MASKED BATTERY ON THE OPPOSITE SHORE--TAKING THE CARS--FRIGHT OF THE NEGRO
PORTERS--MAJOR WATTS'S PARTY--STAMPEDE OF LADIES.
At breakfast, on the morning of the 17th, we heard discussed the question,
Whether there was a masked battery on the opposite shore or not? After
some words on the subject, pro and con, we ranged the shore with the
glass, seeing what the gentlemen believed to be a battery. They had been
talking some moments, when I took the glass and saw a number of Federal
soldiers walking on the levee toward the spot where the battery was
supposed to be. Several others seemed to be engaged on this very place
removing the branches. I called one of the gentlemen to look. I had given
up the glass but a few moments, when a volume of smoke burst from the
embankment, and two shells were sent, one after the other, exploding at
the depot just below us. It was indeed a battery, with two guns, which
commenced playing on the city vigorously.
We were to leave that morning, and hearing that the cars would not venture
up to the depot, went to a point below, where we found many anxious
persons awaiting their arrival. We entered the cars, and were sitting
quite securely and comfortably, when it was whispered around, much to the
consternation of passengers, that they were ordered to approach the depot
as near as possible, and take on freight; and thus we were carried up,
under shelter of a high bluff, with many misgivings on my part, as shell
after shell exploded on the hill above us. A nervous gentleman leaned
forward and told me that we were in great danger, and, speaking in the
same manner to many of the ladies, suggested that, if we made the request,
the conductor would doubtless back into a safe place.
Although so frightened, his mode of relief was so evidently selfish that
the gentlemen began joking him most unmercifully. In looking out of the
window, although I felt a sympathy for the poor fellow, I could not but be
amused at the ludicrous scene that presented itself: the porters bringing
the baggage and small freight from the depot acted as if wild--now halting
to await the course of a shell--then dashing forward, determined to reach
the cars before another came. Two negroes were coming with a small trunk
between them, and a carpet bag or two, evidently trying to show others of
the profession how careless of danger they were, and how foolish "niggars"
were to run "dat sort o' way." A shell came ricochetting through the air
and fell a few yards beyond the braves, when, lo! the trunk was sent
tumbling, and landed bottom upward; the carpet bag followed--one grand
somerset; and amid the cloud of dust that arose, I discovered one porter
doubled up by the side of the trunk, and the other crouching close by a
pile of plank. A shout from the negroes on the cars, and much laughter,
brought them on their feet, brushing their knees and giggling, yet looking
quite foolish, feeling their former prestige gone. Yet gentlemen and
servants avoided the depot as much as possible; and whenever a portion of
earth was seen to arise in a small volume, accompanied by smoke, men of
both colors immediately ran (without casting a look behind) swiftly in the
opposite direction, "gentlemen of color" generally, in their haste,
stumbling and turning one or two somersets before reaching a place of
safety. And so the shell continued coming, exploding on all sides, yet not
happening to reach us. Soon the glad sound of the whistle was heard, and,
after our long suspense, we felt the motion of the cars again, and were
glad to leave Vicksburg, with the sound of the cannon and noise of the
shell still ringing in our ears. Some young lady friends of mine were
laughing and telling me of their experience during the danger of the
previous night; of the fright and trouble they were in at the time the
gunboats passed. Major Watts, of the Confederate army, had given a very
large party, which they attended; one dressed in a corn-colored silk
trimmed with black lace; another in blue silk trimmed with white point,
and still another in white lace. In the confusion and alarm, as the first
shell fell, one of the young girls, who was dancing with a
brigadier-general, clasped her hands and exclaimed, "Where shall we go?"
In jest he said, "To the country for safety." Believing him serious, in
the confusion that ensued, she told her young friends. They set out alone
with all speed, frightened and trembling. Fortunately a gentleman friend,
discovering their absence, overtook, and proceeded with them. As a shell
would be heard coming, he would cry, "Fall!" and down they would drop in
the dust, party dresses and all, lying until the explosion took place;
then up, with wild eyes and fiercely beating hearts, flying with all speed
onward. After running about a mile in the fewest moments possible, and
falling several times, they stopped at the first house, and remained until
their friends sent out for them in carriages.
"If you could have seen our party dresses when we reached home, and our
hair, and the flowers, full of dust, you would never have forgotten us,"
cried one. "Ah!" said another, "we laugh gayly this morning, for we are
leaving the guns behind us; but last night it was a serious business, and
we absolutely ran for our lives. How delighted I was with the quiet rest
of our home in Jackson! I mentally forswore Vicksburg during the war. But
man proposes, and God disposes."