position; but secession sentiments travelled on board the steamer. An
English steward, who left his country so long ago that he forgets all
the feelings of his countrymen, expressed his opinion that the South
would hold its own on the slavery basis, and professed astonishment at
the notion that slavery was not in itself a good thing, which he found
prevalent in Great Britain. The passengers were rather Secessionist than
Unionist, and I must say, from what I have seen, there is far more
leniency and forbearance shown by the United States authorities to the
rebels than the latter exhibit toward those who are in favor of federal
principles, which are generally described down South as “abolitionist.”
On landing at the levee of Cairo, the passengers went where they listed,
and a very strong secessionist from New Orleans, who had travelled with
me in the train going north on “business”--I suspect _tam Marte quam
Mercurio_--was let go his way by General Prentiss after a brief
detention. Regarded from the river, Cairo consists of a bank of mud
running out in the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio, in the shape of
a horizontal <. The tops of certain unimpressive wooden stores appear
above the bank, and one tall hotel rises aloft near the sharp end,
before which the United States flag floats with all its thirty-four
stars. At the angle there is an earthwork, which is not yet complete,
but which will soon be finished, in very good order. It is a redan, or
rather a fleche, following the line of the banks, with a good profile
and command--a regular ditch, scarp and counterscarp, and it owes its
excellence probably to the skill of a Colonel Wagner, a Hungarian
artillery officer, who is in charge of it. The hotel was crowded with
men in uniform, and it was suggested by the landlord that one bed was
large enough for two stout gentlemen--my friend and myself--the
thermometer being at 100° or so in the shade; but there was a difference
of opinion on that point, and finally we were quartered in a secluded
little chamber, two-bedded, one-windowed, with a fine view into the
back-yard. The delta is strongly occupied by Illinois volunteer forces,
with two field batteries and several guns of position. On the opposite
shore of the Mississippi, at a place called Bird’s Point, in the State
of Missouri, is a detached post, with field intrenchments held by a
regiment composed of Germans, Poles, and Hungarians, under Colonel
Schuttner, about one thousand strong, and several pieces of light
artillery. Posts are also established higher up on the banks of each
river, but on the bank of the Ohio, opposite to Cairo, the soil is
tabooed. There is the “sacred soil” of Kentucky, and Beriah Magoffin has
warned the United States and Confederate States off his premises. It is
my belief, however, that Columbus will not be long unoccupied. The
Kentuckians opposite Cairo are very strong secessionists.
At the rear of the hotel, in the hollow between the levees and the
rivers, is “Camp Defiance,” which must be the base of operations of any
force proceeding down the Mississippi. On the morning of my arrival
(June 20), I was introduced to General Prentiss, whom I found in a large
room on the ground floor of the hotel, which is the head-quarters of the
brigade. He is a man in the prime of life, about forty years of age,
with a clear liquid blue eye, and very agreeable in manner;
smooth-faced, except as to the chin, which is adorned by the _barbe
d’Afrique_ or goatee, so much affected in America; over the middle
height, slight and active figure, and speaking with what is called a
slight western accent. Although he was aware I had just come from
Memphis, the general had the good taste not to ask any questions
respecting the position, which is more than I can say of all I met on
either side. By his elbow was his acting aide-de-camp and military
secretary, an Englishman named Binmore, who was formerly engaged as
government stenographer at Washington, and has now sharpened his pencil
into a sword. A number of officers were in the room, one of whom was a
Hungarian, Milotsky; another a German, a third a Scotchman, a fourth an
Englishman. In conversing on various matters, General Prentiss showed
me, with a smile, a copy of a newspaper, published in Kentucky, which
contained an “article” on himself that cannot readily meet with a
parallel even in the journalism of this part of the world. For the
benefit of your readers I send it, that they may judge what sort of a
people it must be which tolerates the use of such language:
There is a man now vegetating at Cairo, by name Prentiss, who is in
command of the forces at that point. His qualifications for the
command of such a squad of villains and cut-throats are: He is a
miserable hound, a dirty dog, a sociable fellow, a treacherous
villain, a notorious thief, a lying blackguard, has served his
regular five years in the penitentiary, and keeps his hide
continually full of Cincinnati whisky, which he buys by the barrel
to save money. In him are embodied all the leprous rascalities, and
in this living sore the gallows has been cheated of its own. This
Prentiss wants our scalp. We have no objection to his having it if
he can get it; and we will propose a plan by which he may become
possessed of that valuable article. It is this: Let him select one
hundred and fifty of his best fighting men, or two hundred and
fifty of the lager-beer Dutchmen, and we will select one hundred;
then let both parties meet at a given point, where there will be no
interruption of the scalping business, and then the longest pole
will knock the “persimmon.” If he does not accept this proposal he
is a coward. We think the above proposition fair and equal.
These gems are from a paper called _The Crescent_, printed at Columbus,
Ky., and edited by “Colonel” L. G. Faxon of the “Tennessee Tigers,” a
worthy and accomplished officer and gentleman, no doubt.
In the afternoon, General Prentiss was good enough to drive me round the
camp in company with Mr. Washburne, member of Congress from Illinois,
and several officers and gentlemen. Among them was Mr. Oglesby, colonel
of a regiment of Illinois volunteers, and, as it shows of what material
the commanding officers of these regiments, on whose individual action
so much depends, are made, I may be pardoned for stating that this
excellent, kindly, and shrewd old man, who was responsible for the
position and efficiency of 1,000 men, is one who raised himself from
obscurity to a competence by the drudgery of a lawyer’s office in spite
of a defective education, and that he never handled a company in the
field in his life. Apparently, he is selected to be a colonel because he
can make good, homely, telling speeches to his men, and he may think he
will be a good officer just as he may imagine he is an excellent
artilleryman because the first time he ever laid and fired a gun the
other day the ball hit the tree at which it was aimed. The bulk of the
troops are encamped in wooden sheds, provided with berths like those in
a ship, which are disposed longitudinally, so as to afford the maximum
of sleeping room. These sheds run continuously along the inward side of
the levees, the tops of which are broad enough to serve as carriage
roads. They answer well enough for temporary purposes, but would not do
for a lengthened residence. There can be no drainage, as the ground on
which they stand is below the water level. The parade is spacious and
level enough--the bottom of a swamp which the troops have cleared,
cutting down trees and removing stumps with great diligence and labor.
Our drive extended up the Mississippi shore, past two field guns in
position and some infantry tents, up to the camp of a company of Chicago
light artillery and of Hungarian and German volunteers, under Major
Milotsky. The guns fired a salute on the arrival of the general, and the
company were drawn up to receive him--an unequally-sized body of men,
most of whom, however, were quite fit for any military duty. The
captain, Mr. Smith, is, I should judge from his accent, a Scotchman, and
he told me the men in his company represented a million and-a-half of
dollars in property. The guns of the company (brass six-pounders), the
horses and equipments were clean and in good order; the firing was
well-timed. While seated in his tent several of the privates came
forward outside and sang “The Star Spangled Banner,” “God Save the
Queen” (to their own words), and other airs very pleasingly; but a
severe reception awaited the guests on going outside, for the whole of
the company were drawn up in line, and they then and there set up a
shouting for “Washburne,” so that the honorable member was fain to
comply and make a speech; and then General Prentiss made a speech under
similar compulsion; and next Colonel Oglesby; and then your own
correspondent, who has had quite enough of speaking in America, in his
first and last effort, was forced to say he could not make a speech; and
after other orations, in which the audience were always called
“gentlemen!” we got off (with “three cheers”) to the Hungarians, who
were waiting for their turn--a fine, soldierly-looking set of men, of
whom our Kentucky editor writes as follows:
When the bow-legged, wooden-shoed, sourkrout-stinking,
bologne-sausage-eating, hen-roost-robbing Dutch sons of ---- from
Cairo had accomplished the brilliant feat of taking down the
Secession flag on the river bank, they were pointed to another flag
of the same sort, which was flying gloriously and defiantly about
two squares distant (and which their guns did not cover), and
defied, yea, double-big, black-dog dared (as we used to say at
school) to take that flag down. The cowardly pups, the sheep-dogs,
the sneaking skunks dare not do so, because those twelve pieces of
artillery were not bearing upon it. And these are the people who
are sent by Lincoln to “crush out” the South!
The officer in command put them through light infantry drill, advance of
line of skirmishers, charge, rally, retreat, etc., all well done, and
they marched back singing to camp and gave three good cheers for the
general. In our way back the party stopped at another camp which was
enlivened by the presence of ladies, who had come some hundreds of miles
to see husbands and brothers, and in the evening the usual parade took
place near the hotel. Four regiments of about seven hundred each were on
the ground, and never, perhaps, did any force only a few weeks in the
field look more like soldiers, march more steadily in line, or present a
better appearance in the ranks. When drawn up in line the difference in
uniform in various companies struck the eye as a disagreeable
novelty--one with white cross-belts between two companies with black
cross-belts, for example; but the line of bayonets was unwavering and
uniformly sloped--all the ordinary work of a very ordinary regimental
parade was performed by each with precision and rapidity, and the men
were as fine fellows as could be seen in any infantry regiments of the
line in any part of the world. The officers, however, did not seem very
quick--orders were carried at a trot--the combined movements were slow,
and a little clubbing took place in forming into line from columns of
companies marching in echelon. Just as it was dark there came into camp,
with a good band at their head, a remarkably stout-looking set of
fellows, armed with rifle and bayonet, very tall, in heavy marching
order, and stepping out like men who knew their business. Alas! that it
should be so. But these are Colonel Schuttner’s “Dutchmen,” as they are
called, who have been a little eccentric at Bird’s Point, going on
scouting parties, and making themselves generally active either without
or with the colonel’s sanction, and so they are marched to camp as a
punishment for their want of discipline, and their place is taken by
another battalion. I am informed the conduct of the troops on the whole
has been very exemplary.
_June 21._--I visited the earthworks at the end of the levee. Colonel
Waagner was ill with the usual camp diarrhœa, but he would insist on
getting up and showing me his performance. He has fought in many hard
fields in Europe, served in the Hungarian war, and accompanied Kossuth
to the United States. His right-hand man, Lieutenant O’Leary, was
formerly a petty officer in the British navy, served in the Furious in
the Black Sea, and was in the Shannon Brigade, under the
ever-to-be-deplored sailor who led them to the relief of Lucknow, and
finally to the reduction of that ill-starred city. Mr. O’Leary told me
he was not much credited here when he recounted the manner in which Sir
William Peel taught his sailors to toss about 68-pounders as if they
were field-pieces. The work I found to be rather “crowded” with guns,
but it gives promise of such strength as to enable the occupants to
command both rivers effectually. The armament is quite adequate to all
purposes, and consists of one 8-inch howitzer, two 24-pounders, two
32-pounders, and some lighter guns, the whole being dominated by a
10-inch columbiad in the centre, on a circular traversing slide, not yet
mounted. The magazine is well made and lighted; it is the safest and
best I have seen in the States. The practice I saw with a field-piece
from the work, at a small target 500 yards off, in order to try ricochet
fire, was by no means bad, and would have speedily sunk a boat in the
line of fire. Whenever a steamer is made out approaching Cairo a gun is
fired from one or other of the ports. The steamer then gives the private
signal agreed upon, and if she does not answer, is fired upon and
brought to by round shot.
In the evening, as I was walking up and down the levee after a day of
exhausting heat, an extraordinary tumult attracted my attention, and on
running to the hotel, whence the noise proceeded, I discovered a whole
regiment drawn up two deep without arms, and shouting out in chorus,
“Water! water! water!” The officers were powerless, but presently
General Prentiss came round the corner, and mounting on a railing
proceeded to address the soldiery in energetic terms, but in substance
his remonstrance would have been considered, in a French or English
army, as much a breach of discipline as the act it had censured. These
men had broken out of barracks after hours, forced their officers and
the sentries, and came up shouting to the head-quarters of their general
to complain of a deficiency of water. The general addressed them as
“gentlemen.” It was not his fault they wanted water. It was their
officers who were to blame, not he. He would see they had water, and
would punish the contractor, but they must not come disturbing him, by
their outcries at night. Their conduct was demoralizing to themselves,
and to their comrades. Having rated the “gentlemen” soundly, he ordered
them back to their quarters. They gave three cheers for the general, and
retired in regular line of march with their officers. The fact was, that
the men on returning from a hot and thirsty drill, found the
water-barrels, which ought to have been filled by the contractor, empty,
and not for the first time, and so they took the quartermaster’s
business into their own hands. Their officers did not wish to be very
strict, and why? The term of the men’s voluntary service is nearly over,
they have not yet been enrolled for the service of the state; therefore,
if they were aggrieved they might be disposed to disband, and not renew
their engagements, and so the officers would be left without any
regiment to offer to the state. But they went off in an orderly manner,
and General Prentiss, though much annoyed by the occurrence, understands
volunteers better than we do. There is no doubt but that the
quartermasters’ department is in a bad condition in both armies. Mr.
Forstall has proposed to the Southern authorities to hang any contractor
who may be detected cheating. There would probably be few contractors
left if the process were carried into effect at the North. The medical
department is better in the Northern than in the Southern armies. But
even here there is not an ambulance, a cacolet, or a mule litter. When
General Scott made his first requisition for troops and money, or rather
when he gave in his estimate of the probable requirements to carry on
the war, I hear the ministers laughed at his demands. They would be
very glad now to condone for the original figures. Little do they, North
or South, know what war must cost in money, in life, in misery. Already
they are suffering, but it is but a tithe of what is to come, for the
life and misery have not been expended and felt. In the Memphis papers
two days ago I saw a notification that drafts would be issued by the
magistrates to families left in distress by the departure of their heads
and supports to the seat of war. In the Cairo papers to-day I observe an
appeal to the authorities to do something to aid the citizens reduced to
pauperism by the utter stagnation of trade.
_Saturday, June 22_, 1861.
The information which Brigadier-General Prentiss received, of movements
on the part of the Missouri secessionists, induced him, in pursuance, I
presume, of instructions from the head-quarters of his district, or,
possibly, on his own responsibility, to send out an expedition secretly
this afternoon to break up their camp, and disperse or make them
prisoners. It is in that sort of guerrilla enterprises that much of the
time and strength of the federalists will be consumed. A good map of the
States may fail to show the little village of Commerce, on the
Mississippi, but it is about sixteen miles east of the town of Benton,
and is about two hours’ steaming from Cairo. Here the Confederates, or
“rebels,” as they are called in my present latitude, have collected in
two or three small camps, in numbers to which report adds and deducts
ciphers at pleasure. But General Prentiss does not think they can be
over a few hundred men, judging from the force he sent against them. It
is supposed these bands are the _debris_ of Governor Jackson’s
followers, who have been encouraged by promises of support from Memphis,
to assemble as rallying centres for the secessionists of Missouri, who
would, no doubt, collect in considerable numbers if they were permitted,
and would summon their defeated governor, now an exile in Arkansas, to
their head. But the position they occupy is very important in a
strategical sense, as it commands the Mississippi above Cairo, and if
they succeeded in getting a few guns, they could stop the navigation of
the river, and cause serious embarrassment to the right flank and rear
of the federalists posted on the junction of that river with the Ohio,
as well as neutralizing the work at Bird’s Point. In despite of their
great violence of speech, the secessionists, like other men in most
parts of the world, abate their rage in the presence of armed
force--_inter arma silent_; and the process which is going on in
Missouri may be equally successful if it can be applied elsewhere. Any
way, the results must show the government at Washington, that if they
could have acted on the same principles elsewhere they would now be in
a very different position. The outcry which would have been raised
against them could not be louder or stronger than it is at present. Why,
Cairo itself was a centre of disaffection and secession till the
Illinois volunteers occupied it militarily with artillery and a strong
force of infantry! For days they were threatened with an attack, and
were subjected to abuse and insults. All that has died away, and
outwardly, at least, Cairo is Unionist, although Southern Illinois is by
no means of the same mind, and General Prentiss finds it necessary to
station troops along the railroad, at the bridges, to prevent any
playful pranks in sawing the timbers or setting them on fire.
It was nearly dusk before the expedition started. It consisted of about
seven hundred men and one six-pounder field-piece, under the command of
Colonel Morgan, an officer who saw service during the Mexican war, and
who has the reputation--I should think well-deserved--of being a
skilful, brave, and prudent officer. I saw the companies paraded, and I
must say their appearance was most creditable to the officers and the
men themselves. Making allowance for diversity of arms and uniform,
company by company, they were well set up, stout, powerful,
infantry-looking, cheerful, and full of confidence, and among them were
many old soldiers, particularly Germans and Hungarians. The field-pieces
were very well horsed, probably provided with tumbril, spare wheel, and
a full compliment of well-equipped gunners. As they marched on board the
huge river steamer--a Pelion of light carpentry on an Ossa of engines
and boilers--the men cheered in the old English style, and gave three
thundering “hurrahs” as the steamer backed out and set her bow against
the stream. But now comes what seemed to me a little of the recklessness
and want of foresight, or, at least, of precaution, which has been
evident in more than one of the federalist expeditions, with the usual
consequences of disaster and loss. These men and horses and the gun were
put on board this big tinder-box, all fire and touchwood. One small
boat, capable of carrying a dozen men at most, hung at her stern.
Imagine an explosion, and her engines are high-pressure; a shot from a
masked gun into her boiler, and her boilers are exposed; even heavy
musketry fire opened suddenly from the wooden bank on the beehive-like
deck, where the solitary gun could scarcely be worked, and the men could
not be landed, and see what a catastrophe might ensue. To use a homely
simile, there were “too many eggs in one basket.” And there was no
necessity for doing this, inasmuch as many steamers lay at the disposal
of the authorities, and the steamer could easily have towed up flats or
boats for the gun and men. A handful of horsemen would have been
admirable to move in advance, feel the covers, and make prisoners for
political or other purposes in case of flight; but the Americans persist
in ignoring the use of horsemen, or at least in depreciating it, though
they will at last find that they may shed much blood, and lose much
more, before they can gain a great victory without the aid of artillery
and charges after the retreating enemy. From the want of cavalry, I
suppose it is, the unmilitary practice of “scouting,” as it is called
here, has arisen. It is all very well in the days of Indian wars for
footmen to creep about in the bushes and shoot or be shot by sentries
and pickets; but no civilized war, if there be such a thing at all in
civil conflicts, recognizes such means of annoyance as firing upon
sentinels, unless in case of an actual advance or feigned attack on the
line. No camp can be safe without cavalry videttes and pickets, for the
enemy can pour in impetuously after the alarm has been given, as fast as
the outlying footmen can run in. In feeling the way for a column,
cavalry are invaluable, and there can be little chance of ambuscades or
surprises where they are judiciously employed; but “scouting” on foot,
or adventurous private expeditions on horseback, to have a look at the
enemy, can do, and will do, nothing but harm. Every day the papers
contain accounts of “scouts” being killed, and sentries being picked
off. The latter is a very barbarous and savage practice; and the
Russian, in his most angry moments, abstained from it. If any officer
wishes to obtain information as to his enemy, he has two ways of doing
it. He can employ spies, who carry their lives in their hands, or he can
beat up their quarters by a proper reconnoissance on his own
responsibility, in which, however, it would be advisable not to trust
his force to a railway train. In talking to General Prentiss, this
evening, I was informed that the enemies’ spies visit Cairo every day.
Strict precautions are used to prevent access to the camps--a close
chain of sentries is posted all around, and in the day a pass is
necessary for admittance, unless one belongs to the force, and at night
no one is admitted without the countersign. An Irish gentleman, who had
been evincing his satisfaction at the receipt of his wages _more
Hibernico_, just now attempted to get past us--“Who goes there?” “A
friend--shure you know I’m a friend!” “Advance three paces and give the
countersign.” The gentleman approached, but was brought up by the
bayonet. “Send for the captain, and he’ll give you the word bedad.” The
intercession was unnecessary, for two policemen came up in hot pursuit,
and the general, who was sitting by, ordered the guard to deliver their
prisoner to the civil power. For some extraordinary reason this act
moved the prisoner to the greatest gratitude, and, taking off his cap,
he exclaimed, “Thank you, general; long life to you. Indeed, general,
I’m greatly obliged to you on this account.” Another sentry who
challenged an officer in the usual way, was asked by him, “Do you know
the countersign yourself?” “Indeed I don’t, sir; it’s not nine o’clock,
and they havn’t given it out yet.” A very tolerable military band played
outside the hotel in the evening, and I was pleased to see the quiet
manner in which the bystanders, of all ranks, sat down in the chairs as
they were vacant, close to the general, without any intrusion or any
sense of impropriety arising from their difference in rank.