in order to be present at the reconnaissance which was being conducted
under the command of General Cheetham. We reached the field of
operations at 2 P.M., and found that Martin's cavalry (dismounted) had
advanced upon the enemy about three miles, and, after some brisk
skirmishing, had driven in his outposts. The enemy showed about 2000
infantry, strongly posted, his guns commanding the turnpike road. The
Confederate infantry was concealed in the woods, about a mile in rear of
the dismounted cavalry.
This being the position of affairs, Colonel Richmond and I rode along
the road so far as it was safe to do so. We then dismounted, and sneaked
on in the wood alongside the road until we got to within 800 yards of
the Yankees, whom we then reconnoitred leisurely with our glasses. We
could only count about seventy infantry soldiers, with one field-piece
in the wood at an angle of the road, and we saw several staff officers
galloping about with orders. Whilst we were thus engaged, some heavy
firing and loud cheering suddenly commenced in the woods on our left;
so, fearing to be outflanked, we remounted and rode back to an open
space, about 600 yards to the rear, where we found General Martin giving
orders for the withdrawal of the cavalry horses in the front, and the
retreat of the skirmishers.
It was very curious to see three hundred horses suddenly emerge from the
wood just in front of us, where they had been hidden--one man to every
four horses, riding one and leading the other three, which were tied
together by the heads. In this order I saw them cross a cotton-field at
a smart trot, and take up a more secure position; two or three men
cantered about in the rear, flanking up the led horses. They were
shortly afterwards followed by the men of the regiment, retreating in
skirmishing order under Colonel Webb, and they lined a fence parallel to
us. The same thing went on on our right.
As the firing on our left still continued, my friends were in great
hopes that the Yankees might be inveigled on to follow the retreating
skirmishers until they fell in with the two infantry brigades, which
were lying in ambush for them; and it was arranged, in that case, that
some mounted Confederates should then get in their rear, and so capture
a good number; but this simple and ingenious device was frustrated by
the sulkiness of the enemy, who now stubbornly refused to advance any
further.
The way in which the horses were managed was very pretty, and seemed to
answer admirably for this sort of skirmishing. They were never far from
the men, who could mount and be off to another part of the field with
rapidity, or retire to take up another position, or act as cavalry as
the case might require. Both the superior officers and the men behaved
with the most complete coolness; and, whilst we were waiting in hopes of
a Yankee advance, I heard the soldiers remarking that they "didn't like
being done out of their good boots"--one of the principal objects in
killing a Yankee being apparently to get hold of his valuable boots.
A tremendous row went on in the woods during this bushwhacking, and the
trees got knocked about in all directions by shell; but I imagine that
the actual slaughter in these skirmishes is very small, unless they get
fairly at one another in the open cultivated spaces between the woods. I
did not see or hear of anybody being killed to-day, although there were
a few wounded and some horses killed. Colonel Richmond and Colonel Webb
were much disappointed that the inactivity of the enemy prevented my
seeing the skirmish assume larger proportions, and General Cheetham said
to me, "We should be very happy to see you, Colonel, when we are in our
regular way of doing business."
After waiting in vain until 5 P.M., and seeing no signs of anything more
taking place, Colonel Richmond and I cantered back to Shelbyville. We
were accompanied by a detachment of General Polk's body-guard, which was
composed of young men of good position in New Orleans. Most of them
spoke in the French language, and nearly all had slaves in the field
with them, although they ranked only as private soldiers, and had to
perform the onerous duties of orderlies (or couriers, as they are
called). On our way back we heard heavy firing on our left, from the
direction in which General Withers was conducting his share of the
reconnaissance with two other infantry brigades.
After dark General Polk got a message from Cheetham, to say that the
enemy had after all advanced in heavy force about 6.15 P.M., and obliged
him to retire to Guy's Gap. We also heard that General Cleburne, who had
advanced from Wartrace, had had his horse shot under him. The object of
the reconnaissance seemed, therefore, to have been attained, for
apparently the enemy was still in strong force at Murfreesborough, and
manifested no intention of yielding it without a struggle.
I took leave of General Polk before I turned in. His kindness and
hospitality have exceeded anything I could have expected. I shall always
feel grateful to him on this account, and I shall never think of him
without admiration for his character as a sincere patriot, a gallant
soldier, and a perfect gentleman. His aides-de-camp, Colonels Richmond
and Yeatman, are also excellent types of the higher class of Southerner.
Highly educated, wealthy, and prosperous before the war, they have
abandoned all for their country. They, and all other Southern gentlemen
of the same rank, are proud of their descent from Englishmen. They glory
in speaking English as we do, and that their manners and feelings
resemble those of the upper classes in the old country. No
staff-officers could perform their duties with more zeal and efficiency
than these gentlemen, although they were not educated as soldiers.
* * * * *
_5th June_ (Friday).--I left Shelbyville at 6 A.M., after having been
shaken hands with affectionately by "Aaron," and arrived at Chattanooga
at 4 P.M. As I was thus far under the protection of Lieutenant
Donnelson, of General Polk's staff, I made this journey under more
agreeable auspices than the last time. The scenery was really quite
beautiful.
East Tennessee is said to contain many people who are more favourable to
the North than to the South, and its inhabitants are now being
conscripted by the Confederates; but they sometimes object to this
operation, and, taking to the hills and woods, commence bushwhacking
there.
I left Chattanooga for Atlanta at 4.30 P.M. The train was much crowded
with wounded and sick soldiers returning on leave to their homes. A
goodish-looking woman was pointed out to me in the cars as having served
as a private soldier in the battles of Perryville and Murfreesborough.
Several men in my car had served with her in a Louisianian regiment, and
they said she had been turned out a short time since for her bad and
immoral conduct. They told me that her sex was notorious to all the
regiment, but no notice had been taken of it so long as she conducted
herself properly. They also said that she was not the only
representative of the female sex in the ranks. When I saw her she wore a
soldier's hat and coat, but had resumed her petticoats.
* * * * *
_6th June_ (Saturday).--Arrived at Atlanta at 3 A.M., and took three
hours' sleep at the Trouthouse hotel. After breakfasting, I started
again for Augusta at 7 A.M. (174 miles); but the train had not proceeded
ten miles before it was brought up by an obstruction, in the shape of a
broken-down freight train, one of whose cars was completely smashed.
This delayed us for about an hour, but we made up for it afterwards, and
arrived at Augusta at 5.15 P.M.
The country through Georgia is undulating, well cultivated, and
moderately covered with trees; and this part of the Confederacy has as
yet suffered but little from the war. At some of the stations provisions
for the soldiers were brought into the cars by ladies, and distributed
gratis. When I refused on the ground of not being a soldier, these
ladies looked at me with great suspicion, mingled with contempt, and as
their looks evidently expressed the words, "Then why are you not a
soldier?" I was obliged to explain to them who I was, and show them
General Bragg's pass, which astonished them not a little. I was told
that Georgia was the only state in which soldiers were still so
liberally treated--they have become so very common everywhere else. On
reaching Augusta, I put up at the Planter's-house hotel, which seemed
very luxurious to me after so many hours of the cars. But the Augusta
climate is evidently much hotter than Tennessee.
* * * * *
_7th June_ (Sunday).--Augusta is a city of 20,000 inhabitants; but its
streets being extremely wide, and its houses low, it covers a vast
space. No place that I have seen in the Southern States shows so little
traces of the war, and it formed a delightful contrast to the war-worn,
poverty-stricken, dried-up towns I had lately visited. I went to the
Episcopal church, and might almost have fancied myself in England: the
ceremonies were exactly the same, and the church was full of
well-dressed people.
At 2 P.M. I dined at the house of Mr Carmichael, son-in-law to Bishop
Elliott, who told me there were 2000 volunteers in Augusta, regularly
drilled and prepared to resist raids. These men were exempted from the
conscription, either on account of their age, nationality, or other
cause--or had purchased substitutes. At 3 P.M. Mr Carmichael sent me in
his buggy to call on Colonel Rains, the superintendent of the Government
works here. My principal object in stopping at Augusta was to visit the
powder manufactory and arsenal; but, to my disappointment, I discovered
that the present wants of the State did not render it necessary to keep
these establishments open on Sundays.
I had a long and most interesting conversation with Colonel Rains, who
is a very clever, highly-educated, and agreeable officer. He was brought
up at West Point, and after a short service in the United States army,
he became Professor of Chemistry at the Military College. He was
afterwards much engaged in the manufacture of machinery in the Northern
States. At the commencement of this war, with his usual perspicacity,
President Davis selected Colonel Rains as the most competent person to
build and to work the Government factories at Augusta, giving him _carte
blanche_ to act as he thought best; and the result has proved the wisdom
of the President's choice. Colonel Rains told me that at the beginning
of the troubles, scarcely a grain of gunpowder was manufactured in the
whole of the Southern States. The Augusta powder-mills and arsenal were
then commenced, and _no less than 7000 lb. of powder are now made every
day_ in the powder manufactory. The cost to the Government of making the
powder is only four cents a pound. The saltpetre (nine-tenths of which
runs the blockade from England) cost formerly seventy-five cents, but
has latterly been more expensive. In the construction of the
powder-mills, Colonel Rains told me he had been much indebted to a
pamphlet by Major Bradley of Waltham Abbey.
At the cannon foundry, one Napoleon 12-pounder is turned out every two
days; but it is hoped very soon that one of these guns may be finished
daily. The guns are made of a metal recently invented by the Austrians,
and recommended to the Confederate Government by Mr Mason. They are
tested by a charge of ten pounds of powder, and by loading them to the
muzzle with bolts. Two hundred excellent mechanics are exempted from the
conscription, to be employed at the mills. The wonderful speed with
which these works have been constructed, their great success, and their
immense national value, are convincing proofs of the determined energy
of the Southern character, now that it has been roused; and also of the
zeal and skill of Colonel Rains. He told me that Augusta had been
selected as a site for these works on account of its remoteness from the
probable seats of war, of its central position, and of its great
facilities of transport; for this city can boast of a navigable river
and a canal, besides being situated on a central railroad. Colonel Rains
said, that although the Southerners had certainly been hard up for
gunpowder at the early part of the war, they were still harder up for
percussion caps. An immense number (I forget how many) of these are now
made daily in the Government factory at Atlanta.
I left Augusta at 7 P.M. by train for Charleston. My car was much
crowded with Yankee prisoners.
* * * * *
_8th June_ (Monday).--I arrived at Charleston at 5 A.M., and drove at
once in an omnibus to the Charleston hotel. At nine o'clock I called at
General Beauregard's office, but, to my disappointment, I found that he
was absent on a tour of inspection in Florida. He is, however, expected
to return in two or three days.
I then called on General Ripley, who commands the garrison and forts of
Charleston. He is a jovial character, very fond of the good things of
this life; but it is said that he never allows this propensity to
interfere with his military duties, in the performance of which he
displays both zeal and talent. He has the reputation of being an
excellent artillery officer, and although by birth a Northerner, he is a
red-hot and indefatigable rebel. I believe he wrote a book about the
Mexican war, and after leaving the old army, he was a good deal in
England, connected with the small-arms factory at Enfield, and other
enterprises of the same sort. Nearly all the credit of the efficiency of
the Charleston fortifications is due to him. And notwithstanding his
Northern birth and occasional rollicking habits, he is generally
popular.
I then called on Mr Robertson, a merchant, for whom I had brought a
letter of introduction from England. This old gentleman took me for a
drive in his buggy at 6 P.M. It appears that at this time of year the
country outside the city is quite pestilential, for when we reached the
open, Mr Robertson pointed to a detached house and said, "Now, I am as
fond of money as any Jew, yet I wouldn't sleep in that house for one
night if you gave it to me for doing so."
I had intended to have visited Mr Blake, an English gentleman for whom I
had a letter, on his Combahee plantation, but Mr Robertson implored me
to abandon this idea. Mr Robertson was full of the disasters which had
resulted from a recent Yankee raid of the Combahee river. It appears
that a vast amount of property had been destroyed and slaves carried
off. This morning I saw a poor old planter in Mr Robertson's office, who
had been suddenly and totally ruined by this raid. The raiders consisted
principally of Northern armed negroes, and as they met with no Southern
whites to resist them, they were able to effect their depredations with
total impunity. It seems that a good deal of the land about Charleston
belongs either to Blakes or Heywards. Mr Blake lost thirty negroes in
the last raid, but he has lost since the beginning of the war about 150.
Mr Robertson afterwards took me to see Mrs ----, who is Mr Walter
Blake's daughter. To me, who had roughed it for ten weeks to such an
extent, Charleston appeared most comfortable and luxurious. But its
inhabitants must, to say the least, be suffering great inconvenience.
The lighting and paving of the city had gone to the bad completely. Most
of the shops were shut up. Those that were open contained but very few
goods, and those were at famine prices. I tried to buy a black scarf,
but I couldn't find such an article in all Charleston.
An immense amount of speculation in blockade-running was going on, and
a great deal of business is evidently done in buying and selling
negroes, for the papers are full of advertisements of slave auctions.
That portion of the city destroyed by the great fire presents the
appearance of a vast wilderness in the very centre of the town, no
attempt having been made towards rebuilding it; this desert space looks
like the Pompeian ruins, and extends, Mr Robertson says, for a mile in
length by half a mile in width. Nearly all the distance between the
Mills House hotel and Charleston hotel is in this desolate state. The
fire began quite by accident, but the violent wind which suddenly arose
rendered all attempts to stop the flames abortive. The deserted state of
the wharves is melancholy--the huge placards announcing lines of
steamers to New York, New Orleans, and to different parts of the world,
still remain, and give one an idea of what a busy scene they used to be.
The people, however, all seem happy, contented, and determined. Both the
great hotels are crowded; and well dressed, handsome ladies are
plentiful; the fare is good, and the charge at the Charleston hotel is
eight dollars a day.
* * * * *
_9th June_ (Tuesday).--A Captain Feilden came to call upon me at 9 A.M.
He is an Englishman, and formerly served in the 42d Highlanders. He is
now in the Confederate army, and is on the staff of General Beauregard's
army. I remember his brother quite well at Sandhurst. Captain Feilden
accompanied me to General Ripley's office, and at 12 o'clock the latter
officer took us in his boat to inspect Fort Sumter. Our party consisted
of an invalid General Davis, a congress man named Nutt, Captain Feilden,
the general, and myself. We reached Fort Sumter after a pull of about
three-quarters of an hour.[46] This now celebrated fort is a pentagonal
work built of red brick. It has two tiers of casemates, besides a heavy
barbette battery. Its walls are twelve feet thick at the piers, and six
feet thick at the embrasures. It rises sheer out of the water, and is
apparently situated in the centre of the bay, but on its side towards
James Island the water is extremely shallow. It mounts sixty-eight guns,
of a motley but efficient description. Ten-inch columbiads predominate,
and are perhaps the most useful. They weigh 14,000 lb. (125 cwt.), throw
a solid shot weighing 128 lb., and are made to traverse with the
greatest ease by means of Yates's system of cogwheels. There are also
eight-inch columbiads, rifled forty-two pounders, and Brook guns to
throw flat-headed projectiles (General Ripley told me that these Brook
guns, about which so much is said, differ but little from the Blakely
cannon); also there are parrot guns and Dahlgrens; in fact, a general
assortment of every species of ordnance except Whitworths and
Armstrongs. But the best gun in the fort is a fine new eleven-inch gun,
which had just been fished up from the wreck of the Keokuk; the sister
gun from the same wreck is at ----. The garrison consists of 350
enlisted soldiers under Colonel Rhett. They are called Confederate
States regulars, and certainly they saluted in a more soldierlike way
than the ordinary volunteers. A great proportion of them are foreigners.
Fort Sumter now shows but little signs of the battering it underwent
from the ironclads eight weeks ago. The two faces exposed to fire have
been patched up so that large pieces of masonry have a newer appearance
than the mass of the building. The guns have been removed from the
casemates on the eastern face, and the lower tier of casemates has been
filled up with earth to give extra strength, and prevent the balls from
coming right through into the interior of the work, which happened at
the last attack. There is consequently a deep hole in the parade inside
Fort Sumter, from which the earth had been taken to fill up these
casemates. The angles of Sumter are being strengthened outside by stone
buttresses. Some of the cheeks of the upper embrasures have been faced
with blocks of iron three feet long, eight inches thick, and twelve
inches wide. I saw the effect of a heavy shot on one of these blocks
which had been knocked right away, and had fallen in two pieces on the
rocks below, but it had certainly saved the embrasure from further
injury that time. I saw some solid fifteen-inch shot which had been
fired by the enemy: they weigh 425 lb. I was told that several
fifteen-inch shell had stuck in the walls and burst there, tearing away
great flakes of masonry, and making holes two feet deep at the extreme.
None of the ironclads would approach nearer than nine hundred yards, and
the Keokuk, which was the only one that came thus close, got out of
order in five minutes, and was completely disabled in a quarter of an
hour. She sank on the following morning. Solid ten-inch shot and
seven-inch flat-heads were used upon her. Ripley said he would give a
great deal for some more eleven-inch guns, but he can't get them except
by such chances as the Keokuk.
The fight only lasted two hours and twenty-five minutes. Fort Sumter
bore nearly the whole weight of the attack, assisted in a slight degree
by Moultrie. Only one man was killed, which was caused by the fall of
the flagstaff. The Confederates were unable to believe until some time
afterwards the real amount of the damage they had inflicted; nor did
they discover until next day that the affair was a serious attack, and
not a reconnaissance. General Ripley spoke with the greatest confidence
of being able to repulse any other attack of the same sort.
Colonel Rhett, the commandant, entertained us with luncheon in one of
the casemates. He is a handsome and agreeable man, besides being a
zealous officer. He told me that one of the most efficient of his
subordinates was Captain Mitchell, son to the so-called Irish patriot,
who is editor of one of the Richmond newspapers.
From the summit of Fort Sumter a good general view is obtained of the
harbour, and of the fortifications commanding the approach to
Charleston.
Castle Pinckney and Fort Sumter are two old masonry works built on
islands--Pinckney being much closer to the city than Sumter. Between
them is Fort Ripley, which mounts ---- heavy guns.
Moultrieville, with its numerous forts, called Battery Bee, Fort
Moultrie, Fort Beauregard, &c., is on Sullivan's Island, one mile
distant from Fort Sumter. There are excellent arrangements of ----, and
other contrivances, to foul the screw of a vessel between Sumter and
Moultrie.
On the other side of Fort Sumter is Fort Johnson on James Island, Fort
Cummins Point, and Fort Wagner on Morris Island. In fact, both sides of
the harbour for several miles appear to bristle with forts mounting
heavy guns.
The bar, beyond which we counted thirteen blockaders, is nine miles from
the city. Sumter is three and a half miles from the city. Two or three
thousand Yankees are now supposed to be on Folly Island, which is next
beyond Morris Island, and in a day or two they are to be shelled from
the Confederate batteries on Morris Island. The new Confederate flag,
which bears a strong resemblance to the British white ensign, was flying
from most of the forts.
In returning we passed several blockade-runners, amongst others the
steamer Kate, with the new double screw. These vessels are painted the
same colour as the water; as many as three or four often go in and out
with impunity during one night; but they never attempt it except in
cloudy weather. They are very seldom captured, and charge an enormous
price for passengers and freight. It is doubtful whether the traffic of
the private blockade-runners doesn't do more harm than good to the
country by depreciating its currency, and they are generally looked upon
as regular gambling speculations. I have met many persons who are of
opinion that the trade ought to be stopped, except for Government stores
and articles necessary for the public welfare.
After we had landed, Captain Feilden took me on board one of the new
ironclads which are being built, and which are supposed to be a great
improvement upon the Chicora and Palmetto State; these are already
afloat, and did good service last February by issuing suddenly forth,
and driving away the whole blockading squadron for one day. Last night
these two active little vessels were out to look after some blockaders
which were supposed to have ventured inside the bar.
At 5 P.M. I dined with General and Mrs Ripley. The dinner was a very
sumptuous one, for a "blockade" dinner, as General Ripley called it. The
other guests were General Jordan, Chief of the Staff to Beauregard;
General Davis, Mr Nutt, and Colonel Rhett of Fort Sumter. The latter
told me, that if the ironclads had come any closer than they did, he
should have dosed them with flat-headed bolts out of the smooth-bore
guns, which, he thinks, could travel accurately enough for 500 or 600
yards.
Mrs H---- asked me to an evening party, but the extreme badness of my
clothes compelled me to decline the invitation.