We all went to a review of General Liddell's brigade at
Bellbuckle, a distance of six miles. There were three carriages full of ladies,
and I rode an excellent horse, the gift of General John Morgan to General
Hardee. The weather and the scenery were delightful. General Hardee asked me
particularly whether Mr Mason had been kindly received in England. I replied
that I thought he had, by private individuals. I have often found the
Southerners rather touchy on this point.
General Liddell's brigade was composed of Arkansas troops — five
very weak regiments which had suffered severely in the different battles, and
they cannot be easily recruited on account of the blockade of the Mississippi
The men were good-sized, healthy, and well clothed, but without any attempt at
uniformity in colour or cut; but nearly all were dressed either in grey or
brown coats and felt hats. I was told that even if a regiment was clothed in
proper uniform by the Government, it would become parti-coloured again in a
week, as the soldiers preferred wearing the coarse homespun jackets and
trousers made by their mothers and sisters at home. The Generals very wisely
allow them to please themselves in this respect, and insist only upon their
arms and accoutrements being kept in proper order. Most of the officers were
dressed in uniform which is neat and serviceable — viz., a bluish-grey
frock-coat of a colour similar to Austrian yagers. The infantry wear blue
facings, the artillery red, the doctors black, the staff white, and the cavalry
yellow; so it is impossible to mistake the branch of the service to which an
officer belongs — nor is it possible to mistake his rank. A second lieutenant,
first lieutenant, and captain, wear respectively one, two, and three bars on
the collar. A major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel, wear one, two, and three
stars on the collar.
Before the marching past of the brigade, many of the
soldiers had taken off their coats and marched past the General in their
shirt-sleeves, on account of the warmth. Most of them were armed with Enfield
rifles captured from the enemy. Many, however, had lost or thrown away their
bayonets, which they don't appear to value properly, as they assert that they
have never met any Yankees who would wait for that weapon. I expressed a desire
to see them form square, but it appeared they were “not drilled to such a
manoeuvre” (except square two deep). They said the country did not admit of
cavalry charges, even if the Yankee cavalry had stomach to attempt it.
Each regiment carried a “battle-flag,” blue, with a white
border, on which were inscribed the names “Belmont,” “Shiloh,” “Perryville,” “Richmond,
Ky,” and “Murfreesborough.” They drilled tolerably well, and an advance in line
was remarkably good; but General Liddell had invented several dodges of his
own, for which he was reproved by General Hardee.
The review being over, the troops were harangued by Bishop
Elliott in an excellent address, partly religious, partly patriotic. He was
followed by a congress man of vulgar appearance, named Hanley, from Arkansas,
who delivered himself of a long and uninteresting political oration, and ended
by announcing himself as a candidate for re-election. This speech seemed to me
(and to others) particularly ill-timed, out of place, and ridiculous, addressed
as it was to soldiers in front of the enemy. But this was one of the results of
universal suffrage. The soldiers afterwards wanted General Hardee to say
something, but he declined. I imagine that the discipline in this army is the
strictest in the Confederacy, and that the men are much better marchers than
those I saw in Mississippi.
A soldier was shot in Wartrace this afternoon. We heard the
volley just as we left in the cars for Shelbyville. His crime was desertion to
the enemy; and as the prisoner's brigade was at Tullahoma (twenty miles off),
he was executed without ceremony by the Provost guard. Spies are hung every now
and then; but General Bragg told me it was almost impossible for either side to
stop the practice.
Bishop Elliott, Dr Quintard, and myself got back to General
Polk's quarters at 5 P.M., where I was introduced to a Colonel Styles, who was
formerly United States minister at Vienna. In the evening I made the
acquaintance of General Wheeler, Van Dorn's successor in the command of the
cavalry of this army, which is over 24,000 strong. He is a very little man,
only twenty-six years of age, and was dressed in a coat much too big for him.
He made his reputation by protecting the retreat of the army through Kentucky
last year. He was a graduate of West Point, and seems a remarkably zealous
officer, besides being very modest and unassuming in his manners.
General Polk told me that, notwithstanding the departure of
Breckenridge, this army is now much stronger than it was at the time of the
battle of Murfreesborough. I think that probably 45,000 infantry and artillery
could be brought together immediately for a battle.
SOURCE: Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle, Three
Months in the Southern States: April-June, 1863, p. 155-9
