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'etat 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.