Gen. Beauregard succeeds Gen. Sydney Johnston.--Dibble, the traitor.--
Enemy at Fredericksburg.--They say we will be subdued by the 15th of
June.--Lee rapidly concentrating at Richmond.--Webster, the spy, hung.
APRIL 1ST.--Gen. Sydney Johnston having fallen in battle, the command in
the West devolved on Gen. Beauregard, whose recent defense at Island No.
10 on the Mississippi, has revived his popularity. But, I repeat, he is
a doomed man.
APRIL 2D.--Gen. Wise is here with his report of the Roanoke disaster.
APRIL 3D.--Congress is investigating the Roanoke affair. Mr. Benjamin
has been denounced in Congress by Mr. Foote and others as the sole cause
of the calamities which have befallen the country.
I wrote a letter to the President, offering to show that I had given no
passport to Mr. Dibble, the traitor, and also the evidences, in his own
handwriting, that Mr. Benjamin granted it.
APRIL 4TH.--The enemy are shelling our camp at Yorktown. I can hear the
reports of the guns, of a damp evening. We are sending back defiance
with our guns.
The President has not taken any notice of my communication. Mr. Benjamin
is too powerful to be affected by such proofs of such small matters.
APRIL 5TH.--Newbern, N. C., has fallen into the hands of the enemy! Our
men, though opposed by greatly superior numbers, made a brave
resistance, and killed and wounded 1000 of the invaders.
The enemy were piloted up the river to Newbern by the same _Mr. Dibble_
to whom I refused a passport, but to whom the Secretary of War granted
one.
The press everywhere is commenting on the case of Dibble--_but Mordecai
still sits at the gate_.
APRIL 6TH.--Two spies (Lincoln's detective police) have been arrested
here, tried by court-martial, and condemned to be hung. There is an
awful silence among the Baltimore detectives, which bodes no harm to the
condemned. They will not be executed, though guilty.
APRIL 7TH.--R. G. H. Kean, a young man, and a connection of Mr.
Randolph, has been appointed Chief of the Bureau of War in place of Col.
Bledsoe, resigned at last. Mr. Kean was, I believe, a lieutenant when
Mr. Randolph was colonel, and acted as his adjutant.
APRIL 8TH.--Col. Bledsoe has been appointed Assistant Secretary of War
by the President. Now he is in his glory, and has forgotten me.
APRIL 9TH.--There are several young officers who have sheathed the
sword, and propose to draw the pen in the civil service.
To-day I asked of the department a month's respite from labor, and
obtained it. But I remained in the city, and watched closely, still
hoping I might serve the cause, or at least prevent more injury to it,
from the wicked facility hitherto enjoyed by spies to leave the country.
APRIL 10TH.--The condemned spies have implicated _Webster_, the
letter-carrier, who has had so many passports. He will hang, probably.
Gen. Winder himself, and his policemen, wrote home by him. I don't
believe him any more guilty than many who used to write by him; and I
mean to tell the Judge Advocate so, if they give me an opportunity.
APRIL 11TH.--The enemy are at Fredericksburg, and the Yankee papers say
it will be all over with us by the 15th of June. I doubt that.
APRIL 12TH.--The committee (Congressional) which have been investigating
the Roanoke Island disaster have come to the conclusion, unanimously,
and the House has voted accordingly, and with unanimity, that the blame
and guilt of that great calamity rest solely upon "Gen. Huger and Judah
P. Benjamin."
APRIL 13TH.--Gen. Wise now resolved to ask for another command, to make
another effort in defense of his country. But, when he waited upon the
Secretary of War, he ascertained that there was no brigade for him.
Returning from thence, some of his officers, who had escaped the trap at
Roanoke, crowded round him to learn the issue of his application.
"There is no Secretary of War!" said he.
"What is Randolph?" asked one.
"He is not Secretary of War!" said he; "he is merely a _clerk_, an
underling, and cannot hold up his head in his humiliating position. He
never will be able to hold up his head, sir."
APRIL 14TH.--There will soon be hard fighting on the Peninsula.
APRIL 15TH.--Gen. Beauregard has written to Gen. Wise, offering him a
command in his army, if the government will consent to it. It will not
be consented to.
APRIL 16TH.--Troops are being concentrated rapidly in Virginia by Gen.
Lee.
APRIL 17TH.--To-day Congress passed an act providing for the termination
of martial law within thirty days after the meeting of the next session.
This was as far as they could _venture_; for, indeed, a majority seem to
be intimidated at the glitter of bayonets in the streets, wielded by the
authority of martial law. The press, too, has taken the alarm, and
several of the publishers have confessed a fear of having their offices
closed, if they dare to speak the sentiments struggling for utterance.
It is, indeed, a reign of terror! Every Virginian, and other loyal
citizens of the South--members of Congress and all--must now, before
obtaining Gen. Winder's permission to leave the city for their homes,
bow down before the _aliens_ in the Provost Marshal's office, and
subscribe to an oath of allegiance, while a file of bayonets are pointed
at his back!
APRIL 18TH.--The President is thin and haggard; and it has been
whispered on the street that he will immediately be baptized and
confirmed. I hope so, because it may place a great gulf between him and
the descendant of those who crucified the Saviour. Nevertheless, some of
his enemies allege that professions of Christianity have sometimes been
the premeditated accompaniments of usurpations. It was so with Cromwell
and with Richard III. Who does not remember the scene in Shakspeare,
where Richard appears on the balcony, with prayer book in hand and a
priest on either side?
APRIL 19TH.--All believe we are near a crisis, involving the possession
of the capital.
APRIL 21ST.--A calm before the storm.
APRIL 22D.--Dibble, the traitor, has been captured by our soldiers in
North Carolina.
APRIL 23D.--The North Carolinians have refused to give up Dibble to Gen.
Winder. And, moreover, the governor has demanded the rendition of a
citizen of his State, who was arrested there by one of Gen. Winder's
detectives, and brought hither. The governor says, if he be not
delivered up, he will institute measures of retaliation, and arrest
every alien policeman from Richmond caught within the limits of his
jurisdiction.
Is it not shameful that martial law should be playing such fantastic
tricks before high heaven, when the enemy's guns are booming within
hearing of the capital?
APRIL 24TH.--Webster has been tried, condemned, and _hung_.
APRIL 25TH.--Gen. Wise, through the influence of Gen. Lee, who is a
Christian gentleman as well as a consummate general, has been ordered
into the field. He will have a brigade, but not with Beauregard. The
President has unbounded confidence in Lee's capacity, modest as he is.
Another change! Provost Marshal Godwin, for rebuking the Baltimore chief
of police, is to leave us, and to be succeeded by a Marylander, Major
Griswold, whose family is now in the enemy's country.
APRIL 26TH.--Gen. Lee is doing good service in bringing forward
reinforcements from the South against the day of trial--and an awful day
awaits us. It is understood that he made fully known to the President
his appreciation of the desperate condition of affairs, and demanded
_carte blanche_ as a condition of his acceptance of the position of
commanding general. The President wisely agreed to the terms.
APRIL 27TH.--Gen. Lee is calm--but the work of preparation goes on night
and day.
APRIL 28TH.--We have rumors of an important cabinet meeting, wherein it
was resolved to advise or command Gen. Johnston to evacuate Yorktown and
retire toward Richmond! Also that Norfolk is to be given up! I don't
believe it; Lee's name is not mentioned.
APRIL 29TH.--Major Griswold is here, and so is a new batch of
Marylanders.
APRIL 30TH.--Troops from the South are coming in and marching down the
Peninsula.