To-day Congress passed an act providing for the termination of
martial law within thirty days after the meeting of the next session. This was
as far as they could venture; for, indeed, a majority seem to be
intimidated at the glitter of bayonets in the streets, wielded by the authority
of martial law. The press, too, has taken the alarm, and several of the
publishers have confessed a fear of having their offices closed, if they dare
to speak the sentiments struggling for utterance. It is, indeed, a reign of terror!
Every Virginian, and other loyal citizens of the South — members of Congress
and all — must now, before obtaining Gen. Winder's permission to leave the city
for their homes, bow down before the aliens in the Provost Marshal's
office, and subscribe to an oath of allegiance, while a file of bayonets are
pointed at his back!
SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's
Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 120
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