took us eleven hours to perform.
On landing we hired at Mr Davis's a small cart for Mr Douglas (the
wounded Missourian) and our baggage, and we had to finish the day by a
trudge of three miles through deep mud, until, at length, we reached a
place called Vidalia, which is on the Louisianian bank of the
Mississippi, just opposite Natchez.
At Vidalia I got the immense luxury of a pretty good bed, _all to
myself_, which enabled me to take off my clothes and boots for the first
time in ten days.
The landlord told us that three of the enemy's gunboats had passed
during the day; and as he said their crews were often in the habit of
landing at Vidalia, he cautioned the military to be ready to bolt into
the woods at any time during the night.
There were two conscripts on board my skiff to-day, one an Irishman and
the other a Pole. They confessed to me privately their extreme dislike
of the military profession; but at the same time they acknowledged the
enthusiasm of the masses for the war.
* * * * *
_15th May_ (Friday).--I nearly slept round the clock after yesterday's
exertions. Mr Douglas and I crossed the father of rivers and landed on
the Mississippi bank at 9 A.M.
Natchez is a pretty little town, and ought to contain about 6000
inhabitants. It is built on the top of a high bluff overlooking the
Mississippi river, which is about three quarters of a mile broad at this
point.
When I reached Natchez I hired a carriage, and, with a letter of
introduction which I had brought from San Antonio, I drove to the house
of Mr Haller Nutt, distant from the town about two miles.
The scenery about Natchez is extremely pretty, and the ground is hilly,
with plenty of fine trees. Mr Nutt's place reminded me very much of an
English gentleman's country seat, except that the house itself is rather
like a pagoda, but it is beautifully furnished.
Mr Nutt was extremely civil, and was most anxious that I should remain
at Natchez for a few days; but now that I was thoroughly wound up for
travelling, I determined to push on to Vicksburg, as all the late news
seemed to show that some great operations must take place there before
long.
I had fondly imagined that after reaching Natchez my difficulties would
have been over; but I very soon discovered that this was a delusive
hope. I found that Natchez was full of the most gloomy rumours. Another
Yankee raid seemed to have been made into the interior of Mississippi,
more railroad is reported to be destroyed, and great doubts were
expressed whether I should be able to get into Vicksburg at all.
However, as I found some other people as determined to proceed as
myself, we hired a carriage for $100 to drive to Brookhaven, which is
the nearest point on the railroad, and is distant from Natchez 66 miles.
My companions were a fat Government contractor from Texas, the wounded
Missourian Mr Douglas, and an ugly woman, wife to a soldier in
Vicksburg.
We left Natchez at 12 noon, and were driven by a negro named Nelson; the
carriage and the three horses belong to him, and he drives it for his
own profit; but he is, nevertheless, a slave, and pays his owner $4-1/2
a-week to be allowed to work on his own account. He was quite as vain as
and even more amusing than Tucker. He said he "didn't want to see no
Yanks, nor to be no freer than he is;" and he thought the war had
already lasted four or five years.
Every traveller we met on the road was eagerly asked the questions,
"Are the Yanks in Brookhaven? Is the railroad open?" At first we
received satisfactory replies; but at 6 P.M. we met an officer driving
towards Natchez at a great pace; he gave us the alarming intelligence
that _Jackson_ was going to be evacuated. Now, as Jackson is the capital
city of this state, a great railroad junction, and on the highroad to
every civilised place from this, our feelings may be imagined, but we
did not believe it possible. On the other hand we were told that General
Joseph Johnston had arrived and assumed the command in Mississippi. He
appears to be an officer in whom every one places unbounded confidence.
We slept at a farmhouse. All the males were absent at the war, and it is
impossible to exaggerate the unfortunate condition of the women left
behind in these farmhouses; they have scarcely any clothes, and nothing
but the coarsest bacon to eat, and are in miserable uncertainty as to
the fate of their relations, whom they can hardly ever communicate with.
Their slaves, however, generally remain true to them.
Our hostess, though she was reduced to the greatest distress, was
well-mannered, and exceedingly well educated; very far superior to a
woman of her station in England.
* * * * *
_16th May_ (Saturday).--We started a little before daylight, our team
looking so very mean that we expressed doubts as to their lasting--to Mr
Nelson's great indignation.
We breakfasted at another little farmhouse on some unusually tough
bacon, and coffee made of sweet potatoes. The natives, under all their
misery, were red-hot in favour of fighting for independence to the last,
and I constantly hear the words, "This is the most unjust war ever waged
upon a people by mortal man."
At 11 A.M. we met a great crowd of negroes, who had been run into the
swamps to be out of the way of the Yankees, and they were now returning
to Louisiana.
At 2 P.M. a wounded soldier gave us the deplorable information that the
enemy really was on the railroad between Jackson and Brookhaven, and
that Jackson itself was in his hands. This news staggered us all, and
Nelson became alarmed for the safety of his wretched animals; but we all
determined to go on at all hazards and see what turned up.
We halted for dinner at a farmhouse in which were seven virgins seated
all of a row. They were all good-looking, but shy and bashful to a
degree I never before witnessed. All the young women in this country
seem to be either uncommonly free-spoken, or else extremely shy.
The further we went the more certain became the news of the fall of
Jackson.
We passed the night in the verandah of an old farmer. He told us that
Grierson's Yankee raid had captured him about three weeks ago. He
thought the Yankees were about 1500 strong; they took all good horses,
leaving their worn-out ones behind. They destroyed railroad, Government
property, and arms, and paroled all men, both old and young, but they
committed no barbarities. In this manner they traversed all the State of
Mississippi without meeting any resistance. They were fine looking men
from the North-western States.
* * * * *
_17th May_ (Sunday).--We started again at 4.30 A.M., and met five
wounded men who had been captured and paroled by Banks in Louisiana;
they confirmed everything about the fall of Jackson, which made me
consider myself particularly unfortunate, and destined apparently to be
always intercepted by the Northern troops, which had happened to me at
Alexandria, at Harrisonburg, and now again at Jackson.
At 8 A.M. we reached the little town of Brookhaven, which was full of
travellers, principally Confederate soldiers, anxious to rejoin their
regiments.
Maxey's brigade left this place by road last night to join General
Johnston, who is supposed to be concentrating his forces at a place
called Canton, not far from Jackson.
I called on Captain Matthews, the officer who commanded at Brookhaven,
and after introducing myself to him, he promised to assist me, by every
means in his power, to join General Johnston.
I then went to a Methodist chapel; a good many soldiers were there, and
great number of women.
At noon, just as I had begun to get in very low spirits about the
prospects of getting on, a locomotive arrived from a station called
Haslehurst, and brought us the astonishing report that the Yankees had
suddenly abandoned Jackson, after destroying all the Government, and a
good deal of private, property.
This news caused our prospects to look brighter.
* * * * *
_18th May_ (Monday).--On getting up this morning everything appeared
very uncertain, and a thousand contradictory reports and rumours were
flying about.
At 8 o'clock I called on Captain Matthews, and told him my earnest
desire to get on towards Johnston's army at all risks. He kindly
introduced me to the conductor of a locomotive, who offered to take me
to within a few miles of Jackson, if he was not cut off by the enemy,
which seemed extremely probable.
At 9 A.M. I seated myself, in company with about twenty soldiers, on the
engine, and we started towards Jackson.
On reaching Crystal Springs, half-way to Jackson, we found General
Loring's division crossing the railroad and marching east. It had been
defeated, with the loss of most of its artillery, three days before, and
was now cut off from General Pemberton.
At 5 P.M. the conductor stopped the engine, and put us out at a spot
distant nine miles from Jackson; and as I could procure no shelter,
food, or conveyance there, I found myself in a terrible fix.
At this juncture a French boy rode up on horseback, and volunteered to
carry my saddlebags as far as Jackson, if I could walk and carry the
remainder.
Gladly accepting this unexpected offer, I started with him to walk up
the railroad, as he assured me the Yankees really had gone; and during
the journey, he gave me a description of their conduct during the short
time they had occupied the city.
On arriving within three miles of Jackson, I found the railroad
destroyed by the enemy, who, after pulling up the track, had made piles
of the sleepers, and then put the rails in layers on the top of these
heaps; they had then set fire to the sleepers, which had caused the
rails to bend when red hot; the wooden bridges had also been set on
fire, and were still smoking.
When within a mile and a half of Jackson I met four men, who stopped
and questioned me very suspiciously, but they at length allowed me to
proceed, saying that these "were curious times."
After another mile I reached a mild trench, which was dignified by the
name of the fortifications of Jackson. A small fight had taken place
there four days previous, when General Johnston had evacuated the city.
When I got inside this trench I came to the spot on which a large body
of the Yankees had recently been encamped; they had set fire to a great
quantity of stores and arms, which they had been unable to carry away
with them, and which were still burning, and were partially destroyed. I
observed also great numbers of pikes and pikeheads amongst the debris.
At the entrance to the town the French boy took me to the house of his
relatives, and handed me my saddlebags. These French people told me they
had been much ill-treated, notwithstanding their French nationality.
They showed me their broken furniture, and they assured me that they had
been robbed of everything of any value.
I then shouldered my saddlebags, and walked through the smoking and
desolate streets towards the Bowmont House Hotel.
I had not proceeded far before a man with long grey hair and an
enormous revolver rode up to me, and offered to carry my saddlebags. He
then asked me who I was; and after I told him, he thought a few moments,
and then said, "Well, sir, you must excuse me, but if you are a British
officer, I can't make out what on earth you are doing at Jackson just
now." I could not but confess that this was rather a natural idea, and
that my presence in this burning town must have seemed rather odd, more
especially as I was obliged to acknowledge that I was there entirely of
my own free will, and for my own amusement.
Mr Smythe, for so this individual was named, then told me, that if I was
really the person I represented myself, I should be well treated by all;
but that if I could not prove myself to be an English officer, an event
would happen which it was not difficult to foresee, and the idea caused
a disagreeable sensation about the throat.
Mr Smythe then gave me to understand that I must remain a prisoner for
the present. He conducted me to a room in the Bowmont House Hotel, and I
found myself speedily surrounded by a group of eager and excited
citizens, who had been summoned by Smythe to _conduct my examination_.
At first they were inclined to be disagreeable. They examined my
clothes, and argued as to whether they were of English manufacture.
Some, who had been in London, asked me questions about the streets of
the metropolis, and about my regiment. One remarked that I was "_mighty
young for a lootenant-colonel_."
When I suggested that they should treat me with proper respect until I
was proved to be a spy, they replied that their city had been brutally
pillaged by the Yankees, and that there were many suspicious characters
about.
Everything now looked very threatening, and it became evident to me that
nothing would relieve the minds of these men so much as a hanging match.
I looked in vain for some one to take my part, and I could not even get
any person to examine my papers.
At this critical juncture a new character appeared on the scene in the
shape of a big heavy man who said to me, "My name is Dr Russell; I'm an
Irishman, and I hate the British Government and the English nation; but
if you are really an officer in the Coldstream Guards there is nothing I
won't do for you; you shall come to my house and I will protect you."
I immediately showed Dr Russell my passport and letters of introduction
to General Johnston and other Confederate officers; he pronounced them
genuine, promised to stand by me, and wanted to take me away with him at
once.
But observing that the countenances of Smythe and his colleagues did not
by any means express satisfaction at this arrangement, I announced my
determination to stay where I was until I was released by the military
authorities, with whom I demanded an immediate audience.
A very handsome cavalry officer called Captain Yerger, shortly
afterwards arrived, who released me at once--asked me to his mother's
house, and promised that I should join a brigade which was to march for
General Johnston's camp on the following morning.
All the citizens seemed to be satisfied by the result of my interview
with Captain Yerger, and most of them insisted on shaking hands and
"liquoring up," in horrible whisky.
Smythe, however, was an exception to this rule. He evidently thought he
had effected a grand capture, and was not at all satisfied at the turn
of affairs. I believe to his dying day he will think I am a spy; but it
was explained to me that his house had been burnt down by the Yankees
two days before, which had made him unusually venomous.
They told me that Dr Russell had saved his property from pillage in the
following manner:--He had seated himself in his verandah, with a loaded
double-barrelled gun on his knees, and when the pillagers approached, he
addressed them in the following manner: "No man can die more than once,
and I shall never be more ready to die than I am now: there is nothing
to prevent your going into this house, except that I shall kill the
first two of you who move with this gun. Now then, gentlemen, walk in."
This speech is said to have saved Dr Russell from further annoyance, and
his property from the ruin which overtook his neighbours.
Jackson, the capital of the State of Mississippi, is a place of great
importance. Four railroads meet here, and have been destroyed in each
direction for a distance of from three to five miles. All the numerous
factories have been burnt down by the enemy, who were of course
justified in doing so; but during the short space of thirty-six hours,
in which General Grant occupied the city, his troops had wantonly
pillaged nearly all the private houses. They had gutted all the stores,
and destroyed what they could not carry away. All this must have been
done under the very eyes of General Grant, whose name was in the book of
the Bowmont House Hotel.
I saw the ruins of the Roman Catholic church, the priest's house, and
the principal hotel, which were still smoking, together with many other
buildings which could in no way be identified with the Confederate
Government. The whole town was a miserable wreck, and presented a
deplorable aspect.
Nothing could exceed the intense hatred and fury with which its excited
citizens speak of the outrages they have undergone--of their desire for
a bloody revenge, and of their hope that the Black Flag might be
raised.[25]
I had previously heard the Jacksonians spoken of as not being
particularly zealous in the war. Heaven knows General Grant had now
converted them into good and earnest rebels.
At 8 P.M. I called at Captain Yerger's house and found him with General
Gist and another officer lying flat on their stomachs poring over a map.
Captain Yerger then introduced me to the ladies of his family, who were
extremely pretty, very amiable, and highly patriotic.
The house is charming, and, being outside the town, it had by good luck
escaped destruction and pillage.
After supper, the ladies played and sang, and I ended an eventful day in
a very agreeable manner.
General Gist promised that I should accompany his brigade to-morrow on
its march towards General Johnston, and Mrs Yerger insisted that I
should pass the night at her house.
In this part of the country the prospects of the Confederacy appeared to
be very gloomy. General Joseph Johnston, who commands the whole Western
Department, only arrived from Tennessee last Wednesday, and on the
following day he found himself obliged to abandon Jackson to an
overwhelming Northern army, after making a short fight to enable his
baggage to escape.
General Pemberton, who had hitherto held the chief command, is abused by
all. He was beaten on Saturday at Baker's Creek, where he lost the
greater part of his artillery. He had retired into Vicksburg, and was
now completely shut up there by the victorious Grant.
General Maxey's brigade, about 5000 strong, was near Brookhaven, and was
marching east when I was there. General Loring's force, cut off from
Pemberton, was near Crystal Springs. General Johnston, with about 6000
men, was supposed to be near Canton. General Gist's troops, about 5500
strong, were close by, having arrived from South Carolina and Georgia,
just too late to defend Jackson.
The enemy, under General Grant, in vastly superior force, was pressing
Vicksburg very hard, and had now completely invested that fortress.
The great object of the Confederates must, of course, be to unite their
scattered forces under so able a general as Johnston, and then relieve
Vicksburg.
[25] Since this date, the unfortunate city of Jackson has been again
subjected to pillage by the Federals after the capture of Vicksburg.
* * * * *
_19th May_ (Tuesday).--The landlord of the Bowmont House gave a
breakfast at 7 A.M. to General Gist and his Staff, to which I also was
invited.
Shortly afterwards I was given a seat in a curious little vehicle
belonging to Lieutenant Martino, a Spaniard, in the Confederate army.
This vehicle caused considerable merriment amongst the soldiers, who
called it a chicken-waggon.
We left Jackson with the leading troops about 8 A.M., amidst a great
waving of handkerchiefs and showers of flowers, thrown by the few
remaining ladies who were still left in that dilapidated place.
The corps under General Gist consisted of three weak brigades, the
leading one composed of Georgians and South Carolinians; the next were
Texans, under General Ector; and the last were Arkansians, under General
M'Nair. General Gist had twelve good-looking Napoleon guns with him
(twelve-pounders). The horses were fine animals, and were in wonderful
good condition, considering that they had been ten days in the railroad
coming from South Carolina.
The troops were roughly but efficiently clothed; their boots were in
good order, and all were armed with Enfield rifles.
The weather was very hot, and we were halted to bivouac for the night,
at a spot about seventeen miles from Jackson, on the road towards
Vicksburg.
The straggling of the Georgians was on the grandest scale conceivable;
the men fell out by dozens, and seemed to suit their own convenience in
that respect, without interference on the part of the officers. But I
was told that these regiments had never done any marching before, having
hitherto been quartered in forts and transported by railroad.
The country is much covered with woods, and is sandy, with very little
water.
I did not consider that the troops were marched judiciously; they were
halted too long at a time, and not often enough. The baggage was carried
on country carts pressed into the service.
We bivouacked in the woods near a very pretty house, belonging to a
planter called Colonel Robinson. These immense woods make admirable
bivouacs.
General State Rights Gist is a South Carolinian, only thirty-two years
of age, and although not educated as a soldier, he seems easily to have
adapted himself to the military profession. He looks a determined man,
and he takes responsibility very coolly. In the early part of the day he
was very doubtful as to the exact whereabouts of General Johnston; but
about noon a courier arrived, from whom he received important and
satisfactory information, otherwise General Gist had made up his mind
for some "nasty work" before the junction could be effected. He told me
that the present expedition was rather inconvenient to him, as he had
only been married three days before he left Charleston. He lent me a
magnificent rug, and I slept very comfortably in the open air for the
first time since I was in Texas.
* * * * *
_20th May_ (Wednesday).--At 3 A.M. we were awoke by a great bombardment
going on at Vicksburg, which lasted about three hours.[26]
The assembly was beaten at 7 A.M. by an old nigger, performing on a
cracked drum, and its sound was hailed by the soldiers with loud yells.
General Gist, his Staff, and I, breakfasted with Mr Robinson, whose
house is charming, and beautifully furnished, and had not been visited
by the Yankees.
We had a crazy old planter, named ----, with us, who insisted upon
accompanying the column, mounted on a miserable animal which had been
left him by the enemy as not being worth carrying away. The small
remains of this poor old man's sense had been shattered by the Yankees a
few days ago; they cleaned him completely out, taking his horses, mules,
cows, and pigs, and stealing his clothes and anything they wanted,
destroying what they could not carry away. But what "riled" him most was
that he had been visited by a Federal officer, disguised in the
Confederate uniform. Poor old ----, full of rebel zeal, had, on being
invited to do so, mounted _en croupe_ behind this officer, and unbosomed
himself to him; his fury and rage may be imagined at finding himself
shortly afterwards in the very midst of the Federal camp; but the Yankee
General M'Pherson ordered him to be released; and it appears that the
reason of his being kidnapped, was to extract from him a large quantity
of gold, which he was supposed to have hidden somewhere.
This Mr (or Major[27]) ---- took a great fancy to me, and insisted on
picking some of the silk of Indian corn, which he requested I would
present to Queen Victoria to show her how far advanced the crops were in
Mississippi. It was almost painful to hear the manner in which this poor
old man gloated over the bodies of the dead Yankees at Jackson, and of
his intense desire to see more of them put to death.
The column reached the village or town of Livingston at 11 A.M., where
I was introduced to a militia general and his pretty daughter; the
latter had been married two days before to a wounded Confederate
officer, but the happy couple were just on the point of starting for the
Yazoo river, as they were afraid of being disturbed in their felicity by
the Yankees.
I now heard every one speaking of the fall of Vicksburg as very
possible, and its jeopardy was laid at the door of General Pemberton,
for whom no language could be too strong. He was freely called a coward
and a traitor. He has the misfortune to be a Northerner by birth, which
was against him in the opinion of all here.
General Gist and I cantered on in front of the column, and reached
General Johnston's bivouac at 6 P.M.
General Johnston received me with much kindness, when I presented my
letters of introduction, and stated my object in visiting the
Confederate armies.