Depart for Montgomery.--Interview with President Davis.--My position in
the Government.--Government removed to Richmond.--My family.
MAY 1ST.--Troops are coming in from all directions, cavalry and
infantry; but I learn that none scarcely are accepted by the State. This
is great political economy, with a vengeance! How is Gov. Letcher to be
ready to fight in a few days? Oh, perhaps he thinks the army will
spontaneously spring into existence, march without transportation, and
fight without rations or pay! But the Convention has passed an act
authorizing the enlistment of a regular army of 12,000 men. If I am not
mistaken, Virginia will have to put in the field ten times that number,
and the confederacy will have to maintain 500,000 in Virginia, or lose
the border States. And if the border States be subjugated, Mr. Seward
probably would grant a respite to the rest _for a season_.
But by the terms of the (Tyler and Stephens) treaty, the Confederate
States will reimburse Virginia for all her expenses; and therefore I see
no good reason why this State, of all others, being the most exposed,
should not muster into service every well-armed company that presents
itself. There are arms enough for 25,000 men now, and that number, if it
be too late to take Washington, might at all events hold this side of
the Potomac, and keep the Yankees off the soil of Virginia.
MAY 2D.--There are vague rumors of lawless outrages committed on
Southern men in Philadelphia and New York; but they are not well
authenticated, and I do not believe them. The Yankees are not yet ready
for retaliation. They know that game wouldn't pay. No--they desire time
to get their money out of the South; and they would be perfectly willing
that trade should go on, even during the war, for they would be the
greatest gainers by the information derived from spies and emissaries. I
see, too, their papers have extravagant accounts of imprisonments and
summary executions here. Not a man has yet been molested. It is true, we
have taken Norfolk, without a battle; but the enemy did all the burning
and sinking.
MAY 3D.--No letters from my wife. Probably she has taken the children to
the Eastern Shore. Her farm is there, and she has many friends in the
county. On that narrow peninsula it is hardly to be supposed the Yankees
will send any troops. With the broad Atlantic on one side and the
Chesapeake Bay on the other, it is to be presumed there will be no
military demonstration by the inhabitants, for they could neither escape
nor receive reinforcements from the mainland. In the war of the first
Revolution, and the subsequent one with Great Britain, this peninsula
escaped the ravages of the enemy, although the people were as loyal to
the government of the United States as any; but the Yankees are more
enterprising than the British, and may have an eye to "truck farms" in
that fruitful region.
MAY 4TH.--Met Wm. H. B. Custis, Esq., to-day in the square, and had a
long conversation with him. He has made up his mind to sign the
ordinance. He thinks secession might have been averted with honor, if
our politicians at Washington had not been ambitious to figure as
leaders in a new revolution. Custis was always a Democrat, and supported
Douglas on the ground that he was the regular nominee. He said his negro
property a month before was worth, perhaps, fifty thousand dollars; now
his slaves would not bring probably more than five thousand; and that
would be the fate of many slaveowners in Virginia.
MAY 5TH.--President Tyler has placed in my hands a memorial to President
Davis, signed by himself and many of the members of the Convention,
asking appropriate civil employment for me in the new government. I
shall be content to obtain the necessary position to make a full and
authentic Diary of the transactions of the government. I could not hope
for any commission as a civil officer, since the leaders who have
secured possession of the government know very well that, as editor, I
never advocated the pretensions of any of them for the Presidency of the
United States. Some of them I fear are unfit for the positions they
occupy. But the cause in which we are embarked will require, to be
successful, the efforts of every man. Those capable of performing
military duty, must perform it; and those physically incapable of
wielding the bayonet and the sword, must wield the pen. It is no time to
stand on ceremony or antecedents. The post of duty is the post of honor.
In the mighty winnowing we must go through, the wheat will be separated
from the chaff. And many a true man who this day stands forth as a
private, will end as a general. And the efficient subordinate in the
departments may be likewise exalted if he deserves it, provided the
people have rule in the new confederacy. If we are to have a monarchy
for the sake of economy and stability, I shall submit to it in
preference to the domination of the Northern radicals.
MAY 6TH.--To-day a Yankee was caught in the street questioning some
negroes as to which side they would fight on, slavery or freedom. He was
merely rebuked and ordered out of the country. Another instance of
Southern magnanimity! It will only embolden the insidious enemy.
MAY 7TH.--Col. R. E. Lee, lately of the United States army, has been
appointed major-general, and commander-in-chief of the army in Virginia.
He is the son of "Light Horse Harry" of the Revolution. The North can
boast no such historic names as we, in its army. Gov. Wise is sick at
home, in Princess Ann County, but has sent me a strong letter to
President Davis. I fear the governor will not survive many months.
MAY 8TH.--The Convention has appointed five members of Congress to go to
Montgomery: Messrs. Hunter, Rives, Brockenborough, Staples, and ----. I
have not yet seen Mr. Hunter; he has made no speeches, but no doubt he
has done all in his power to secure the passage of the ordinance, in his
quiet but effective way. To-day President Tyler remarked that the
politicians in the Convention had appointed a majority of the members
from the old opposition party. The President would certainly have been
appointed, if it had not been understood he did not desire it.
Debilitated from a protracted participation in the exciting scenes of
the Convention, he could not bear the fatigue of so long a journey at
this season of the year.
MAY 9TH.--The _Examiner_ still fires shot and shell at Gov. Letcher and
the dominant majority in the Convention, on account of recent
appointments. It is furious over the selection of Mr. Baldwin, recently
a leading Union man, for inspector-general; and seems to apprehend bad
results from thrusting Union men forward in the coming struggle. The
_Enquirer_ is moderate, and kind to Gov. Letcher, whose nomination and
subsequent course were so long the theme of bitter denunciation. It is
politic. The _Whig_ now goes into the secession movement with all its
might. Mr. Mosely has resumed the helm; and he was, I believe, a
secessionist many years ago. The _Dispatch_, not long since neutral and
conservative, throws all its powers, with its large circulation, into
the cause. So we have perfect unanimity in the press. _Per contra_, the
New York _Herald_ has turned about and leap-frogged over the head of the
_Tribune_ into the front ranks of the Republicans. No doubt, when we win
the day, the _Herald_ will leap back again.
MAY 10TH.--The ladies are postponing all engagements until their lovers
have fought the Yankees. Their influence is great. Day after day they go
in crowds to the Fair ground where the 1st S. C. Vols. are encamped,
showering upon them their smiles, and all the delicacies the city
affords. They wine them and cake them--and they deserve it. They are
just from taking Fort Sumter, and have won historic distinction. I was
introduced to several of the privates by their captain, who told me they
were worth from $100,000 to half a million dollars each. The _Tribune_
thought all these men would want to be captains! But that is not the
only hallucination the North labors under, judging from present
appearances; by closing our ports it is thought we can be subdued by the
want of accustomed luxuries. These rich young men were dressed in coarse
gray homespun! We have the best horsemen and the best marksmen in the
world, and these are the qualities that will tell before the end of the
war. We fight for existence--the enemy for Union and the freedom of the
slave. Well, let the Yankees see if this "new thing" will pay.
MAY 11TH.--Robert Tyler has arrived, after wonderful risks and
difficulties. When I left Mr. Tyler in the North, the people were
talking about electing him their representative in Congress. They
tempted him every way, by threats and by promises, to make them a speech
under the folds of the "star spangled banner" erected near his house.
But in vain. No doubt they would have elected him to Congress, and
perhaps have made him a general, if he had fallen down and worshiped
their Republican idol, and fought against his father.
MAY 12TH.--To-day I set out for Montgomery. The weather was bright and
pleasant. It is Sunday. In the cars are many passengers going to tender
their services, and all imbued with the same inflexible purpose. The
corn in the fields of Virginia is just becoming visible; and the trees
are beginning to disclose their foliage.
MAY 13TH.--We traveled all night, and reached Wilmington, N. C., early
in the morning. There I saw a Northern steamer which had been seized in
retaliation for some of the seizures of the New Yorkers. And there was a
considerable amount of ordnance and shot and shell on the bank of the
river. The people everywhere on the road are for irremediable, eternal
separation. Never were men more unanimous. And North Carolina has passed
the ordinance, I understand, without a dissenting voice. Better still,
it is not to be left to a useless vote of the people. The work is
finished, and the State is out of the Union without contingency or
qualification. I saw one man, though, at Goldsborough, who looked very
much like a Yankee, and his enthusiasm seemed more simulated than real;
and some of his words were equivocal. His name was Dibble.
To-day I saw rice and cotton growing, the latter only an inch or so
high. The pine woods in some places have a desolate appearance; and
whole forests are dead. I thought it was caused by the scarifications
for turpentine; but was told by an intelligent traveler that the
devastation was produced by an insect or worm that cut the inner bark.
The first part of South Carolina we touched was not inviting. Swamps,
with cane, and cypress knees, and occasionally a plunging aligator met
the vision. Here, I thought the Yankees, if they should carry the war
into the far south, would fare worse than Napoleon's army of invasion in
Russia.
But railroads seldom run through the fairest and richest portions of the
country. They must take the route where there is the least grading. We
soon emerged, however, from the marshy district, and then beheld the
vast cotton-fields, now mostly planted in corn. A good idea. And the
grain crops look well. The corn, in one day, seems to have grown ten
inches.
In the afternoon we were whisked into Georgia, and the face of the
country, as well as the color of the soil, reminded me of some parts of
France between Dieppe and Rouen. No doubt the grape could be profitably
cultivated here. The corn seems to have grown a _foot_ since morning.
MAY 14TH.--The weather is very warm. Day before yesterday the wheat was
only six or eight inches high. To-day it is two or three feet in height,
headed, and almost ripe for the scythe.
At every station [where I can write a little] we see crowds of men, and
women, and boys; and during our pauses some of the passengers, often
clergymen, and not unfrequently Northern born, address them in
soul-stirring strains of patriotic eloquence. If Uncle Abe don't find
subjugation of this country, and of such a people as this, is truly a
"big job" on his hands, I am much mistaken.
Passed the Stone Mountain at 11 o'clock A.M. It appears at a distance
like a vast artificial formation, resembling the pictures of the
pyramids.
Arrived at Montgomery 10 o'clock P.M., and put up at the Montgomery
House. The mosquitoes bled me all night. Mosquitoes in the middle of
May! And as they never cease to bite till killed by the frost, the pest
here is perennial.
MAY 15TH.--From my window at the top of the house, I see corn in silk
and tassel. Three days ago the corn I saw was not three inches high. And
blackberries are in season. Strawberries and peas are gone.
This city is mostly situated in a bottom on the Alabama River.
Being fatigued I did not visit the departments to-day, but employed
myself in securing lodgings at a boarding-house. Here I met, the first
time, with my friend Dr. W. T. Sawyer, of Hollow Square, Alabama. A
skillful surgeon and Christian gentleman, his mission on earth seems to
be one of pure beneficence. He had known me before we met, it appears;
and I must say he did me many kind offices.
In the afternoon I walked to the capitol, a fine structure with massive
columns, on a beautiful elevation, where I delivered several letters to
the Virginia delegation in Congress. They were exceedingly kind to me,
and proffered their services very freely.
MAY 16TH.--Met John Tyler, Jr., to-day, who, with his native cordiality,
proffered his services with zeal and earnestness. He introduced me at
once to Hon. L. P. Walker, Secretary of War, and insisted upon
presenting me to the President the next day. Major Tyler had recently
been commissioned in the army, but is now detailed to assist the
Secretary of War in his correspondence. The major is favorably known in
the South as the author of several Southern essays of much power that
have been published in a Review, signed "Python."
The principal hotel is the Exchange, as in Richmond; the entrance to the
bar, reading-room, etc. is by a flight of stairs from the street to the
second story, with stores underneath. Here there is an incessant influx
of strangers coming from all directions on business with the new
government. But the prevalent belief is that the government itself will
soon travel to Richmond. The buildings here will be insufficient in
magnitude for the transaction of the rapidly increasing business.
MAY 17TH.--Was introduced to the President to-day. He was overwhelmed
with papers, and retained a number in his left hand, probably of more
importance than the rest. He received me with urbanity, and while he
read the papers I had given him, as I had never seen him before, I
endeavored to scrutinize his features, as one would naturally do, for
the purpose of forming a vague estimate of the character and
capabilities of the man destined to perform the leading part in a
revolution which must occupy a large space in the world's history. His
stature is tall, nearly six feet; his frame is very slight and seemingly
frail; but when he throws back his shoulders he is as straight as an
Indian chief. The features of his face are distinctly marked with
character; and no one gazing at his profile would doubt for a moment
that he beheld more than an ordinary man. His face is handsome, and his
thin lip often basks a pleasant smile. There is nothing sinister or
repulsive in his manners or appearance; and if there are no special
indications of great grasp of intellectual power on his forehead and on
his sharply defined nose and chin, neither is there any evidence of
weakness, or that he could be easily moved from any settled purpose. I
think he has a clear perception of matters demanding his cognizance, and
a nice discrimination of details. As a politician he attaches the utmost
importance to _consistency_--and here I differ with him. I think that to
be consistent as a politician, is to change with the circumstances of
the case. When Calhoun and Webster first met in Congress, the first
advocated a protective tariff and the last opposed it. This was told me
by Mr. Webster himself, in 1842, when he was Secretary of State; and it
was confirmed by Mr. Calhoun in 1844, then Secretary of State himself.
Statesmen are the physicians of the public weal; and what doctor
hesitates to vary his remedies with the new phases of disease?
When the President had completed the reading of my papers, and during
the perusal I observed him make several emphatic nods, he asked me what
I wanted. I told him I wanted employment with my pen, perhaps only
temporary employment. I thought the correspondence of the Secretary of
War would increase in volume, and another assistant besides Major Tyler
would be required in his office. He smiled and shook his head, saying
that such work would be only temporary indeed; which I construed to mean
that even _he_ did not then suppose the war was to assume colossal
proportions.
MAY 18TH.--To-day I had another interview with the President. He advised
me to see the Secretary of the Treasury without delay; but the Treasury
would not answer so well for my Diary.
MAY 19TH.--The Secretary of War sent for me this morning, and said he
required more assistance in his correspondence, then increasing daily;
but the act of Congress limiting salaries would prevent him from
offering me an adequate compensation. He could only name some ten or
twelve hundred dollars. I told him my great desire was employment, and
facilities to preserve interesting facts for future publication. I was
installed at once, with Major Tyler, in the Secretary's own office. It
was my duty to open and read the letters, noting briefly their contents
on the back. The Secretary would then indicate in pencil marks the
answers to be written, which the major and I prepared. These were signed
by the Secretary, copied in another room, and mailed. I was happy in the
discharge of these duties, and worked assiduously day and night.
MAY 20TH.--Mr. Walker, the Secretary of War, is some forty-seven or
eight years of age, tall, thin, and a little bent; not by age, but by
study and bad health. He was a successful lawyer, and having never been
in governmental employment, is fast working himself down. He has not yet
learned how to avoid unnecessary labor; being a man of the finest
sensibilities, and exacting with the utmost nicety all due deference to
the dignity of his official position. He stands somewhat on ceremony
with his brother officials, and accords and exacts the etiquette natural
to a sensitive gentleman who has never been broken on the wheel of
office. I predict for him a short career. The only hope for his
continuance in office is unconditional submission to the President, who,
being once Secretary of War of the United States, is familiar with all
the wheels of the department. But soon, if I err not, the President will
be too much absorbed in the fluctuations of momentous campaigns, to give
much of his attention to any one of the departments. Nevertheless Mr.
Walker, if he be an apt scholar, may learn much before that day; and
Congress may simplify his duties by enacting a uniform mode of filling
the offices in the field. The applications now give the greatest
trouble; and the disappointed class give rise to many vexations.
MAY 21ST.--Being in the same room with the Secretary, and seen by all
his visitors, I am necessarily making many new acquaintances; and quite
a number recognize me by my books which they have read. Among this class
is Mr. Benjamin, the Minister of Justice, who, to-day, informed me that
he and Senator Bayard had been interested, at Washington, in my "Story
of Disunion." Mr. Benjamin is of course a Jew, of French lineage, born I
believe in Louisiana, a lawyer and politician. His age may be sixty, and
yet one might suppose him to be less than forty. His hair and eyes are
black, his forehead capacious, his face round and as intellectual as one
of that shape can be; and Mr. B. is certainly a man of intellect,
education, and extensive reading, combined with natural abilities of a
tolerably high order. Upon his lip there seems to bask an eternal smile;
but if it be studied, it is not a smile--yet it bears no unpleasing
aspect.
MAY 22D.--To-day I had, in our office, a specimen of Mr. Memminger's
oratory. He was pleading for an installment of the claims of South
Carolina on the Confederacy; and Mr. Walker, always hesitating, argued
the other side, merely for delay. Both are fine speakers, with most
distinct enunciation and musical voices. The demand was audited and
paid, amounting, I believe, to several hundred thousand dollars.
And I heard and saw Mr. Toombs to-day, the Secretary of State. He is a
portly gentleman, but with the pale face of the student and the marks of
a deep thinker. To gaze at him in repose, the casual spectator would
suppose, from his neglect of dress, that he was a planter in moderate
circumstances, and of course not gifted with extraordinary powers of
intellect; but let him open his mouth, and the delusion vanishes. At the
time alluded to he was surrounded by the rest of the cabinet, in our
office, and the topic was the policy of the war. He was for taking the
initiative, and carrying the war into the enemy's country. And as he
warmed with the subject, the _man_ seemed to vanish, and the _genius_
alone was visible. He was most emphatic in the advocacy of his policy,
and bold almost to rashness in his denunciations of the merely defensive
idea. He was opposed to all delays, as fraught with danger; the enemy
were in the field, and their purposes were pronounced. Why wait to see
what they meant to do? If we did that, they would not only invade us,
but get a permanent foothold on our soil. We must invade or be invaded;
and he was for making the war as terrible as possible from the
beginning. It was to be no child's play; and nothing could be gained by
reliance upon the blunders and forbearance of the Yankees. News had been
received of the occupation of Alexandria and Arlington Heights, in
Virginia; and if we permitted them to build fortifications there, we
should not be able to expel them. He denounced with bitterness the
neglect of the authorities in Virginia. The enemy should not have been
permitted to cross the Potomac. During the month which had elapsed since
the passage of the ordinance in Virginia, nothing had been done, nothing
attempted. It was true, the vote on ratification had not been taken; and
although that fact might shield the provisional government from
responsibility, yet the delay to act was fraught with danger and perhaps
irreparable injury. Virginia alone could have raised and thrown across
the Potomac 25,000 men, and driven the Yankees beyond the Susquehanna.
But she, to avoid responsibility, had been telegraphing Davis to come to
the rescue; and if he (Toombs) had been in Davis's place, he would have
taken the responsibility.
The Secretary of War well knew how to parry these thrusts; he was not
responsible. He was as ultra a man as any; and all he could do was to
organize and arm the troops authorized by Congress. Some thirty odd
thousand were mustered in already; and at least five thousand volunteers
were offering daily. Mr. Toombs said five hundred thousand volunteers
ought to be accepted and for the war. We wanted no six or twelve months'
men. To this the Secretary replied that the Executive could not
transcend the limits prescribed by Congress.
These little discussions were of frequent occurrence; and it soon became
apparent that the Secretary of War was destined to be the most important
man among the cabinet ministers. His position afforded the best prospect
of future distinction--always provided he should be equal to the
position, and his administration attended with success. I felt convinced
that Toombs would not be long chafing in the cabinet, but that he would
seize the first opportunity to repair to the field.
MAY 23D.--To-day the President took the cars for Pensacola, where it had
been said everything was in readiness for an assault on Fort Pickens.
Military men said it could be taken, and Toombs, I think, said it ought
to be taken. It would cost, perhaps, a thousand lives; but is it not the
business of war to consume human life? Napoleon counted men as so much
powder to be consumed; and he consumed millions in his career of
conquest. But still he conquered, which he could not have done without
the consumption of life. And is it not better to consume life rapidly,
and attain results quickly, than to await events, when all history shows
that a protracted war, of immobile armies, always engulfs more men in
the grave from camp fevers than usually fall in battle during the most
active operations in the field?
To-day I saw Col. Bartow, who has the bearing and eye of a gallant
officer. He was attended by a young man named Lamar, of fine open
countenance, whom he desired to have as his aid; but the regulations
forbid any one acting in that capacity who was not a lieutenant; and
Lamar not being old enough to have a commission, he said he would attend
the colonel as a volunteer aid till he attained the prescribed age. I
saw Ben McCulloch, also--an unassuming but elastic and brave man. He
will make his mark. Also Capt. McIntosh, who goes to the West. I think I
saw him in 1846, in Paris, at the table of Mr. King, our Minister; but
I had no opportunity to ask him. He is all enthusiasm, and will rise
with honor or fall with glory. And here I beheld for the first time Wade
Hampton, resolved to abandon all the comforts of his great wealth, and
encounter the privations of the tented field in behalf of his menaced
country.
Arkansas and Tennessee, as I predicted, have followed the example of
Virginia and North Carolina; and I see evidence daily in the mass of
correspondence, that Missouri and Kentucky will follow in good time.
MAY 24TH.--Congress passed, in secret session, a resolution to remove
the seat of government to Richmond; but I learn it has been vetoed by
the President. There is a strong feeling against going thither among
some of the secessionists in the Cotton States. Those who do not think
there will be a great deal of fighting, have apprehensions that the
border States, so tardy in the secession movement, will strive to
monopolize the best positions and patronage of the new government.
Indeed, if it were quite certain that there is to be no war for
existence--as if a nation could be free without itself striking the blow
for freedom--I think there would be a party--among the politicians, not
the people--opposed to confederating with the border slave States.
Some of his fellow-members tell many jokes on Mr. Hunter. They say every
time he passes the marble-yards going up to the capitol, and surveys the
tomb-stones, he groans in agony, and predicts that he will get sick and
die here. If this be true, I predict that he will get the seat of
government moved to Richmond, a more congenial climate. He has a way of
moving large bodies, which has rarely failed him; and some of his
friends at the hotels, already begin to hint that he is the proper man
to be the first President of the _permanent_ government. I think he will
be President some day. He would be a safe one. But this whisper at the
hotel has produced no little commotion. Some propose making him
Secretary of War, as a sure means of killing him off. I know a better
way than that, but I wouldn't suggest it for the world. I like him very
much.
To-day the Secretary placed in my hands for examination and report, a
very long document, written by a deposed or resigned Roman priest. He
urged a plan to avert the horrors of war. He had been to see Lincoln,
Gov. Letcher, etc., and finally obtained an interview on "important
business" with President Davis. The President, not having leisure even
to listen to his exordium, requested him to make his communication
briefly in writing. And this was _it_--about twenty pages of foolscap.
It consisted chiefly of evidences of the exceeding wickedness of war,
and suggestions that if both belligerents would _only forbear to take up
arms_, the peace might be preserved, and God would mediate between them.
Of course I could only indorse on the back "demented." But the old man
hung round the department for a week afterward, and then departed, I
know not whither. I forget his name, but his paper is in the archives of
the government. I have always differed with the preachers in politics
and war, except the Southern preachers who are now in arms against the
invader. I think war is one of the providences of God, and certainly no
book chronicles so much fighting as the Bible. It may be to the human
race what pruning is to vegetation, a necessary process for the general
benefit.
MAY 25TH.--There is to be no fight--no assault on Pickens. But we are
beginning to send troops forward in the right direction--to Virginia.
Virginia herself ought to have kept the invader from her soil. Was she
reluctant to break the peace? And is it nothing to have her soil
polluted by the martial tramp of the Yankees at Alexandria and Arlington
Heights? But the wrath of the Southern chivalry will some day burst
forth on the ensanguined plain, and then let the presumptuous foemen of
the North beware of the fiery ordeal they have invoked. The men I see
daily keeping time to the music of revolution are fighting men, men who
will conquer or die, and who prefer death to subjugation. But the Yankee
has no such motive to fight for, no thought of serious wounds and death.
He can go back to his own country; our men have no other country to go
to.
MAY 26TH.--Was called on by the Episcopal minister to-day, Dr. Sawyer
having informed him that I was a member of the church--the doctor being
one also. He is an enthusiastic young man, and though a native of the
North, seems to sympathize with us very heartily. He prays for the
President of the Confederate States. The President himself attends very
regularly, and some intimate that he intends to become a candidate for
membership. I have not learned whether he has been baptized. Gen.
Cooper, the first on our list of generals in the regular army, is a
member of the church. The general was, I think, adjutant-general at
Washington. He is Northern born. Major Gorgas is likewise a native of
the North. He is Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance. The
Quartermaster-General, Major Myers, is said to be a Jew; while the
Commissary-General is almost a Jesuit, so zealous is he in the advocacy
of the Pope.
Mr. Mallory, the Secretary of the Navy, I have seen but once; but I have
heard him soundly abused for not accepting some propositions and plans
from Mobile and elsewhere, to build iron-clad steam rams to sink the
enemy's navy. Some say Mr. M. is an Irishman born. He was in the United
States Senate, and embraced secession with the rest of the
"conspirators" at Washington.
I saw the Vice-President to-day. I first saw Mr. Stephens at Washington
in 1843. I was behind him as he sat in the House of Representatives, and
thought him a boy, for he was sitting beside large members. But when I
got in front of him, it was apparent he was a man--every inch a man.
There is some excitement in official circles here against Mr. Browne,
the Assistant Secretary of State, on the ground that he interfered in
behalf of a Mr. Hurlbut, a Northern man (probably arrested), a writer in
the English Reviews against slavery in the South, and a correspondent
for the New York Tribune. Mr. B. is an Englishman, who came from
Washington on the invitation of Mr. Toombs, and through his influence
was appointed Assistant Secretary of State, and the Southern gorge rises
at it. I doubt whether he will be molested.
I saw Major Tochman to-day, also a foreigner. He is authorized to enlist
a regiment or two of Polanders in New Orleans, where I am told there are
none.
And there are several Northern men here wanting to be generals. This
does not look much like Southern homogeneity. God save us, if we are not
to save ourselves!
How hot it is! But I like hot weather better than cold, and would soon
become accustomed to this climate. This morning Mr. Hunter really seemed
distressed; but he has four inches on his ribs, and I not the eighth of
an inch.
Since writing the foregoing, I have seen Mr. Hunter again, and although
there is no diminution of heat, he is quite cheerful: Congress has again
passed the resolution to remove the seat of government to Richmond, and
it is said the President will not veto it this time. The President
himself came into our office to-day and sat some time conversing with
Secretary Walker. He did not appear vexed at the determination of
Congress, which he must have been apprised of.
MAY 26TH.--The President is sick to-day--having a chill, I believe.
Adjutant-General Cooper was in, comparing notes with the Secretary as to
the number of regiments in the field. The Secretary has a most
astonishing memory, and could easily number the forces without referring
to his notes. The amount is not large, it is true; but, from the
eagerness to volunteer, I believe if we had the arms there might soon be
organized an army of three or four hundred thousand men. And yet it
would seem that no one dreams of armies of such magnitude. Wait till we
sleep a little longer! A great many separate companies are accepted; all
indeed that offer for three years or the war, provided they have
arms--even double-barreled shot-guns and hunting rifles. What a deal of
annoyance and labor it will be to organize these into battalions,
regiments, brigades, and divisions! And then comes the appointment of
staff and field officers. This will be labor for the President. But he
works incessantly, sick or well.
We have an agent in Europe purchasing arms. This was well thought on.
And Capt. Huse is thought to be a good selection. It will be impossible
for Lincoln to keep all our ports hermetically sealed. Hitherto
improvident, it is to be hoped the South will now go to work upon her
own resources. We have plunged into the sea of revolution, and must,
unaided, sink or swim. The Yankees say they are going to subdue us in
six months. What fools!
I tasted green corn to-day, and, although very fond of it, I touched it
lightly, because it seemed so much out of season. The country around is
beautiful, and the birds are singing as merrily as if we were about to
enter upon a perennial Sabbath-day, instead of a desolating war. But the
gunpowder will be used to destroy the destroyer, man, and why should not
the birds sing? The china-trees are beautiful, and abundant about the
dwellings.
MAY 27TH.--We leave Montgomery day after to-morrow. The President goes
to-day--but quietly--no one, not connected with the Government, to have
information of the fact until his arrival in Richmond. It is understood
that the Minister of Justice (Attorney-General) accompanies him. There
are a great number of spies and emissaries in the country--sufficient,
if it were known when the train would pass, to throw it off the track.
This precaution is taken by the friends of the President.
The day is pretty much occupied in the packing of boxes. It is
astonishing how vast a volume of papers accumulates in a short space of
time--but when we consider the number of applications for office, the
wonder ceases.
MAY 28TH.--Little or no business was done this day. The Secretary
announced that no more communications would be considered by him in
Montgomery. He placed in my charge a great many unopened letters, and a
special list of candidates for office, with annotations. These I packed
in my trunk.
As I was to precede the Secretary, and having some knowledge of the
capacity of the public buildings in Richmond, I was charged with the
duty of securing, if possible, suitable offices for the Department of
War. I made hasty preparations for departure.
Before starting, something prompted me to call once more at the
post-office, where, to my surprise and delight, I found a letter from my
wife. She was in Richmond, with all the children, _Tabby_ and the
parrot. She had left Burlington about the same time I had left Richmond.
At Havre-de-Grace, on the Susquehanna, which they crossed in the night,
my youngest daughter was compelled with difficulty to stride over the
sleeping bodies of Yankee soldiers. She writes that she deposited, very
carefully, our plate in the bank! The idea that all might have been
brought off if she had only known it, is the source of her wretchedness.
She writes that she had been materially assisted by Mr. Grubb and his
lady, prompted by personal friendship, by humanity, and by those
generous instincts of the true nobility of heart imparted by the
Creator. Mr. G. is true to the Constitution and the Government under
which he lives--and would doubtless never consent to a rupture of the
Union under any circumstances. He has a son in the army against us. And
Col. Wall, another personal friend, boldly shook hands with my family at
parting, while the Wide-Awake file leaders stood scowling by. I hope he
may not suffer for his temerity.
These things occupied my thoughts during a sleepless night in the cars.
My abode in New Jersey had been a pleasant one. I had a fine yard and
garden, and many agreeable neighbors. I loved my garden, and cultivated
my own grapes, pears, peaches, apples, raspberries, currants, and
strawberries. I had fruits and vegetables in the greatest profusion. And
the thrushes and other migratory birds had come to know me well, and
sang me to sleep at night, and awakened me with their strains in the
morning. They built their nests near the windows, for the house was
embowered in trees, and half covered with ivy. Even my cats, for every
living thing was a pet to some one of the family,--when I think of them
now, wandering about unprotected, give rise to painful emotions. But
even my youngest child was willing to make any sacrifice for the sake of
her country. The South is our only home--we have been only temporary
sojourners elsewhere.
MAY 29TH AND 30TH.--The remainder of the journey was without interest,
until we arrived at Wythville, Va., where it was discovered Gen. Floyd
was in the cars. He was called out and made a speech in vindication of
his conduct at Washington, as Secretary of War, wherein he had caused
the transfer of arms, etc., from the North to the South. He was then
organizing a brigade for the field, having been commissioned a
brigadier-general by the President.
MAY 31ST.--I arrived in Richmond about 1 o'clock P.M. The meeting with
my family was a joyful scene. All were well.
I lost no time in securing rooms for the department in the new
custom-house. Mr. Giles had been employed in this business by the
Congressional Committee, and I found him every way accommodating. I
succeeded without difficulty in convincing him that the War Department
was the most important one, and hence entitled to the first choice of
rooms. I therefore selected the entire suites on both sides of the hall
on the lower floor. The Treasury, the Executive office, Cabinet chamber,
and Departments of Justice and the Navy were located on the floor above.
This arrangement, however, was understood to be but a temporary one;
Mechanics Hall was leased for future purposes; and I was consulted on
the plan of converting it into suites of offices.