Monday, May 10, 2021

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: April 14, 1864

Bright morning—cloudy and cold the rest of the day.

No reliable war news to-day; but we are on the tip-toe of expectation of exciting news from the Rapidan. Longstreet is certainly in communication with Lee; and if the enemy be not present with overwhelming numbers, which there is no reason to anticipate, a great battle may be imminent.

Read Vice-President Stephens's speech against the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus to-day. He said independence without liberty was of no value to him, and if he must have a master, he cared not whether he was Northern or Southern. If we gain our independence, this speech will ruin Mr. S.; if we do not, it may save him and his friends.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2p. 186-7

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