General Scott’s resignation--Mrs. A. Lincoln--Unofficial mission
to Europe--Uneasy feeling with regard to France--Ball given
by the United States cavalry--The United States army--Success
at Beaufort--Arrests--Dinner at Mr. Seward’s--News of Captain
Wilkes and the Trent--Messrs. Mason and Slidell--Discussion
as to Wilkes--Prince de Joinville--The American press on the
Trent affair--Absence of thieves in Washington--“Thanksgiving
Day”--Success thus far in favour of the North.
_November 1st._--Again stagnation; not the smallest intention of
moving; General Scott’s resignation, of which I was aware long
ago, is publicly known, and he is about to go to Europe, and end
his days probably in France. M‘Clellan takes his place, minus the
large salary. Riding back from camp, where I had some trouble with
a drunken soldier, my horse came down in a dark hole, and threw me
heavily, so that my hat was crushed in on my head, and my right thumb
sprained, but I managed to get up and ride home; for the brute had
fallen right on his own head, cut a piece out of his forehead between
the eyes, and was stunned too much to run away. I found letters
waiting from Mr. Seward and others, thanking me for the game, if
canvas-backs come under the title.
_November 2nd._--A tremendous gale of wind and rain blew all day, and
caused much uneasiness, at the Navy Department and elsewhere, for the
safety of the Burnside expedition. The Secessionists are delighted,
and those who can, say “Afflavit Deus et hostes dissipantur.” There
is a project to send secret non-official commissioners to Europe, to
counteract the machinations of the Confederates. Mr. Everett, Mr. R.
Kennedy, Bishop Hughes, and Bishop M‘Ilwaine are designated for the
office; much is expected from the expedition, not only at home but
abroad.
_November 3rd._--For some reason or another, a certain set of papers
have lately taken to flatter Mrs. Lincoln in the most noisome
manner, whilst others deal in dark insinuations against her loyalty,
Union principles, and honesty. The poor lady is loyal as steel to
her family and to Lincoln the first; but she is accessible to the
influence of flattery, and has permitted her society to be infested
by men who would not be received in any respectable private house
in New York. The gentleman who furnishes fashionable paragraphs for
the Washington paper has some charming little pieces of gossip about
“the first Lady in the Land” this week; he is doubtless the same
who, some weeks back, chronicled the details of a raid on the pigs
in the streets by the police, and who concluded thus: “We cannot but
congratulate Officer Smith on the very gentlemanly manner in which
he performed his disagreeable but arduous duties; nor did it escape
our notice, that Officer Washington Jones was likewise active and
energetic in the discharge of his functions.”
The ladies in Washington delight to hear or to invent small scandals
connected with the White House; thus it is reported that the Scotch
gardener left by Mr. Buchanan has been made a lieutenant in the
United States Army, and has been specially detached to do duty at
the White House, where he superintends the cooking. Another person
connected with the establishment was made Commissioner of Public
Buildings, but was dismissed because he would not put down the
expense of a certain state dinner to the public account, and charge
it under the head of “Improvement to the Grounds.” But many more
better tales than these go round, and it is not surprising if a woman
is now and then put under close arrest, or sent off to Fort M‘Henry
for too much _esprit_ and inventiveness.
_November 4th._--General Fremont will certainly be recalled. There is
not the smallest incident to note.
_November 5th._--Small banquets, very simple and tolerably social,
are the order of the day as winter closes around us; the country
has become too deep in mud for pleasant excursions, and at times
the weather is raw and cold. General M‘Dowell, who dined with us
to-day, maintains there will be no difficulty in advancing during bad
weather, because the men are so expert in felling trees, they can
make corduroy roads wherever they like. I own the arguments surprised
but did not convince me, and I think the General will find out his
mistake when the time comes. Mr. Everett, whom I had expected, was
summoned away by the unexpected intelligence of his son’s death, so I
missed the opportunity of seeing one whom I much desired to have met,
as the great Apostle of Washington worship, in addition to his claims
to higher distinction. He has admitted that the only bond which can
hold the Union together is the common belief in the greatness of the
departed general.
_November 6th._--Instead of Mr. Everett and Mr. Johnson, Mr. Thurlow
Weed and Bishop Hughes will pay a visit to Europe in the Federal
interests. Notwithstanding the adulation of everything French,
from the Emperor down to a Zouave’s gaiter, in the New York press
there is an uneasy feeling respecting the intentions of France,
founded on the notion that the Emperor is not very friendly to the
Federalists, and would be little disposed to expose his subjects to
privation and suffering from the scarcity of cotton and tobacco if,
by intervention, he could avert such misfortunes. The inactivity
of M‘Clellan, which is not understood by the people, has created
an under-current of unpopularity, to which his enemies are giving
every possible strength, and some people are beginning to think the
youthful Napoleon is only a Brummagem Bonaparte.
_November 7th._--After such bad weather, the Indian summer, _l’été
de St. Martin_, is coming gradually, lighting up the ruins of the
autumn’s foliage still clinging to the trees, giving us pure, bright,
warm days, and sunsets of extraordinary loveliness. Drove out to
Bladensburgh with Captain Haworth, and discovered that my waggon was
intended to go on to Richmond and never to turn back or round, for no
roads in this part of the country are wide enough for the purpose.
Dined at the Legation, and in the evening went to a grand ball, given
by the 6th United States Cavalry in the Poor House near their camp,
about two miles outside the city.
The ball took place in a series of small white-washed rooms off long
passages and corridors; many supper tables were spread; whisky,
champagne, hot terrapin soup, and many luxuries graced the board;
and although but two or three couple could dance in each room at a
time, by judicious arrangement of the music several rooms were served
at once. The Duke of Chartres, in the uniform of a United States
Captain of Staff, was among the guests, and had to share the ordeal
to which strangers were exposed by the hospitable entertainers, of
drinking with them all. Some called him “Chatters”--others, “Captain
Chatters;” but these were of the outside polloi, who cannot be kept
out on such occasions, and who shake hands and are familiar with
everybody.
The Duke took it all exceedingly well, and laughed with the loudest
in the company. Altogether the ball was a great success--somewhat
marred indeed in my own case by the bad taste of one of the officers
of the regiment which had invited me, in adopting an offensive manner
when about to be introduced to me by one of his brother officers.
Colonel Emory, the officer in command of the regiment, interfered,
and, finding that Captain A---- was not sober, ordered him to retire.
Another small _contretemps_ was caused by the master of the Work
House, who had been indulging at least as freely as the captain, and
at last began to fancy that the paupers had broken loose and were
dancing about after hours below stairs. In vain he was led away and
incarcerated in one room after another; his intimate knowledge of the
architectural difficulties of the building enabled him to set all
precautions at defiance, and he might be seen at intervals flying
along the passages towards the music, pursued by the officers, until
he was finally secured in a dungeon without a window, and with a
bolted and locked door between him and the ball-rooms.
_November 8th._--Colonel Emory made us laugh this morning by an
account of our Amphytrion of the night before, who came to him with
a very red eye and curious expression of face to congratulate the
regiment on the success of the ball. “The most beautiful thing of
all was,” said he, “Colonel, I did not see one gentleman or lady who
had taken too much liquor; there was not a drunken man in the whole
company.” I consulted my friends at the Legation with respect to our
inebriated officer, on whose behalf Colonel Emory tendered his own
apologies; but they were of opinion I had done all that was right and
becoming in the matter, and that I must take no more notice of it.
_November 9th._--Colonel Wilmot, R. A., who has come down from
Canada to see the army, spent the day with Captain Dahlgren at the
Navy Yard, and returned with impressions favourable to the system.
He agrees with Dahlgren, who is dead against breach-loading, but
admits Armstrong has done the most that can be effected with the
system. Colonel Wilmot avers the English press are responsible for
the Armstrong guns. He has been much struck by the excellence of the
great iron-works he has visited in the States, particularly that of
Mr. Sellers, in Philadelphia.
_November 10th._--Visiting Mr. Mure the other day, who was still an
invalid at Washington, I met a gentleman named Maury, who had come
to Washington to see after a portmanteau which had been taken from
him on the Canadian frontier by the police. He was told to go to the
State Department and claim his property, and on arriving there was
arrested and confined with a number of prisoners, my horse-dealing
friend, Sammy Wroe, among them. We walked down to inquire how he
was; the soldier who was on duty gave a flourishing account of
him--he had plenty of whisky and food, and, said the man, “I quite
feel for Maury, because he does business in my State.” These State
influences must be overcome, or no Union will ever hold together.
Sir James Ferguson and Mr. Bourke were rather shocked when Mr.
Seward opened the letters from persons in the South to friends
in Europe, of which they had taken charge, and cut some passages
out with a scissors; but a Minister who combines the functions of
Chief-of-Police with those of Secretary of State must do such things
now and then.
_November 11th._--The United States have now, according to the
returns, 600,000 infantry, 600 pieces of artillery, 61,000
cavalry in the field, and yet they are not only unable to crush
the Confederates, but they cannot conquer the Secession ladies
in their capital. The Southern people here trust in a break-down
in the North before the screw can be turned to the utmost; and
assert that the South does not want corn, wheat, leather, or food.
Georgia makes cloth enough for all--the only deficiency will be in
metal and _matériel_ of war. When the North comes to discuss the
question whether the war is to be against slavery or for the Union
leaving slavery to take care of itself, they think a split will be
inevitable. Then the pressure of taxes will force on a solution, for
the State taxes already amount to 2 to 3 per cent., and the people
will not bear the addition. The North has set out with the principle
of paying for everything, the South with the principle of paying for
nothing; but this will be reversed in time. All the diplomatists,
with one exception, are of opinion the Union is broken for ever, and
the independence of the South virtually established.
_November 12th._--An irruption of dirty little boys in the streets
shouting out, “Glorious Union victory! Charleston taken!” The story
is that Burnside has landed and reduced the forts defending Port
Royal. I met Mr. Fox, Assistant-Secretary to the Navy, and Mr.
Hay, Secretary to Mr. Lincoln, in the Avenue. The former showed me
Burnside’s despatches from Beaufort, announcing reduction of the
Confederate batteries by the ships and the establishment of the
Federals on the skirts of Port Royal. Dined at Lord Lyons’, where
were Mr. Chase, Major Palmer, U.S.E., and his wife, Colonel and
Mrs. Emory, Professor Henry and his daughter, Mr. Kennedy and his
daughter, Colonel Wilmot and the Englishry of Washington. I had a
long conversation with Mr. Chase, who is still sanguine that the
war must speedily terminate. The success at Beaufort has made him
radiant, and he told me that the Federal General Nelson[8]--who is no
other than the enormous blustering, boasting lieutenant in the navy
whom I met at Washington on my first arrival--has gained an immense
victory in Kentucky, killing and capturing a whole army and its
generals.
A strong Government will be the end of the struggle, but before they
come to it there must be a complete change of administration and
internal economy. Indeed, the Secretary of the Treasury candidly
admitted that the expenses of the war were enormous, and could not go
on at the present rate very long. The men are paid too highly; every
one is paid too much. The scale is adapted to a small army not very
popular, in a country where labour is very well paid, and competition
is necessary to obtain recruits at all. He has never disguised
his belief the South might have been left to go at first, with a
certainty of their return to the Union.
_November 13th._--Mr. Charles Green, who was my host at Savannah,
and Mr. Low, of the same city, have been arrested and sent to Fort
Warren. Dining with Mr. Seward, I heard accidentally that Mrs. Low
had also been arrested, but was now liberated. The sentiment of
dislike towards England is increasing, because English subjects
have assisted the South by smuggling and running the blockade. “It
is strange,” said Mr. Seward the other day, “that this great free
and civilized Union should be supported by Germans, coming here
semi-civilized or half-savage, who plunder and destroy as if they
were living in the days of Agricola, whilst the English are the great
smugglers who support our enemies in their rebellion.” I reminded him
that the United States flag had covered the smugglers who carried
guns and _matériel_ of war to Russia, although they were at peace
with France and England. “Yes, but then,” said he, “that was a
legitimate contest between great established powers, and I admit,
though I lament the fact, that the public sympathy in this country
ran with Russia during that war.” The British public have a right
to their sympathies too, and the Government can scarcely help it if
private individuals aid the South on their own responsibility. In
future, British subjects will be indicted instead of being sent to
Fort La Fayette. Mr. Seward feels keenly the attacks in the _New York
Tribune_ on him for arbitrary arrests, and representations have been
made to Mr. Greeley privately on the subject; nor is he indifferent
to similar English criticisms.
General M‘Dowell asserts there is no nation in the world whose
censure or praise the people of the United States care about except
England, and with respect to her there is a morbid sensitiveness
which can neither be explained nor justified.
It is admitted, indeed, by Americans whose opinions are valuable,
that the popular feeling was in favour of Russia during the Crimean
war. Mr. Raymond attributes the circumstance to the influence of the
large Irish element; but I am inclined to believe it is partly due
at least to the feeling of rivalry and dislike to Great Britain, in
which the mass of the American people are trained by their early
education, and also in some measure to the notion that Russia was
unequally matched in the contest.
_November 14th._--Rode to cavalry camp, and sat in front of Colonel
Emory’s tent with General Stoneman, who is chief of the cavalry, and
Captain Pleasanton; heard interesting anecdotes of the wild life
on the frontiers, and of bushranging in California, of lassoing
bulls and wild horses and buffaloes, and encounters with grizzly
bears--interrupted by a one-armed man, who came to the Colonel for
“leave to take away George.” He spoke of his brother who had died in
camp, and for whose body he had come, metallic coffin and all, to
carry it back to his parents in Pennsylvania.
I dined with Mr. Seward--Mr. Raymond, of New York, and two or three
gentlemen, being the only guests. Mr. Lincoln came in whilst we were
playing a rubber, and told some excellent West-country stories.
“Here, Mr. President, we have got the two _Times_--of New York and
of London--if they would only do what is right and what we want,
all will go well.” “Yes,” said Mr. Lincoln, “if the bad Times would
go where we want them, good Times would be sure to follow.” Talking
over Bull’s Run, Mr. Seward remarked “that civilians sometimes
displayed more courage than soldiers, but perhaps the courage was
unprofessional. When we were cut off from Baltimore, and the United
States troops at Annapolis were separated by a country swarming with
malcontents, not a soldier could be found to undertake the journey
and communicate with them. At last a civilian”--(I think he mentioned
the name of Mr. Cassius Clay)--“volunteered, and executed the
business. So, after Bull’s Run, there was only one officer, General
Sherman, who was doing anything to get the troops into order when
the President and myself drove over to see what we could do on that
terrible Tuesday evening.” Mr. Teakle Wallis and others, after the
Baltimore business, told him the people would carry his head on their
pikes; and so he went to Auburn to see how matters stood, and a few
words from his old friends there made him feel his head was quite
right on his shoulders.
_November 15th._--Horse-dealers are the same all the world over.
To-day comes one with a beast for which he asked £50. “There was a
Government agent looking after this horse for one of them French
princes, I believe, just as I was talking to the Kentuck chap that
had him. ‘John,’ says he, ‘that’s the best-looking horse I’ve seen in
Washington this many a day.’ ‘Yes,’ says I, ‘and you need not look at
him any more.’ ‘Why?’ says he. ‘Because,’ says I, ‘it’s one that I
want for Lord John Russell, of the London _Times_,’ says I, ‘and if
ever there was a man suited for a horse, or a horse that was suited
for a man, they’re the pair, and I’ll give every cent I can raise to
buy my friend, Lord Russell, that horse.’” I could not do less than
purchase, at a small reduction, a very good animal thus recommended.
_November 16th._--A cold, raw day. As I was writing, a small friend
of mine, who appears like a stormy petrel in moments of great storm,
fluttered into my room, and having chirped out something about a
“Jolly row”--“Seizure of Mason and Slidell”--“British flag insulted,”
and the like, vanished. Somewhat later, going down 17th Street, I
met the French Minister, M. Mercier, wrapped in his cloak, coming
from the British Legation. “Vous avez entendu quelque chose de
nouveau?” “Mais non, excellence.” And then, indeed, I learned there
was no doubt about the fact that Captain Wilkes, of the U.S. steamer
San Jacinto, had forcibly boarded the Trent, British mail steamer,
off the Bahamas, and had taken Messrs. Mason, Slidell, Eustis, and
M‘Clernand from on board by armed force, in defiance of the protests
of the captain and naval officer in charge of the mails. This was
indeed grave intelligence, and the French Minister considered the act
a flagrant outrage, which could not for a moment be justified.
I went to the Legation, and found the young diplomatists in the
“Chancellerie” as demure and innocent as if nothing had happened,
though perhaps they were a trifle more lively than usual. An hour
later, and the whole affair was published in full in the evening
papers. Extraordinary exultation prevailed in the hotels and
bar-rooms. The State Department has made of course no communication
respecting the matter. All the English are satisfied that Mason and
his friends must be put on board an English mail packet from the San
Jacinto under a salute.
An officer of the United States navy--whose name I shall not
mention here--came in to see the buccaneers, as the knot of English
bachelors of Washington are termed, and talk over the matter. “Of
course” he said, “we shall apologise and give up poor Wilkes to
vengeance by dismissing him, but under no circumstances shall we
ever give up Mason and Slidell. No, sir; not a man dare propose
such a humiliation to our flag.” He says that Wilkes acted on his
own responsibility, and that the San Jacinto was coming home from
the African station when she encountered the Trent. Wilkes knew the
rebel emissaries were on board, and thought he would cut a dash and
get up a little sensation, being a bold and daring sort of a fellow
with a quarrelsome disposition and a great love of notoriety, but an
excellent officer.
_November 17th._--For my sins I went to see a dress parade of the 6th
Regular Cavalry early this morning, and underwent a small purgatory
from the cold, on a bare plain, whilst the men and officers, with red
cheeks and blue noses, mounted on horses with staring coats, marched,
trotted, and cantered past. The papers contain joyous articles on the
Trent affair, and some have got up an immense amount of learning at
a short notice; but I am glad to say we had no discussion in camp.
There is scarcely more than one opinion among thinking people in
Washington respecting the legality of the act, and the course Great
Britain must pursue. All the Foreign Ministers, without exception,
have called on Lord Lyons--Russia, France, Italy, Prussia, Denmark.
All are of accord. I am not sure whether the important diplomatist
who represents the mighty interests of the Hanse Towns has not
condescended to admit England has right on her side.
_November 18th._--There is a storm of exultation sweeping over the
land. Wilkes is the hero of the hour. I saw Mr. F. Seward at the
State Department at ten o’clock; but as at the British Legation
the orders are not to speak of the transaction, so at the State
Department a judicious reticence is equally observed. The lawyers are
busy furnishing arguments to the newspapers. The officers who held
their tongues at first, astonished at the audacity of the act, are
delighted to find any arguments in its favour.
I called at General M‘Clellan’s new head-quarters to get a pass, and
on my way met the Duke of Chartres, who shook his young head very
gravely, and regarded the occurrence with sorrow and apprehension.
M‘Clellan, I understand, advised the immediate surrender of the
prisoners; but the authorities, supported by the sudden outburst of
public approval, refused to take that step. I saw Lord Lyons, who
appeared very much impressed by the magnitude of the crisis. Thence
I visited the Navy Department, where Captain Dahlgren and Lieutenant
Wise discussed the affair. The former, usually so calm, has too
much sense not to perceive the course England must take, and as an
American officer naturally feels regret at what appears to be the
humiliation of his flag; but he speaks with passion, and vows that
if England avails herself of the temporary weakness of the United
States to get back the rebel commissioners by threats of force,
every American should make his sons swear eternal hostility to Great
Britain. Having done wrong, stick to it! Thus men’s anger blinds
them, and thus come wars.
It is obvious that no Power could permit political offenders sailing
as passengers in a mail-boat under its flag, from one neutral port
to another, to be taken by a belligerent, though the recognition of
such a right would be, perhaps, more advantageous to England than to
any other Power. But, notwithstanding these discussions, our naval
friends dined and spent the evening with us, in company with some
other officers.
I paid my respects to the Prince of Joinville, with whom I had a
long and interesting conversation, in the course of which he gave
me to understand he thought the seizure an untoward and unhappy
event, which could not be justified on any grounds whatever, and
that he had so expressed himself in the highest quarters. There are,
comparatively, many English here at present; Mr. Chaplin, Sir F.
Johnstone, Mr. Weldon, Mr. Browne, and others, and it may be readily
imagined this affair creates deep feeling and much discussion.
_November 19th._--I rarely sat down to write under a sense of greater
responsibility, for it is just possible my letter may contain the
first account of the seizure of the Southern Commissioners which
will reach England; and, having heard all opinions and looked at
authorities, as far as I could, it appears to me that the conduct of
the American officer, now sustained by his Government, is without
excuse. I dined at Mr. Corcoran’s, where the Ministers of Prussia,
Brazil, and Chili, and the Secretary of the French Legation, were
present; and, although we did not talk politics, enough was said to
show there was no dissent from the opinion expressed by intelligent
and uninterested foreigners.
_November 20th._--To-day a grand review, the most remarkable feature
of which was the able disposition made by General M‘Dowell to march
seventy infantry regiments, seventeen batteries, and seven cavalry
regiments, into a very contracted space, from the adjoining camps.
Of the display itself I wrote a long account, which is not worth
repeating here. Among the 55,000 men present there were at least
20,000 Germans and 12,000 Irish.
_November 22nd._--All the American papers have agreed that the Trent
business is quite according to law, custom, and international comity,
and that England can do nothing. They cry out so loudly in this
one key there is reason to suspect they have some inward doubts.
General M‘Clellan invited all the world, including myself, to see a
performance given by Hermann, the conjuror, at his quarters, which
will be aggravating news to the bloody-minded, serious people in New
England.
Day after day passes on, and finds our Micawbers in Washington
waiting for something to turn up. The Trent affair, having been
proved to be legal and right beyond yea or nay, has dropped out of
the minds of all save those who are waiting for news from England;
and on looking over my diary I can see nothing but memoranda relating
to quiet rides, visits to camps, conversations with this one or the
other, a fresh outburst of anonymous threatening letters, as if I
had anything to do with the Trent affair, and notes of small social
reunions at our own rooms and the Washington houses which were open
to us.
_November 25th._--I remarked the other evening that, with all the
disorder in Washington, there are no thieves. Next night, as we were
sitting in our little symposium, a thirsty soldier knocked at the
door for a glass of water. He was brought in and civilly treated.
Under the date of the 27th, accordingly, I find it duly entered that
“the vagabond who came in for water must have had a confederate,
who got into the hall whilst we were attending to his comrade, for
yesterday there was a great lamentation over cloaks and great-coats
missing from the hall, and as the day wore on the area of plunder was
extended. Carl discovers he has been robbed of his best clothes, and
Caroline has lost her watch and many petticoats.”
Thanksgiving Day on the 28th was celebrated by enormous drunkenness
in the army. The weather varied between days of delicious
summer--soft, bright, balmy, and beautiful beyond expression--and
days of wintry storm, with torrents of rain.
Some excitement was caused at the end of the month by the report I
had received information from England that the law officers of the
Crown had given it as their opinion that a United States man-of-war
would be justified by Lord Stowell’s decisions in taking Mason and
Slidell even in the British Channel, if the Nashville transferred
them to a British mail steamer. This opinion was called for in
consequence of the Tuscarora appearing in Southampton Water; and,
having heard of it, I repeated it in strict confidence to some one
else, till at last Baron de Stoeckl came to ask me if it was true.
Receiving passengers from the Nashville, however, would have been an
act of direct intercourse with an enemy’s ship. In the case of the
Trent the persons seized had come on board as lawful passengers at a
neutral port.
The tide of success runs strongly in favour of the North at present,
although they generally get the worst of it in the small affairs in
the front of Washington. The entrance to Savannah has been occupied,
and by degrees the fleets are biting into the Confederate lines along
the coast, and establishing positions which will afford bases of
operations to the Federals hereafter. The President and Cabinet seem
in better spirits, and the former indulges in quaint speculations,
which he transfers even to State papers. He calculates, for instance,
there are human beings now alive who may ere they die behold the
United States peopled by 250 millions of souls. Talking of a high
mound on the prairie, in Illinois, he remarked, “that if all the
nations of the earth were assembled there, a man standing on its top
would see them all, for that the whole human race would fit on a
space twelve miles square, which was about the extent of the plain.”