Lee in winter quarters.--Bragg's victory in the Southwest.--The President
at Mobile.--Enemy withdraw from Vicksburg.--Bragg retreats as
usual.--Bureau of Conscription.--High rents.--Flour contracts in
Congress.--Efforts to escape conscription.--Ships coming in freely.--
Sneers at negro troops.--Hopes of French intervention.--Gen. Rains
blows himself up.--Davis would be the last to give up.--Gov. Vance
protests against Col. August's appointment as commandant of
conscripts.--Financial difficulties in the United States.
JANUARY 1ST, 1863.--This first day of the year dawned in gloom, but the
sun, like the sun of Austerlitz, soon beamed forth in great splendor
upon a people radiant with smiles and exalted to the empyrean.
A letter from Gen. H. Marshall informed the government that Gen. Floyd
had seized slaves in Kentucky and refused to restore them to their
owners, and that if the government did not promptly redress the wrong,
the Kentuckians would at once "take the law into their own hands."
We had a rumor (not yet contradicted) that the enemy, or traitors, had
burned the railroad bridge between Bristol and Knoxville, cutting our
communication with the West.
Then it was said (and it was true) that Gen. Lee had sent his artillery
back some 30 miles this side of the Rappahannock, preparatory to going
into winter quarters. But this was no occasion for gloom. Lee always
knows what is best to be done.
Next there was a rumor (not yet confirmed, but credited) that Stuart had
made another of his wonderful reconnoissances, capturing prisoners and
destroying much of the enemy's stores beyond the Rappahannock.
Then came a dispatch from Bragg which put us almost "beside" ourselves
with joy, and caused even enemies to pause and shake hands in the
street. Yesterday he attacked Rosecrans's army near Murfreesborough, and
gained a great victory. He says he drove him from all his positions,
except on the extreme left, and after ten hours' fighting, occupied the
whole of the field except (those exceptions!) the point named. We had,
as trophies, thirty-one guns, two generals, 4000 prisoners, and 200
wagons. This is a _Western_ dispatch, it is true, but it has Bragg's
name to it, and he does not willingly exaggerate. Although I, for one,
shall await the next dispatches with anxiety, there can be no question
about the victory on the last day of the bloody year 1862. Bragg says
the loss was heavy on both sides.
I noticed that one of the brass pieces sent down by Lee to go to North
Carolina had been struck by a ball just over the muzzle, and left a
glancing mark toward the touch-hole. That ball, probably, killed one of
our gunners.
JANUARY 2D.--A dispatch from Gov. Harris gives some additional
particulars of the battle near Murfreesborough, Tenn. He says the enemy
was driven back six miles, losing four generals killed and three
captured, and that we destroyed $2,000,000 commissary and other stores.
But still we have no account of what was done yesterday on the "extreme
left."
Gen. Stuart has been near Alexandria, and his prisoners are coming in by
every train. He captured and destroyed many stores, and, up to the last
intelligence, without loss on his side. He is believed, now, _to be in
Maryland_, having crossed the Potomac near Leesburg.
The mayor of our city, Jos. Mayo, meeting two friends last night, whom
he recognized but who did not recognize him, playfully seized one of
them, a judge, and, garroter fashion, demanded his money or his life.
The judge's friend fell upon the mayor with a stick and beat him
dreadfully before the joke was discovered.
The President was at Mobile on the 30th December, having visited both
Murfreesborough and Vicksburg, but not witnessing either of the battles.
We are in great exaltation again! Dispatches from Gen. Bragg, received
last night, relieve us with the information that the stronghold of the
enemy, which he failed to carry on the day of battle, was abandoned the
next day; that Forrest and Morgan were operating successfully far in the
rear of the invader, and that Gen. Wheeler had made a circuit of the
hostile army after the battle, burning several hundred of their wagons,
capturing an ordnance train, and making more prisoners. Bragg says the
enemy's telegraphic and railroad communications with his rear have been
demolished, and that he will follow up the defeated foe. I think we will
get Nashville now.
JANUARY 3D.--To-day we have a dispatch from Vicksburg stating that the
enemy had re-embarked, leaving their intrenching instruments, etc.,
apparently abandoning the purpose of assaulting the city. This is
certainly good news.
Gen. Stuart did not cross the Potomac, as reported in the Northern
press, but, doubtless, the report produced a prodigious panic among the
Yankees. But when Stuart was within eight miles of Alexandria, he
telegraphed the government at Washington that if they did not send
forward larger supplies of stores to Burnside's army, he (Stuart) would
not find it worth while to intercept them.
Capt. Semmes, of the Alabama, has taken another prize--the steamer
Ariel--but no gold being on board, and having 800 passengers, he
released it, under bonds to pay us a quarter million dollars at the end
of the war.
A large meeting has been held in New York, passing resolutions in favor
of peace. They propose that New Jersey send a delegation hither to
induce us to meet the United States in convention at Louisville, to
adopt definitive terms of peace, on the basis of the old Union, or, that
being impracticable, separation. Too late!
JANUARY 4TH.--We have nothing additional from Murfreesborough, but it is
ascertained that the bridges burned by the enemy on the Virginia and
Tennessee Railroad cannot be repaired in a month.
It really does seem that some potent and malign influence, resident at
the capital, some high functionary, by some species of occultation,
controlling the action of the government, a Talleyrand in the pay of
both governments, and balancing or equalizing disasters between them to
magnify his importance and increase his reward, has been controlling
many events since the beginning of this war, and is still engaged in the
diabolical work. It now appears that several regiments were withdrawn
from the vicinity of Bristol, whose presence there was necessary for the
protection of the railroad and the bridges. They were brought hither
_after Lee's defeat of Burnside_, for the protection of the capital! The
President was away, and Mr. Seddon was now in the War Office. But Gen.
Cooper is _old_ in office, and should have known better; and Gen. G. W.
Smith certainly must have known better. Just suppose we had been beaten
at Murfreesborough, and our communications cut, west and east and south!
There would have been no escape.
It had even been proposed to take a large portion of Lee's men from him,
so that he must be inevitably defeated on the Rappahannock, but Lee's
resignation would have shocked the people unbearably. Great injury was
done him by abstracting some 20,000 of his men by discharges, transfers,
and details. Nothing but his generalship and the heroism of his men
saved us from ruin. The disasters of Donelson, Newbern, Nashville,
Memphis, Roanoke, New Orleans, Norfolk, etc. may be traced to the same
source. But all new governments have been afflicted by a few
evil-disposed leaders.
Our people in arms have upheld the State; they have successfully
resisted the open assaults of the invader, and frustrated the occult
machinations of the traitors in our midst. We have great generals, but
what were they without great men to obey them? Generals have fallen, and
divisions and brigades have fought on without them. Regiments have lost
their field officers and continued the fight, and companies have
maintained their position after all their commissioned officers were
stricken down. The history which shall give the credit of their
achievements to others will be a vile calumny. Our cause would have been
ruined if it had not been for the bravery and heroism of the
people--_the privates in our armies_.
There is a rumor this morning that the enemy are advancing toward
Petersburg from Suffolk. If this be so, some spy, under the protection
of martial law, has informed the Yankees of our defenseless condition at
that place, being alarmed at the success of our brave and patriotic men
in the West.
JANUARY 5TH.--We learn from Gen. Bragg that the enemy did not retire far
on the 2d inst., but remain still in the vicinity of Murfreesborough. He
says, however, that our cavalry are still circling the Yankees, taking
prisoners and destroying stores. During the day an absurd rumor was
invented, to the effect that Bragg had been beaten. We are anxious to
learn the precise particulars of the battle. It is to be feared that too
many of Bragg's men were ordered to reinforce Pemberton. If that
blunder should prove disastrous, the authorities here will have a
hornet's nest about their ears. The President arrived yesterday, and his
patriotic and cheering speech at Jackson, Miss., appeared in all the
papers this morning.
We hear of no fighting at Suffolk. But we have dispatches from North
Carolina, stating that a storm assailed the enemy's fleet off Hatteras,
_sinking the Monitor with all on board_, and so crippling the Galena
that her guns were thrown overboard! This is good news--if it be
confirmed.
A letter from Major Boyle, in command at Gordonsville, gives information
that the smugglers and extortioners are trading tobacco (contraband)
with the enemy at Alexandria. He arrested B. Nussbaum, E. Wheeler, and
S. Backrack, and sent them with their wagons and goods to Gen. Winder,
Richmond. But instead of being dealt with according to law, he learns
that Backrack is back again, and on his way to this city _with another
wagon load of goods from Yankee-land_, and will be here to-day or
to-morrow. I sent the letter to the Secretary, and hope it will not be
intercepted on its way to him from the front office. The Secretary never
sees half the letters addressed him, or knows of one-half the attempts
of persons to obtain interviews. The Assistant Secretary's duty is to
dispose of the less important communications, but to exhibit his
decisions.
JANUARY 6TH.--To-day we are all _down_ again. Bragg has _retreated_ from
Murfreesborough. It is said he saved his prisoners, captured cannon,
etc., but it is _not_ said what became of his own wounded. The Northern
papers say they captured 500 prisoners in the battle, which they claim
as a victory. I do not know how to reconcile Bragg's first dispatches,
and particularly the one saying he had the whole field, and would
_follow_ the enemy, with this last one announcing his withdrawal and
retirement from the field.
Eight thousand men were taken from Bragg a few days before the battle.
It was not done at the suggestion of Gen. Johnston; for I have seen an
extract of a letter from Gen. J. to a Senator (Wigfall), deprecating the
detachment of troops from Bragg, and expressing grave apprehensions of
the probable consequences.
A letter was received from R. R. Collier, Petersburg, to-day, in favor
of civil liberty, and against the despotism of martial law.
Senator Clark, of Missouri, informed me to-day that my nephew, R. H.
Musser, has been made a colonel (under Hindman or Holmes), and has a
fine regiment in the trans-Mississippi Department.
Lewis E. Harvie, president of the railroad, sends a communication to the
Secretary (I hope it will reach him) inclosing a request from Gen.
Winder to permit liquors to be transported on his road to Clover Hill.
Mr. Harvie objects to it, and asks instructions from the Secretary. He
says Clover Hill is the point from which the smuggling is done, and that
to place it there, is equivalent to bringing it into the city.
JANUARY 7TH.--To-day I was requested to aid, temporarily, in putting in
operation a new bureau, created by the military authorities, not by law,
entitled the Bureau of Conscription. From conscription all future
recruits must be derived. I found Gen. Rains, the chief, a most affable
officer; and Lieut.-Col. Lay, his next officer, was an acquaintance. I
shall not now, perhaps, see so much of the _interior_ of this moving
picture of Revolution; my son, however, will note important letters. It
is said that Sumner's corps (of Burnside's army) has landed in North
Carolina, to take Wilmington. We shall have news soon.
We are sending troops rapidly from Virginia to North Carolina.
The Northern papers say the following dispatch was sent to Washington by
our raiding Stuart: "Gen. Meigs will in future please furnish better
mules; those you have furnished recently are very inferior." He signed
his own name.
A large body of slaves passed through the city to-day, singing happily.
They had been working on the fortifications north of the city, and go to
work on them south of it. They have no faith in the efficacy of
Lincoln's Emancipation.
But it is different in Norfolk; 4000 enfranchised slaves marched in
procession through the town the other day in a sort of frantic jubilee.
They will bewail their error; and so will the Abolitionists. They will
consume the enemy's commissary stores; and if they be armed, we shall
get their arms.
Lee and Beauregard were telegraphed to-day in relation to the movement
on Wilmington; and the President had the cabinet with him many hours.
Gen. Rains is quite certain that the fall of New Orleans was the result
of treachery.
By the emancipation, Gen. Wise's county, Princess Ann, is excepted--and
so are Accomac and Northampton Counties; but I have no slaves. All I ask
of the invaders is to spare my timber, and I will take care of the
land--and I ask it, knowing the request will never be known by them
until the war is over.
JANUARY 8TH.--Gen. French writes that the enemy at Suffolk and Newbern
amounted to 45,000; and this force now threatens Weldon and Wilmington,
and we have not more than 14,000 to oppose them. With generalship that
should suffice.
All the Virginia conscripts are ordered to Gen. Wise, under Major-Gen.
Elzey. The conscripts from other States are to be taken to Gen. Lee. If
the winter should allow a continuance of active operations, and the
enemy should continue to press us, we might be driven nearly to the
wall. We must help ourselves all we can, and, besides, invoke the aid of
Almighty God!
We have nothing fresh from Bragg--nothing from Vicksburg--and that is
_bad news_.
I like Gen. Rains. He comes in and sits with me every day. Col. Lay is
the active business man of the bureau. The general is engaged in some
experiments to increase the efficiency of small arms.
He is very affable and communicative. He says he never witnessed more
sanguinary fighting than at the battle of the Seven Pines, where his
brigade retrieved the fortunes of the day; for at one time it was lost.
He was also at Yorktown and Williamsburg; and he cannot yet cease
condemning the giving up of the Peninsula, Norfolk, etc. Gen. Johnston
did that, backed by Randolph and Mallory.
We have all been mistaken in the number of troops sent to the rescue of
North Carolina; but four or five regiments, perhaps 3000 men, have gone
thither from Virginia. A letter from Gen. Lee, dated the 5th inst., says
he has not half as many men as Burnside, and cannot spare any. He thinks
North Carolina, herself, will be able to expel the Federals, who
probably meditate only a marauding expedition. And he supposes Bragg's
splendid victory (what did he suppose the next day?) may arrest the
inroads of the enemy everywhere for a season. At this moment I do not
believe we have 200,000 men in the field against 800,000! But what of
that, after seeing Lee beat 150,000 with only 20,000 in action! True, it
was an ambuscade.
JANUARY 9TH.--The Northern papers say the Federals have taken Vicksburg;
but we are incredulous. Yet we have no reliable intelligence from
thence; and it may be so. It would be a terrible blow, involving, for a
time, perhaps, the loss of the Mississippi River.
But we have cheering news from Galveston, Texas. Several of our
improvised gun-boats attacked the enemy's war vessels in the harbor, and
after a sanguinary contest, hand to hand, our men captured the Harriet
Lane, a fine United States ship of war, iron clad. She was boarded and
taken. Another of the enemy's ships, it is said, was blown up by its
officers, rather than surrender, and many perished. If this be
Magruder's work, it will make him famous.
Our public offices are crowded with applicants for clerkships, mostly
wounded men, or otherwise unfit for field duty.
How can we live here? Boarding is $60 per month, and I have six to
support! They ask $1800 rent for a dwelling--and I have no furniture to
put in one. Gen. Rains and I looked at one to-day, thinking to take it
jointly. But neither of us is able to furnish it. Perhaps we shall take
it, nevertheless.
JANUARY 10TH.--We have news from the West, which is believed to be
reliable, stating that Bragg captured 6000 prisoners altogether in his
late battles; took 30 cannon, 800 stand of arms, and destroyed 1500
wagons and many stores. The estimated loss of the enemy in killed and
wounded is put down at 12,000. Our loss in killed and wounded not more
than half that number.
To-day we have official intelligence confirming the brilliant
achievement at Galveston; and it was Magruder's work. He has men under
him fitted for desperate enterprises; and he has always had a penchant
for desperate work. So we shall expect to hear of more gallant exploits
in that section. He took 600 prisoners.
We have news also from Vicksburg, and the city was not taken; on the
contrary, the enemy had sailed away. I trust this is reliable; but the
Northern papers persist in saying that Vicksburg has fallen, and that
the event took place on the 3d inst.
Six hundred women and children--refugees--arrived at Petersburg
yesterday from the North. They permit them to come now, when famine and
pestilence are likely to be added to the other horrors of war! We are
doomed to suffer this winter!
JANUARY 11TH.--The message of Gov. Seymour, of New York, if I am not
mistaken in its import and purposes, will have a distracting effect on
the subjugation programme of the government at Washington. I shall look
for riots, and perhaps rebellions and civil wars in the North.
Mr. Stanley, ycleped Governor of North Carolina, has written a letter
(dated 31st December) to Gen. French, complaining that our soldiery have
been guilty of taking slaves from their humane and _loyal_ masters in
Washington County, against their will; and demanding a restoration of
them to their kind and beneficent owners, to whom they are anxious to
return. Gen. French replies that he will do so very cheerfully, provided
the United States authorities will return the slaves they have taken
from masters loyal to the Confederate States. These may amount to
100,000. And he might have added that on the next day all--4,000,000--were
to be emancipated, so far as the authority of the United States could
accomplish it.
The enemy's gun-boats (two) came up the York River last week, and
destroyed an oyster boat. Beyond the deprivation of oysters, pigs, and
poultry, we care little for these incursions.
JANUARY 12TH.--The news of the successful defense of Vicksburg is
confirmed by an official dispatch, to the effect that the enemy had
departed up the Mississippi River. By the late Northern papers, we find
they confess to a loss of 4000 men in the several attacks upon the town!
Our estimate of their loss did not exceed that many hundred. They lost
two generals, Morgan and another. We did not lose a hundred men,
according to our accounts. The _Herald_ (N. Y.) calls it "another
Fredericksburg affair."
The estimate of the enemy's loss, at Murfreesborough, from 12,000 to
20,000, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, and ours at from four to nine
thousand. Bragg says he will fight again near the same place, and his
men are in high spirits.
Our men fight to _kill_ now, since the emancipation doom has been
pronounced. But we have had a hard rain and nightly frosts, which will
put an end to campaigning during the remainder of the winter. The
fighting will be on the water, or near it.
The legislature is in session, and resolutions inimical to the passport
system have already been introduced. But where are State Rights now?
Congress meets to-morrow.
JANUARY 13TH.--The generals in North Carolina are importunate for
reinforcements. They represent the enemy as in great force, and that
Weldon, Goldsborough, Raleigh, and Wilmington are in extreme peril. Lee
cannot send any, or, if he does, Richmond will be threatened again, and
possibly taken.
How shall we live? Boarding ranges from $60 to $100 per month. Our
landlord says he will try to get boarding in the country, and if he
succeeds, probably we may keep the house we now occupy, furnished, at a
rent of $1200, for a mere robin's nest of four rooms! But I hope to get
the house at the corner of First and Casey, in conjunction with Gen.
Rains, for $1800. It has a dozen rooms.
JANUARY 14TH.--Gen. Beauregard, some of whose forces have been taken
from him and sent to the defense of Wilmington, is apprehensive that
they may be lost, in the event of the enemy making a combined naval and
land attack, and then Charleston and Savannah would be in great peril.
Gens. Smith and Whiting call lustily for aid, and say they have not
adequate means of defense.
Some 4000 more negroes have been called for to work on the
fortifications near Richmond. I believe 10,000 are at work now.
A letter "by order" of the Secretary of War to Col. Godwin, in King and
Queen County, written by Judge Campbell, says that blockaders are
allowed to run through, provided they be not suspicious parties. The
government takes what it wants at seventy-five per cent. and releases
the rest. The parties are liable to have their goods confiscated by the
Secretary of the Treasury, who, however, the letter proceeds to say, has
never molested any one in the illicit trade--smuggling.
In Congress, yesterday, Mr. Foote called for a committee to investigate
the commissary's contract with Haxhall, Crenshaw & Co., and was
particularly severe on Major Ruffin, in the commissary's office, whom he
understood was a partner in the flour concern.
Mr. Foote introduced a series of resolutions to-day, tempting the
Northern States to make peace with us separately, excluding the New
England States, and promising commercial advantages, etc. But we must
treat as independent States, pledging a league with those that abandon
the United States Government--offensive and defensive--and guaranteeing
the navigation of the Mississippi River to the Northwestern States. They
were referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, of which he is the
chairman. This is nothing.
But neither yesterday nor the day before was there a quorum of both
houses; a sad spectacle in such a season of gloom. It was enlivened,
however, by a communication from the Surgeon-General, proposing to send
surgeons to vaccinate all the members. They declined the honor, though
the small-pox is raging frightfully.
To-day a quorum was found in each house, and the President's message was
sent in. I have not read it yet.
JANUARY 15TH.--The President's message is highly applauded. It is well
written; but I do not perceive much substance in it, besides some
eloquent reproaches of England and France for the maintenance of their
neutrality, which in effect is greatly more beneficial to the United
States than to us. The President essays to encourage the people to
continued effort and endurance--and such encouragement is highly
judicious at this dark epoch of the struggle. He says truly we have
larger armies, and a better supply of arms, etc., now, than we have had
at any time previously.
The President says he will, unless Congress directs differently, have
all Federal officers that we may capture, handed over to the States to
be dealt with as John Brown was dealt with. The Emancipation
Proclamation, if not revoked, may convert the war into a most barbarous
conflict.
Mr. Foote, yesterday, introduced a resolution requesting the recall of
our diplomatic agents; and, after a certain time, to notify the foreign
consuls to leave the country, no longer recognizing them in an official
capacity.
A bill was introduced making Marylanders subject to conscription.
JANUARY 16TH.--Gen. Lee is in the city, doubtless to see about the
pressure upon him for reinforcements in North Carolina. Gen. Smith still
writes from Goldsborough for more men, with doleful forebodings if they
be refused.
From Eastern Tennessee, we have bad accounts of outrages by the disloyal
inhabitants, who have fled, to escape conscription, to the mountains and
caves, many of them taking their families. At night they emerge from
their hiding-places, and commit depredations on the secessionists.
It has been blowing a gale for two days, and there are rumors of more
losses of the enemy's ships on the coast of North Carolina.
A letter was received by the government to-day from Arizona, justifying
Col. Baylor for his policy of dealing with the Indians. I do not hear of
any steps yet on the part of the President.
A report of the commandant at Camp Holmes, Raleigh, N. C., states that
12,000 conscripts have been received there altogether; 8000 have been
sent off to regiments, 2000 detailed on government work, 500 deserted,
etc.
The _Enquirer_ to-day publishes the fact that a ship, with stores,
merchandise, etc., has just arrived at Charleston; that six more are on
the way thither, and that a steamer has successfully run the blockade
from Wilmington with cotton. This notification may increase the
vigilance of the blockading fleet. The _Enquirer_ is also perpetually
tilting with the Raleigh _Standard_. I doubt the policy of charging the
leading journals in North Carolina with predilections for the Union. I
believe the _Enquirer_ has no settled editor now.
Mr. Foote favors the conscription of Marylanders. If such an act should
be likely to pass, Gen. Winder will be beset with applications to leave
the Confederacy.
JANUARY 17TH.--Gen. Lee has left the city. His troops, encamped thirty
miles north of Richmond, marched northward last night. So it is his
determination to cross the Rappahannock? Or is it a demonstration of the
enemy to prevent him from sending reinforcements to North Carolina? We
shall know speedily.
North Carolina, one would think, is soon to be the scene of carnage; and
it is asked what can 16,000 men do against 60,000?
The enemy began the attack on Fort Caswell yesterday; no result. But
one of his blockaders went ashore in the storm, and we captured the
officers and crew.
All the conscripts in the West have been ordered to Gen. Bragg.
Shall we starve? Yesterday beef was sold for 40 cts. per pound; to-day
it is 60 cts. Lard is $1.00. Butter $2.00. They say the sudden rise is
caused by the prisoners of Gen. Bragg, several thousand of whom have
arrived here, and they are subsisted from the market. Thus they injure
us every way. But, _n'importe_, say some; if Lincoln's Emancipation be
not revoked, _but few more prisoners will be taken on either side_. That
would be a barbarous war, without quarter.
I see that Col. J. W. Wall, of New Jersey, has been nominated, and I
suppose will be elected, U. S. Senator. He was confined for months in
prison at Fort Lafayette. I imagine the colonel is a bold, able man.
JANUARY 18TH.--It was bitter cold last night, and everything is frozen
this morning; there will be abundance of ice next summer, if we keep our
ice-houses.
In these times of privation and destitution, I see many men, who were
never prominent secessionists, enjoying comfortable positions, and
seeking investments for their surplus funds. Surely there must be some
compensation in this world or the next for the true patriots who have
sacrificed everything, and still labor in subordinate positions, with
faith and patient suffering. These men and their families go in rags,
and upon half-rations, while the others fare most sumptuously.
We are now, in effect, in a state of siege, and none but the opulent,
often those who have defrauded the government, can obtain a sufficiency
of food and raiment. Calico, which could once be bought for 12-1/2 cts.
per yard, is now selling at $2.25, and a lady's dress of calico costs
her about $30.00. Bonnets are not to be had. Common bleached cotton
shirting brings $1.50 per yard. All other dry goods are held in the same
proportion. Common tallow candles are $1.25 per pound; soap, $1.00;
hams, $1.00; oppossum $3.00; turkeys $4 to $11.00; sugar, brown, $1.00;
molasses $8.00 per gallon; potatoes $6.00 per bushel, etc.
These evils might be remedied by the government, for there is no great
scarcity of any of the substantials and necessities of life in the
country, if they were only equally distributed. The difficulty is in
procuring transportation, and the government monopolizes the railroads
and canals.
Our military men apprehend no serious consequences from the army of
negroes in process of organization by the Abolitionists at Washington.
Gen. Rains says the negro cannot fight, and will always run away. He
told me an anecdote yesterday which happened under his own observation.
An officer, when going into battle, charged his servant to stay at his
tent and take care of his property. In the fluctuations of the battle,
some of the enemy's shot fell in the vicinity of the tent, and the
negro, with great white eyes, fled away with all his might. After the
fight, and when the officer returned to his tent, he was vexed to learn
that his slave had run away, but the boy soon returned, confronting his
indignant master, who threatened to chastise him for disobedience of
orders. Caesar said: "Massa, you told me to take care of your property,
and dis property" (placing his hand on his breast) "is worf fifteen
hundred dollars." He escaped punishment.
Some 200,000 of the Abolition army will be disbanded in May by the
expiration of their terms of enlistment, and we have every reason to
believe that their places cannot be filled by new recruits. If we hold
out until then, we shall be able to resist at all vital points.
JANUARY 19TH.--We have rumors of fighting this morning on the
Rappahannock; perhaps the enemy is making another advance upon Richmond.
There was a grand funeral to-day,--Gen. D. R. Jones's; he died of heart
disease.
Gen. Bragg dispatches that Brig.-Gen. Wheeler, with his cavalry, got in
the rear of Rosecrans a few days ago, and burned a railroad bridge. He
then penetrated to the Cumberland River, and destroyed three large
transports and bonded a fourth, which took off his paroled prisoners.
After this he captured and destroyed a _gun-boat_ and its armament sent
in quest of him.
We have taken Springfield, Missouri.
Rosecrans sends our officers, taken at Murfreesborough, to Alton, Ill.,
to retaliate on us for the doom pronounced in our President's
proclamation, and one of his generals has given notice that if we burn
a railroad bridge (in our own country) all private property within a
mile of it shall be destroyed. The black flag next.
We have no news from North Carolina.
Mr. Caperton was elected C. S. Senator by the Virginia Legislature on
Saturday, in place of Mr. Preston, deceased.
An intercepted letter from a Mr. Sloane, Charlotte, N. C., to A. T.
Stewart & Co., New York, was laid before the Secretary of War yesterday.
He urged the New York merchant, who has contributed funds for our
subjugation, to send merchandise to the South, now destitute, and he
would act as salesman. The Secretary indorsed "conscript him," and yet
the Assistant Secretary has given instructions to Col. Godwin, in the
border counties, to wink at the smugglers. This is consistency! And the
Assistant Secretary writes "by order of the Secretary of War!"
JANUARY 20TH.--The rumor of fighting on the Rappahannock is not
confirmed. But Gen. Lee writes that his beeves are so poor the soldiers
won't eat the meat. He asks the government to send him salt meat.
From Northern sources we learn that Arkansas Post has fallen, and that
we have lost from 5000 to 7000 men there. If this be true, our men must
have been placed in a man-trap, as at Roanoke Island.
Mr. Perkins, in Congress, has informed the country that Mr. Memminger,
the Secretary of the Treasury, has hitherto opposed and defeated the
proposition that the government buy all the cotton. Mr. M. should never
have been appointed. He is headstrong, haughty, and tyrannical when he
imagines he is dealing with inferiors, and he deems himself superior to
the rest of mankind. But he is no Carolinian by birth or descent.
We see accounts of public meetings in New Jersey, wherein the government
at Washington is fiercely denounced, and peace demanded, regardless of
consequences. Some of the speakers openly predicted that the war would
spread into the North, if not terminated at once, and in that event, the
emancipationists would have foes to fight elsewhere than in the South.
Among the participants I recognize the names of men whom I met in
convention at Trenton in 1860. They clamor for the "Union as it was, the
Constitution as it is," adopting the motto of my paper, the "_Southern
Monitor_," the office of which was sacked in Philadelphia in April,
1861. Our government will never agree to anything short of independence.
President Davis will be found inflexible on that point.
There was a rumor yesterday that France had recognized us. The news of
the disaster of Burnside at Fredericksburg having certainly been deemed
very important in Europe. But France has not yet acted in our behalf. We
all pray for the Emperor's intervention. We suffer much, and but little
progress is made in conscription. Nearly all our resources are in the
field. Another year of war, and ----!
JANUARY 21ST.--Last night the rain fell in torrents, and to-day there is
a violent storm of wind from the N. W. This may put an end, for a
season, to campaigning on land, and the enemy's fleet at sea may be
dispersed. Providence may thus intervene in our behalf.
It is feared that we have met with a serious blow in Arkansas, but it is
not generally believed that so many (5000 to 7000 men) surrendered, as
is stated in the Northern papers. Gen. Holmes is responsible for the
mishap.
Conscription drags its slow length along. It is not yet adding many to
the army. The Assistant Secretary of War, and several others, "by order
of the Secretary of War," are granting a fearful number of exemptions
daily. Congress, I hope, will modify the exemption bill immediately. It
is believed enrolling officers, surgeons, and others are permitting
thousands to remain at home "for a price." Even clerks in the War
Department, it is said, are driving a lucrative business in "getting men
off," who should be on duty, in this war of independence. _Young_ men in
the departments, except in particular cases, will not stand in good
repute "when the hurly burly's done, when the battle's lost and won."
Congress is at work projecting the organization of a Supreme Court.
JANUARY 22D.--We have reliable intelligence of the sinking of the U. S.
gun-boat Hatteras, in the Gulf, by the Alabama. She was iron-clad, and
all the officers and crew, with the exception of five, went down.
Gen. Whiting telegraphs to-day for the use of conscripts near
Wilmington, in the event of an _emergency_. Several ships have just come
in safely from abroad, and it is said a large number are on the way.
Mr. Miles yesterday reported, from the Military Committee, a bill
repealing the existing exemption law, and embracing all male residents
between the ages of 18 and 45 years. The President, or Secretary of War,
to have authority to grant exemptions in certain cases, if deemed
expedient. This _ought_ to give us 200,000 more men. And they will be
required.
A resolution was passed demanding of the Commissary and
Quartermaster-General the number of their employees capable of
performing military duty. It would be well to extend the inquiry to the
War Department itself.
A letter from Norfolk states that at a grand ball, in celebration of the
emancipation of the negroes, Gen. Vieille opened the dance with a
mulatto woman of bad character as his partner; and Mrs. V. had for her
partner a negro barber.
JANUARY 23D.--The Northern papers are filled with what purports to be
the intercepted correspondence of Mr. Benjamin with Messrs. Mason and
Slidell. Lord John Russell is berated. The Emperor of France is charged
with a design to seize Mexico as a colony, and to recognize Texas
separately, making that State in effect a dependency, from which cotton
may be procured as an offset to British India. He says the French
Consuls in Texas are endeavoring to detach Texas from the Confederacy.
If this be a genuine correspondence, it will injure the South; if it be
false (if the allegations be false), it will still injure us. I have no
doubt of its genuineness; and that Mr. Sanders, once the correspondent
of the New York _Tribune_, was the bearer. If Texas leaves us, so may
Louisiana--and the gigantic Houmas speculation may turn out well at
last.
Mr. Curry has brought forward a copyright bill; Mr. Foster, of Alabama,
has introduced a bill to abolish the passport system--leaving the matter
to railroad conductors.
A dispatch from Gen. Bragg assures us that our cavalry are still
capturing and destroying large amounts of Rosecrans's stores on the
Cumberland River.
Col. Wall has been elected Senator from New Jersey. They say he is still
pale and ill from his imprisonment, for opinion sake. I hope he will
speak as boldly in the Senate as out of it.
I met Gen. Davis to-day (the President's nephew), just _from_
Goldsborough, where his brigade is stationed. He is in fine
_plumage_--and I hope he will prove a game-cock.
Major-Gen. French, in command at Petersburg, is a Northern man. Our
_native_ generals are brigadiers. It is amazing that all the superior
officers in command near the capital should be Northern men. Can this be
the influence of Gen. Cooper? It may prove disastrous!
JANUARY 24TH.--Gen. Smith writes that he deems Wilmington in a condition
to resist any attacks.
The exposition of Mr. Benjamin's dispatches has created profound
mortification in the community.
Another transport has been taken from the enemy in the Cumberland River.
No further news from Arkansas.
There is a white flag (small-pox) within seventy yards of our house. But
it is probable we must give up the house soon, as the owner is desirous
to return to it--being unable to get board in the country.
Gen. Rains, who has been making a certain sort of primer, met with an
accident this morning; one of them exploded in his hand, injuring his
thumb and finger. He was scarcely able to sign his name to official
documents to-day.
Mr. Hunter has brought forward a measure for the funding of Treasury
notes, the redundant circulation having contributed to produce the
present fabulous prices in the market.
In the New Jersey Legislature petitions are flowing in denunciatory of
Lincoln's Emancipation scheme, which would cast into the free States a
large excess of profitless population.
JANUARY 25TH.--Gen. Lee mentions, in his recent correspondence, an
instance of the barbarity of some of the Yankee soldiers in the
Abolition Army of the Potomac. They thrust into the Rappahannock River a
poor old negro man, whom they had taken from his master, because he had
the small-pox; and he would have been drowned had he not been rescued by
our pickets. It is surmised that this dreadful disease prevails to an
alarming extent in the Yankee army, and probably embarrasses their
operations. Our men have all been vaccinated; and their recklessness of
disease and death is perhaps a guarantee of exemption from affliction.
Their health, generally, is better than it has ever been before.
The government at Washington has interdicted the usual exchange of
newspapers, for the present. This gives rise to conjecture that Lincoln
experiences grave difficulties from the adverse sentiment of his people
and his armies regarding his Emancipation Proclamation. And it is likely
he has met with grave losses at sea, for the invading army in North
Carolina has retired back on Newbern. But the season for naval
enterprises is not over, and we are prepared to expect some heavy blows
before April.
The revelations in the intercepted dispatches captured with Mr. Sanders,
whose father is a notorious political adventurer, may be most
unfortunate. They not only show that we even were negotiating for six
war steamers, but give the names of the firms in Europe that were to
furnish them. The project must now be abandoned. And Louis Napoleon will
be enraged at the suspicions and imputations of our Secretary of State
regarding his occult policy.
Gen. Rains has invented a new primer for shell, which will explode from
the slightest pressure. The shell is buried just beneath the surface of
the earth, and explodes when a horse or a man treads upon it. He says he
would not use such a weapon in ordinary warfare; but has no scruples in
resorting to any means of defense against an army of Abolitionists,
invading our country for the purpose, avowed, of extermination. He tried
a few shell on the Peninsula last spring, and the explosion of only four
sufficed to arrest the army of invaders, and compelled them to change
their line of march.
JANUARY 26TH.--The _Northern_ papers say Hooker's grand division crossed
the Rappahannock, ten miles above Falmouth, several days ago.
Burnside has issued an address to his army, promising them another
battle immediately.
Gen. Lee advises the government to buy all the grain in the counties
through which the canal runs. He says many farmers are hoarding their
provisions, for extortionate prices.
I have no house yet. Dr. Wortham had one; and although I applied first,
he let Mr. Reagan, the Postmaster-General, have it. He is a member of
President Davis's cabinet--and receives $6000 salary.
There is much indignation expressed by the street talkers against Mr.
Benjamin and Mr. Sanders, in the matter of the intercepted dispatches:
against Mr. Benjamin for casting such imputations on Napoleon and his
consular agents, and for sending his dispatches by such a messenger, in
the absence of the President; against Sanders for not destroying the
dispatches. Many think the information was _sold_ to the United States
Government.
Col. Wall has made a speech in Philadelphia. He said he should take his
seat in the United States Senate as an advocate of peace; and he boldly
denounced the Lincoln administration.
Our official report shows that our military authorities, up to this
time, have burnt 100,000 bales of cotton in Arkansas. I have not learned
the amount destroyed in other States--but it is large. Gen. Lee thinks
the object of the expeditions of the enemy on the Southern coast is to
procure cotton, etc. The slaves can do them no good, and the torch will
disappoint the marauders.
Strong and belligerent resolutions have been introduced in the United
States Congress against France, for her alleged purpose to obtain
dominion in Mexico. It is violative of the Monroe doctrine. And Mr.
Benjamin's accusation against the consuls (embracing a French design on
Texas) might seem like a covert purpose to unite both the Confederate
and the United States against France--and that might resemble
premeditated reconstruction. But diplomatists _must_ be busy--always at
their webs. President Davis would be the last man to abandon the ship
Independence.
JANUARY 27TH.--It is too true that several thousand of our men were
captured at Arkansas Post, and that Little Rock is now in danger.
There seems to be no probability, after all, of an immediate advance of
the enemy across the Rappahannock.
But there are eight iron-clad gun-boats and ninety sail at Beaufort,
North Carolina, and, it is reported, 52,000 men. Wilmington will
probably be assailed.
Mr. Foote said, yesterday, if Indiana and Illinois would recede from the
war, he should be in favor of aiding them with an army against Lincoln.
And all the indications from the North seem to exhibit a strong
sentiment among the people favoring peace. But the people are not the
government, and they sink peace and reconstruction together.
Yesterday Mr. Crockett, of Kentucky, said, in the House of
Representatives, that there was a party in favor of forming a Central
Confederacy (of free and slave States) between the Northern and Southern
extremes. Impracticable.
To-day we have news of the bombardment of Fort McAlister, near Savannah.
No result known. Now we shall have tidings every few days of naval
operations. Can Savannah, and Charleston, and Wilmington be successfully
defended? They may, if they will emulate the example of Vicksburg. If
they fall, it will _stagger_ this government--before the peace party in
the North can operate on the Government of the United States. But it
would not "crush the rebellion."
JANUARY 28TH.--The bombardment of Fort McAlister continued five hours
yesterday, when the enemy's boats drew off. The injury to the fort can
be repaired in a day. Not a man was killed or a gun dismounted. The
injury done the fleet is not known. But the opinion prevails here that
if the bombardment was continued to-day, the elongated shot of the enemy
probably demolished the fort.
Last night and all this day it snowed incessantly--melting rapidly,
however. This must retard operations by land in Virginia and probably in
North Carolina.
JANUARY 29TH.--It appears from the Northern press that the enemy _did_
make three attempts last week to cross the Rappahannock; but as they
advanced toward the stream, the _elements_ successfully opposed them. It
rained, it snowed, and it froze. The gun carriages and wagons sank up to
the hubs, the horses to their bodies, and the men to their knees; and so
all stuck fast in the mud.
I saw an officer to-day from the army in North Carolina. He says the
prospect for a battle is good, as soon as the roads admit of marching.
We have nothing further from the bombardment near Savannah. The wires
may not be working--or the fort may be taken.
Gov. Vance has sent to the department a strong protest against the
appointment of Col. August as commandant of conscripts in Northern
Tennessee. Col. A. is a Virginian--that is the only reason. Well, Gen.
Rains, who commands all the conscripts in the Confederate States, is a
North Carolinian. But the War Department has erred in putting so many
strangers in command of localities, where natives might have been
selected. Richmond, for instance, has never yet been in the command of a
Southern general.
There are indications of a speedy peace, although we are environed by
sea and by land as menacingly as ever. The _Tribune_ (New York) has an
article which betrays much desperation. It says the only way for the
United States Government to raise $300,000,000, indispensably necessary
for a further prosecution of the war, is to guarantee (to the
capitalists) that it will be the _last_ call for a loan, and that
subjugation will be accomplished in ninety days, or never. It says the
war must then be urged on _furiously_, and negro soldiers sent among the
slaves to produce an insurrection! If this will not suffice, then let
peace be made on the best possible terms. The New York _World_ denounces
the article, and is for peace at once. It says if the project
(diabolical) of the _Tribune_ fails, it may not be possible to make
peace on any terms. In this I see indications of a foregone conclusion.
All over the North, and especially in the Northwest, the people are
clamoring for peace, and denouncing the Lincoln Emancipation
Proclamation. I have no doubt, if the war continues throughout the year,
we shall have the spectacle of more Northern men fighting against the
United States Government than slaves fighting against the South.
Almost every day, now, ships from Europe arrive safely with merchandise:
and this is a sore vexation to the Northern merchants. We are likewise
getting, daily, many supplies from the North, from blockade-runners. No
doubt this is winked at by the United States military authorities, and
perhaps by some of the civil ones, too.
If we are not utterly crushed before May (an impracticable thing), we
shall win our independence.
JANUARY 30TH.--There is a rumor that Kentucky has voted to raise an army
of 60,000 men to resist the execution of Lincoln's Emancipation
Proclamation.
Fort Caswell, below Wilmington, has been casemated with iron; but can it
withstand elongated balls weighing 480 pounds? I fear not. There are,
however, submarine batteries; yet these may be avoided, for Gen. Whiting
writes that the best pilot (one sent thither some time ago by the enemy)
escaped to the hostile fleet since Gen. Smith visited North Carolina,
which is embraced within his command. This pilot, no doubt, knows the
location of all our torpedoes.
Nothing further from Savannah.
Mr. Adams, the United States Minister at London, writes to Mr. Seward,
Secretary of State, dated 17th of October, 1862, that if the Federal
army shall not achieve decisive successes by the month of February
ensuing, it is probable the British Parliament will recognize the
Confederate States. To-morrow is the last day of January.
I cut the following from yesterday's _Dispatch_:
"_The Results of Extortion and Speculation._--The state of affairs
brought about by the speculating and extortion practiced upon the public
cannot be better illustrated than by the following grocery bill for one
week for a small family, in which the prices before the war and those of
the present are compared:
1860. 1863.
Bacon, 10 lbs. at 12-1/2c $1 25 Bacon, 10 lbs. at $1 $10 00
Flour, 30 lbs. at 5c 1 50 Flour, 30 lbs. at 12-1/2c 3 75
Sugar, 5 lbs. at 8c 40 Sugar, 5 lbs. at $1 15 5 75
Coffee, 4 lbs. at 12-1/2c 50 Coffee, 4 lbs. at $5 20 00
Tea (green), 1/2 lb. at $1 50 Tea (green), 1/2 lb. at $16 8 00
Lard, 4 lbs. at 12-1/2c 50 Lard, 4 lbs. at $1 4 00
Butter, 3 lbs. at 25c 75 Butter, 3 lbs. at $1 75 5 25
Meal, 1 pk. at 25c 25 Meal, 1 pk. at $1 1 00
Candles, 2 lbs. at 15c 30 Candles, 2 lbs. at $1 25 2 50
Soap, 5 lbs. at 10c 50 Soap, 5 lbs. at $1 10 5 50
Pepper and salt (about) 10 Pepper and salt (about) 2 50
---- ----
Total $6 55 Total $68 25
"So much we owe the speculators, who have stayed at home to prey upon
the necessities of their fellow-citizens."
We have just learned that a British steamer, with cannon and other
valuable cargo, was captured by the enemy, two days ago, while trying to
get in the harbor. Another, similarly laden, got safely in yesterday. We
can afford to lose one ship out of three--that is, the owners can, and
then make money.
Cotton sells at _seventy-five cents_ per pound in the United States. So
the blockade must be felt by the enemy as well as ourselves. War is a
two-edged sword.
JANUARY 31ST.--We have dispatches from Charleston, to-day, which
reconcile us to the loss of the cargo captured by the blockading
squadron early in the week. An artillery company captured a fine
gun-boat in Stone River (near Charleston) yesterday evening. She had
eleven guns and 200 men.
But this morning we did better still. Our little fleet of two iron-clads
steamed out of Charleston harbor, and boldly attacked the blockading
fleet. We crippled two of their ships, and sunk one, completely raising
the blockade, for the time being. This will frustrate some of their
plans, and may relieve Wilmington.
The attack on Fort McAlister was a failure. The monitor which assaulted
the fort sustained so much injury, that it had to retire for repairs.
Several blockade-runners between this and Williamsburg were arrested and
sent to Gen. Winder to-day by Lieut. G. D. Wise. Gen. W. sent them to
Gen. Rains. Mr. Petit and Mr. James Custis (from Williamsburg) came with
them to endeavor to procure their liberation. Gen. Rains sent them back
to Gen. W., with a note that he had no time to attend to such matters.
Such business does not pertain to his bureau. I suppose they will be
released.
Major Lear, of Texas, who was at the capture of the Harriet Lane, met on
the captured steamer his mortally-wounded son, the lieutenant.
A few days ago, Lieut. Buchanan was killed on a United States gun-boat
by our sharpshooters. He was the son of Admiral Buchanan, in the
Confederate service, now at Mobile. Thus we are reminded of the wars of
the roses--father against son, and brother against brother. God speed
the growth of the Peace Party, North and South; but we must have
independence.
Mr. Hunter was in our office to-day, getting the release of a son of the
Hon. Jackson Morton, who escaped from Washington, where he had resided,
and was arrested here as a conscript. The Assistant Secretary of War
ruled him entitled to exemption, although yesterday others, in the same
predicament, were ruled into the service.