AN ACCEPTABLE PRESENT--HUNGER--HALF RATIONS--IN THE RIFLE PITS.
A servant brought me one day a present from an officer, that was
acceptable indeed: two large, yellow, ripe, June apples, sealed in a large
envelope. They were as much of a variety to me as pineapples would have
been.
On another occasion, a gentleman sent me four large slices of ham, having
been fortunate enough to procure a small piece himself. Now and then
gentlemen in calling would bring to my little girl and myself some little
article that it was impossible to procure; and only those who have
undergone like privations can understand how truly grateful we felt for
these little kindnesses. One day a friend brought us some fruit that had
been presented to him. While we were conversing, my little
hunger-besieged two-year-old daughter quietly secured it, and, sitting on
the floor, ate with avidity. When she had finished nearly all of it, she
turned around, with a bright and well-satisfied face, to me, saying,
"Mamma, it's so dood!"--the first intimation that I had that my portion
had disappeared. Dear child; I trembled for her in the greater trials I
believed in store for us. Fruits and vegetables were not to be procured at
any price. Every one felt the foreboding of a more serious trouble, the
great fear of starvation that stared all in the face causing those who
possessed any article in the shape of edibles to retain it for that period
to which all looked forward with anxiety--when we would come to actual
want.
Already the men in the rifle pits were on half rations--flour or meal
enough to furnish bread equivalent in quantity to two biscuits in two
days: many of them ate it all at once, and the next day fasted,
preferring, as they said, to have one good meal.
So they sat cramped up all day in the pits--their rations cooked in the
valley and brought to them--scarcely daring to change their positions and
stand erect, for the Federal sharpshooters were watching for the heads;
and to rise above the breastworks was almost certain death. Frequently, a
Parrott shell would penetrate the intrenchments, and, exploding, cause
frightful wounds, and death most frequently. "Ah!" said M----, one day,
"it is to the noble men in the rifle pits that Vicksburg will owe aught of
honor she may gain in this siege. I revere them, as I see them undergoing
every privation with courage and patience, anxious only for the high
reputation of the city."
They amused themselves, while lying in the pits, by cutting out little
trinkets from the wood of the parapet and the Minie balls that fell around
them. Major Fry, from Texas, excelled in skill and ready invention, I
think: he sent me one day an arm chair that he had cut from a Minie
ball--the most minute affair of the kind I ever saw, yet perfectly
symmetrical. At another time, he sent me a diminutive plough made from the
parapet wood, with traces of lead, and a lead point made from a Minie
ball.
I had often remarked how cheerfully the soldiers bore the hardships of the
siege. I saw them often passing with their little sacks containing scanty
rations, whistling and chatting pleasantly, as around them thickly flew
the balls and shells.
Poor men, yet so badly used, and undergoing so many privations!