Gen. Lee ordered South.--Gen. Stuart ambuscaded at Drainsville.--W. H. B.
Custis returns to the Eastern Shore.--Winder's detectives.--Kentucky
secedes.--Judge Perkins's resolution.--Dibble goes North.--Waiting
for Great Britain to do something.--Mr. Ely, the Yankee M. C.
DECEMBER 1ST.--The people here begin to murmur at the idea that they are
questioned about their loyalty, and often arrested, by Baltimore petty
larceny detectives, who, if they were patriotic themselves (as they are
all able-bodied men), would be in the army, fighting for the redemption
of Maryland.
DECEMBER 2D.--Gen. Lee has now been ordered South for the defense of
Charleston and Savannah, and those cities are safe! Give a great man a
field worthy of his powers, and he can demonstrate the extent of his
abilities; but dwarf him in an insignificant position, and the veriest
fool will look upon him with contempt. Gen. Lee in the streets here bore
the aspect of a discontented man, for he saw that everything was going
wrong; but now his eye flashes with zeal and hope. Give him time and
opportunity, and he will hurl back the invader from his native land;
yes, and he will commend the chalice of invasion to the lips of the
North; but not this year--it is too late for that.
DECEMBER 3D.--Several members of Congress came into my office and
denounced the policy which the government seemed to have adopted of
permitting Yankees, and those who sympathize with them, to be
continually running over to the enemy with information of our condition,
and thus inviting attacks and raids at points where we are utterly
defenseless. They seemed surprised when I told them that I not only
agreed with them entirely, but that I had really written most of the
articles they had read in the press denunciatory of the policy they
condemned. I informed them, moreover, that I had long since refused to
sign any such passports as they alluded to, at the risk of being
removed. They said they believed the President, in his multiplicity of
employments, was not aware of the extent of the practice, and the evil
effects it was certain to entail on the country; and it was their
purpose to wait upon him and remonstrate against the pernicious practice
of Mr. Benjamin.
DECEMBER 4TH.--We are now tasting the bitter fruits of a too indulgent
treatment of our enemies. Yesterday Gen. Stuart's cavalry and the 6th
Regiment S. C. volunteers met with a bloody disaster at Drainsville. It
appears that several of the traitors arrested and sent hither by Gen.
Johnston were subsequently discharged by Gen. Winder, under the
instructions of Mr. Benjamin, and sent to their homes, in the vicinity
of Drainsville, at the expense of the government. These men, with
revenge rankling in their breasts, reported to Gen. Stuart that a large
amount of forage might be obtained in the vicinity of Drainsville, and
that but a few companies of the enemy were in the neighborhood. The
general believing these men to be loyal, since they seemed to have the
confidence of the War Department, resolved to get the forage; and for
that purpose started some 80 wagons early the next morning, escorted by
several regiments of infantry and 1000 cavalry, hoping to capture any
forces of the enemy in the vicinity. Meantime the Drainsville traitors
had returned to their homes the preceding evening, and sent off
intelligence to the headquarters of the enemy of the purpose of Gen.
Stuart to send out in that direction, early the next day, a foraging
party consisting of so many wagons, and small forces of infantry,
artillery, and cavalry.
The enemy hastened away to Drainsville an overwhelming force, and
ambuscaded the road, where it entered the woods, with artillery and men
of all arms. Their line was the shape of a horseshoe, and completely
concealed from view.
Gen. Stuart had not entered far into the jaws of this trap, before some
of his trusty scouts reported the presence of the enemy. Believing it to
be only the pickets of the few companies previously reported, the
general advanced still farther; but at the same time ordering the wagons
to retire. He was soon undeceived by a simultaneous and concentric fire
of artillery and musketry, which brought down many of his men.
Nevertheless, he charged through the lines in one or two places, and
brought his guns to bear with effect on such portions of the enemy's
line as were not wholly protected by the inequalities of the ground and
the dense growth of woods. He quickly ascertained, however, that he was
contending against vastly superior numbers, and drew off his forces in
good order, protecting his wagons. The enemy did not pursue, for Stuart
had rather more men than the informers reported to the enemy. But we
lost 200 men, while the enemy sustained but little injury; their killed
and wounded not exceeding 30.
This is the first serious wound inflicted on the country by Mr.
Benjamin's policy.
DECEMBER 5TH.--The account of the Drainsville massacre was furnished me
by an officer of the 6th S. C. Regiment, which suffered severely. The
newspaper accounts of the occurrence, upon which, perhaps, the history
of this war will be founded, give a different version of the matter. And
hence, although not so designed at first, this Diary will furnish more
authentic data of many of the events of the war than the grave histories
that will be written. Still, I do not aspire to be the Froissart of
these interesting times: but intend merely to furnish my children, and
such others as may read them, with reliable chronicles of the events
passing under my own observation.
DECEMBER 6TH.--It is rumored to-day, I know not on what authority, that
the President mentioned the matter of the Drainsville disaster to the
Secretary of War, and intimated that it was attributed to the
machinations of the Union men discharged from prison here. It is said
Mr. Benjamin denied it--denied that any such men had been discharged by
Gen. Winder, or had been concerned in the affair at all. Of course the
President had no alternative but to credit the solemn assertions of his
confidential adviser. But my books, and the register of the prisons,
would show that the Drainsville prisoners sent hither by Gen. Joseph E.
Johnston were discharged by Gen. Winder, and that their expenses home
were paid by the government; and officers of unimpeachable veracity are
ready to testify that Gen. Stuart was misled by these very men.
DECEMBER 7TH.--Quite a commotion has been experienced in official
circles by the departure of Mr. W. H. B. Custis, late Union member of
the Virginia Convention, without obtaining a passport to leave the city.
Some of his secession constituents being in the city, reported that they
knew it was his purpose to return to the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and
avow his adherence to the United States authorities, alleging that he
had signed the ordinance of secession under some species of duress, or
instruction. Under these representations, it seems Gen. Winder
telegraphed to Norfolk, whither it was understood Custis had gone, to
have him arrested. This was done; and it is said he had passports from
Gen. Huger to cross the Chesapeake Bay. I must doubt this. What right
has a military commander to grant such passports?
DECEMBER 8TH.--I saw Mr. Benjamin to-day, and asked him what disposition
he intended to make of Mr. Custis. He was excited, and said with
emphasis that he was investigating the case. He seemed offended at the
action of Gen. Winder, and thought it was a dangerous exercise of
military power to arrest persons of such high standing, without the
clearest evidence of guilt. Mr. Custis had signed the ordinance of
secession, and that ought to be sufficient evidence of his loyalty.
DECEMBER 9TH.--Gen. Winder informed me to-day that he had been ordered
to release Mr. Custis; and I learned that the Secretary of War had
transmitted orders to Gen. Huger to permit him to pass over the bay.
DECEMBER 10TH.--Nothing new.
DECEMBER 11TH.--Several of Gen. Winder's detectives came to me with a
man named Webster, who, it appears, has been going between Richmond and
Baltimore, conveying letters, money, etc. I refused him a passport. He
said he could get it from the Secretary himself, but that it was
sometimes difficult in gaining access to him. I told him to get it,
then; I would give him none.
DECEMBER 12TH.--More of Gen. Winder's men came with a Mr. Stone, whom
they knew and vouched for, and who wanted a passport merely to Norfolk.
I asked if it was not his design to go farther. They said yes, but that
Gen. Winder would write to Gen. Huger to let him pass by way of Fortress
Monroe. I refused, and great indignation was manifested.
DECEMBER 13TH.--One of the papers has a short account of the application
of Stone in its columns this morning. One of the reporters was present
at the interview. The article bore pretty severely upon the assumption
of power by the military commander of the department. Gen. Winder came
in during the day, and denied having promised to procure a passport for
Stone from Gen. Huger.
DECEMBER 14TH.--Nothing.
DECEMBER 15TH.--The President's private secretary, Capt. Josselyn, was
in to-day. He had no news.
DECEMBER 16TH.--We hear to-day that the loyal men of Kentucky have met
in convention and adopted an ordinance of secession and union with our
Confederacy.
DECEMBER 17TH.--Bravo, Col. Edward Johnson! He was attacked by 5000
Yankees on the Alleghany Mountains, and he has beaten them with 1200
men. They say Johnson is an energetic man, and swears like a trooper;
and instead of a sword, he goes into battle with a stout cane in his
hand, with which he belabors any skulking miscreant found dodging in the
hour of danger.
DECEMBER 18TH.--Men escaped from the Eastern Shore of Virginia report
that Mr. Custis had landed there, and remains quiet.
DECEMBER 19TH.--Judge Perkins came in to-day and denounced in bitter
terms the insane policy of granting passports to spies and others to
leave the country, when every Northern paper bore testimony that we were
betrayed by these people. He asked me how many had been permitted to go
North by Mr. Benjamin since the expiration of the time named in the
President's proclamation. This I could not answer: but suggested that a
resolution of inquiry might elicit the information. He desired me to
write such a resolution. I did so, and he departed with it. An hour
afterward, I learned it had been passed unanimously.
DECEMBER 20TH.--A man by the name of _Dibble_, the identical one I
passed on my way to Montgomery last spring, and whom I then thought
acted and spoke like a Yankee, is here seeking permission to go North;
he _says_ to Halifax. He confesses that he is a Yankee born; but has
lived in North Carolina for many years, and has amassed a fortune. He
declares the South does not contain a truer Southern man than himself;
and he says he is going to the British Provinces to purchase supplies
for the Confederacy. He brought me an order from Mr. Benjamin, indorsed
on the back of a letter, for a passport. I declined to give it; and he
departed in anger, saying the Secretary would grant it. He knew this,
for he said the Secretary had promised him one.
DECEMBER 21ST.--Col. Bledsoe was in to-day. I had not seen him for a
long time. He had not been sitting in the office two minutes before he
uttered one of his familiar groans. Instantly we were on the old footing
again. He said Secretary Benjamin had never treated him as Chief of the
Bureau, any more than Walker.
DECEMBER 22D.--Dibble has succeeded in obtaining a passport from the
Secretary himself.
DECEMBER 23D.--Gen. T. J. Jackson has destroyed a principal dam on the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. That will give the enemy abundance of
trouble. This Gen. Jackson is always doing something to vex the enemy;
and I think he is destined to annoy them more.
It is with much apprehension that I see something like a general
relaxation of preparation to hurl back the invader. It seems as if the
government were waiting for England to do it; and after all, the capture
of Slidell and Mason may be the very worst thing that could have
happened. Mr. Benjamin, I learn, feels very confident that a rupture
between the United States and Great Britain is inevitable. War with
England is not to be thought of by Mr. Seward at this juncture, and he
will not have it. And we should not rely upon the happening of any such
contingency. Some of our officials go so far as to hint that in the
event of a war between the United States and Great Britain, and our
recognition by the former, it might be good policy for us to stand
neutral. The war would certainly be waged on our account, and it would
not be consistent with Southern honor and chivalry to retire from the
field and leave the friend who interfered in our behalf to fight it out
alone. The principal members of our government should possess the
highest stamp of character, for never did there exist a purer people.
DECEMBER 24TH.--I am at work on the resolution passed by Congress. The
Secretary sent it to me, with an order to prepare the list of names, and
saying that he would explain the _grounds_ upon which they were
permitted to depart. I can only give the number registered in this
office.
DECEMBER 25TH.--Mr. Ely, the Yankee member of Congress, who has been in
confinement here since the battle of Manassas, has been exchanged for
Mr. Faulkner, late Minister to France, who was captured on his return
from Europe. Mr. Ely smiled at the brown paper on which I had written
his passport. I told him it was Southern manufacture, and although at
present in a crude condition, it was in the process of improvement, and
that "necessity was the mother of invention." The necessity imposed on
us by the blockade would ultimately redound to our advantage, and might
injure the country inflicting it by diminishing its own products. He
smiled again, and said he had no doubt we should rise to the dignity of
_white paper_.
DECEMBER 26TH.--I have been requested by several members of Congress to
prepare a bill, establishing a passport office by law. I will attempt
it; but it cannot pass, unless it be done in spite of the opposition of
the Secretary, who knows how to use his patronage so as to bind members
to his interest. He learned that at Washington.
DECEMBER 27TH.--Notwithstanding the severe strictures, and the
resolution of Congress, there is an increase rather than a diminution of
the number of persons going North. Some of our officials seem to think
the war is over, or that England will do the balance of our fighting!
DECEMBER 28TH.--The fathers and mothers and sisters of our brave
soldiers continue to send their clothing and provisions. _They_ do not
relax in the work of independence.
DECEMBER 29TH.--Persons are coming here from that portion of Western
Virginia held by the enemy, with passports from Gen. Cox, the Yankee
commander. They applied to me to-day for passports to return to Kanawha,
which I refused. They obtained them from the Assistant Secretary of War,
Mr. Ould.
DECEMBER 30TH.--Some of our officers on furlough complain of the
dullness of the war. The second year will be different.
DECEMBER 31ST.--Northern papers, received in this city, show very
conclusively that the enemy are pretty accurately informed of the
condition of our defenses and the paucity of the numbers in our
regiments.