Daniel Webster to Millard Fillmore, August 1, 1851

Marshfield, August 1, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR,—I am getting along pretty well, although a violent change in the weather, from hot to cold, has proved a little unfavorable.

I am glad to learn that you are going to the Virginia Springs. I am sure you will be very cordially received.

I have written to Mr. Corwin that I will meet him at New York, whenever it may suit his convenience; and shall of course repair to Washington, whenever you may deem my presence there to be necessary; nevertheless, my hope is to stay here for some considerable time, with no further migrating than to New Hampshire. Mrs. Webster will set out on her proposed visit to Western New York on the 4th instant.

Of Mr. Allen, consul at Honolulu, I hear nothing since I wrote you, except perhaps that his indisposition continues.

I shall probably write you on the 4th, or earlier, if in the mean time I hear from you, addressed to you at Capon Springs.

Yours, always truly,

DAN'L WEBSTER.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, pp. 456-7

Daniel Webster to Millard Fillmore, August 5, 1851

Boston, August 5, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR,—I came to this city yesterday, and found it and all the hotels so crowded with strangers, that I wish myself out of it again as soon as possible. Many hundreds of people are here from the South, who have occupied my whole time, and whom I have promised to see in a mass to-day. They all speak in the highest terms of praise of your administration.

My health is gaining, but I do not yet get rid of that tendency to diarrhœa, which I contracted in Pennsylvania, in April; and while this lasts I must be weak. One misfortune is, that I cannot take, even in the smallest quantities, the common remedy, opium. I am obliged mainly to rely on diet and care.

I find Mr. Marcoleta here, in great affliction. He came here to be married to a beautiful young lady, a Miss West, who died suddenly soon after his arrival. He seems very much depressed; says he can do nothing at present; and proposes to go to Nicaragua, on a short visit, for the purpose of communicating with his government.

These Cuban rumors are substantially groundless. Mr. Bailey, a merchant of Matanzas, well known here as a person of standing, called on me yesterday, having seen in the newspapers that I was summoned to Washington, to consult on Cuban affairs. He came in The Isabel, the very latest arrival from Havana, and says that, on the day of sailing, he passed an hour with the governor-general, that the governor informed him, that on the 4th of July some lawless persons met in the streets in Principé, and raised revolutionary cries; that they soon fled to the hills and woods, and have since offered to surrender themselves on promise of safety to their lives; and that this is the amount of the disturbance. He says, what is undoubtedly true, that some disaffected persons in Cuba, keep up a correspondence with certain Americans in Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans, principally the two former, and that by these persons the false rumors are spread, and the clamor raised. He added, that the governor-general assured him that he had positive orders from the Queen's government, that if a revolution should break out and look serious, he should proclaim their slaves all free, and put arms in their hands. This proceeds on the idea, that, when freed, the slaves would defend the island against all attacks and all attempts from the United States.

I have heard of this before.

I have written Mr. Letcher, that if he finds it necessary to see me, he must come here. He can do that more easily than I can get to him.

I had one or two things to say, but am broke off by a rush of people, and must defer that part of my purpose.

I hear of your family, all well and happy, at Newport.

Yours, always truly,

DAN'L WEBSTER.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, pp. 459-60

Daniel Webster to Millard Fillmore, August 6, 1851

Boston, August 6, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR,—Your letter of the 2d was only received yesterday; it was directed to New York, whither the newspapers had sent me, but whither I had not gone myself.

If one trusts the newspapers, he can hardly be sure of his own whereabouts.

I shall see Mr. Letcher. It is probably a very good time to buy off our obligations under the treaty of Hidalgo. There is danger, however, that, if this should be done, the money will all go to the creditors of Mexico, leaving her as incapable as she now is of defending her frontiers. Our own territories are interested in this defence against the Indians. Can we trust Mexico? I shall, of course, converse freely with Mr. Letcher on this point, and shall write you.

I am quite content that Mr. ——— should go to China, and do not see how we can do better.

As to the district attorney, I am quite willing that the gentleman you mention should be appointed. For myself, I comply strictly with the regimen of Dr. Croes. Thus far, I get on pretty well. I did not think of going to Newport, because the climate of Newport is exactly that of Marshfield, while Newport is filled up by crowds of people, whereas Marshfield is quite secluded. To-morrow I think of going to New Hampshire, hardly so much for a change of air, as to look after some private affairs. In general, I find that those affected by my complaint avoid the interior, and come to the coast. But this is not universal.

There is no political news of interest here. A very unusual money panic exists both here and in New York.

I shall write you, my dear Sir, frequently, as at Capon Springs, until I hear of your movement further South. There is a telegraphic station at Franklin, New Hampshire, where I am going. But I shall be there for so short a period, that I had better be addressed at Boston.

I am, my dear Sir, as always, very truly yours,

DAN'L WEBSTER.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, p. 461

Daniel Webster to Millard Fillmore, August 10, 1851

Franklin, N. H., August 10, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR,—I came to these regions on the morning of Thursday the 7th, thinking that the mountain air might strengthen me against the time when I expect my enemy, the catarrh, to attack me; and here I am, obeying Mr. Croes, in all things, and getting a pretty good share of air and exercise. Fletcher came up yesterday to stay some days with me. We have had most violent thunder-storms in the last three days; but all has cleared off, and this day is bright and cool, and the atmosphere delicious.

My last letter from you was of the 4th. I do not think three millions an extravagant sum to buy off our treaty obligations with Mexico, if we could have assurance that she would apply it, or a proper part of it, to the defence of the frontiers against the Indians. My fear is, as I intimated in my last letter, that she will either apply the money to her existing debts, or waste it, and still leave the frontiers, her own as well as ours, a prey to savage hostilities.

It gives me great pain to hear that Mr. Corwin thinks of resigning his place. I should deem it quite a misfortune; and I have besought him, and shall continue to beseech him, to give up the idea.

If accounts be true, you have no lack of numbers at Capon Springs. Seven hundred is no mean company.

Yours always truly,

DANIEL WEBSTER.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, pp. 462-3

Daniel Webster to Millard Fillmore, August 19, 1851

Franklin, August, 19, 1851.

MY DEAR SIR,—Although I date this letter at Franklin, and shall send it thither to be mailed, yet, in truth, I write it among the White Mountains. I stayed at Franklin until the cars, passing and repassing every few hours, began to bring me many daily visitors; and as I wished for quiet and privacy, I took my own conveyance and came off in this direction. There are few inhabitants in these mountains, and no company, except tourists, who pass along rapidly, and disturb no one's repose. The weather has been fine, and my health improves daily; yet it is not perfect, as the complaint which attacked me at Harrisburg, still more or less annoys me. I have never had confidence that I should be able to avert entirely the attack of catarrh; but I believe that at least, I shall gain so much in general health and strength as to enable me, in some measure, to resist its influence, and mitigate its evils. Four days hence is the time of its customary approach. Within that period I shall fall quietly back on Franklin.

Mr. Letcher's instructions were duly revised, signed, and despatched, and an instruction given about the expulsion from the Isthmus, of Major Barnard and his associates, the surveyors. I also wrote a private letter, giving such suggestions as I thought might be useful.

Mr. Forward writes, that being a candidate for an election as judge, he wishes to be recalled, and I should like to receive your directions in relation to this subject. I suppose it may be as well that he should be permitted to return, and that the mission should remain vacant till the next session of Congress. We have no affairs of importance pending at Copenhagen. If his request be complied with, early notice should be given to him, as he might wish to leave the Baltic by the middle of October.

Mr. Corwin's purpose to resign ere long is, I fear, fixed, although I should devoutly wish that he would reconsider it. Where would you look for a successor? You could hardly go to Ohio, even if a proper man were to be found there, if Mr. Goddard is to go to China. This last appointment appears to me of more doubtful propriety than it did when I wrote you last, since Ohio has already one full mission.

Sir Henry Bulwer has gone to England, and Mr. Marcoleta, I presume to Nicaragua, so that all Nicaraguan affairs must remain in statu quo, till October. No important papers have been received from the Department, expect those which relate to Mexico. All the rest of the world is quiet. Indeed, Mexico is, at present, the main point of interest in our foreign relations. Lord Elgin, you notice, has accepted the Boston invitation for a great celebration in September. I trust you will be present.

Hoping that you are as happy among crowds as I am here in solitude, and enjoying health better than mine, I remain, my dear Sir, always yours truly,

DAN'L WEBSTER.

SOURCE: Fletcher Webster, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster, Vol. 2, pp. 463-4

Private William O. Gulick, September 15, 1861

Camp Warren, Sept. 15th, 1861

It is now a little more than a week since I was with you, Although it is but a short time It seems to me about a month. I have seen so many strange and new things in moveing about and liveing as I have that although I am not homesick the time when I look back upon it seems long. You may think strange my writing with a ledpencil but it is so much handier as I am siting on the ground with a board on my lap. I had a letter written to send home, when John³ came down to Davenport and as I did not know when we would leave there and I thought John could carry all the news I did not send it, I suppose John told you all about our camp at Davenport, well it is much better than it is here for here we have nothing but tents. They are smaller than the one we had [illegible], and Thirteen have to mess and sleep in two of them. The first thing may be you would like to know is about my traveling after I left home &s (I did not have time to tell John much) About one oclock I left Lyons⁴ and after a pleasant trip of five hours arrived at Davenport or Camp McClellan⁵ which as John will tell you is very pleasantly situated. There was preaching at Camp Mc.C. evry Sunday I attended and heard a good discourse by Bishop Lee⁶ first Sunday after I left home, I bought me a Bible and some medicine at D. The morning after John stayed with us we were ordered to get ready to move from camp in one hour. We were told it was to go to Burlington In less than half that time every one was ready to march for the boat, We were taken in front of the Burtis House⁷ at Davenport and sworn in servise of U. S. I beleive John was there in time to see us, After takeing the Boat we had a pleasant trip one hundred miles down the great river We had dinner and supper at Leefingwells⁸ expence I was told, We arrived at Burlington about 10 oclock P. M. Was marched through the dust to Camp Warren a distance of 1½ mile from town, we were met by Isaac's⁹ company and after many hearty cheers went in quarters with them for the night. This camp is very comfortable although they are nothing but shanties most of the boys sleep on the ground because they did not know how hard it would be in wet times Friday first day in Camp Warren it rained all day so we had to stay where we could untill we could get and put up our tents. friday night it rained very hard and about midnight I found my self swiming in water, with a number of others. I concluded to take quarters on a table where I took a wet but a good sleep Saturday we put up our tents and dug ditches around them so they are water proofe. Sunday today is comparatively quiet though I hear the Band play a part of the time as the guards have to be changed. I have not been to preaching to day but they say that next Sunday there will be preaching on the ground. We have plenty to eat here and can trade Pork and Beef for all the nicnacks we want. We draw as rations Pork Beef Rice Potatoes Bread sugar Coffee tea molasses vinegar Soap & candles Salt Pepper &c not all at once but all we need as evry other day for a change we have a good mess the Best one in the crowd to my notion. [illegible] myself and 3 other Carpenters one Telegraph operator 3 Mt. Vernon students Fred Wilkes¹⁰ one stone mason besides two other common laborers, mess together We are all well suited and all good cooks Tell Peter¹¹ that Gorum [Josiah Gorhem] the wagon maker at Clinton is in our mess. There is now a full Regiment of Cavalry here a great many of them want horses sadles and equipments besides us, they get them as soon as can be, but no telling when Isaac's Company with some others look well when mounted, as they have theyr saddles.

That money you sent me I thought I would not nead it so I sent it back with John, I also sent you some apples and peaches half what John brought home, I sent them because I new they would come good and becaus I could. I would have sent something more but I did not know that we would have to go to Burlington so soon.

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³ John Schuyler was the oldest son of Peter and Lorrette Schuyler and therefore was William's nephew although he was about the same age. He later enlisted and died in camp.

⁴ Lyons is a town of about 6000 population, two and one-half miles directly north of Clinton, Iowa. Here Company B of the First Iowa Cavalry was organized about May 1, 1861, under the leadership of Judge William E. Leffingwell of Lyons, its first captain. Samuel S. Burdett of DeWitt, 1st lieutenant, was later promoted to captain. —Lothrop's A History of the First Regiment Iowa Cavalry Veteran Volunteers (Lyons, Ia., Beers and Eaton, 1890), p. 20.

⁵ Camp McClellan, at Davenport, served as a concentration point for the additional companies permitted by an Act of Congress of July 29, 1861. This act increased the number of companies constituting a cavalry regiment from ten to twelve. This permitted the addition to the First Cavalry of Company L, mustered into the service on September 23rd; and Company M, which went into quarters at Camp McClellan on September 2nd and was sworn into service on September 12th.

⁶ Henry W. Lee, of Davenport, was bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Iowa from 1854 until his death in 1874. He was instrumental in the founding at Davenport of Griswold College and the building of Trinity Cathedral. He also carried to a successful conclusion a money-raising campaign which made possible the purchase of 6000 acres of land by the Iowa diocese.— Downer's History of Davenport and Scott County (Chicago, S. J. Clark, 1910), Vol. I, p. 590.

⁷ The Burtis Opera House, 413 Perry St., Davenport, Iowa.

⁸ Captain (Judge) William E. Leffingwell organized Company B, First Iowa Cavalry, under the name of the "Hawkeye Rangers". This was the first full company of equipped cavalry in the State. It numbered 98 officers and men, according to the Lyons City Advocate of July 27, 1861. It is significant that Capt. Leffingwell raised this company and procured its equipment without aid either from the State or Federal government. At different times before and after the war Leffingwell was a Presidential Elector, Judge of the Eastern Iowa District Court, and President of the Iowa State Senate. He was an able lawyer, and was distinguished for his scholarly attainments.

⁹ Isaac Gulick of Company B, a cousin. He re-enlisted in 1864 and survived the war. He afterwards moved with his parents to State Center, Marshall County, Iowa, and according to latest reports, he is still living there.

¹⁰ Fred Wilkes (Frederick R. Wilkes) also of Company M was William Gulick's most intimate friend and "buddy" until the death of the latter in September, 1863. He had come to Clinton County from Indiana before the war, and joined Company M with the original enlistment in September, 1861. He re-enlisted in 1864 and served out the war.

¹¹ Peter Schuyler, a brother-in-law to Gulick, had married Lorrette, William's oldest sister.

SOURCE: Benjamin F. Shambaugh, The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, vol. 28 (1930), pp. 201-4

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 1, 1863

I received a letter from my daughter with information that my son Amandus is much better, the fever broke & he is in a fair way to recover, letter dated the 20th Dec 1862. I have a verry severe cold & my lungs are verry sore, but I am on duty as Officer of the Guard. at 9¼ Oc morning our Reg 36th Iowa was ordered of the boats & formed in line by companyes & ware marched to our Campning grounds on the bank of the river at the lower end of the town of Hellena Arkansas. Our camp is between the Levvy & the river there is some 10 or 12 Reg of Cavelry & infantry in & about the place, the bottom is perhaps ¼ of a mile wide with numerous ponds of standing watter & some of them covered with a green scum, the bluff is verry broken, high point of timberland at the foot of the bluff & opposite to us is the residence of the Rebble Genl Hindman

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 102

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 2, 1863

Night verry high wind with incessant heavy rain, our canvas tents shelter us well from the storm but the storm of wind gave us some uneasiness, we feared our stakes might draw & our tents capsize About 2 Oc a Rebble boat Bracele came up with a flag of truce & anchored opposite town to exchange the crew of our boat Blue Wing which they captured a fiew days since. Mr. Oldfield who knows the Capt of the Blue Wing told me that he David Hugle was at heart a traitor & he believed that the taking of his boat with government stores was as Hugle wished it to be, & Oldfield shook hands & talked with Harry Nolen of Cincinatti who was one that came on shore to see about an exchange & his wife is in Cincinatti sewing to Support herself & family & the citty helps to keep her. At 4 Oc we ware on dress perade

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 102

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 3, 1863

Rain. Continued untill past midnight. We drilled in manuel of arms from 11 Oc to 12 Ос

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 102

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, Sunday, January 4, 1863

Clear & Pleasant with frogs jumping about the ponds. This place, Hellena is almost impassible for persons on foot, this day at 10 Oc I started alone & took a ramble up to Col Busseys¹ head quarters found Horis Cutler on his Staff he is an old acquaintance in Keosauqua, I then rambled out back of the town over the poor broken points that skirt the place, was in & viewed the fortifications they seem well arranged to defend the place against any attack by the enemy. at a frame building on one of the points I heard a black man preach text if the earthly house of this tabernacle &c. at 1 Oc same place I heard another black man preach text John 1st ch & 1st v. 2½ Oc our Chaplain preached out in the midst of our camp text 36 Psalm 11th & 12th v. evening I wrote some to my daughter. 4 Oc we ware on Dress perade

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¹ Cyrus Bussey, a merchant of Bloomfield; state senator, 1860; colonel Third Iowa Cavalry, 1861; brigadier-general, 1864-65.

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, pp. 102-3

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 5, 1863

We was out this morning by request of our Col & had a tryal at target shooting with him the commissioned officers of us, pistol shooting. Capt Hale made the best shooting. forenoon we had company drill & at 4 Oc we ware on dress perade. night I continued my letter to my children. I recd a verry interesting letter from Ellis Burch of Ia.

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 103

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 6, 1863

Our Major was grand officer of the day which makes him for this 24 hours next highest in Command to Genl Gorman who is commander of the post TM Fee is officer of the day for the Reg. I drilled the Company fore & afternoon & took them on Dress perade. at 11 Oc last night the long roll beat & some 2 Reg of Inft & 2 or 3 parts of Regments, Cavelry went out in anticipation of an attack on the pickets, but there was no attack.

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 103

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 7, 1863

Morning clear & cold with heavy frost & ice on the little ponds thick as heavy window glass Capt drilled the Co & I attended to getting things for our mess the 1st Mo Battery 6 guns came down on the Black Hawk & are camped here. afternoon the 28th Wisconsin Inft came down on ——— & the company grounds being all taken up they passed down

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 103

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 8, 1863

We drilled a short time after our scirmish drill & was on dress perade I received a letter from Emma with the good noose that Amandus is better

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 103

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 9, 1863

Forenoon we drilled some in skirmish. 4 Oc we ware on dress perade I was in town a short time afternoon & priced some things Flour is $4.00 per hundred lbs corn meal 2.50 per hundred Dried peaches 50 cents per lb Dried Apples 40 ct per lb cheese 30 to 40c per lb Butter 30 to 35c per lb Honey 40c per lb Chickens 50 cts each potatoes $2.00 per bu Onions 2.00 per bu Green apples 5.00 per barrel or 2 apples for 5 cts

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 103

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 10, 1863

Forenoon I rambled down the bottom & through a cotton plantation & to a burning cotton gin & back to camp afternoon MH Hare our Chaplain & I rode out some 2½ or 3 miles was to see the Kansas 5th Cavelry we viewed some fine plantations went to a cotton gin & I got a sack of seed to send to Iowa, we returned & I was on Dress perade. the afternoon & night is echoing with the clatter of buisey men preparing & moving by Companies & Regiments, Cavalry & Infantry & Artillery & going on board of the fleet of steamers here, the tramp of man & beasts the ratling of wagons the hollowing of teamsters men & officers, the musick of the buglers, the fifes & drums, & the hoarse cough of the steamers with their keen shrill whistle makes the atmosphere in this valley tremble with the mingled sounds & reverberate along the hills

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, pp. 103-4

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 11, 1863

10 Oc I took part of the Company & went out on Picket 1½ miles from Camp posted my Pickets & plased my videtts, we occupied a picturesque place the ground was verry broken deep gulshes & high knobbs, heavily timbered with Beach Oak & Poplar tall trees in the gulches, the tops but little above the points & the length of the tree would almost or quite reach across from point to point. there was a perfect chattering with squerrels the videtts saw in the afternoon 1 koon several foxes & a great number of squerrels, we passed the Sabbath watchfull & pleasantly, the pickets to our right was of the 3rd Iowa Cavelry & the Lieut & several of the men ware from Davis Co Iowa. Afternoon our Reg had orders & moved to the fort for its defence the Reg that was there having gone with the fleet that leaves this day & night.

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 104

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 12, 1863

After A night of watchfulness in which I did not alow myself to steep the morning dawn is welcomed with glad harts by us all & the merry chatter of the squerrel & the multitude of the various kinds of the fethered songsters mingling in sweet strains of musick & verberating on hiltop & in the valleys so delight the ears that with the pleasing sight of their buisey wings in flight from limb to limb & their frolicksome persuit of each other on swift wings almost removes from us the thought of our wearied night of watchfulness. At 11 Oc our relief came & we return to town & find the Reg moved & more pleasantly situated than we have been since we left Benton Barracks. Capt & I have a cabbin about 12 by 16 feet floored & a good brick fireplace & we feel at home & know that for soldiers we are well fixed

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 104

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 13, 1863

Rained moderately untill 12 Oc night, when it commenced to pour it down in torrants & continued incessantly all the night long At 9½ Oc morning I was required to report with 10 men & a Corporal at head quarters for Picket duty & at the hour we started out I stationed my pickets & placed my videtts I then took a little exploring ramble beyont to see if I could make any discovery but discovered no enemy & returned by the way of my post on Sunday night & found my watch kee that I then had lost the last time I was on picket At 10 Ос night Lieut Stanton & one of his men of the 3rd Iowa Cavelry came to apprize me that there was a squad of rebble cavelry had aproched his videtts but their horses had neighed & the rebbles put back my man & I was in anxious expectation from that till day but they came not at 3 Oc afternoon I was at the burrying of Thos W Coddington private from near Hillsborough Iowa Chaplain Ingalls informed me that he died verry happy

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 104

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 14, 1863

At 11 Oc forenoon we ware relieved from our post & started in rejoicing in hopes of getting to the fire & dry ourselves for we had no shelter from the pelting rain of the past night & this day, & we know how to simpathize with the poor fellows that have to stand the ballance of the day & night At about 3 Oc this morning one of the videtts of the 3rd Iowa Cavelry fired 3 shots at something he supposed to be an enemy but done no execution & he posibly might have been mistaken the night was verry dark but from the time of the firing we ware in expectation all the time untill day light, & even then many expected there would be a dash upon us by Cavelry, we ware the advance pickets through the night & after daylight the pickets of the 3rd Iowa Cavelry again posted themselves beyond us

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, pp. 104-5

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, January 15, 1863

At midnight last night it commenced to sleet & continued for about 12 hours then commenced snowing in earnest & continued to snow hard untill near the middle of the afternoon it abated with snow from 6 to 8 inches deep & the ground in a perfect slush of mud & watter under the snow, & it continued snowing moderately the ballance of the afternoon & night untill now 8½ Oc & yet snowing with a fair prospect of continuing through the night I am suffering with a severe pane in the small of my back but not to prevent me from duty

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 105

Henry Clay to Henry White, May 23, 1848

ASHLAND, May 23, 1848.

MY DEAR SIR, — I received your kind letter of the 19th instant, and I feel greatly obliged by the confidence in me which it evinces. You desire, in the event of there not being a majority of the Whig Convention disposed to nominate me, to know who among the distinguished names before the Convention would be my first, second and third choice. I have hitherto maintained a position of entire impartiality between my competitors for the nomination. It was dictated by considerations of delicacy toward them. I do not think that I ought to deviate from it. To you, as soon as to any friend I have, I would make the desired communication, if I were not restrained by the motives suggested.

I hope that your apprehensions of a stormy Convention will not be realized; but that it will be found animated by a spirit of concord and patriotism, and seeking to do the best it can for our common country.

SOURCE: Calvin Colton, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Henry Clay, p. 561

Charles F. Adams to Henry Clay, May 24, 1848

QUINCY, May 24, 1848.

MY DEAR SIR, — On behalf of my mother and the few surviving relatives of my late father, as well as for myself, permit me to express the sense which I entertain of the kindness expressed in your letter of the 15th instant. Much as the sympathy has been which the painful event to which you are pleased to allude has called out from almost all quarters, from none could it have come more gratefully than from yourself. A kind providence had by a preceding warning in a measure prepared me to expect the blow, but I confess I was wholly unprepared for so deep and general a manifestation of the public regard. Besides the soothing influence of this result to the feelings of those immediately connected with him, I trust, it may have a wider bearing to prove to all that class of statesmen of which you as well as he are a prominent example, that the most vehement opposition of rivals and cotemporaries, though attended with temporary success, avails little to cloud the deliberate judgment of a later time.

Suffer me, sir, most respectfully to reciprocate the good will which you are pleased to express toward myself. I have always looked back with pleasure to the days in which as a very young man I had some extraordinary opportunities of acquaintance with the most distinguished men of the country. I have never been anxious to alloy the impressions obtained in Washington at that period with new ones to be found in the later society of that capital. Had the statesmen of that day continued to guide the destinies of the country, its prospects at this time would have been somewhat different from what they are. But the die is cast.

SOURCE: Calvin Colton, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Henry Clay, pp. 561-2

David Graham to Henry Clay, June 9, 1848

NEW YORK, June 9, 1848.

MY DEAR SIR, — The mis-representatives of the Whig party have at length consummated the greatest act of national injustice it was in their power to perform, in the nomination of a man as their candidate for the Presidency who has rejected the principles and spurned the organization and discipline of the Whigs. The intelligence has fallen upon the honest and true-hearted Whigs of this city, and I doubt not of the country at large, like a clap of thunder; and the execrations of the mass of the party here, at the treachery by which they have again been overtaken, are both loud and deep. For yourself, my dear sir, it will be gratifying to know that this last act of ingratitude has only served to bind you more closely to the hearts of your friends; and I do but justice to their feelings and my own when I say that a signal, and I trust, withering rebuke will be promptly administered to the stock-jobbing politicians for whose selfish purposes this outrage upon us has been perpetrated. To you no station can bring higher honor than that which you now enjoy; and, so far as you are individually concerned, it is not too much to say that an honorable retirement, accompanied with the heartfelt affection of the whole nation, must be more grateful than the turmoil and anxieties attendant upon office, however exalted. But it can not and will not be forgotten, that in your person the integrity and the hopes of the Whig party have been stricken down, and their existence as a party blasted and destroyed. And I trust the day is far distant when a forgiveness will be extended to the base combination between the heartless rivals whom you have outstripped, both in unexampled devotion to your country and in the favor of your countrymen, and the truckling harpies, who, like the followers of a camp, are bent upon plunder alone.

I know, my dear sir, that you will indulge in no personal regrets at the issue. But at the same time, allow me, as one of your truest friends, as one who from the moment when I was invested with the right to express an opinion upon public affairs, have been a Whig, and a Clay Whig, to beg of you, as an act of justice to your faithful friends, to withhold any expression of approval of the action of this Convention. Your magnanimity will be appealed to by those who have stabbed you and outraged us, as it was when we were betrayed in 1839; but I trust that the appeal will meet with a different response.

In addressing you in this earnest and emphatic manner, I feel that I am taking a great, perhaps an unwarrantable liberty, with you. I plead, as my apology, my integrity as a Whig and my unalterable veneration for yourself. I speak, moreover, the sentiments of your hosts of friends in New York, who only find relief from the despondency which weighs them down, in the proud reflection that they have battled to the last under your glorious and honored name.

SOURCE: Calvin Colton, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Henry Clay, pp. 562-3

Willis Hall to Henry Clay, June 1848

NEW YORK, June, 1848.

MY DEAR MR. CLAY, — I write to you in the fullness of my heart, not to condole with you, for though I feel all the personal regard toward you which one man can feel for another, personal considerations are absorbed in those of a public nature.

The Presidency could have added nothing to your fame, and would have detracted much from your comfort.

This Government has had a national existence but little more than sixty years, during nearly forty of which it has been guided by your counsels. Glorious period! You may justly regard it with exultation! During this period you have demonstrated the great problem of the feasibility and permanency of popular government, and almost every nation in Europe, incited by the example, is now convulsed with the effort to imitate it. During this period you have impressed upon the country that high and honorable spirit in our intercourse with foreign nations, that spirit of conciliation and union among the States which have preserved us at home and made us respected abroad.

The uninterrupted and unprecedented prosperity of our national career has not been the work of accident. Three times, at least, the car of state would have taken the wrong road, if not the road to destruction, but for your guiding hand: once in 1810–12, once in 1819-20, once in 1830–31. Will no emergency of the kind ever occur again? When the next storm howls around us, this people, guilty and appalled, will shrink back covered with fear and dismay at the mischief they have done. You may say without arrogance, "Weep not for me, but rather weep for yourselves!" As the scroll of our history unrolls itself, your times will stand out in bold and bolder relief until it becomes the golden age of some future people, perhaps as unlike the present as the miserable herd that now defile the streets of Rome are unlike the associates of the elder Brutus. Convulsions and sterility immediately and abruptly following a tract of rich and elevated fertility, make the period of your counsels a stand mark to all future time.

We are on the eve of great events. Slavery will now become an immediate and bitter subject of dispute, and will not be relinquished until it is extinguished or the Union dissolved. I feel little disposition to commiserate the sufferings of the slave region. They have brought it upon themselves; they have thrust slavery upon us in the most offensive way; the policy of slavery governs all their actions; their conduct in the Convention will not be forgotten; the means they have taken to render themselves as they fancied more secure on this subject, has precipitated the discussion accompanied with an acrimony which will not tend to a friendly adjustment. The Whigs in this quarter every where are joining the Barnburners, ready to make the slave question the great issue in future. The next Presidential election (four years hence) will turn upon that point. A. Barnburner will be elected.

The Whig party, as such, is dead. The very name will be abandoned, should Taylor be elected, for "the Taylor party." The last Whig Convention committed the double crime of suicide and parricide. I loved that party, and whenever and wherever I shall hereafter discover any portion of my fellow-citizens guided by its principles, I shall attach myself to them; meantime I consider myself absolved from all political connection.

It was resolved to have a ratification meeting here as usual. The General Committee met on Monday evening, they were surrounded by more than three thousand people spontaneously collected, and the Committee was compelled to postpone the meeting indefinitely, in hopes that General Taylor's letter of acceptance will place himself more distinctly upon Whig ground. They will wait in vain. The Taylorites begin to think Taylor's election is not quite as certain as they supposed.

I hasten to the sole object of this long letter, which is to assure you of my undiminished and unalterable regard. Mrs. Hall begs me to join her in the expression of these sentiments and the respectful assurances of our highest esteem.

SOURCE: Calvin Colton, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Henry Clay, pp. 563-5

Henry Clay to James Harlan of Kentucky, June 22, 1848

ASHLAND, June 22, 1848.

MY DEAR SIR, — I wished much to see you, and hope soon to meet you. I got your letter from Choles' on your way home, and I have received to-day your favor of the 20th with the newspaper you sent me. Judge Robertson has returned, and has given me much information; but there are some points which you can best elucidate.

I shall take no active or partisan part in the canvass, but remain quiet, submitting to what has been done so far as relates to myself. I think this is the course prompted by self-respect and personal dignity. I shall attend no ratification meetings. How can I sanction and approve what the seven delegates from Kentucky did in the Convention, without virtually condemning what the five delegates did? How can I publicly and warmly support a candidate who declared that, in a reversal of conditions, he would not have supported, but opposed me? I am not misled by the humbuggery of the Louisiana delegates. What credentials, what instructions had they? They showed none, and had none.

In November, if I am spared, I shall, with all the lights then before me, go to the polls and vote for that candidate whose election I believe will be least prejudicial to the country. Of course I can never vote for Cass.

It is too soon to form any satisfactory opinion as to the issue of the contest. Neither candidate seems to be entirely acceptable to the party which supports him. And I suppose that party will probably succeed between whose members there will be ultimately the least division and the greatest intermediate reconciliation.

P. S. The Governor very handsomely tendered me the Executive appointment to the Senate, which I this day declined accepting.

SOURCE: Calvin Colton, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Henry Clay, pp. 565-6

Henry Clay to a Committee of Louisville Kentucky, June 28, 1848

ASHLAND, June 28, 1848.

GENTLEMEN, — I received your favor adverting to certain reports in circulation in respect to me, with regard to the approaching Presidential election, and requesting information in relation to them.

Recognizing you as among my staunchest, truest, and most faithful friends, I shall ever feel under the greatest obligations to you, and shall be always happy when I can command your approbation, or do any thing agreeable to you. But I should not be entitled to your esteem if I did not continue to act, as I have ever endeavored to be governed, according to my own conscientious convictions of duty.

As far as I was personally concerned, I submitted to the decision of the late National Convention at Philadelphia. It has relieved me from much painful suspense and anxiety, if I had been nominated; and from great vexation, care, and responsibility, if I had been subsequently elected. I shall do nothing in opposition to it. I shall give no countenance or encouragement to any third party movements, if any should be attempted against it. I desire to remain henceforward in undisturbed tranquillity and perfect repose. I have been much importuned from various quarters to endorse General Taylor as a good Whig, who will, if elected, act on Whig principles and carry out Whig measures. But how can I do that? Can I say that in his hands Whig measures will be safe and secure, when he refuses to pledge himself to their support? when some of his most active friends say they are obsolete? when he is presented as a no-party candidate? when the Whig Convention at Philadelphia refuse to recognize or proclaim its attachment to any principles or measures, and actually laid on the table resolutions having that object in view?

Ought I to come out as a warm and partisan supporter of a candidate who, in a reversal of our conditions, announced his purpose to remain as a candidate, and consequently to oppose me, so far as it depended upon himself? Tell me what reciprocity is in this? Magnanimity is a noble virtue, and I have always endeavored to practice it; but it has its limits, and the line of demarcation between it and meanness is not always clearly discernible. I have been reminded of the course I pursued in the case of the nomination of General Harrison in 1839. But General Harrison was not merely a Whig in name. He was committed and pledged to the support of the measures of the Whigs. He did not declare that he would stand as a candidate in opposition to the nomination of the Convention. He was, moreover, a civilian of varied and extensive experience.

I lost the nomination, as I firmly believe, by the conduct of the majorities in the delegations from Kentucky in Congress and in the Convention, and I am called upon to ratify what they did, in contravention, as I also believe, of the wishes of a large majority of the people of Kentucky! I am asked to sanction and approve the course of the seven delegates from Kentucky, who, in violation of the desire of their constituents, voted against me, and virtually to censure and condemn the five who voted for me!

It seems to me, gentlemen, that self-respect, the consistency of my character, and my true fame, require that I should take no action or partisan agency in the existing contest. If it was between Locofoco principles and Whig principles, I would engage in it with all the ardor of which I am capable; but alas! I fear that the Whig party is dissolved, and that no longer are there Whig principles to excite zeal and to stimulate exertion. I am compelled, most painfully, to believe that the Whig party has been overthrown by a mere personal party, just as much having that character as the Jackson party possessed it twenty years ago.

In such a contest I can feel no enthusiasm; and I am not hypocrite enough to affect what I do not feel. There is undoubtedly a choice, but I regard it as a choice of evils, which I will make for myself in due time, under the influence of the great principles for which I have so long contended. I think my friends ought to leave me quiet and undisturbed in my retirement. I have served the country faithfully and to the utmost of my poor ability. If I have not done more, it has not been for want of heart or inclination. My race is run. During the short time which remains to me in this world, I desire to preserve untarnished that character which so many have done me the honor to respect and esteem. They may rest assured that I will intentionally do nothing to forfeit or weaken their good opinion of me. Abstaining henceforward from all active part in public affairs, and occupying myself with my private and more solemn duties, I shall, if spared, go to the polls at the proper season, like any other private citizen, and cast my vote as I may deem best and safest for the principles I have sustained and for my country. Seeking to influence nobody, I hope to be permitted to pursue for myself the dictates of my own conscience.

Such is the view which I have of the present posture of the Presidential question, and my relations to it. More light may be hereafter thrown upon it, which I shall be most happy to receive, and if it should point to a different course of duty, I shall not hesitate to follow it.

I address this letter to you in consequence of yours, and from the friendly regard I entertain for you. I should have preferred that you had not thought it necessary to appeal to me. It is manifest from the tenor of my reply that it is not intended for publication. I am, etc.

SOURCE: Calvin Colton, Editor, The Private Correspondence of Henry Clay, pp. 566-8

Diary of Corporal John Worrell Northrop, Saturday, August 1, 1864

Fresh calls for shoemakers. A few weak ones give their names but are not accepted. Negroes have begun additional fortifications working all night and Sundays, falling trees and making the night air ring. Last night my mind was filled with thoughts of the misery of this place; I could not sleep. One poor boy near cried all night and wished to die and suffer no longer; he is an awful object; his clothing is gone but a rag of a shirt; his body is a mere frame, his hair has fallen from his head; his scurvy ankles and feet are as large as his waist. I never saw a sight more appalling. Then the awful thought that he is a man, somebody's darling boy, dead and yet breathing. And he is but a sample of many. To think of it blunts one's faith in men as brothers.

This forenoon a priest came in saying he had great news; we are to be exchanged. He read his news; it stated nothing definite, a mere if-so-to-be-perhaps, and yet he tried to make us believe it did. Then he preached about the blessed apostles and dealt out hell-fire in big rations unless we accepted certain theories. It was not consoling. It is true Fremont and Lincoln are both nominated. I [visited] an Ohio 100-day man taken in Maryland since the nomination. He thinks the Fremont ticket will be withdrawn.

SOURCE: John Worrell Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a War Prisoner in Andersonville and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864, pp. 94-5

Diary of Corporal John Worrell Northrop, Sunday, August 2, 1864

The policy of enlisting negroes renders it harder for prisoners. So does the emancipation proclamation. The government having enlisted negroes, it is bound by laws of war and all honorable considerations to protect them as soldiers. To do otherwise would be dishonorable, cowardly, pernicious. Their enlistment more excited the unreasonable hatred of Southerners toward the North. The only way they can punish the North for what they deem insulting, is through their military prisons and they open their vials of wrath on "Lincoln hirelings," as they call us, who are wholly in their power. But the ever present fear of retaliation, man for man, men would be slain by hundreds, lined up and shot after being brought beyond the seat of war. As it is they come as near as they dare without displaying the black flag. Exchange was blocked last fall because Rebel authority disregards the negro as a man. That has long been a civil code of Slavedom. They adhere to it with a vengeance when he appears in arms against slavery. He is saved from slaughter if captured, on the theory that he is property, a theory in practice here for 100 years, or more. If any are escaped slaves they are to be returned to masters or used for war purposes indefinitely. If free they are appropriated as laborers, never exchanged, and if their war succeeds he can be sold. Hence the case of a white man is worse than that of a colored. He is deemed deserving of death because his government puts whites and blacks on an equality. The slave codes of the South, written and unwritten are in force, emphasized by the war power. This cruel and absurd animus of "Southern civilization," this unrighteous despotism, is of long standing. It is unquestioned by Southerners; woe be to him who disregarded it during the long arbitrary reign of Slave Kings. The mass accept it as right which is equivalent to thinking it right, and as men think so they are. Hence the critical situation of the white war prisoners at this time. We are wholly at the mercy of this cruel spirit which has transformed the South into a foe of everybody antagonistic to their customs and laws

Shall Lincoln recall his emancipation proclamation for the reason which as surely exists as we are at war? It makes it the deadliest war of any century. Nor should the policy of allowing negroes to fight for liberty be recalled. Shall free men cower and longer concede the injustices of this hell-born slave power? Indeed not. That is the issue-deadly issue to be fought to death. How well do I remember the word passed along the lines at Mine Run and other places last fall and winter: "No exchange of prisoners, men, remember." The same word sounded along the lines in the fiery ordeals in the Wilderness. The die was cast. We fought with it before our eyes. Who does not now realize its import? Davis seeks to supercede the laws of war with his old slave code. Soon after Lincoln's emancipation Davis notified his Congress that he proposed to turn commissioned officer's thereafter over to State authorities in States where captured to be punished under State laws providing for criminals engaged in inciting civil insurrection. That is his disposition, overlooking the fact that codes made to hang "abolition fanatics" can not be safely applied to war prisons in a state of war, where the States he represents are belligerents fighting for independence and asking for foreign recognition. Davis' blood-thirsty fanaticism for slavery, supercedes the intelligence he has been supposed to have and displays his savage inhumanity, thus seeking excuse to hang all U. S. officers.

[Note.—January 12, 1863, Davis, in a message to the Confederate Congress, said: "I shall, unless you, in your wisdom, deem some other course more expedient, deliver to the several State authorities all commissioned officers of the United States that may hereafter be captured by our forces in any of the States embraced in the proclamation, that they may be dealt within accordance with the laws of those States providing for the punishment of criminals engaged in inciting servile insurrection." Confederate War Records now at Washington. The same records show that in May, 1863, the Confederate Congress in its "wisdom," passed a law embodying the above suggestion, but confining its operation to commissioned officers of negro regiments. Negro soldiers, when captured, by its provisions were to be delivered to authorities of States where captured, to be disposed of according to the laws of those States. This law was never repealed, so that, as a legal proposition, any officer of a negro regiment who became a prisoner was liable to be hanged, as John Brown was at Harper's Ferry. The records also show that the prisoner problem was much discussed early in the war. A Yankee caught in slave States to "free niggers" prior to the war could be safely hanged under slave codes. Shallow minds, like Davis, assumed that it could still be done, others saw that having gone to war in the spirit that enacted the codes, they had barred themselves from exercising that sacred function. Some said make Uncle Sam feed them at his own expense though they be kept in the South. Others said starve them; others give them poor bread and water; others, break their legs and turn them loose. Some said make them build railroads or work in other ways to boost the Slave Confederacy.]

SOURCE: John Worrell Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a War Prisoner in Andersonville and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864, pp. 95-7

Diary of Corporal John Worrell Northrop, Tuesday, August 4, 1864

Several men of our regiment are failing fast. H. D. Merritt is an object of pity and getting worse. We have cut his hair close to keep the myriads of lice out. He has lost all disposition to try to save himself. About 400 of Gen. Stoneman's command captured in the vicinity of Macon, were turned in here today. They report Maj. Gen. Stoneman captured. His expedition to that point with the intention of coming here has proved disastrous. Rations suspended. Sick ordered to the gate at night; and ordered to be brought again in the morning. None to go who can walk.

SOURCE: John Worrell Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a War Prisoner in Andersonville and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864, p. 97

Diary of Corporal John Worrell Northrop, Wednesday, August 5, 1864

Sick come to the south gate in horrible crowds. Every inch of ground covered. What sights, what groans! Nine hundred admitted outside, the remainder carried groaning back about noon to be returned in the morning. Oh, for the Messiah, the hem of whose garment they might touch and be healed!

SOURCE: John Worrell Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a War Prisoner in Andersonville and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864, p. 97

Diary of Corporal John Worrell Northrop, Thursday, August 6, 1864

At daylight a man shot and instantly killed. He had no particular stopping place, had become partially crazed; in the night had crept beyond the dead line and fell asleep. As soon as seen, the guard shot him while yet asleep. He had just been seen by two of our men who were calling him to come out. He lay until "dead call" and was carried out. Those who have helpless friends are eager to get them out. So at an early hour this morning they are crowded forward. Regulators are clearing every passage to make room for the sick. The main street on which I stop from the gate to the east, is filled with prostrate men. There is a greater number than yesterday. The doctors are making special efforts and one said yesterday, "The sick must all come out. The condition of the prison will breed pestilence that will spread through the country." It is through their importunity that this movement is made. They appear frightened. I heard another say, "Conditions are shameful." Long have doctors complained that their government furnishes neither medicine nor decent quarters; that men can not be successfully treated on such fare and in these quarters. One told Steward Brown that men could not live long on the rations given us; that well men will soon be sick. They have 'some new tents up; some are being carried thither in army wagons. The Rebel sergeant who counted us today said:

"Captain don't care how many Yankees die; he says he has killed more men than Joe Johnston," then added: "What did you'ns come down heah for if you'ns didn't want tough fare? But we can't help it."

After two hours laying in a crowd, "no sick call," is announced. The sick are being returned to all parts of the prison. I am living on rice alone, draw some, trade meal for some.

Report is rife that our government has offered the Richmond dignitaries to accept a parole of all prisoners, especially sick, and take care of prisoners of both parties. Undoubtedly this is the disposition of our government. This evening I met an intelligent talker who knows what he sees more than most men. Having frequently met him, I inquired his name. "Buerila," he replied; "I am from Illinois, have been a prisoner ten months, came here from Florida; I will stay ten more, I will be eaten up by lice and maggots before I will ask our government to get on its marrow bones to these Rebels. I am glad to see Lincoln stand square on his feet. I was a Douglas man, not that he was a better man, but had had more experience. I knew both personally and now believe Lincoln the best man for the place. If I can get into God's country in time he will get my vote." I referred to the report; he said:

"I asked the old Dutch if that thing was true myself. The old bummer looked mad, but answered more than I expected: 'Py Cot ve vills to no such ting! Py Cot, ve vill starf every son of a pitch! Now, I tells you, you vills all tie pefore ve vills parole ye-an pefore exchange. Py Cot, your Covment is too tevilment. Ve cot you foul!' Turning his horse around to go away, he said: 'Py Cot, you as vell pe schoot as stay here, and ve no trust damn Yankees.'"

SOURCE: John Worrell Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a War Prisoner in Andersonville and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864, pp. 97-8

Diary of Corporal John Worrell Northrop, Thursday, August 6, 1864

The sick carried early to the gates but not received; ordered to be brought at 2 p. m. Doctors have got it into their heads that some system is necessary, and so much crowding at the gate was unnecessary and detrimental; so they ordered all back but the sick of eleven detachments and that none come tomorrow but those designated. Many are taken out. It gives hope that they are going to try to help us. Men persist in flattering themselves that we are soon to be relieved. I guard against disappointment and defer hope while action is deferred. The wolf at the door will not go away bloodthirsty until driven. They brought us to Georgia according to a decision of powers that be, that no shelter should be furnished Yankee prisoners. They will not release us for our sake, have disregarded our rights and purposely wronged us. Their cause is desperate; they fight for unprovoked revenge. They fiercely kill with bullets and designedly and half disguisedly plot our lingering death, seeking to profit their cause by our suffering. They began the war in hasty spite; it will end in hellish revenge. If they believe in their cause, need we hope for mercy? Has the government raised its hand to strike out one right the North claims for itself? Have we not compromised our sense of justice to appease unreasoning wrath, and have they not placed the dagger to our hearts? Now shall we be delivered by the murderers from the hands of their agents? Not till the last pillar has been broken and the hell-born spirit that incited this war shall rule no more, will their nefarious plotting cease. Yet we have hope which all of this surmounts, they must fail.

A PRISONER'S SONG.

Strident, yet more strident,

Sound the notes of war.

In our hearts confident

Behold the end afar.

Patient, yet more patient,

We'll bear the pains of fate.

Awake, oh, spirits latent,

And ward the blows of hate!

Higher, and yet higher,

Raise the hope of love;

Let faith new strength inspire

And make us stalwart prove.

Calmer, and yet calmer,

Wait we for the light,

Through savage din and clamor,

The passing of this night.

Freedom, on forever,

O, swiftly onward stride,

Enslaving bonds to sever,

And in this land abide!

Steady, and more steady,

Let our armies go;

They are strong and ready,

They move-it seems so slow!

Starving, we are starving!

We are sinking in distress;

Disease is gnawing-carving;

Our foes do sore oppress.

Help us to see the sunlight

Of victory and feel

Treason's bane has ceased to blight,

E'er death our eyes shall seal.

There is no danger from robbers and Thompson and I walk in the cool of the evening and talk about these things. A sensible companion in tribulation, is worth a thousand fools in peace if one appreciates him. The happiest man I ever saw was a man happy under miserable circumstances; the most miserable man is one wretched when surrounded with the benefits of life, with a vacant heart, a volcanic head, an iceberg and a fiery furnace freezing and burning his nature at the same time. To be contented, to be happy here, in one sense, is a mysterious art, yet the plainest fact.

"There is a Divinity that shapes our ends,

Rough hew them as we will."

We know now how to appreciate a man who is a living statue, not a human straw, a weed, jostled by every breeze, whipped about by adverse winds. We feel like him, believe in him; we are encased in steel. He is one, at least, who appreciates us. He has not only got the poetry of our best poets, but he has the heart, and the head; not only the rhyme but the sentiment.

Recently an interesting episode occurred, but it was not devoid of cruelties incident to this place. It reveals qualities of noble patriotism and keen foresight with a tinge of stern romance. A Georgian is a prisoner here.

Early in 1861 when the war-spirit had become rampant and Georgia was swayed by men like Toombs a man whose name is said to be Hirst, probably assumed, lived not many miles from this prison, who resolved for the Union. He went North, leaving his wife at home, and joined a Western regiment. In a battle between Sherman and Johnston's armies he was captured. He was recognized by a Georgia Reserve, while carrying a sick man out, who in peaceful days lived near him. The recognition was mutual and friendly. From him he got some news of his wife, the first in three years. It was arranged to get a note to her, telling of his imprisonment. In a few days the guard was on duty and tossed the wife's letter over the dead-line in a ball of clay. Two days later the woman came before Wirz and asked an interview. It was granted, the lady to stand outside the gate thirty paces, the man at the gate, neither to speak. At sight of each other they spoke each other's names endearingly. The interview was abruptly ended, the woman ordered away, the man driven into prison. The next day she came again bringing clothing and provisions which she begged Wirz to send him. Wirz promptly ordered her away, warning her never to come again, and sent soldiers to escort her off the ground. The husband was then brought before him and an effort made to enlist him in the Rebel service. This was resented, when he was bucked and gagged and locked in the dungeon, being brought out and maliciously punished at intervals for several days. Failing to impress him into the service, by advice of doctors he was turned into the stockade. [Note.—After leaving Andersonville I, learn he escaped from a train conveying prisoners from there, after Atlanta fell. He probably visited his family and later joined Sherman's forces.]

STACK ARMS.

 

See, an officer in quest of men,

To do some work the Rebels need;

Invites us from this prison pen

To work for them while brothers bleed!

Foreswear our country, Southron? No!

For its cause is true and high!

Join the hosts of Freedom's foe?

Far better starve; in prison die!

We fight for section, Southron? No;

We fight that liberty may spread

O'er all the land that freemen know,

Where, too long, the slave had tread.

We fight for justice in the land

Where freeman's voice has been suppressed;

It shall be heard, from strand to strand,

And every wrong shall be redressed.

Patriotic to fight for wrong

Because 'tis in your section built?

To fight this evil to prolong

Does but enhance the master's guilt.

Patriotism knows no line

That shall Freedom's law restrain;

The die is cast, 'tis God's design

That slavery shall no more remain.

Ah, heed the call of destiny!

The black and white shall both be free;

And stack your arms, for liberty

O'er North and South alike shall be.

Stack arms, brave Southrons, and repent

You ever raised them 'gainst the right.

You know the force of brave dissent;

'Tis murder now to longer fight!

The "Stars and Bars" pull down, pull down;

They lead you wrong, in Slavery's ways,

More hateful than King George's crown

Our fathers spurned in other days.

SOURCE: John Worrell Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a War Prisoner in Andersonville and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864, pp. 98-102

Diary of Corporal John Worrell Northrop, Saturday, August 8, 1864

No sick call; the poor fellows are disappointed. Well dressed officers ride out the street and back. Passing near us they inquire of a fellow who is whittling a bone: "What State you from, young man?"

"Massachusetts."

"Do you rather live here than in Massachusetts?"

"No, sir."

"Well, you'll be apt to live out your days here, for there'll be no exchange till the war closes and that won't be in ten years if Lincoln is your next President."

"There'll not be a corporal's guard left of this crowd before that time, Colonel," remarked the other.

Before they reached the gate they halted to buy a watch, and a few of us followed up and I asked:

"Colonel, will you come back into the Union if Lincoln is not elected?"

"Ho, ho! You Yankees are not fighting for the Union; that's your mistake. It's the nigger you want."

"If McClellan is elected will the South come into the Union?" I repeated.

"Ah, the Union! The Union's gone up!"

By this time the Major had got the watch by paying $100 in "Confed" and they spurred up. We are often taunted by the slur that we are no better than niggers. They say:

"You fight with niggers; you think it's all right to fight us with niggers."

We retort by saying that it is no worse for a nigger to fight with us than to work for them, and that they would put a gun in his hands if they dared. It is not so bad for them to be hunted by niggers as it is for us to be hunted helpless and half starved, by blood hounds.

A little after noon a man shot and killed. I hastened and learned that he was dipping water from the brook. The sentinel had been observed to be closely watching. The ball passed through the forehead, tearing out his brains. The guard was immediately relieved by the officer of the day as they all are when they make a sure fire. It is a story never denied that for every Yankee killed a furlough is granted. In a few minutes a stretcher smeared with blood and brains bore another Yankee to the dead house.

SOURCE: John Worrell Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a War Prisoner in Andersonville and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864, p. 102

Diary of Corporal John Worrell Northrop, Tuesday, August 9, 1864

Terrible rain; it swelled the stream to a river. The stockade fell in several places. On the east side through the swamp about eight rods fell. One place on the west a sentry box fell carrying the sentry in it. Soon as it occurred the sentinels fired and two cannon shots over the camp succeeded, to warn us to be quiet or shot would be rained on us. Meantime we were amused to see the Rebls get out of their quarters and double quick to the weak points. The camp was in a hurrah to see the Rebs getting drenched as well as ourselves. Some prisoners plunged into the flood to bring out floating timber or pieces of boards that came down as if they were a God-send, for we would not be allowed to pick them up if we were outside. At these places the Rebels stood in line of battle for more than an hour and when the rain ceased, they had only time to temporarily repair the damage before night; so fires were built and a strong guard kept out all night.

SOURCE: John Worrell Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a War Prisoner in Andersonville and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864, p. 103

Diary of Corporal John Worrell Northrop, Wednesday, August 10, 1864

Soldiers and negroes are rebuilding the fallen wall. Prisoners stand at a distance often shouting: "That is good for you, Rebs"; "That's the way your Confederacy will fall; Grant and Sherman are making bigger holes than these." "Ho, Reb, what are you doing with dat nigger dar; 'pears to us you're reduced to the level of the nigger." "It's hard enough to starve on cob-meal and be hunted by dogs, but when you come to build bull-pens for us with niggers, working by your sides, you are hyenas, you are black abolitionists, you are barbarians." Plenty of other taunts are indulged till men get sick of it.

Two new walls are being built outside of the main one. The most hopeful believers in immediate exchange, are puzzled as to what it means. Tunnelling cannot be successfully done more than sixty or eighty feet horizontally, the air becoming insufferable. The vacuity is necessarily small, just admitting a man as he draws himself along. It cannot be larger for fear of exposure, besides the dirt is dug with hands, sticks, etc., and passed to the opening to be carried to the swamp, or whereever it can be concealed. It cannot be ventilated for that might be a key to discovery. Likely these new walls are to obstruct the digging of tunnels.

For several days barracks have been in course of erection in the north part, the work being done by our men on parole who bring the lumber in on their shoulders. They are allowed an extra ration and occasionally opportunities to trade for their benefit. What do these barracks mean? Are we to stay here all winter? men asked. At the rate they go up, I think we will, if we wait for them. Some say they are for hospitals.

Steward Brown, who is an Englishman and not a soldier, on parole, expresses the belief that it was fortunate for prisoners that Stoneman's expedition failed, for it was the intention of Gen. Winder to use the Florida battery on the prison had any considerable Union force approached Andersonville within seven miles, and had so ordered in the regular way in writing, on July 27th.

[Note-Here is the order. It was found on file among the records at the Confederate War Department at Richmond, and is with other records in possession of the government, so it is plain Steward Brown knew his statement was true. This is the diabolical order:

 

Order No 13.

 

Headquarters Military Prison, Andersonville, Ga., July 27, 1864.

 

The officers on duty and in charge of the Battery of Florida Artillery at the time will, upon receiving notice that the enemy has approached within seven miles of this post, open upon the stockade with grapeshot, without reference to the situation beyond these lines of defense.

 

JOHN H. WINDER, 

Brigadier  General Commanding.]

Five men sunstruck and reported dead; most of us are stupefied by heat. For more than a month it has been almost unbearable. The dazzling rays reflected by sand flash through us like flames of fire. The stench of the filthy earth rises hot and vapory to our nostrils. Oh, that I might feel the shade of the beautiful forest yonder, whose green trees look pityingly over upon us! How relieved we would be by an hour of repose on the fresh earth beneath them!

Go to the gate to help William Kline. A number of the sick are carried through the gate and laid in the yard by the stockade. A Rebel sergeant soon ordered us back, no doctors appearing. The sick had been notified at roll call to go for treatment, and their feeble spirits were animated with hope. Some wept bitterly and sank into despair at the disappointment. The Confederate sergeant, in answer to questions, remarked, "They might as well go to hell as to the hospital. It is a right hard place; the doctors can do nothing."

Naturally we believe the word hospital means something. In this horrid distress men long for its benign influence; many are consoled with the thought of being admitted, even when we know it is a cruel, wicked mockery.

Near the sinks a sentry fired tonight, the ball grazing a man's thigh, near where I walked, and whizzed by into the swamp. No rations today; nothing to eat. Men have loitered near the gate since noon hoping for something but in vain. We lay down to-night hungry, sick and sad. Not a crumb of anything all night, all day and all night again, with no certainty of anything to-morrow.

ODE TO WIRZ.

 

Cheating them who truly trust

Is a coward's villainy;

But when we yield to whom we must,

We suffer viler tyranny:

If venom doth full license wield

To feed the vengeance and the hates

No virtue has for years concealed,

And which a misled South elates.

A brutal knave were he who slay

A child that slumbered on his knee;

But we are thrown within his sway

Who lacks sense and magnanimity,

And glories in a brutal way

Toward men who fight 'gainst slavery.

Looking at the swamp with its deposit of ordure, intensely alive with billions of flies and maggots, today, it came to me that not only the early but the late bird can catch worms and catch them continually, if fool enough to visit the place. But no bird have I yet seen in this foul realm. Mingled with a sense of disgust, I am prone to wonder. Out of this mass I see a new creation, an emerging of animate life of low order. The flies that feed on the excreta, deposit germs from which, in connection with the deposit, when operated on by solar energy, the sun being the battery, these lives germinate in form of maggots totally unlike the fly, unlike any worm I ever noticed. These millions of loathsome things, squirming in roasting sun, in a few days develop into winged insects larger and darker than maggots, an inch long. From among a cloud of flies and acres of worms I see them rise and fly from the filthy bed of their inception, seemingly seeking existence elsewhere. Interest was first incited in these low fledglings, when they appeared on ground bordering the swamp, where they fell in the mush when men were at repast. Indeed there is life, or principles of life in matter dead. Here is a low order of exhibition of Nature's power to evolve and produce phases of animation degrees above their physical source.

SOURCE: John Worrell Northrop, Chronicles from the Diary of a War Prisoner in Andersonville and Other Military Prisons of the South in 1864, pp. 103-5