I did not enjoy quiet long. First came Martha, who announced
her intention of going to search for her sons, as she was free now. I was
hardly able to stand since the severe cold taken in the cave that night, but
she would not wait a day. A colored woman came in and said she had asked her
mistress for wages and she had turned her out (wanting a place). I was in no
condition to stand upon ceremony then, and engaged her at once, but hear to-day
that I am thoroughly pulled to pieces in Vicksburg circles; there is no more
salvation for me. Next came two Federal officers and wanted rooms and board. To
have some protection was a necessity; both armies were still in town, and for
the past three days every Confederate soldier I see has a cracker in his hand.
There is hardly any water in town, no prospect of rain, and the soldiers have
emptied one cistern in the yard already and begun on the other. The colonel put
a guard at the gate to limit the water given. Next came the owner of the house
and said we must move; he wanted the house, but it was so big he'd just bring
his family in; we could stay till we got one. They brought boarders with them
too, and children. Men are at work all over the house shoveling up the plaster
before repairing. Upstairs they are pouring it by bucketfuls through the
windows.
Colonel D––– brought work for H––– to help with from
headquarters. Making out the paroles and copying them has taken so long they
wanted help. I am surprised and mortified to find that two-thirds of all the
men who have signed made their mark; they cannot write. I never thought there
was so much ignorance in the South. One of the men at headquarters took a fancy
to H––– and presented him with a portfolio, that he said he had captured when
the Confederates evacuated their headquarters at Jackson. It contained mostly
family letters written in French, and a few official papers. Among them was the
following note, which I will copy here, and file away the original as a
curiosity when the war is over.
Headquarters Dept. Of Tenn.
Tupelo, Aug. 6, 1862.
Capt: The
Major-General Commanding directs me to say that he submits it altogether to
your own discretion whether you make the attempt to capture General Grant or
not. While the exploit would be very brilliant if successful, you must remember
that failure might be disastrous to you and your men. The General commends your
activity and energy and expects you to continue to show these qualities.
I am, very
respectfully, yr. obt. svt.
Thomas L. Snead, A.
A. G.
Capt. Geo. L. Baxter,
Commanding Beauregard Scouts.
I would like to know if he tried it and came to grief or
abandoned the project. As letters can now get through to New Orleans I wrote
there.
SOURCE: George W. Cable, “A Woman's Diary Of The Siege Of
Vicksburg”, The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, Vol. XXX, No.
5, September 1885, p. 775
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