All in a muddle, and yet the news, confused as it is, seems
good from all quarters. There is a row in New Orleans. Memphis1 has
been retaken; 2,000 prisoners have been captured at Petersburg, and a Yankee
raid on Macon has come to grief.
At Mrs. Izard's met a clever Mrs. Calhoun. Mrs. Calhoun is a
violent partizan of Dick Taylor; says Taylor does the work and Kirby Smith gets
the credit for it. Mrs. Calhoun described the behavior of some acquaintance of
theirs at Shreveport, one of that kind whose faith removes mountains. Her love
for and confidence in the Confederate army were supreme. Why not? She knew so
many of the men who composed that dauntless band. When her husband told her New
Orleans had surrendered to a foe whom she despised, she did not believe a word
of it. He told her to “pack up his traps, as it was time for him to leave
Shreveport.” She then determined to run down to the levee and see for herself,
only to find the Yankee gunboats having it all their own way. She made a
painful exhibition of herself. First, she fell on her knees and prayed; then she
got up and danced with rage; then she raved and dashed herself on the ground in
a fit. There was patriotism run mad for you! As I did not know the poor soul,
Mrs. Calhoun's fine acting was somewhat lost on me, but the others enjoyed it.
Old Edward Johnston has been sent to Atlanta against his
will, and Archer has been made major-general and, contrary to his earnest
request, ordered not to his beloved Texans but to the Army of the Potomac.
Mr. C. F. Hampton deplores the untimely end of McPherson.2
He was so kind to Mr. Hampton at Vicksburg last winter, and drank General
Hampton's health then and there. Mr. Hampton has asked Brewster, if the report
of his death prove a mistake, and General McPherson is a prisoner, that every
kindness and attention be shown to him. General McPherson said at his own table
at Vicksburg that General Hampton was the ablest general on our side.
Grant can hold his own as well as Sherman. Lee has a heavy handful
in the new Suwarrow. He has worse odds than any one else, for when Grant has
ten thousand slain, he has only to order another ten thousand, and they are
there, ready to step out to the front. They are like the leaves of Vallambrosa.
_______________
1 General Forrest made his raid on Memphis in
August of this year.
2 General McPherson was killed before Atlanta
during the sortie made by Hood on July 22d. He was a native of Ohio, a graduate
of West Point, and under Sherman commanded the Army of the Tennessee.
SOURCE: Mary Boykin Chesnut, Edited by Isabella D. Martin
and Myrta Lockett Avary, A Diary From Dixie, p. 323-4
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