At last we have the authentic announcement that Gen. Lee has
recrossed the Potomac! Thus the armies of the Confederate States are recoiling
at all points, and a settled gloom is apparent on many weak faces. The fall of Charleston
is anticipated. Subjugation is not apprehended by the government; for, if
driven to an interior line of defense, the war may be prolonged indefinitely,
or at least until the United States becomes embroiled with some European power.
Meantime we are in a half starving condition. I have lost
twenty pounds, and my wife and children are emaciated to some extent. Still, I
hear no murmuring.
To-day, for the second time, ten dollars in Confederate
notes are given for one in gold; and no doubt, under our recent disasters, the
depreciation will increase. Had it not been for the stupidity of our Dutch
Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Memminger, there would have been no financial
difficulties. If he had recommended (as he was urged to do) the purchase by the
government of all the cotton, it could have been bought at 7 cents per pound;
and the profits alone would have defrayed the greater portion of the
expenses of the war, besides affording immense diplomatic facilities and
advantages. But red-tape etiquette, never violated by the government, may prove
our financial ruin beyond redemption. It costs this government five times as
much to support an army as it does the United States; and the call for
conscripts is a farce, since the speculators (and who is not one now?) will buy
exemptions from the party who, strangely, have the authority to grant them.
The last accounts from Jackson state that Burnside is
reinforcing Grant, and that heavy .skirmishing is going on daily. But all
suppose that Johnston must retreat. And Bragg is in no condition to face
Rosecrans.
Whether Lee will come hither or not, no one knows; but some
tremble for the fate of Richmond. Lee possibly may cross the Potomac again,
however, if Meade detaches a heavy force to capture Richmond.
What our fate would be if we fall into the hands of the
invader, may be surmised from the sufferings of the people in New Orleans.
SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary
at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 381-2
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