Grant to-day.
The salute some say was in honor of Johnston's surrender--others say it
was for Lee's--and others of Clay's birthday.
APRIL 13TH.--Raining. Long trains of "supply" and "ammunition" wagons
have been rolling past our dwelling all the morning, indicating a
movement of troops southward. I suppose the purpose is to _occupy_ the
conquered territory. Alas! we know too well what military occupation is.
No intelligent person supposes, after Lee's surrender, that there will
be found an army anywhere this side of the Mississippi of sufficient
numbers to make a stand. No doubt, however, many of the dispersed
Confederates will join the trans-Mississippi army under Gen. E. Kirby
Smith, if indeed, he too does not yield to the prevalent surrendering
epidemic.
Confederate money is valueless, and we have no Federal money. To such
extremity are some of the best and wealthiest families reduced, that the
ladies are daily engaged making pies and cakes for the Yankee soldiers
of all colors, that they may obtain enough "greenbacks" to purchase such
articles as are daily required in their housekeeping.
It is said we will be supplied with rations from the Federal
commissariat.
APRIL 14TH.--Bright and cool.
Gen. Weitzel and his corps having been ordered away; Major-Gen. Ord has
succeeded to the command at Richmond, and his corps has been marching to
Camp Lee ever since dawn. I saw no negro troops among them, but presume
there are some.
Gen. Weitzel's rule became more and more despotic daily; but it is said
the order dictating prayers to be offered by the Episcopal clergy came
from Mr. Stanton, at Washington, Secretary of War. One of the clergy,
being at my house yesterday, said that unless this order were modified
there would be no services on Sunday. To-day, Good Friday, the churches
are closed.
The following circular was published a few days ago:
"TO THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA.
"The undersigned, members of the Legislature of the State of
Virginia, in connection with a number of the citizens of the State,
whose names are attached to this paper, in view of the evacuation
of the City of Richmond by the Confederate Government, and its
occupation by the military authorities of the United States, the
surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, and the suspension of
the jurisdiction of the civil power of the State, are of opinion
that an immediate meeting of the General Assembly of the State is
called for by the exigencies of the situation.
"The consent of the military authorities of the United States to
the session of the Legislature in Richmond, in connection with the
Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, to their free deliberation upon
public affairs, and to the ingress and departure of all its members
under safe conducts, has been obtained.
"The United States authorities will afford transportation from any
point under their control to any of the persons before mentioned.
"The matters to be submitted to the Legislature are the restoration
of peace to the State of Virginia, and the adjustment of questions
involving life, liberty, and property, that have arisen in the
State as a consequence of the war.
"We therefore earnestly request the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor,
and members of the Legislature to repair to this city by the 25th
April (instant).
"We understand that full protection to persons and property will be
afforded in the State, and we recommend to peaceful citizens to
remain at their homes and pursue their usual avocations, with
confidence that they will not be interrupted.
"We earnestly solicit the attendance, in Richmond, on or before the
25th of April (instant), of the following persons, citizens of
Virginia, to confer with us as to the best means of restoring peace
to the State of Virginia. We have procured safe conduct from the
military authorities of the United States for them to enter the
city and depart without molestation: Hon. R. M. T. Hunter, A. T.
Caperton, Wm. C. Rives, John Letcher, A. H. H. Stuart, R. L.
Montague, Fayette McMullen, J. P. Holcombe, Alexander Rives, B.
Johnson Barbour, James Barbour, Wm. L. Goggin, J. B. Baldwin,
Thomas S. Gholson, Waller Staples, S. D. Miller, Thomas J.
Randolph, Wm T. Early, R. A. Claybrook, John Critcher, Wm. Towns,
T. H. Eppes, and those other persons for whom passports have been
procured and especially forwarded that we consider it to be
unnecessary to mention.
"A. J. Marshall, Senator, Fauquier; James Neeson, Senator, Marion;
James Venable, Senator elect, Petersburg; David I. Burr, of House
of Delegates, Richmond City; David J. Saunders, of House of
Delegates, Richmond City; L. S. Hall, of House of Delegates, Wetzel
County; J. J. English, of House of Delegates, Henrico County; Wm.
Ambers, of House of Delegates, Chesterfield County; A. M. Keily, of
House of Delegates, Petersburg; H. W. Thomas, Second Auditor of
Virginia; St. L. L. Moncure, Chief Clerk Second Auditor's office;
Joseph Mayo, Mayor of City of Richmond; Robert Howard, Clerk of
Hustings Court, Richmond City; Thomas U. Dudley, Sergeant Richmond
City; Littleton Tazewell, Commonwealth's Attorney, Richmond City;
Wm. T. Joynes, Judge of Circuit Court, Petersburg; John A.
Meredith, Judge of Circuit Court, Richmond; Wm. H. Lyons, Judge of
Hustings Court, Richmond; Wm. C. Wickham, Member of Congress,
Richmond District; Benj. S. Ewell, President of William and Mary
College; Nat. Tyler, Editor Richmond _Enquirer_; R. F. Walker,
Publisher of _Examiner_; J. R. Anderson, Richmond; R. R. Howison,
Richmond; W. Goddin, Richmond; P. G. Bayley, Richmond; F. J. Smith,
Richmond; Franklin Stearns, Henrico; John Lyons, Petersburg; Thomas
B. Fisher, Fauquier; Wm. M. Harrison, Charles City; Cyrus Hall,
Ritchie; Thomas W. Garnett, King and Queen; James A. Scott,
Richmond.
"I concur in the preceding recommendation.
"J. A. CAMPBELL.
"Approved for publication in the _Whig_, and in handbill form.
"G. WEITZEL, Major-Gen. Commanding.
"RICHMOND, VA., April 11th, 1865."
To-day the following order is published:
"HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF VIRGINIA,
"RICHMOND, VA., April 13th, 1865.
"Owing to recent events, the permission for the reassembling of the
gentlemen recently acting as the Legislature of Virginia is
rescinded. Should any of the gentlemen come to the city under the
notice of reassembling, already published, they will be furnished
passports to return to their homes.
"Any of the persons named in the call signed by J. A. Campbell and
others, who are found in the city twelve hours after the
publication of this notice, will be subject to arrest, unless they
are residents of the city.
"E. O. C. ORD, Major-Gen. Commanding."
Judge Campbell informs me that he saw Gen. Ord yesterday, who promised
to grant me permission to take my family to the Eastern Shore of
Virginia, and suggesting some omissions and alterations in the
application, which I made. Judge C. is to see him again to-day, when I
hope the matter will be accomplished.
Judge Campbell left my application with Gen. Ord's youngest adjutant, to
whom he said the general had approved it. But the adjutant said it would
have to be presented again, as there was no indorsement on it. The judge
advised me to follow it up, which I did; and stayed until the adjutant
did present it again to Gen. Ord, who again approved it. Then the polite
aid accompanied me to Gen. Patrick's office and introduced me to him,
and to Lieut.-Col. John Coughlin, "Provost Marshal General Department of
Virginia," who indorsed on the paper: "These papers will be granted when
called for."
APRIL 17TH.--Bright and clear.
I add a few lines to my Diary. It was whispered, yesterday, that
President Lincoln had been assassinated! I met Gen. Duff Green, in the
afternoon, who assured me there could be no doubt of it. Still,
supposing it might be an April hoax, I inquired at the headquarters of
Gen. Ord, and was told it was true. I cautioned those I met to manifest
no _feeling_, as the occurrence might be a calamity for the South; and
possibly the Federal soldiers, supposing the deed to have been done by a
Southern man, might become uncontrollable and perpetrate deeds of horror
on the unarmed people.
After agreeing to meet Gen. Green this morning at the Provost Marshal's
office, and unite with him in an attempt to procure the liberation of
Capt. Warner, I returned home; and saw, on the way, Gen. Ord and his
staff riding out toward Camp Lee, with no manifestations of excitement
or grief on their countenances.
Upon going down town this morning, every one was speaking of the death
of Lincoln, and the _Whig_ was in mourning.
President Lincoln was killed by Booth (Jno. Wilkes), an actor. I suppose
his purpose is to live in history as the slayer of a tyrant; thinking to
make the leading character in a tragedy, and have his performance acted
by others on the stage.
I see no grief on the faces of either officers or men of the Federal
army.
R. A. Pryor and Judge W. T. Joynes have called a meeting in Petersburg,
to lament the calamity entailed by the assassination.
I got passports to-day for myself and family to the Eastern Shore,
taking no oath. We know not when we shall leave.
I never swore allegiance to the Confederate States Government, but was
true to it.
APRIL 19TH.--Yesterday windy, to-day bright and calm.
It appears that the day of the death of President Lincoln was appointed
for illuminations and rejoicings on the surrender of Lee. There is no
intelligence of the death of Mr. Seward or his son. It was a dastardly
deed--surely the act of a madman.
THE END.
Footnotes:
[1] Virginia undoubtedly contributed more than any other State, but they
were not registered.
[2] It is held by the government _now_, January, 1866, and my family are
homeless and destitute. _Onancock, Accomac County, Va._--J. B. J.
Transcriber's Notes:
Passages in italics are indicated by _underscore_.
The following misprints in Volume I have been corrected:
"their's" corrected to "theirs" (page 77)
"increasas" corrected to "increases" (page 85)
"instrutcted" corrected to "instructed" (page 164)
"conntry" corrected to "country" (page 238)
"Legisture" corrected to "Legislature" (page 242)
"Deparment" corrected to "Department" (page 244)
"ha" corrected to "he" (page 251)
"a" corrected to "at" (page 255)
"reappeard" corrected to "reappeared" (page 275)
"calvary" corrected to "cavalry" (page 308)
"assults" corrected to "assaults" (page 335)
"peisoners" corrected to "prisoners" (page 360)
"degees" corrected to "degrees" (page 362)
"Wendesday" corrected to "Wednesday" (page 365)
The following misprints in Volume II have been corrected:
"furnance" corrected to "furnace" (page 17)
"miraculousl" corrected to "miraculously" (page 17)
"13TH" corrected to "15TH" (page 44)
"Corolina" corrected to "Carolina" (page 44)
"affirmalive" corrected to "affirmative" (page 79)
"nothwithstanding" corrected to "notwithstanding" (page 84)
"necestity" corrected to "necessity" (page 93)
"2D" corrected to "3D" (page 123)
"develope" corrected to "develop" (page 135)
"Henly's" corrected to "Henley's" (page 166)
"APRIL" corrected to "MAY" (page 199)
"May 19TH" corrected to "May 9TH" (page 203)
"appropiate" corrected to "appropriate" (page 233)
"at at" corrected to "at" (page 257)
"commads" corrected to "commands" (page 292)
"Tallahassie" corrected to "Tallahassee" (page 292)
"Opeleka" corrected (twice) to "Opelika" (page 302)
"not" corrected to "now" (page 309)
"Congrees" corrected to "Congress" (page 316)
"Weeler" corrected to "Wheeler" (page 333)
"few few" corrected to "few" (page 337)
"Georagia" correctedt to "Georgia" (page 341)
"Octoberr" corrected to "October" (page 373)
"sufferred" corrected to "suffered" (page 402)
"sufferred" corrected to "suffered" (page 419)
"parol" corrected to "parole" (page 438)
"Peterburg" corrected to "Petersburg" (page 463)
"Lietenant" corrected to "Lieutenant" (page 477)
Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in
spelling, punctuation, and hyphenation usage have been retained.
The two footnote markers [1] (Vol. I, page 114) are intentional to
reflect the presentation in the original text.
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