A dark, cold, sleety day,
with rain. Troopers and scouts from the army have icicles hanging from their hats
and caps, and their clothes covered with frost, and dripping.
The Examiner this morning
says very positively that Mr. Secretary Seddon has resigned. Not a word about
Messrs. Benjamin and Mallory—yet. The recent action of Congress is certainly a
vote of censure, with great unanimity.
It is said Congress, in
secret session, has decreed the purchase of all the cotton and tobacco! The
stable locked after the horse is gone! If it had been done in 1861—
Mr. Secretary Trenholm is
making spasmodic efforts to mend the currency—selling cotton and tobacco to
foreign (Yankee) agents for gold and sterling bills, and buying Treasury notes
at the market depreciation. For a moment he has reduced the price of gold from
$80 to $50 for $1; but the flood will soon overwhelm all opposition, sweeping
every obstruction away.
The Federal papers say they
got 2500 prisoners at Fort Fisher.
It is said the President
refuses to accept Mr. Seddon's resignation.
A rumor has sprung up to the
effect that Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War, has also resigned. If
this be so, it will soon produce a great commotion among detailed and exempted
men all over the country. Rumors fly thick these dark days. It is a good time,
however, for some to resign. The President has need even of incompetent men,
and may beg them to remain, etc., and thus they are flattered. But if they
really feel that the ship is sinking, they will endeavor to jump ashore,
notwithstanding the efforts made to retain them. And then, if the ship should
not sink, manned by different men!
I hear nothing more about
Gen. Breckinridge as Mr. Seddon's successor, but he is the guest of the old
lawyer, G. A. Myers; and it is not probable he is bestowing his bread and meat,
in such times as these, for nothing. He has made a fortune, and knows how to
increase it—and even ̧ Gen. B. would never be the wiser.
We have at last a letter from
Gen. Hood, narrating the battle of Franklin, Tenn. He says he lost about 4500
men—enemy's loss not stated. Failure of Gen. Cheatham to execute an order the
day before, prevented him from routing the enemy. His account of the battle of
Nashville I have not yet seen—but know enough about it.
Both the Secretary and his
Assistant have been pretty constantly engaged, for some time past, in granting
passports beyond our lines, and generally into those of the enemy.
Congress has passed an act
allowing reserve forces to be ordered anywhere. Upon the heels of this,
Governor Smith notifies the Secretary of War that the two regiments of second
class militia here, acting with the reserves, shall no longer be under the
orders of Gen. Kemper. He means to run a tilt against the President, whereby
Richmond may be lost! Now "Tray, Blanche, and Sweetheart, bark at
him."
SOURCE: John Beauchamp
Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate
States Capital, Volume 2, p. 393-4
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