AMONG THE OFFICIALS.
Reasons for Trying an Experiment.--Activity among Lessees.--Opinions
of the Residents.--Rebel Hopes in 1863.--Removal of Negroes to West
Louisiana.--Visiting Natchez.--The City and its Business.--"The
Rejected Addresses."
In my visit to Vicksburg I was accompanied by my fellow-journalist,
Mr. Colburn, of _The World_. Mr. Colburn and myself had taken more
than an ordinary interest in the free-labor enterprise. We had watched
its inception eight months before, with many hopes for its success,
and with as many fears for the result. The experiment of 1863, under
all its disadvantages, gave us convincing proof that the production of
cotton and sugar by free labor was both possible and profitable. The
negro had proved the incorrectness of the slaveholders' assertion that
no black man would labor on a plantation except as a slave. So much we
had seen accomplished. It was the result of a single year's trial. We
desired to see a further and more extensive test.
While studying the new system in the hands of others, we were urged to
bring it under our personal observation. Various inducements were held
out. We were convinced of the general feasibility of the enterprise,
wherever it received proper attention. As a philanthropic undertaking,
it was commendable. As a financial experiment, it promised success. We
looked at the matter in all its aspects, and finally decided to gain
an intimate knowledge of plantation life in war-time. Whether we
succeeded or failed, we would learn more about the freedmen than we
had hitherto known, and would assist, in some degree, to solve
the great problem before the country. Success would be personally
profitable, while failure could not be disastrous.
We determined to lease a plantation, but had selected none. In her
directions for cooking a hare, Mrs. Glass says: "First, catch your
hare." Our animal was to be caught, and the labor of securing it
proved greater than we anticipated.
All the eligible locations around Vicksburg had been taken by the
lessees of the previous season, or by newly-arrived persons who
preceded us. There were several residents of the neighboring region
who desired persons from the North to join them in tilling their
plantations. They were confident of obtaining Rebel protection, though
by no means certain of securing perfect immunity. In each case they
demanded a cash advance of a few thousands, for the purpose of hiring
the guerrillas to keep the peace. As it was evident that the purchase
of one marauding band would require the purchase of others, until
the entire "Confederacy" had been bought up, we declined all these
proposals.
Some of these residents, who wished Northern men to join them, claimed
to have excellent plantations along the Yazoo, or near some of its
tributary bayous. These men were confident a fine cotton crop could be
made, "if there were some Northern man to manage the niggers." It was
the general complaint with the people who lived in that region that,
with few exceptions, no Southern man could induce the negroes to
continue at work. One of these plantation proprietors said his
location was such that no guerrilla could get near it without
endangering his life. An investigation showed that no other person
could reach the plantation without incurring a risk nearly as great.
Very few of these owners of remote plantations were able to induce
strangers to join them.
We procured a map of the Mississippi and the country bordering its
banks. Whenever we found a good location and made inquiry about it at
the office of the leasing agents, we were sure to ascertain that some
one had already filed an application. It was plain that Vicksburg was
not the proper field for our researches. We shook its dust from our
feet and went to Natchez, a hundred and twenty-five miles below, where
a better prospect was afforded.
In the spring of 1863, the Rebels felt confident of retaining
permanent possession of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, two hundred and
fifty miles apart. Whatever might be the result elsewhere, this
portion of the Mississippi should not be abandoned. In the belief that
the progress of the Yankees had been permanently stopped, the planters
in the locality mentioned endeavored to make as full crops as possible
of the great staple of the South. Accordingly, they plowed and
planted, and tended the growing cotton until midsummer came. On the
fourth of July, Vicksburg surrendered, and opened the river to Port
Hudson. General Herron's Division was sent to re-enforce General
Banks, who was besieging the latter place. In a few days, General
Gardner hauled down his flag and gave Port Hudson to the nation. "The
Father of Waters went unvexed to the Sea."
The rich region that the Rebels had thought to hold was, by the
fortune of war, in the possession of the National army. The planters
suspended their operations, through fear that the Yankees would
possess the land.
Some of them sent their negroes to the interior of Louisiana for
safety. Others removed to Texas, carrying all their human property
with them. On some plantations the cotton had been so well cared for
that it came to maturity in fine condition. On others it had been very
slightly cultivated, and was almost choked out of existence by weeds
and grass. Nearly every plantation could boast of more or less cotton
in the field--the quantity varying from twenty bales to five hundred.
On some plantations cotton had been neglected, and a large crop of
corn grown in its place. Everywhere the Rebel law had been obeyed
by the production of more corn than usual. There was enough for the
sustenance of our armies for many months.
Natchez was the center of this newly-opened region. Before the war it
was the home of wealthy slave-owners, who believed the formation of a
Southern Confederacy would be the formation of a terrestrial paradise.
On both banks of the Mississippi, above and below Natchez, were the
finest cotton plantations of the great valley. One family owned nine
plantations, from which eight thousand bales of cotton were annually
sent to market. Another family owned seven plantations, and others
were the owners of from three to six, respectively.
The plantations were in the care of overseers and agents, and rarely
visited by their owners. The profits were large, and money was poured
out in profusion. The books of one of the Natchez banks showed a daily
business, in the picking season, of two or three million dollars,
generally on the accounts of planters and their factors.
Prior to the Rebellion, cotton was usually shipped to New Orleans, and
sold in that market. There were some of the planters who sent their
cotton to Liverpool or Havre, without passing it through the hands of
New Orleans factors. A large balance of the proceeds of such shipments
remained to the credit of the shippers when the war broke out, and
saved them from financial ruin. The business of Natchez amounted,
according to the season, from a hundred thousand to three hundred
thousand bales. This included a great quantity that was sent to New
Orleans from plantations above and below the city, without touching at
all upon the levee at Natchez.
Natchez consists of Natchez-on-the-Hill and Natchez-under-the-Hill.
A bluff, nearly two hundred feet high, faces the Mississippi, where
there is an eastward bend of the stream. Toward the river this bluff
is almost perpendicular, and is climbed by three roads cut into its
face like inclined shelves. The French established a settlement at
this point a hundred and fifty years ago, and erected a fortification
for its defense. This work, known as Fort Rosalie, can still be traced
with distinctness, though it has fallen into extreme decay. It was
evidently a rectangular, bastioned work, and the location of the
bastions and magazine can be readily made out.
Natchez-under-the-Hill is a small, straggling village, having a few
commission houses and stores, and dwellings of a suspicious character.
It was once a resort of gamblers and other _chevaliers d'industrie_,
whose livelihood was derived from the travelers along the Mississippi.
At present it is somewhat shorn of its glory.
Natchez-on-the-Hill is a pleasant and well-built city, of about ten
thousand inhabitants. The buildings display wealth and good taste,
the streets are wide and finely shaded, and the abundance of churches
speaks in praise of the religious sentiment of the people. Near the
edge of the bluff there was formerly a fine park, commanding a view of
the river for several miles in either direction, and overlooking
the plantations and cypress forests on the opposite shore. This
pleasure-ground was reserved for the white people alone, no negro
being allowed to enter the inclosure under severe penalties. A
regiment of our soldiers encamped near this park, and used its fence
for fuel. The park is now free to persons of whatever color.
Natchez suffered less from the war than most other places of its size
along the Mississippi. The Rebels never erected fortifications in or
around Natchez, having relied upon Vicksburg and Port Hudson for their
protection. When Admiral Farragut ascended the river, in 1862, after
the fall of New Orleans, he promised that Natchez should not be
disturbed, so long as the people offered no molestation to our
gun-boats or army transports. This neutrality was carefully observed,
except on one occasion. A party which landed from the gun-boat _Essex_
was fired upon by a militia company that desired to distinguish
itself. Natchez was shelled for two hours, in retaliation for this
outrage. From that time until our troops occupied the city there was
no disturbance.
When we arrived at Natchez, we found several Northern men already
there, whose business was similar to our own. Some had secured
plantations, and were preparing to take possession. Others were
watching the situation and surveying the ground before making their
selections. We found that the best plantations in the vicinity had
been taken by the friends of Adjutant-General Thomas, and were gone
past our securing. At Vidalia, Louisiana, directly opposite Natchez,
were two fine plantations, "Arnuldia" and "Whitehall," which had been
thus appropriated. Others in their vicinity had been taken in one way
or another, and were out of our reach. Some of the lessees declared
they had been forced to promise a division with certain parties in
authority before obtaining possession, while others maintained a
discreet silence on the subject. Many plantations owned by widows and
semi-loyal persons, would not be placed in the market as "abandoned
property." There were many whose status had not been decided, so
that they were practically out of the market. In consequence of these
various drawbacks, the number of desirable locations that were open
for selection was not large.
One of the leasing agents gave us a letter to a young widow who
resided in the city, and owned a large plantation in Louisiana,
fifteen miles from Natchez. We lost no time in calling upon the lady.
Other parties had already seen her with a view to leasing her
plantation. Though she had promised the lease to one of these
visitors, she had no objections to treating with ourselves, provided
she could make a more advantageous contract.
In a few days we repeated our visit. Our rival had urged his reasons
for consideration, and was evidently in favor. He had claimed to be
a Secessionist, and assured her he could obtain a safeguard from the
Rebel authorities. The lady finally consented to close a contract with
him, and placed us in the position of discarded suitors. We thought of
issuing a new edition of "The Rejected Addresses."