cool and cloudy but
no rain and I hurd today that we had to march back to Richmond
SOURCE: Bartlett
Yancey Malone, The Diary of Bartlett Yancey Malone, p. 16
cool and cloudy but
no rain and I hurd today that we had to march back to Richmond
SOURCE: Bartlett
Yancey Malone, The Diary of Bartlett Yancey Malone, p. 16
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.
SOURCE: John
Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate
States Capital, Volume 2, p. 417-9
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 sufferred 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.
SOURCE: John
Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate
States Capital, Volume 2, p. 419-21
(Waiting at the
depot). Going as usual to the department this morning, I found orders had been
issued for our immediate removal to Richmond. Barely had I time to run home,
dash a few more articles into my trunk, say good-bye, and join the others here.
We girls are all together—Elise, Ernestine, Sadie, Bet, and myself. We have
been seated in the train for hours and hours. Oh! this long waiting; it is
weary work! A reign of terror prevails in the city, and the scene about me will
ever live in memory. Government employees are hastening to and fro, military
stores are being packed, troops in motion, aids-de-camp flying hither and
thither, and anxious fugitives crowding about the train, begging for
transportation. All kinds of rumors are afloat, every newcomer bringing a new
version. The latest is that Hardee has refused to evacuate Charleston, and will
not combine forces with Hampton in order to save the capital. I am strangely
laden; I feel weighted down. Six gold watches are secreted about my person, and
more miscellaneous articles of jewelry than would fill a small jewelry shop—pins,
rings, bracelets, etc. One of my trunks is packed with valuables and another
with provisions. Shelling has begun from the Lexington heights, and under such
conditions this waiting at the depot has a degree of nervousness mixed with
impatience. We catch, now and again, peculiar whizzing sounds—shells, they say.
Sherman has come; he is knocking at the gate. Oh, God! turn him back! Fight on
our side, and turn Sherman back!
Charlotte, N. C.—We
stopped in Winnsboro awhile, but at last came on here. That was a sad, sad
parting! Shall I ever look into their dear faces again—my father and mother,
and poor little Johnnie, wrested by the exigencies of war from his mother's
knee? People who have never been through a war don't know anything about war.
May I never pass through another. Why will men fight? Especially brothers? Why
cannot they adjust their differences and redress their wrongs without the
shedding of woman's tears and the spilling of each other's blood?
But I dare not
write, nor even think much on this strain. My old friend J. B. L. is along. He
is very kind. Think of his lifting our heavy trunks into the baggage car with
his own hands! Otherwise they would be sitting on the railroad platform in
Columbia yet. Say what you please, it is, after all, the men whom we women have
to depend on in this world. J. B. L's. friend, whom he asked permission to
present to us, is a graduate of the Medical College of New York, a young
Hippocrates of profoundly scientific attainments. Nor is that all—he is
possessed of all that ease of manner and well-bred poise for which the F. F.
V.'s are noted.
SOURCE: South
Carolina State Committee United Daughters of the Confederacy, South
Carolina Women in the Confederacy, Vol. 1, “A Confederate
Girl's Diary,” p. 275-6
Last evening we
received orders to be ready to move by sunrise this morning, and many of us
took the liberty of going into the city to bid our friends farewell—perhaps for
the last time, for none of us know the result of this terrible war.
Our destination is
Yorktown, where we will report to General Magruder, who now commands our forces
on the Peninsula. We "broke camp" after an early breakfast and left
in splendid spirits, as all of our boys were eager to see service."
Well, it was the
morning of June 4th, when we were ordered away from Chimborazo to join
Magruder's forces on the Peninsula, and we eagerly obeyed the summons.
When marching
through Church Hill I felt very sad, for I was passing my old home, and I
looked into the garden, all choked up with weeds now, thinking all the while of
the fragrant flowers I used to gather there, long ago, and of those dear ones
who used to watch them as they first began to bloom in the sunny summer time.
Memories of the by-gone crowded thick and fast upon me, and then I saw one who
had nursed me in the happy days of childhood. She rushed out into the street,
clasped me in her arms, and whilst great tears of grief trickled down her dusky
cheek, placed in my hands a huge loaf of bread, begged me to accept it, and
humbly apologized because it was all she could give.
Lives there a
Virginian whose soul does not melt into tenderness when memory backward flows
to childhood's happy days, and he remembers the ever venerated “mammy,"
whose name was perhaps the first ever articulated by his childish lips; whose
snow-white 'kerchief and kindly heart will ever be in the memories of the happy
past; whose ample lap was so often childhood's couch, when tiny feet were
wearied in roaming over the green fields, and joyously wading through the
limpid streamlets of the old homestead! And then at night-fall, when the
candles were lighted, and the elder ones gathered around the fire-place, how
gently, tenderly, that old black "mammy" raised him up in her great
strong arms, carried him through the spacious hall, and up the wide winding
stair-case; then placing him carefully in his low trundle-bed, first taught his
infant lips the hallowed words of the Lord's Prayer.
Ah! mayhap she's
dead now, but the memory of that dear old nurse still lingers, and though that
blue-eyed boy is a stern strong man, yet the green sod of her grave is oft
bedewed with tears.
After a great deal
of trouble and some pretty hard work we succeeded in getting our guns and
horses on the York River train, and finally bade adieu to Richmond.
SOURCE: William S.
White, A Diary of the War; or What I Saw of It, p. 94-5
RICHMOND, April 17,1
1861.
Well, my dearest
one, Virginia
has severed her connection with the Northern hive of abolitionists, and
takes her stand as a sovereign and independent State. By a large vote she
decided on yesterday, at about three o'clock, to resume the powers she had
granted to the Federal government, and to stand before the world clothed in the
full vestments of sovereignty. The die is thus cast, and her future is in the
hands of the god of battle. The contest into which we enter is one full of
peril, but there is a spirit abroad in Virginia which cannot be crushed until
the life of the last man is trampled out. The numbers opposed to us are
immense; but twelve thousand Grecians conquered the whole power of Xerxes at
Marathon, and our fathers, a mere handful, overcame the enormous power of Great
Britain.
The North seems to
be thoroughly united against us. The Herald and the Express both give way and
rally the hosts against us. Things have gone to that point in Philadelphia that
no one is safe in the expression of a Southern sentiment. Poor Robert is
threatened with mob violence. I wish most sincerely he was away from there. I
attempted to telegraph him to-day, but no dispatch is permitted northward, so
that no one knows there, except by secret agent, what has transpired here. At
Washington a system of martial law must have been established. The report is
that persons are not permitted to pass through the city to the South. I learn
that Mrs. Orrick and her children, on her way here to join her husband, who is
on the convention, has been arrested and detained. There is another report that
General Scott resigned yesterday and was put under arrest. I hope it may be so,
but I do not believe it. I have some fear that he will not resign. Reports are
too conflicting about it.
Two expeditions are
on foot,—the one directed against the Navy Yard at Gosport, the other Harper's
Ferry. Several ships are up the river at the Navy Yard, and immense supplies of
guns and powder; but there is no competent leader, and they have delayed it so
long that the government has now a very strong force there. The hope is that
Pickens will send two thousand men to aid in capturing it. From Harper's Ferry
nothing is heard. The city is full of all sorts of rumors. To-morrow night is
now fixed for the great procession; flags are raised all about town.
If possible I shall
visit home on Saturday. Tell Gill that I shall send or bring down the sturgeon
twine and six bushels of potatoes, which should be planted as soon as they
reach home. I wish much to see you after so long an absence, and the dear
children, since they have had the measles. Do, dearest, live as frugally as
possible in the household,—trying times are before us.
1 As the ordinance was passed on the 17th,
this date ought to be 18th.
SOURCE: Lyon
Gardiner Tyler, The Letters and Times of the Tylers, Volume 2, p.
641-2
FALL OF FORT SUMTER.
The ball has opened;
crowds of eager citizens may be seen gathered together at the corners of the
streets excitedly discussing the grand topic of the day, and that topic is war.
Yes! bloody, destructive war will soon be upon us in all its horror. Oh, God!
grant us the power and fortitude to withstand the terrible calamity now hanging
o'er us, which no power, save that of Divine interposition, can prevent.
Dispatch after
dispatch, from the far South, comes over the magnetic wires, and soon the
astounding news, "big with the fate" of a new-born people, is shouted
by a thousand tongues that
“SUMTER HAS
FALLEN."
The crowds on the
street soon become a dense mass—calm, dignified men seem instantly transformed
into wild Secessionists; there are no Unionists now; we are all determined to
stand by the South, right or wrong—too late for discussion now—with her to
conquer or die.
Some one in the
crowd cries out, "For the Governor's House." This was received with a
shout, and as “Honest John Letcher" had been excessively Union, the crowd
rushed furiously toward the Governor's mansion, and after repeated calls,
Governor Letcher made his appearance, not a little discomposed by the clamor
and confusion of this excited mob. He attempted to speak, but the maddened
populace suspected "Honest John" was still unwilling to come out
boldly for the Confederate cause, and consequently his remarks were unheard,
save by those immediately around him.
Only half appeased were
the dizzy and infatuated mass. Some other excitement was wanted, and the
"Star Spangled Banner" floated, as it were, half timidly upon the
highest point of our State Capitol, and each star seemed to weep as the Demon
of Death stretched forth his mighty wings to begin his sad flight.
"Tear down that
accursed flag," was shouted by the crowd, and immediately some half dozen,
bolder than the rest, rushed quickly into the Capitol, in which the State
Convention was then sitting, hurried up the steps, and in less time than I take
to write this the Star Spangled Banner was torn from its flag-staff, and
supplanted by Virginia's proud motto, "Sic Semper Tyrannis."
Peal after peal of
long continued applause rent the air, seeming to ascend up to the very throne
of Heaven and calling upon God to witness the stern determination of the
Southern people. The few Unionists who still madly clung to the fond hope that
peace would yet be restored, threatened vengeance on the Secessionists for
tearing down the United States flag, and, in fact, it was said that
"Honest John" went so far as to order out the "Public
Guard" to disperse the crowd collected on the Capitol Square.
Well was it for the
"Guard," and also for “Honest John" that such was not the case,
for had they made their appearance, a terrible riot would have been the
inevitable consequence.
Indeed, the times
and the Richmond people remind me much of the run-mad Red Republicanism of
France, for never were a people so enthusiastically mad as now. However, any
nation to be successful, must first be baptized in the blood of its own
citizens, and now we are to have this theory brought practically into effect.
Nightfall, instead
of quieting the excitement, seemed if possible to add fresh fuel to the flame.
The crowded streets and wild shouts of the people, together with the lurid
glare of an hundred tar-barrels, torches steeped in rosin, and rockets whirling
high above the houses, presented a spectacle rarely witnessed by our somewhat
apathetic people of Richmond.
Already the work of
Revolution has commenced. Far away on the coast of South Carolina the smoke and
din of battle has awakened the people of Virginia, who too long have
slumbered when work should have been done, to the consciousness that the war
cloud, with all its pent up fury, is now bursting upon them. The question now
most agitating the public mind is—“What will be the action of
the Virginia Convention, now sitting in the State-House, and elected
as it was by such an overwhelming Union majority?"
They cannot
withstand this outside pressure brought to bear upon them, and must either
remove to some other point in the State or pass the Ordinance of Secession at
an early date, and then leave it to the people whether or not we will cast our
lot with our sister Southern States. My mind is fully made up to join the
Southern army no matter whether Virginia secedes or not, though from
the time I can remember I have bitterly opposed the doctrine of secession.
SOURCE: William S.
White, A Diary of the War; or
What I Saw of It, p. 89-91
“THE PAWNEE WAR.”
For a day or so
since there has been a report current that the United States steamer
"Pawnee" was certainly on its way to Richmond, and we were ordered to
hold ourselves in readiness to leave at a moment's notice. We have not yet been
"mustered into service," and of course we spend our nights and spare
moments at home, consequently there must be some preconcerted signal to call us
together if we should be immediately wanted. That signal was the tolling of the
public bell—three strokes, silence, then three strokes again. Last night I was
"on guard," and this morning 'twas nearly midday before I arose.
Having dressed myself I sauntered leisurely up Main street toward the Spotswood
Hotel, where our battery was stationed, thinking sombrely of the great struggle
before us, when hark! a bell tolls—once, twice, three times—silence; again it
tolls. "Fall in, Howitzers!" The first command of the war!
With a shout the
soldiers rush to their rendezvous and soon we are on our way to Wilton—a high bluff
commanding the approach to Richmond, and some eight miles below. Of all the
amusing spectacles this "Pawnee War" was the most amusing I ever
beheld. It was a matter of utter impossibility for such a vessel as the
"Pawnee" to come up the river any where near Richmond, yet no one
thought of that—young and old, rich and poor, bond and free turned out en masse
to drive back or sink with double-barrel shot guns, and long-let-off-from-duty
horse-pistols, this formidable Northern War steamer. ’Tis said that one of our
heaviest citizens paid Walsh, the gunsmith, five dollars in good and
lawful Virginia currency to show him how to load his pistol. Walsh
must have taken it for granted that somebody was going to be hurt.
The Richmond
Howitzers, a battery of six guns; the Fayette Artillery, six guns; the Richmond
Grays; Company "F," and a host of amateur warriors took position on
the Wilton Bluffs and calmly awaited the war ship's approach, but no Pawnee
came, and quietly we gathered our blankets around us, and, for the first time,
"slept the warrior's sleep."
The "pale moon
rose up slowly”—rose on a country just commencing a fratricidal war, and the
twinkling stars seemed holding a "council of grief," as from their
starry home they beheld sleeping men who would awake to a soldier's life.
SOURCE: William S.
White, A Diary of the War; or
What I Saw of It, p. 92-3
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 today 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.
SOURCE: John
Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate
States Capital, Volume 2, p. 384-5
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!
SOURCE: John
Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate
States Capital, Volume 2, p. 387
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.
SOURCE: John
Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate
States Capital, Volume 2, p. 359-60
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.
SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p. 337-8
I have not written to you for several days because I knew a letter could not go South from here. In the recent raids by the Yankees they cut both the Weldon and Danville railroads. I do not know that the way is open yet, but I will write anyway.
We remained at Petersburg just two weeks and then came back here last Saturday night to relieve two brigades of Heath's Division which were here on picket duty. We had a very pleasant time while in Petersburg. I succeeded in getting plenty of vegetables to eat. The Yankees are shelling the city, but the shells do very little harm and have killed but few. The people are not at all frightened by them. I would often see young ladies sitting on their porches reading quietly while shells were occasionally bursting near by.
As soon as communication is established between Weldon and Petersburg I hope we can get our box from home. I suppose Edwin is still about Petersburg, improving the entrenchments. It now looks as if our army will have to lie in line of battle all summer to keep the Yankees back. Poor devils! How they do long for Richmond! Our minds are prepared to endure anything rather than submit to them, and the nearer they get to us the more determined we are not to yield. In the interior where there is no danger nearly everybody is whipped, and they should be ashamed of themselves.
I am of course anxious to see you, but it is impossible for me to get off now. In fact, nothing could tempt me at this time to abandon the army. However, I hope it will not be long before we can be together, and remain so.
The weather for the last few days has been intensely hot. It is very dry, and I hope we shall soon have some rain. My health is excellent. We get plenty of blackberries, and all we need is plenty of sugar to go with them.
I expect we shall soon go back to Petersburg, but I am informed that Kershaw's Brigade and several thousand cavalry have left for the Valley. This indicates that the seat of war may soon be around Washington instead of Richmond. I hope we will not be sent to the Valley again, for I detest those tedious marches. However, I am willing to do anything to whip out the Yankees.
Matters are comparatively quiet at present, although we hear more or less cannonading somewhere every day. At this moment I hear the booming of cannon away down on the James River. We are so quiet now that we have nothing to think about but home and our loved ones.
Word was sent from the headquarters of Wilcox's Brigade to McGowan's that a negro was captured at Petersburg the day Grant's mine was sprung (July 30), who claims to belong to a medical officer of McGowan's Brigade. On the provost marshal's register is the name of "William Wilson of New York.” He always claimed that to be his name. I believe it may be my servant, Wilson. If so, the remarkable part of it is that he was captured charging on our breastworks. If I get him, I shall regard him as something of a curiosity in the future.
I received more pay on the 5th, and will send you one or two hundred dollars. I sent Bob the ten dollars for your catskin shoes. I bought an excellent pair of pants from the quartermaster for $12.50. They are made of merino wool. We shall soon have some fine gray cloth issued to the brigade for officers' uniforms. There will not be enough for all, so we will draw lots for it. If I am lucky enough to get any, I will send it to you.
I am very anxious to get a long letter from you giving me all the news. When I can hear from you regularly and know that you are safe and well, I feel satisfied.
Last Thursday afternoon we received orders to be in readiness to move to the north side of the James River, and at about nine o'clock that night we started. We traveled until about two hours before day, and were nearly to Drury's Bluff when we were ordered back because the Yankees were making a demonstration on our right. That afternoon (Friday) our brigade and Lane's North Carolina had a considerable fight on the right. We drove them nearly two miles to their breastworks. It was a nice victory for us and our loss was small. The Fifteenth Regiment lost eight killed on the field and had about twenty wounded. I have never before known so large a proportion to be killed. Spencer Caldwell was killed. Colonel Bookter of the Twelfth Regiment and three officers of the Thirteenth were killed—none that you know. Billie was in it, but was not hurt. His company had one killed and but one wounded. Lang Ruff's boys were both in it, but were not hurt. I saw them all this morning and everybody was in fine spirits.
Our cavalry had a fight yesterday afternoon on the extreme right, and it is reported that General Dunnovant was killed. We are expecting the Yankees to attack us again. Grant is evidently doing his best for Lincoln's election. He must have been heavily reinforced. I hope to hear good news from Forrest. If Sherman is forced away from Atlanta and we can hold Richmond this winter, I believe we shall have peace.
We need ten or fifteen thousand more men here, and we could easily get them if the able-bodied exempts would come on here, but they seem to have become hardened to their disgrace. If the South is ever overcome, the contemptible shirkers will be responsible for it. They should have seen our poor fellows Thursday night coming in wounded and bleeding and shivering with cold; but these very men who suffer and have often suffered in this way are the last ones to say surrender.
I received your letter on Thursday, but have not been able to answer it until now. The weather is beautiful this afternoon, but it has been wet and was very disagreeable the day we had the fight.
I have not received a letter from you for several days, as there seems to be something wrong with the mails again.
Grant has come to a dead halt before Petersburg and Richmond. It is believed that the next fight will take place across on the north side of the James River. The Richmond papers state that there is encouraging news from Georgia, but they will not tell us what it is, because they say they do not want Grant to find out about it. Hood may have Sherman in a tight place.
About twelve thousand men from Richmond have been sent into the trenches at the front. Many of them were in the Government service and many others were gentlemen of leisure. The authorities sent everybody. The police would capture men in all parts of the city and send them under guard to some point to be organized and put under the command of officers who happened to be in Richmond from the army. A man told me these officers were seized in the same way on the streets, and that the authorities would even send out and capture a colonel and put him in command of the whole battalion. A medical officer would sometimes be seized. He would plead that he was due at his command and that he was a noncombatant, but they would tell him he was the very man they needed to attend to the wounded. It delights soldiers to hear of these things. It does them good all over. The soldiers are accustomed to these sudden dashes at the front, but the miserable skulkers almost die of fright.
We are building chimneys and fixing up things in our camp as if we are to remain here. If I were sure of it, I would have you come out and stay with me awhile. It is useless for me to try to get off now while we are so tightly pressed I saw Billie this morning. I carried a haversack full of biscuits and ham to him. I will have ham, light bread and coffee for breakfast in the morning. I have been living well this year.
We have a new chaplain in our brigade named Dixon. I heard him preach yesterday, and he does very well. If Congress would pass a conscript law bringing the preachers into the army we could have chaplains. They have acted worse in this war than any other class of men.
We are having rain to-night and I am very glad to see it, for the weather was dry and the roads were dusty.
I suppose you have heard how we whipped the Yankees on both this side and the north side of the James River. The killed and wounded fell into our hands here at Petersburg, and we have been attending to their wounded all day to-day. Our loss was very small. Wilcox's Division was occupying a part of our line that was not assaulted, and therefore it was not engaged. We now have strong hopes of being able to hold Petersburg and Richmond.
This war can never end until the fanatics, both North and South, are gotten rid of. They are influenced solely by their blind, senseless passions, and reason never enters their heads. It is always such discontented, worthless wretches who bring about revolutions. The North is still infested with such characters, and the South is not far behind. If we could get those hot-headed fools in South Carolina who composed that meeting at Columbia recently and put them in the army and get them all killed off, it would be much better for us. What a pity we cannot have them killed, but they cannot be made to fight. I do not believe that Boyce will fight a duel with such a man as Tradewell, for he must have more sense than to do that.
My box is not here yet. I will continue to keep on the lookout for it until it arrives. My dinner will soon be ready and I think it will be fine, for I shall have white cabbage, bacon, potatoes and biscuit.
As soon as I can I will send you one hundred and fifty dollars to pay your expenses in coming out. The Government owes me about five hundred dollars, which I hope to be able soon to collect. If you can come by the first of December you can remain at least three months, and I may be able to go back with you in March.
We are still quiet. Nothing is going on except the continual fighting of the skirmishers, which amount to little more than a waste of powder and lead, although a man gets killed or wounded occasionally. The Yankees are keeping very quiet since the thrashing they received recently at this place and in front of Richmond. They will be apt to keep quiet now for some time-possibly for the remainder of the winter.
We are having rain. It fell all night and continues to-day. Billie's big coat came just in time for this cold spell of weather. He is as fat as a bear. The health of our troops is excellent and the spirit of the army is as fine as can be.
We shall know in a few days who is elected President of the United States. In my opinion Old Abraham will come in again, and I believe it would be best for us. McClellan might have the Union restored, if elected. I should prefer to remain at war for the rest of my life rather than to have any connection with the Yankees again.
You ask me to see Captain Pifer. I will do so if I happen to be near where he is again. He is now on the other (north) side of the James River with General Lee.
A man by the name of Simeon Werts is going home to-day on sick furlough for thirty days, and I shall send this letter to you by him. I shall also send my father some smoking tobacco, which we have been drawing monthly as part of our rations, and I shall send Dr. Clark some rolls of blistering ointment which we captured from the Yankees at Chancellorsville. I have more of it than I could use in two years. He has been very kind to you and I wish I had something more I could send him.
Our box of provisions from home still holds out, and if you will hurry up and come on, we may have some of it left when you arrive. I have just finished my breakfast, which consisted of hash, potatoes, biscuit, molasses and coffee. I do not mind the war as long as I can have plenty to eat and comfortable quarters. Your brother is very anxious for you to come out, and I believe you will enjoy it here this winter. It is most unfortunate that we have been able to see so little of each other during the four years of our married life.
The mails seem to be greatly deranged again, for I have not heard one word from you in two weeks. These clerks in the post-offices are the contemptible imps of cowardice who seek all the soft and safe places. They should be placed in the ranks and made to fight, and their places given to the young ladies who are refugees from within the enemy's lines and who would be glad to secure such employment.
Everything is quiet here now—only an occasional gun. Kershaw's Division has come back from the Valley and is now on the north side of the James River. The Yankees have not shelled Petersburg for several weeks, and it is beginning to have quite an air of business.
Grant agreed to cease shelling the city if General Lee would agree to keep all government property out of it. I do not believe Grant will make a serious attempt soon again to take Richmond or Petersburg.
A man is going home to-day on sick furlough, and I shall send this letter by him to be mailed to you from Columbia. I am glad you have decided positively to come on to Virginia. I will have everything ready for you when you arrive and will try to make you as comfortable as possible while you remain.
RICHMOND, VA., April
23, 1850.
MY DEAREST LYDIA—We
reached here last evening at half past four. The reception was one of the most
imposing ceremonies I ever saw, and a vast concourse of people were assembled.
We leave here at nine o'clock. This country looks about as I supposed—much that
is very beautiful, and much worn and sterile. I was especially struck with the
great number of beautiful residences here. I never saw so many fine ones
together in my life. The military companies, too, were rather the finest I ever
saw. Here are the "first families of Virginia," and there are many
old men who preserve all the peculiar manners of the days of Washington. Love
to all.