War with England

Shall we have a war with England?  Nothing but a speedy settlement of the difficulties with the South will prevent it.  The rebels are now hemmed in on every side, and vigorous attacks from various points must result in their overwhelming defeat.  The longer the Southern Confederacy stands, the stronger is it becoming in the eyes of foreign nations.  There is no way in which hostilities with England can be prevented, but by the speedy subjugation of the South.  If this war continues six months longer, we shall have old England, with perhaps one or two allied powers, upon us.

The telegraph informs us that the governments of England, France and Spain are mediating an early recognition of the Confederate States.  Their plea is said to be that of “humanity” – a plea that our Government might have used with a thousand fold more plausibility toward either Ireland or the Indies.  Since the rendition of Mason and Slidell, England has been vigorously preparing for war.  Her North American colonies are especially the object of her solicitude.  They have been more strongly fortified, while one hundred thousand men have been raised to protect them from aggression.

Our Government is aware of the preparations that this power has been making for war.  It knows that they are not all intended for the conquering of Mexico, and it must know that there is no way left under heaven to prevent hostilities with England, but the speedy suppression of the rebellion now raging in our own country.  Knowing all this, why there has not been a general advance of the Federal troops ere this time, is more than we can fathom. – But we “possess our souls in patience,” hoping each day that the next will bring us news that the belligerents which have so long been threatening one another on the Potomac have at last concluded to measure strength.  We have the confidence in McClellan to believe that the news of an advance of the Federal troops under his Generalship would be akin to the heralding of a great victory and the postponing of the recognition by humane England of the rebel confederacy.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 2

The Legislature --- State Warrants

Several weeks ago we attempted to show the necessity of some action on the part of our Legislature to place state warrants (on War and Defence Fund), on a proper and honest footing.  These warrants being then hawked around the State at twenty-five per cent. discount.  We are glad to learn by a gentleman direct from Des Moines that the passage of a certain bill, this or next week, will have the effect to bring the price of the State warrants up to par or nearly so.  We expect to be able to quote our war fund State warrants next week at ninety-five cents.  They are now being bought at Des Moines for ninety cents.  There has been no good reason why they should not have brought this figure any time.

The legislature has passed a bill by which the State assumes the collection of the Government tax in Iowa.  It is now proposed to pass a bill by which the State Warrants will be taken for taxes, or for the Government tax – as the Government owes the State more than the amount of war fund State warrants issued.  By this means these warrants are at once given a practical value or  use, making them worth so much money for a specific purpose, and a purpose for which there must soon be some provision made by tax payers.

We do not know that there is any sale for these warrants in this city at the present time.  But we advise holders not to sacrifice them – the same advice we gave months ago.  The warrants of the state of Iowa, and bearing eight per cent. interest, ought never to be sacrificed for a figure much below par.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 2

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Wednesday, July 23, 1862

Our regiment is out on picket today. It rained all day. We seldom see any of the rebel cavalry in this locality, yet we always maintain a strong picket line so as not to be taken by surprise. We are expecting them to make a raid upon Corinth any time.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 58

What we are Learning

The American people are just now learning a great lesson and if they do not profit by it they will lose all claim to Yankee shrewdness.  They are learning that it is not safe to the country to foster institutions that are in antagonism to its liberties, until they become powerful enough to assert their supremacy.  That if it warms into life a serpent within its bosom, they must expect it to turn and sting its benefactor.  They are learning that the boasted sympathy of foreign nations cannot be depended upon, but that we must rely upon our own strength for independence.  The fiery ordeal through which our country is passing will teach us self-reliance, a more entire dependence upon ourselves, a fostering of those institutions that give permanency to our Government and the lopping off of those that tend to impair its strength.  We shall learn to become more attentive to our national character, more jealous of our country’s honor and more embittered in our feelings toward old England.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 2

Latest from Memphis

We conversed yesterday with a gentleman who left Memphis only a week since.  He says that extensive preparations are being made to receive the Yankees.  The foundry at the Navy Yard is turning out cannon very rapidly, and has cast four 100-pounders which are mounted on the earthworks and Memphis.

Clothing is very scarce and high, and woolen goods have almost disappeared from the shelves of the dry goods stores.  Boots sell at $14@$25 a pair.  Coffee $1.50 per pound.  Salt is worth $20 a sack, and the army is obliged to do without it, eating their fresh beef unseasoned.

Of course the rebels are still of the opinion that they will secure their independence, though they confess that Memphis will be in danger if our forces ever ascend the Tennessee River, and cut off their supplies.  A great deal of sickness prevails in the rebel army, and the hospitals are crowded. – Evansville Journal 29th.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 2

The War News

Ft. Pulaski thoroughly Invested.

The Committee on Lake Defences Ready to Report.

SOUTHERN SECESSIONISTS IN CANADA.

Flag-Officer Goldsboro Supposed to be at Work.

Prospect of a Battle in Missouri.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Tuesday, July 22, 1862

We removed our tents and had a general cleanup of the camp. We made brush brooms, took down all tents, swept the ground, then pitched our tents again.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 58

The River Batteries: Fort Donelson National Battlefield

C. S. A.

THE RIVER BATERIES

CAPTAIN JOSEPH DIXON (KILLED)

CAPTAIN CACOB CULBERTSON

COMMANDER

The Lower Water Battery established at this point mounted eight 32-pounder guns and one 10-inch Columbiad.  Company A, 50th Tennessee, under Captain T. W. Beaumont, manned the four guns on the right, and Company A, 30th Tennessee, under Captain. B. G. Bidwell, manned the four guns on the left.  A detachment of Captain Reuben R. Ross’ Battery of Maury Artillery under Lieutenant H. S. Bedford operated the Columbiad, which was emplaced on the extreme left.

On February 13, 1862, this battery engaged in a duel with the U.S.S. Carondelet.  Near the close of the bombardment, which lasted nearly an hour, a projectile struck and disabled the third gun from the left and killed Captain Joseph Dixon, Commander of the river batteries.  It also disabled for a short time Captain J. B. Shuster, and killed and wounded two or three privates.

Soldiers' Aid Society

The members of this Society are requested to bear in mind that this being the first Tuesday in the month, when according to a resolution lately passed, each member whose name is registered is expected to pay into the treasury a certain sum, all are desired to be present at the meeting of the Society this afternoon at 2 o’clock at the Odd Fellows’ Hall.  Those patriotic ladies whose names are not on the book, and are not able to give their time, and feel interested in the welfare of the sick soldiers of Iowa are earnestly invited to contribute their monthly mite, that we may have the means of continuing our labors for the solders’ benefit.

BY ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 1

Meteorological Observations

(Under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution)

Made at Griswold College, Davenport

BY WM. P. DUNWOODY.

Latitude 41.30. North – Longitude 13.30. west – Height above the sea, 737 feet.

Date	Barometer			Thermometer			Snow
	7 A.M.	2 P.M.	9 P.M.	7 A.M.	2 P.M.	9 P.M.
Jan. 27	23.34	29.22	29.19	24	30	30
Jan. 28	29.14	29.19	29.22	32	31	15
Jan. 29	29.40	29.42	29.45	0	5	-7
Jan. 30	29.46	29.45	29.45	-13	4	3
Jan. 31	29.24	29.19	[29.18]	12	13	19
Feb. 1	29.48	29.50	29.55	-10	2	-7
Feb. 2	29.57	29.56	29.41	-14	5	11

Mean height of Barometer, 29.30 inches; mean Temperature, [22] degrees; mean amount of clouds 5; general direction of winds, N. W.  On the 27th light snow fell during the morning & evening vary damp, with frequent flashes of lightning.  Drizzling rain during the 28th.  Light snow during the afternoon of the 30th.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Monday, July 21, 1862

It is very warm and dusty today. There are some fine orchards around Corinth and the apples and peaches are beginning to ripen now. Fresh fruit will help out our rations and add freshness and variety.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 58

Review: The Civil War, The Second Year Told By Those Who Lived It

The Civil War:

The Second Year Told By Those Who Lived It

Edited by Stephen Sears

“The Civil War: The Second Year Told By Thos Who Lived It,” is the second volume in The Library of America’s four volume series of first person accounts from America’s bloodiest war.  Covering the second year of the war, this volume spans from January 1862 to January 1863, and much like its preceding first volume it covers the war from nearly every conceivable vantage: Union and Confederate; North and South; the Eastern and the Western Theaters; men and women; civilians, soldiers and politicians; slaves, free blacks, abolitionists and slaveholders.

Culled from thousands of newspaper articles, diaries and journals, letters, memoirs and official documents, editor Stephen Sears, has collected the richest historical documents and presented them chronologically.  Separately, each document is a historical artifact; together they are a sometimes poignant, often dramatic, portrait of the war’s second year.

Nearly panoramic in its scope, “The Civil War: The Second Year Told By Thos Who Lived It,” covers such notable events as the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, the Battle of Pea Ridge, the battle of Hampton Roads (USS Monitor vs. CSS Virginia), The Battle of Shiloh, the fall of New Orleans, the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles, the Battle of Antietam, and the battles of Iuka, Corinth, Perryville, Chickasaw Bayou, and Stones River.

Abraham Lincoln’s evolving views on the subject are clearly shown through these original documents:  from Lincoln’s March 6th, 1862 Message to Congress about compensated emancipation to his Message to Congress on April 16th on the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia; from Lincoln’s revoking of General David Hunter’s emancipation order on May 19th to his appeal to the border state representatives on July 12th for compensated emancipation of the slaves; from the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation on July 22, to his August 14th address on colonization; from his reply to Horace Greeley’s “The Prayer of Twenty Millions” on August 22nd to the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22nd; and finally his signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863.  The fact that this second volume of the series begins with Frederick Douglass’s essay “What Shall Be Done with the Slaves if Emancipated?” and ends with the Emancipation Proclamation is a theme that should not be missed.

Among other notable inclusions is Robert E. Lee’s “Special Orders No. 191,” the “lost order” of the Maryland Campaign.  Though, one curious omission is the Horace Greeley’s open letter to Abraham Lincoln, “The Prayer of Twenty Millions.”

Among those whose documents are included in this volume are of course Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, United States Generals George B. McClellan, Lew Wallace, Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, David Hunter, John Pope, Henry W. Halleck, Alpheus S. Williams, George G. Meade, and Ambrose Burnside; Confederate Generals Braxton Bragg, Richard Taylor, Robert E. Lee and Edward Porter Alexander; Diarists John B. Jones, Kate Stone, Charles B. Hayden, Judith W. McGuire, George Templeton Strong, James Richmond Boulware, Charles B. Labruzan, Orville H. Browning and Cyrus F. Boyd; political figures Gideon Welles, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, John Hay, Charles Sumner, Charles Francis Adams and Francis Preston Blair; literary figures Julia Ward Howe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson , Herman Melville, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman and Louisa May Alcott; Frederick Douglass, Clara Barton and Sam Watkins, author of “Co. Aytch”

Mr. Sears has included a brief introductory paragraph, placing the document that follows in its proper historical context, and giving additional information wherever warranted.  The documents themselves are a view into the historical past, given to us by those who witnessed the events they themselves wrote about.  Most often only briefly referenced in history books, the ability to read the whole document gives its reader a sense of immediacy that cannot be gotten any other way.

ISBN 978-1598531442, Library of America, © 2012, Hardcover, 936 pages, Maps, Chronology, Biographical Notes, Note on the Texts, Notes & Index. $40.00.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Review: The American President, A Complete History

The American President: A Complete History

By Kathryn Moore

Since 1789 forty-three men have held the office of President of the United States.  Their personalities, backgrounds, and biographies vary widely between them.  Each defined the role of President for himself.  Some were successful while others were not.  A few have ascended to greatness while others are largely forgotten by the modern American public.  Four have been assassinated and four died while in office.  Some have ridden through the calm waters of peace while others have steered through the turbulent seas of war.  All have in some way shaped and influenced the destiny of The United States.  Their stories are American stories.  Their biographies are American history.  To get a firm grasp on American history it is essential that you have an understanding of the lives of the men who became President.

Kathryn Moore’s “The American President: A Complete History” is nothing less than the ultimate guide to the Presidents.  Her 688 page tome contains complete biographies of the 43 men who have held the office of President of the United States.

Presented in chronological order from George Washington to Barack Obama; each biography is accompanied by a full page portrait on the left, while its opposing page lists the biographical facts of each President: birth and death dates and places, religion, higher education, profession, military service, family (mother, father, wife and children), political life (all political offices held), and presidency (number of terms, party, reason for leaving office & Vice President).  On the following pages is a narrative biography of each President.  In the margins of each president’s biographical sketch are: a list of his cabinet members, presidential trivia, Supreme Court Appointments, State of the Union (population, national debt, states admitted to the Union, number of states in the Union).  Colored boxes appear frequently throughout the book highlighting significant laws which were passed and events that happened during each presidency.  At the bottom of each page runs a time line of American and world events which place each presidency within the context of its time.  End notes are located at the end of each biographical sketch.

“The American President: A Complete History” is exhaustively researched, well written and easily read.  By itself, Ms. Moore’s book is a treasury of presidential information and is a must have for scholars of American history.  It is a perfect companion book to the History Channel documentaries, “The Presidents,” and “Ultimate Guide to the Presidents.” 

ISBN 978-1435146020, Fall River, Revised and Updated Edition, © 2013, Paperback, 688 pages, 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.7 inches, Photographs, Illustrations, End Notes & Index. $19.95.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Des Moines Correspondence

DES MOINES, Jan. 31.

This has been a day for the introduction of business and for instructing the committees.  Once in a while a good portion of the daily session will be taken up in passing resolutions of instructions.

In the House, Mr. Wetherall offered a resolution instructing the committee on constitutional amendments to inquire into the expediency of so amending the Constitution as to prevent the ingress of negroes and mulatoes [sic] into the State.  It is a continuation of the subject introduced yesterday, only it comes in a different form.  The resolution was quickly tabled.

Mr. Kellogg offered a resolution instructing the committee on charitable institutions to inquire into the expediency of removing the Deaf and Dumb Asylum from Iowa City to this place.  The lease of the building now occupied is nearly expired, and hence before any building is erected or another one leased, is the time to change, if at all.  The expense attending the removal would we trifling, since it is not intended, as one bright member supposed, to move the building up here.  If then, this is the place for the institution to be located, now is the time to provide for its removal.  There is a set of men who favor the location of these State institutions in different parts of the State.  They argue that the State at large is benefited by this distribution.  I cannot see how Davenport or any of the river towns is benefited by the location of this Asylum at Iowa City.  In reality, it is only the town in which such institution is located that is benefited, and in many instances the benefit conferred even upon a one-horse town is but trifling.  And, since each city cannot have a State institution located within its limits, all that are without the pale of their influence are losing by their being located away from the Capital.  Were they here, their condition and wants could be investigated at each session of the Legislature without heavy expenses to the State.  At present the appointment of an investigating committee is synonymous with a heavy knock at the door of the treasury.  During the last regular session two of these committees were appointed, one to visit the Insane Asylum, and the other the Penitentiary.  The amount paid out of the treasury to these committees for expenses, etc., was not far from $1,500.  And when these committees return and make a report, the members frequently know no better than before what course to pursue.  It is now proposed to send committees again to these institutions.  If such institutions are under the fostering care of the Sate, especially charitable institutions, were all located at the Capital, the members could at their leisure examine into their condition, wants, etc., and be prepared to legislate intelligently on the subject.  The state at large would be a great gainer by this plan.

The House has passed a few bills to-day. – Among them is one repealing the law creating the office of Commissioner of Emigration in the City of New York.  A second one related to Life Insurance Companies.  It make it unlawful for any such company, incorporated by another State, to do business within this State unless possessed of an actual capital of $100,000.

In the Senate Mr. Smith introduced a bill making liquor venders responsible for damages or losses incurred by any party through the intoxication of any person or persons. – This is capital.  I hope it will become a law.  It taxes the right parties for the support of drunkards and their families.  Intemperance is a costly vice, and let those who reap the profits pay the expenses.  This is but fair.

A usury bill has been introduced into that body.  It makes 6 per cent. the highest legal rate of interest.  The policy of this is questionable.  Money will sell for what it is worth.  If I wish money to invest when I see a clear return of 25 per cent., I will pay 15 per cent. for the money without any hesitation.  It is worth that to me, and more too.  The law can’t prevent me from paying it, neither can it prevent any creditor from collecting it.  If I say – one year after date I promise to pay Mr. So-and-so $115, for value received – when I only received of him $100, I evade the law and do not make a misstatement, providing the last named sum is worth to me to-day what the former one would be at the end of the year.  I know there are objections to letting money take the course of merchandise to be sold or loaned according to present value.  These objections will doubtless be presented by favorers of this bill.

To-day the stamp act went into effect.  This morning the members of the House were crowding around the clerk’s desk, like children around their presents on Christmas morning.  On examining the matter I found that the postage stamps were being distributed according to the provisions of the recent act on that subject.  Never before have I seen a sober set of men inaugurate a custom so ill suited to their wants, so inconvenient in every respect, so poorly calculated to accomplish the object aimed at as this same stamp act, which was hatched in the Senate and nursed in the house.  It has created no little amusement to-day and will be a constant annoyance so long as it lasts.

J. R. C.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, July 20, 1862

No news of importance. The weather is very hot. We had company inspection this morning, after which, because of the intense heat, the men remained in their tents. None were out during the day except those detailed on duty.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 58

XXXVIIth Congress – First Session

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3.

SENATE. – Mr. Wade presented a joint resolution from the Legislature of Ohio, instructing members of Congress to use their efforts to secure such amendment of the naturalization laws as well grant naturalization to those of foreign birth who serve during the war.

Mr. Wade also introduced a resolution for a national armory in Ohio.  Passed.

Mr. Chandler presented resolutions from the Legislature of Michigan, re-affirming loyalty to the government and hatred of traitors, and asking the government to speedily put down the insurrection; favoring the confiscation of the property of rebels, and asking that as slavery is the cause of the war it be swept from the land.

Mr. Harris presented a petition from citizens of New York, asking that Congress take speedy measures to repeal the present reciprocity treaty between Canada and the United States.

Mr. Harris also presented resolutions from the Legislature of New York, asking a modification of the law for raising revenue so that any amount may be raised by any State, by any mode of taxation except duties on imports; that each State be allowed to assume the amount of tax and assess for the payment and the collection of the same, according to its own laws and by its own officers.  Referred.

Mr. Pomeroy offered a resolution asking the Secretary of War for all orders relative to the force in the military command of Kansas, and whether the same be commanded by Gen. Lane, and whether any change has been made in the military orders since Gen. Lane left the Senate and took charge of the force, and whether Gen. Hunter’s order already published is in accordance with the orders of the War Dept.  Laid over.

Mr. Chandler offered a resolution that the committee on commerce inquire in the expediency of immediately notifying Great Britain that the reciprocity treaty is not reciprocal, and that it be terminated at the earliest possible moment.  Laid over.

Mr. Simmons, from the committee on patents, reported back the joint resolution appropriating $3,000 for the purchase of cotton seed for general distribution, with an amendment appropriating $1,000 for the purchase of tobacco seed.  Amendment adopted, and the resolution passed.

Mr. Anthony offered a resolution that the [committee] on patents inquire into the expediency of making an appropriation to aid in the experiment of manufacturing flax as a substitute for cotton.  Adopted.

Mr. Johnson moved to take up the bill providing for the construction of a military RR through the States of Kentucky and Tennessee.  Disagreed to.

Mr. Cowan offered a joint resolution relative to the lake and river defences of Pa.  Referred.

After executive session adjourned.

HOUSE. – Mr. Lovejoy offered the following:

Whereas, It has been learned by this House that five Illinois regiments did, on learning the contents of the report of Sec. Cameron, lay down their arms in token of their refusal to fight for the same; therefore

Resolved, That the committee on the conduct of the war inquire into the alleged fact, and report the same to Congress.

Mr. Fouke desiring to discuss the subject, it went over under the rules.

On motion of Mr. Baker, it was resolved that the committee on Post Offices and post roads be requested to inquire into the propriety of establishing, by law, a system for the free receipt and delivery, by postmen, of all mail matter in cities containing upwards of 10,000 inhabitants, in conformity with the admirable and economical Post Office system of the principal cities of Europe.

The House then proceeded to act on the Senate’s amendment to the House bill making appropriation for completing the defences of Washington, which amendment provides that no volunteers or militia in any State shall be mustered into service on any ground or condition and confined within the limits of any State or vicinity; and if any volunteers or militia have thus been mustered into service, they shall be discharged.

Running discussions followed, in which it was maintained on one side that Home Guards were necessary in Missouri, Kentucky and Maryland, official provision having already been made to that end; and on the other, that no troops had a right to ask for special privileges, but all should be placed on the same footing.  The House finally disagreed to the above Senate amendment by a vote of 55 against 86.

The House then went into committee of the whole on the Treasury note bill.

Mr. Vallandigham made a speech on the subject.

Adjourned.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 1

TOLEDO, Feb. 3, [1862]

Lieut. Waterman, U. S. A., stopping at the Oliver House in this city, shot himself on Feb. 1st and is supposed to be mortally wounded.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Saturday, July 19, 1862

Everything is very quiet. With the exception of a few cases, the health of the men in camp is generally good. But the men are becoming restless. All would rather be in active service, for this camp service will never bring the war to a close.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 58

Major General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, April 6 1864

HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,

NASHVILLE, TENN., April 6, 1864.

Dear Brother:

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

Grant is as good a leader as we can find. He has honesty, simplicity of character, singleness of purpose, and no hope or claim to usurp civil power. His character, more than his genius, will reconcile armies and attach the people. Let him alone. Don't disgust him by flattery or importunity. Let him alone. . . . If bothered, hampered, or embarrassed, he would drop you all in disgust, and let you slide into anarchy. . . . Let us manage the whites and "niggers" and all the physical resources of the country, and apply them where most needed. Let us accomplish great results, leaving small ones to conform in due season. . . .

I have in hand three armies here, and one in Arkansas. All are in harmony, and all are willing to go and come at my bidding. I am also in perfect harmony with the civil authorities. I know their province and my own. I believe also our enemies have more respect for me than they have for Congress, so that I shall be ready with the spring. But I see with regret causes still at work North which should not be. States quarrelling about quotas, when we see their regiments here dwindling to mere squads. Absentees by the hundreds of thousands; and all efforts to get men, who have drawn large bounties and are drawing large pay still lingering at a safe distance, are vain, yet I hope that by the voluntary consent of the men themselves we shall have enough.

As our enemy fills his ranks by conscription, ours dwindle by sickness and furloughs. I am laboring hard to put all on the rolls into position, and still harder to put forward the stores on which they must feed as we advance. The country through which we have marched is cleared of all subsistence and forage, and everything must be sent forward by cars and wagons. It is estimated that there are now the carcasses of thirty thousand animals in the valley of the Tennessee. Not one cavalry soldier in ten has a horse, and on a recent visit to Schofield, out of forty-one thousand men who should have, I find but seven thousand in line of battle, but the furloughed men are returning, and I will see that by May 1st I have on the Tennessee one of the best armies in the world. You may look for the causes of these apparent incongruities not in the army, but among our people.

I shall be here about two weeks, and then to the front. Let me hear from you. I care no more for the squabbles about the Presidency than I do for the causes of the Schleswig-Holstein difficulty, and Grant cares still less. . . .

Your brother,

W. T. SHERMAN

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 225-7

From Missouri

TIPTON, MO., Jan 23.

The division under Gen. Davis has been much retarded by bad roads and swollen streams.  Wagons and artillery have sunk axel deep.  The Big Gravois, a stream ordinarily unimportant, was swollen beyond its banks, and occupied two days in crossing.  A sharp frost having set in on Thursday night the roads will now support teams, and if unimpeded by further obstacles the column will advance rapidly.

Gen. Prentiss with his command is advancing on Labanon, to combine with the forces under Gen. Davis.  Price though formidably menaced shows no signs of falling back, and from present appearances seems determined to give battle.  Should  he maintain his position, within two weeks Springfield will be the theatre of another bloody contest, such as has made that devoted place famous in the history of the war in Missouri.

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 3.

Advices received last night by train on the Pacific road state that the brigade of Gen. Davis was at Versailles, [Morgan] Co., Wednesday, proceeding, it is conjectured, to join Gen. Curtis at Labanon.

Gen. Palmer’s brigade at Laramie is reported under marching orders of Kentucky.

Gen. Sigel left Rolla yesterday for Lebanon.  The balance of his division will follow.

SEDALIA, Feb. 3.

A commission appointed for that purpose by Gen. Pope, have been sifting regiments at this point and discharging all unfit for service.

A column moved off to-day under Col. J. W. Fuller, of the 27th Ohio.

The telegram announcing the promotion of Col. Frank Steele to the rank of Brigadier General was received with great satisfaction by all troops here.  They believe him prompt, safe, appreciative and brave, and will follow him on the march on in the field with confidence and alacrity.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Tuesday Morning, February 4, 1862, p. 1