I called on General Scurry, and found him suffering from
severe ophthalmia. When I presented General Magruder's letter, he insisted that
I should come and live with him so long as I remained here. He also telegraphed
to Galveston for a steamer to take me there and back.
We dined at 4 P.M.: the party consisted of Colonel and Judge
Terrill (a clever and agreeable man), Colonel Pyron, Captain Wharton,
Quartermaster-General, Major Watkins (a handsome fellow, and hero of the Sabine
Pass affair), and Colonel Cook, commanding the artillery at Galveston (late of
the U.S. navy, who enjoys the reputation of being a zealous Methodist preacher
and a daring officer). The latter told me he could hardly understand how I
could be an Englishman, as I pronounced my h's all right. General Scurry
himself is very amusing, and is an admirable mimic. His numerous anecdotes of
the war were very interesting. In peace times he is a lawyer. He was a
volunteer major in the Mexican war, and distinguished himself very much in the
late campaigns in New Mexico and Arizona, and at the recapture of Galveston.
After dinner, the Queen's health was proposed; and the party
expressed the greatest admiration for Her Majesty, and respect for the British
Constitution. They all said that universal suffrage did not produce such
deplorable results in the South as in the North; because the population in the
South is so very scattered, and the whites being the superior race, they form a
sort of aristocracy.
They all wanted me to put off going to Galveston till
Monday, in order that some ladies might go; but I was inexorable, as it must
now be my object to cross the Mississippi without delay.
All these officers despised sabres, and considered
double-barrelled shot-guns and revolvers the best arms for cavalry.
SOURCE: Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle, Three
months in the southern states: April-June, 1863, p. 64-5
No comments:
Post a Comment