Little or no business was done this day. The Secretary
announced that no more communications would be considered by him in Montgomery.
He placed in my charge a great many unopened letters, and a special list of candidates
for office, with annotations. These I packed in my trunk.
As I was to precede the Secretary, and having some knowledge
of the capacity of the public buildings in Richmond, I was charged with the
duty of securing, if possible, suitable offices for the Department of War. I
made hasty preparations for departure.
Before starting, something prompted me to call once more at
the post-office, where, to my surprise and delight, I found a letter from my
wife. She was in Richmond, with all the children, Tabby and the parrot.
She had left Burlington about the same time I had left Richmond. At
Havre-de-Grace, on the Susquehanna, which they crossed in the night, my
youngest daughter was compelled with difficulty to stride over the sleeping
bodies of Yankee soldiers. She writes that she deposited, very carefully, our
plate in the bank! The idea that all might have been brought off if she had
only known it, is the source of her wretchedness. She writes that she had been
materially assisted by Mr. Grubb and his lady, prompted by personal friendship,
by humanity, and by those generous instincts of the true nobility of heart
imparted by the Creator. Mr. G. is true to the Constitution and the Government
under which he lives — and would doubtless never consent to a rupture of the
Union under any circumstances. He has a son in the army against us. And Col.
Wall, another personal friend, boldly shook hands with my family at parting,
while the Wide-Awake file leaders stood scowling by. I hope he may not suffer
for his temerity.
These things occupied my thoughts during a sleepless night
in the cars. My abode in New Jersey had been a pleasant one. I had a fine yard
and garden, and many agreeable neighbors. I loved my garden, and cultivated my
own grapes, pears, peaches, apples, raspberries, currants, and strawberries. I
had fruits and vegetables in the greatest profusion. And the thrushes and other
migratory birds had come to know me well, and sang me to sleep at night, and
awakened me with their strains in the morning. They built their nests near the
windows, for the house was embowered in trees, and half covered with ivy. Even my
cats, for every living thing was a pet to some one of the family, — when I
think of them now, wandering about unprotected, give rise to painful emotions.
But even my youngest child was willing to make any sacrifice for the sake of her
country. The South is our only home — we have been only temporary sojourners
elsewhere.
SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's
Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 45-6
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