Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: March 10, 1865

Raining and cold. This is the day appointed by the government for prayer, fasting, etc.; and the departments, shops, etc. are closed. The people, notwithstanding the bad weather, pretty generally proceeded to the churches, which will be open morning, noon, and night, for it is a solemn occasion, and thousands will supplicate Almighty God to be pleased to look upon us with compassion, and aid us, in this hour of extremity, to resist the endeavors of our enemies to reduce us to bondage.

The morning papers contain a dispatch from Lee, giving an account of a successful battle in North Carolina. I append it, as the first success chronicled for a great length of time.

"HEADQUARTERS, ETC., March 9th, 1865.

 

"HON. J. C. BRECKINRIDGE, SECRETARY OF WAR.

 

"Gen. Bragg reports that he attacked the enemy, yesterday, four miles in front of Kinston, and drove him from his position. He disputed the ground obstinately, and took up a new line three miles from his first.

 

"We captured 3 pieces of artillery and 1500 prisoners.

 

"The number of the enemy's dead and wounded left on the field is large. Ours comparatively small.

 

"The troops behaved most handsomely, and Major-Gens. Hill and Hoke exhibited their usual zeal and energy.

 

R. E. LEE."

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p. 444-5

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: January 28, 1865

Clear and very cold; can't find a thermometer in the city.

The President did sign the bill creating a general-in-chief, and depriving Gen. Bragg of his staff.

Major-Gen. Jno. C. Breckinridge has been appointed Secretary of War. May our success be greater hereafter !

Gen. Lee has sent a letter from Gen. Imboden, exposing the wretched management of the Piedmont Railroad, and showing that salt and corn, in "immense quantity," have been daily left piled in the mud and water, and exposed to rain, etc., while the army has been starving. Complaints and representations of this state of things have been made repeatedly.

Gold sold at $47 for one at auction yesterday.

Mr. Hunter was seen early this morning running (almost) toward the President's office, to pick up news. He and Breckinridge were old rivals in the United States.

The Enquirer seems in favor of listening to Blair's propositions. Judge Campbell thinks Gen. Breckinridge will not make a good Secretary of War, as he is not a man of small details. I hope he is not going to indulge in so many of them as the judge and Mr. Seddon have done, else all is lost! The judge's successor will be recommended soon to the new Secretary. There will be applicants enough, even if the ship of State were visibly going down.

Although it is understood that Gen. Breckinridge has been confirmed by the Senate, he has not yet taken his seat in the department.

The President has issued a proclamation for the observance of Friday, March 10th, as a day of "fasting, humiliation, and prayer, with thanksgiving," in pursuance of a resolution of Congress.

It seems that Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee will not be represented in the cabinet; this may breed trouble, and we have trouble enough, in all conscience.

It is said Mr. Blair has returned again to Richmond—third visit.

Can there be war brewing between the United States and England or France? We shall know all soon. Or have propositions been made on our part for reconstruction? There are many smiling faces in the streets, betokening a profound desire for peace.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p. 401-2

Diary of Private Louis Leon: April 7, 1864

This is a day of fasting and prayer, set apart by President Davis.

SOURCE: Louis Leon, Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, p. 59

Official Reports of the Campaign in North Alabama and Middle Tennessee, November 14, 1864-January 23, 1865: No. 234. — Journal of the Army of Tennessee.

No. 234.

Journal of the Army of Tennessee.¹

November 15, 1864.—Headquarters Army of Tennessee at Florence, Ala. Heavy rains in the last forty-eight hours.

November 16.—Headquarters Florence, Ala. In obedience to a general order from these headquarters, all military duties (except those that are absolutely necessary) will be suspended, this day having been set apart by the President as a day of fasting and prayer.

November 17.—Headquarters Army of Tennessee, Florence, Ala. Nothing of importance has transpired to-day.

November 18.—Headquarters Florence, Ala. General Beauregard moved his headquarters from Tuscumbia to Montgomery, Ala. General Stewart has been ordered to cross the Tennessee River with his corps to-morrow.

November 19.—Headquarters Florence, Ala. General Stewart's corps was unable to cross the river today in consequence of the bad weather and the slow progress made by the supply trains. General Lee's corps is ordered to take up line of march at 5 o'clock in the morning.

November 20.—Headquarters Florence, Ala. Stewart's corps crossed the river and moved out several miles on Lawrenceburg road. Lee's corps took up line of march at an early hour and bivouacked ten miles from this place, on road between Lawrenceburg and Waynesborough roads. The whole army will move at an early hour to-morrow.

November 21.—Cheatham's corps took up line of march at an early hour this a.m. and moved out on the Waynesborough road. Army headquarters moved at 10 a.m., and were established at 5 p.m. near Rawhide, on Waynesborough road, twelve miles north of Florence. Lee's corps, on the Chisem road, and Stewart's, on the Lawrenceburg road, resumed their march this morning.

November 22.—Cheatham's corps and army headquarters were in motion at sunrise, and after a march of eighteen miles, army headquarters were established near the intersection of the Natchez and Waynesborough roads. Cheatham's corps encamped one mile south of headquarters.

November 23.—Cheatham's corps and army headquarters took another early start this morning, and after a march of eighteen miles arrived and established headquarters at the Furnace No. 96, four miles north of Waynesborough, on the Mount Pleasant and Waynesborough road.

November 24.—Army headquarters nine miles south of Mount Pleasant, on the Waynesborough and Mount Pleasant road. Cheatham's corps continued the march on the Waynesborough and Mount Pleasant road, camping twelve miles south [of] Henryville, in the rear of Lee's corps, which came into Waynesborough and Mount Pleasant road from the Pinhook (a country road). Stewart's corps camped in rear of Cheatham's corps, having also come into Waynesborough and Mount Pleasant road from the Waterloo and Lawrenceburg road.

November 25.—Army headquarters at Mount Pleasant. Lee's corps camped just beyond town, on Columbia road; Cheatham's corps, five miles south of town, and Stewart's corps at Henryville.

November 26.—Army headquarters at Col. Andrew J. Polk's, five miles south of Columbia, on Mount Pleasant pike. Lee's corps continued the march on the Mount Pleasant and Columbia pike, going into position near Columbia, the right resting on the pike. Cheatham's corps followed Lee's, camping near army headquarters, between the Mount Pleasant and Columbia and the Pulaski pikes. Stewart's corps camped two miles beyond Mount Pleasant, on the Mount Pleasant and Columbia pike.

November 27.—Army headquarters moved from Polk's residence, on the Mount Pleasant and Columbia pike, to Mrs. Warfield's, on the Pulaski pike, three miles south of Columbia. Lee's corps remained in same position it occupied last night. Cheatham's corps crossed over from Mount Pleasant and Columbia pike across the Pulaski pike, going into position with its right resting on Duck River and the left on the Pulaski pike. Stewart's corps continued the march on the Mount Pleasant and Columbia pike, going into position with its right on the Pulaski and its left on the Mount Pleasant and Columbia pikes.

November 28.—Army headquarters continued during the day at Mrs. Warfield's residence, on the Pulaski pike, three miles south of Columbia. The army occupied the same position as designated yesterday. The enemy abandoned Columbia last night and our troops took possession at daylight this morning. General Orders, No. 37, issued to-day, prohibiting plundering by the army of both private and public property, it having been reported to General Hood that Columbia had been “wantonly and disgracefully plundered.”

November 29.—General Hood, with Cheatham's and Stewart's corps and Johnson's division, of Lee's corps, flanked the enemy's force remaining opposite Columbia, crossing Duck River about three miles above the town, and moving by a country road to the Columbia and Franklin pike, struck the enemy (who, in the meantime, had begun to retire from Columbia) near Spring Hill, but without success. The command then went into camp near Spring Hill. Army headquarters for the night were at Doctor Thompson's, two and a half miles from Spring Hill and a little to the right of the Columbia and Franklin pike. General Lee, with Clayton's and Stevenson's divisions and the artillery and teams of the army, remained at Columbia.

November 30.—The march was resumed on the Columbia and Franklin pike, Lee coming up from Columbia with the remainder of his command and the artillery. Cheatham's and Stewart's corps went into position around the enemy's works at Franklin about 4.30 p.m., engaging the enemy almost immediately, Stewart on the right and Cheatham on the left. General Hood's headquarters were on the pike, about three-fourths of a mile in rear of the line of battle. The battle closed about 12 o'clock at night. Skirmishing was going on, however, till 3 a.m., when the enemy abandoned his position, and retired upon the Franklin and Nashville pike. Cheatham's and Stewart's corps and Johnson's division, of Lee's corps, were all engaged, Clayton's and Stevenson's divisions, of Lee's corps, and the artillery not having been brought into action.

December 1.—The army moved out from Franklin during the morning on the Franklin and Nashville pike, Lee in front, Stewart next, and Cheatham in the rear, all camping on the pike, a few miles from Franklin. Army headquarters for the night just across Harpeth River from Franklin.

December 2.—The army again in motion on Franklin and Nashville pike, marching in the same order as on yesterday. Late in the evening we took position in front of Nashville, Lee's corps in the center, with its center resting upon the Franklin pike, Stewart's forming on his left and Cheatham's on his right, Forrest's cavalry protecting either flank, our line extending, as near as possible, from the Cumberland, above the city, to the Cumberland, below the city, curving forward from General Lee's center. (See confidential circular of December 2, 1864.) Army headquarters at Mr. Overton's residence, five and a half miles from Nashville, and near the Franklin and Nashville pike.

December 3.—The army occupied the same position as yesterday, with slight alterations. Army headquarters remained at Mr. Overton's.

December 4.—The army occupies the same position around Nashville. The skirmish line was advanced on some portions of the line. The cavalry, under Chalmers, captured two transports seven miles below Nashville, on Cumberland River, and some 300 mules.

December 5.—Army headquarters at Mr. Overton's house. Our line remains pretty much the same. The enemy, in heavy line of battle, drove in General Cheatham's skirmishers across the Nashville and Murfreesborough railroad this morning, but retired without attacking our line. Sears' brigade, of French's division, and Brown's brigade, of Stevenson's division, with a battery each, were sent to the vicinity of Murfreesborough to report to General Forrest. General Bate, with the force under his command, was also directed to report to General Forrest. Circular issued to-day to corps commanders for information of the army announcing the capture of “the block-house and fort at La Vergne, with commissary stores, 100 prisoners, 2 pieces of artillery, 100 small-arms and ammunition, 20 wagons, and some teams by General Forrest, and that General Bate had burned three block-houses.” General Hood made a proposition to officer commanding U.S. forces at Nashville for an exchange of the prisoners in his hands for an equal number of Confederate prisoners.

December 6.—General Thomas, commanding U.S. forces, Nashville, in reply to General Hood's proposition for an exchange of prisoners, states “that such an arrangement is impracticable, all Confederate prisoners having been sent North, and consequently placed beyond his control.” General Hood asks by telegraph of both Generals Beauregard, commanding department, and Maury, commanding Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, to have the Memphis and Charleston Railroad repaired to Decatur, Ala., to which point he hopes to have the Tennessee and Alabama Railroad running in a day or two.

(See telegrams and letter book, office assistant adjutant-general.) Our lines around Nashville about the same, perhaps with slight alteration by corps commanders, under revision of General Hood. Slight demonstration on our (Cheatham's) right by the enemy. General Forrest's command invests Murfreesborough. The enemy reported very strongly fortified there, and with 6,000 or 8,000 troops in his forts. It is not yet determined whether an assault will be made by our forces.

December 7.—Nothing new on our line immediately around Nashville. Captain Reid, commanding at Corinth, Miss., reports, under date of December 1, the following, which was repeated by General Hood to General Beauregard, Macon, Ga., with the request that all men belonging to this army, and any re-enforcements that could be spared, be sent forward as soon as possible:

Scouts from the vicinity of Memphis report that Steele, with 15,000 men, landed at that point on last Thursday and passed up the river Saturday.

News of our forces in neighborhood of Murfreesborough being driven back by the enemy received to-night. Col. B. J. Hill, with his cavalry command, was ordered to-day to Bedford, Giles, and Marshall Counties, Tenn., “to break up and destroy the home guards, to conscribe men liable to military duty, and to protect the mills in the neighborhood of Shelbyville” (See dispatch to General Forrest, field dispatch book.)

December 8.—Lieutenant-General Lee made a demonstration on his extreme left to-day, driving in the enemy's pickets without any show of resistance, and establishing his own line in the pits from which he had driven the pickets of the enemy. General Forrest was ordered to drive the enemy back to Murfreesborough, and then give him an opportunity to leave the town in the direction of Lebanon, if he chose. He was also directed to return Bate's division and Sears' brigade to the army, keeping Palmer's (Brown's old) brigade and Mercer's, which was ordered to him to-day, and what artillery he might deem necessary, another division to be sent to him to supply the place of Bate's when the latter shall have joined the army.

December 9.—All quiet in front. General Forrest advised by General Hood that another division would not be sent him to supply the place of Bate's [division] and Sears' brigade, other dispositions being made to prevent the enemy from re-enforcing Murfreesborough, and in the event of evacuation to secure his defeat. Palmer's and Mercer's brigades ordered to strongly fortify themselves on Stewart's Creek, or at La Vergne, as General Forrest might deem best, "to constitute a force in observation of the enemy," and a brigade of cavalry to picket in the neighborhood of Lebanon.

December 10.—Generals Stewart's and Lee's corps retired their lines a short distance for the purpose of convenience to wood. No change otherwise. Reports received of the concentration of the enemy's cavalry at Edgefield, and General Forrest directed to meet and drive them back should the force attempt to cross the Cumberland River above. Circular issued to corps commanders directing the construction of self-supporting detached works—General Stewart to select all good points in rear of his left; General Cheatham, all good points in rear of his right; and General Lee, all good points in rear both of his right and left flanks, for the construction of these works.

December 11.—No change in the lines.

December 12.—No change to report. General Hood telegraphed to General Beauregard  "for all available cavalry to be sent to this army as soon as Sherman completes his raid."

December 13 and 14.—No change in the line.

December 15.—The enemy attacked both of our flanks this morning about the same time, and was repulsed with heavy loss on our right, but toward evening he succeeded in driving in our infantry outposts on the left.

December 16.—A general attack was commenced early this morning on our entire line, and all the enemy's assaults repulsed with heavy loss, till 3.30 p.m., when our line suddenly gave way to the left of the center, causing in a few moments our lines to give way at all points, our troops retreating rapidly and in some confusion down the Franklin pike. The army camped all along the pike from Brentwood to and including Franklin. Army headquarters at Mrs. Maney's, near Franklin. General Forrest was advised through a staff officer (Captain Cooper) of the retreat of the army, and directed to make disposition of his troops for protecting it.

December 17.—The march was continued toward Columbia--Stewart in front, Cheatham next, and Lee in the rear, with Chalmers' and Buford's cavalry. General Lee's rear harassed considerably by the enemy's cavalry near Spring Hill. Lieutenant-General Lee slightly wounded. The army camped between Franklin and Spring Hill in the order of march. Army headquarters at Spring Hill.

December 18.—Stewart's corps marched in front to-day, camping in line of battle on Duck River. Cheatham camped on Rutherford's Creek, and General Lee between the creek and Franklin. Army headquarters at Mr. Vaught's, Columbia.

December 19.—Army headquarters still at Mr. Vaught's. The army, and such trains and artillery as were not crossed over yesterday, occupied the day in crossing Duck River—Lee first, Cheatham next, and then Stewart. The enemy's cavalry appeared on opposite side of Rutherford's Creek.

December 20.—Everything over the river this morning. The march was resumed on the Pulaski pike—Lee in front (Stevenson commanding), Cheatham next, and General Stewart in rear. General Forrest, with his cavalry and a division of infantry under command of Major-General Walthall (composed of Ector's, Strahl's, Maney's, Granbury's, and Palmr's brigades), directed to oppose the advance of the enemy's cavalry.² General Stevenson's corps camped within two miles of Pulaski, and the other two corps in his rear, and in order of march. Army headquarters at Mr. Jones', Pulaski.

December 21.—Army headquarters still at Mr. Jones', Pulaski. Stevenson's corps marched across Richland Creek and went into camp; Cheatham's and Stewart's corps camped on this side.

December 22.—Army headquarters at Pulaski. Stevenson's corps was directed to move forward on the Lamb's Ferry road, in rear of the pontoon train, and camped about eight miles from Pulaski. General Stewart's corps camped in rear of Stevenson's about six miles from Pulaski, and General Cheatham's on Richland Creek, in the immediate vicinity of town. The wagon train ordered to move at daylight toward Bainbridge, by the Powell road.

December 23.—Army headquarters on Powell's Ferry road, six miles from Lexington, Ala. The army, after the day's march, camped as follows: Stevenson's corps at the intersection of the Lamb's Ferry road with the Powell road, four miles from Lexington; General Stewart in rear, on the Lamb's Ferry road; General Cheatham moved on the Lawrenceburg road.

December 24.—Army headquarters at Mr. Joiner's, eleven miles from Bainbridge, on the main Bainbridge road. Stevenson's corps reached and camped on Shoal Creek and Stewart's in his rear. General Cheatham not yet come into the main road from the Powell road.

December 25.—Army headquarters at Bainbridge, on the Tennessee River. The pontoon was being laid across the river as rapidly as the arrival of the boats would allow. General Cheatham came into the main road this morning, and in rear of Stevenson's corps moved to the river, where a line covering the bridge was formed, Cheatham occupying the right and Stevenson the left. General Stewart's corps, upon arriving at the point where Cheatham's corps came into the main road, was put into position so as to protect both roads.

December 26 to January 2, 1865, inclusive.—The pontoon was completed by daylight on the 26th instant, and the army was occupied two days in crossing—Lee's and Cheatham's corps on the 26th, and Stewart's and the cavalry on the 27th. On the 28th the pontoon was withdrawn. The march was resumed, upon striking the Memphis and Charleston railroad, immediately down the road, in the order of crossing the river, to Burnsville, Miss., where, on the 31st, a circular was issued to corps commanders, directing further movements, as follows: "Lee's corps to move to Rienzi, on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, Cheatham's corps to move to Corinth, and Stewart's corps to remain at Burnsville until further orders." Cheatham's corps arrived and established camps at Corinth on January 1, and Lee's and Stewart's corps at their respective destinations on January 2, 1865. Army headquarters were at Tuscumbia from the 26th to the 28th of December, inclusive. On the 29th General Hood, with Colonel Mason and his personal staff, remained during the day at the terminus of the railroad near Tuscumbia, awaiting the train, which did not arrive until late at night. He reached Burnsville on the evening of the 30th, remained there until the morning of the 2d of January, and from thence came by cars to Corinth.

January 3.—Lee's and Stewart's corps ordered to continue the march to Tupelo, Miss., from their respective bivouacs, Rienzi and Burnsville, all wheels not necessary with the troops and artillery carriages to be sent to Columbus, to report upon arrival to Major-General Elzey.

January 4.—No further orders regulating movements of the troops.

January 5.—Army headquarters established at Tupelo, Miss.

January 6.—Generals Stewart and Stevenson (commanding Lee's corps) were ordered to work the road where it was bad on their march. January 7.—Lee's corps arrived at Tupelo and went into camp.

January 8.—No orders of importance issued with reference to further movements.

January 9.—Stewart's corps arrived at Tupelo and went into camp.

January 10.—Cheatham's corps ordered to move from Corinth to Tupelo.

January 11.—No orders of importance.

January 12.—Cheatham's corps arrived at Tupelo. All stores reported moved away from Corinth to Tupelo.

January 13.—No orders of importance.

January 14.—General Beauregard arrived at Tupelo, on visit to t, he army, late at night.

January 15.—A system for furloughing the troops established. (See General Orders, No. 1, 1865, and circular letter to corps commanders, field dispatches, N. 542.)

January 16.—The army still in same camp at and near Tupelo.

_______________

¹ See explanatory foot note, Vol. XXXIX, Part I, p.804.

² But see composition of infantry rear guard as given by Walthall, p. 726.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 45, Part 1 (Serial No. 93), p. 669-74

Major-General Benjamin F. Butler: General Orders, No. 27, May 13, 1862

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 27.}

HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF,            

New Orleans, May 13, 1862.

It having come to the knowledge of the commanding general that Friday next is proposed to be observed as a day of fasting and prayer, in obedience to some supposed proclamation of one Jefferson Davis, in the several churches of this city, it is ordered that no such observance be had. "Churches and religious houses are to be kept open as in time of profound peace," but no religious exercises are to be had upon the supposed authority above mentioned.

By command of Major-General Butler:

GEO. C. STRONG,               

Assistant Adjutant-General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 15 (Serial No. 21), p. 426

Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: September 26, 1861

National fast by proclamation of the President. Ohurch service 3 P. M., by Chaplain Davis. Delivers a fine sermon, which is attentively listened to by the members of the Seventh. This evening at 9 o'clock Lieutenant Vrooman died of typhoid fever; another victim given at liberty's shrine.

SOURCES: Daniel Leib Ambrose, History of the Seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, p. 15

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: Friday, August 21, 1863

This is a day appointed by the President for humiliation, fasting, and prayer. Yet the Marylanders in possession of the passport office report the following in the Dispatch of this date:

“Passports.—The passport office was besieged yesterday and last night by large crowds of persons soliciting permission to leave the city, in order that some relaxation might be had from its busy scenes. Among those who obtained them were His Excellency Jefferson Davis and his Honor Joseph Mayo, both designing to pay a short visit to the neighboring County of Chesterfield.”

We fast, certainly — and feel greatly humiliated at the loss of New Orleans and Vicksburg — and we pray, daily.

Yesterday Fort Sumter suffered much from the enemy's batteries, and much apprehension is felt for its fate.

Gen. Lee, it is said, is not permitted to follow Meade, who is retrograding, being weakened by detachments. A few weeks hence the fall campaign will open in Virginia, when the very earth may tremble again with the thunders of war, and the rivulets may again spout human blood.

There were no letters to-day, for the reason that last night the clerks in the post-office resigned, their salaries not being sufficient to support them. I hope a force will be detailed, to-morrow, to distribute the letters.

I met Prof. A. T. Bledsoe to-day as he was ambling toward the passport office. He said he was just about to start for London, where he intended publishing his book — on slavery, I believe. He has a free passage on one of the government steamers, to sail from Wilmington. He asked me if I fasted to-day; I answered yes, as usual! He then bid me good-by, and at parting I told him I hoped he would not find us all hanged when he returned. I think it probable he has a mission from the President, as well as his book to publish.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p. 20-1

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: March 27, 1863

This is the day appointed by the President for fasting and prayers. Fasting in the midst of famine! May God save this people! The day will be observed throughout the Confederacy.

The news from the West, destruction of more of the enemy's gun-boats, seems authentic. So far we have sustained no disasters this spring, the usual season of success of the enemy by water.

Mr. G. W. Randolph was the counsel of the speculators whose flour was impressed, and yet this man, when Secretary of War, ordered similar impressments repeatedly. “Oh, man! dressed in a little brief authority,” etc.

Mr. Foote has brought forward a bill to prevent trading with the enemy. Col. Lay even gets his pipes from the enemy's country. Let Mr. Foote smoke that!

A gentleman said, to-day, if the Yankees only knew it, they might derive all the benefits they seek by the impracticable scheme of subjugation, without the expenditure of human life, by simply redoubling the blockade of our ports, withdrawing their armies to the borders, and facilitating trade between the sections. We would not attack them in their own country, and in a month millions of their products would be pouring into the South, and cotton, tobacco, etc. would go to the North in vast quantities. I wonder the smart Yankee never thinks of this! Let both sides give passports freely, and an unlimited intercourse would be immediately established.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 280

Diary of Gideon Welles: Thursday, April 30, 1863

To-day has been designated for a National Fast. I listened to a patriotic Christian discourse from my pastor, Mr. Pyne.

Had a long, studied, complaining letter from Admiral Du Pont, of some twenty pages, in explanation and refutation of a letter in the Baltimore American, which criticizes and censures his conduct at Charleston. The dispatch is no credit to Du Pont, who could be better employed. He is evidently thinking much more of Du Pont than of the service or the country. I fear he can be no longer useful in his present command, and am mortified and vexed that I did not earlier detect his vanity and weakness. They have lost us the opportunity to take Charleston, which a man of more daring energy and who had not a distinguished name to nurse and take care of would have improved. All Du Pont's letters since the 8th show that he had no heart, no confidence, no zeal in his work; that he went into the fight with a predetermined conviction it would not be a success. He is prejudiced against the monitor class of vessels, and would attribute his failure to them, but it is evident he has no taste for rough, close fighting.

Senator Sumner called on me this P.M. in relation to the coast defense of Massachusetts. I received a letter from Governor Andrew this A.M. on the same subject. The President had also been to see me in regard to it.

After disposing of that question, Sumner related an interesting conversation which he had last evening with Lord Lyons at Tassara's, the Spanish Minister. I was an hour or two at Tassara's party, in the early part of the evening, and observed S. and Lord L. in earnest conversation. Sumner says their whole talk was on the subject of the mails on captured vessels. He opened the subject by regretting that in the peculiar condition of our affairs, Lord Lyons should have made a demand that could not be yielded without national dishonor; said that the question was one of judicature rather than diplomacy. Lord Lyons disavowed ever having made a demand; said he was cautious and careful in all his transactions with Mr. Seward, that he made it a point to reduce all matters with Seward of a public nature to writing, that he had done so in regard to the mail of the Peterhoff, and studiously avoided any demand. He authorized Sumner, who is Chairman of Foreign Relations, to see all his letters in relation to the mails, etc., etc.

To-day Sumner saw the President and repeated to him this conversation, Lord Lyons having authorized him to do so. The President, he says, seemed astounded, and after some general conversation on the subject, said in his emphatic way, “I shall have to cut this knot.”

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 288-9

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: March 3, 1863

We like our new quarters — and the three Samaritan widows, without children. They lend us many articles indispensable for our comfort. It is probable they will leave us soon in the sole occupancy of the house. There is ground enough for a good many vegetables — and meat is likely to be scarce enough. Bacon is now $1.37½ cts. per pound, and flour $30 per barrel. The shadow of the gaunt form of famine is upon us! But the pestilence of small-pox is abating.

We have now fine March weather; but the floods of late have damaged the railroad bridges between this and Fredericksburg. The Secretary of War requested the editors, yesterday, to say nothing of this. We have no news from the West or from the Southeast — but we shall soon have enough.

The United States Congress has passed the Conscription Act. We shall see the effect of it in the North; I predict civil war there; and that will be our “aid and comfort.”

Gen. Toombs has resigned; and it is said Pryor has been made a major-general. Thus we go up and down. The President has issued a proclamation for prayer, fasting, etc., on the twenty-seventh of this month. There will certainly be fasting — and prayer also. And God has helped us, or we should have been destroyed ere this.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 266-7

Diary of William Howard Russell: June 11, 1861

Before noon the steamer hauled along-side a stationary hulk at Baton Rouge, which once “walked the waters” by the aid of machinery, but which was now used as a floating hotel, depot, and storehouse — 315 feet long, and fully thirty feet on the upper deck above the level of the river. The Acadia stopped, and I disembarked. Here were my quarters till the boat for Natchez should arrive. The proprietor of the floating hotel was somewhat excited because one of his servants was away. The man presently came in sight. “Where have you been you ——?” “Away to buy de newspaper, Massa.” "For who, you ——?” “Me buy ’em for no one, Massa; me sell ’um agin, Massa.” “See now, you ——, if ever you goes aboard them steamers to meddle with newspapers, I'm —— but I'll kill you, mind that!”

Baton Rouge is the capital of the State of Louisiana, and the State House thereof is a very quaint and very new example of bad taste. The Deaf and Dumb Asylum near it is in a much better style. It was my intention to have visited the State Prison and Penitentiary, but the day was too hot, and the distance too great, and so I dined at the oddest little Creole restaurant, with the funniest old hostess, and the strangest company in the world.

On returning to the boat hotel, Mr. Conrad, one of the citizens of the place, and Mr. W. Avery, a judge of the district court, were good enough to call and to invite me to remain some time, but I was obliged to decline. These gentlemen were members of the home guard, and drilled assiduously every evening. Of the 1300 voters at Baton Rouge, more than 750 are already off to the wars, and another company is being formed to follow them. Mr. Conrad has three sons in the field, and another is anxious to follow, and he and his friend, Mr. Avery, are quite ready to die for the disunion. The waiter who served out drinks in the bar wore a uniform, and his musket lay in the corner among the brandy bottles. At night a patriotic meeting of citizen soldiery took place in the bow, with which song and whiskey had much to do, so that sleep was difficult.

Precisely at seven o'clock on Wednesday morning the Mary T. came alongside, and soon afterward bore me on to Natchez, through scenery which became wilder and less cultivated as she got upwards. Of the 1500 steamers on the river, not a tithe are now in employment, and the owners of these profitable flotillas are “in a bad way.” It was late at night when the steamer arrived at Natchez, and next morning early I took shelter in another engineless steamer beside the bank of the river at Natchez-under-the-hill, which was thought to be a hotel by its owners.

In the morning I asked for breakfast. “There is nothing for breakfast; go to Curry’s on shore.” Walk up hill to Curry's — a bar-room occupied by a waiter and flies. “Can I have any breakfast?” “No, sir-ree; it's over half-an-hour ago.” “Nothing to eat at all?” “No, sir.” “Can I get some anywhere else?” “I guess not.” It had been my belief that a man with money in his pocket could not starve in any country soi-disant civilized. I chewed the cud of fancy faute de mieux, and became the centre of attraction to citizens, from whose conversation I learned that this was “Jeff. Davis's fast-day.” Observed one, “It quite puts me in mind of Sunday; all the stores closed.” Said another, “We'll soon have Sunday every day, then, for I ’spect it won't be worth while for most shops to keep open any longer.” Natchez, a place of much trade and cotton export in the season, is now as dull — let us say, as Harwich without a regatta. But it is ultra-secessionist, nil obstante.

My hunger was assuaged by Mr. Marshall, who drove me to his comfortable mansion through a country like the wooded parts of Sussex, abounding in fine trees, and in the only lawns and park-like fields I have yet seen in America.

After dinner, my host took me out to visit a wealthy planter, who has raised and armed a cavalry corps at his own expense. We were obliged to get out of the carriage at a narrow lane and walk toward the encampment on foot in the dark; a sentry stopped us, and we observed that there was a semblance of military method in the camp. The captain was walking up and down in the veranda of the poor hut, for which he had abandoned his home. A book of tactics — Hardee's — lay on the table of his little room. Our friend was full of fight, and said he would give all he had in the world to the cause. But the day before, and a party of horse, composed of sixty gentlemen in the district, worth from £20,000 to £50,000 each, had started for the war in Virginia. Everything to be seen or heard testifies to the great zeal and resolution with which the South have entered upon the quarrel. But they hold the power of the United States, and the loyalty of the North to the Union at far too cheap a rate.

Next day was passed in a delightful drive through cotton fields, Indian corn, and undulating woodlands, amid which were some charming residences. I crossed the river at Natchez, and saw one fine plantation, in which the corn, however, was by no means so good as the crops I have seen on the coast. The cotton looks well, and some had already burst into flower — bloom, as it is called — which has turned to a flagrant pink, and seems saucily conscious that its boll will play an important part in the world.

The inhabitants of the tracts on the banks of the Mississippi, and on the inland regions hereabout, ought to be, in the natural order of things, a people almost nomadic, living by the chase, and by a sparse agriculture, in the freedom which tempted their ancestors to leave Europe. But the Old World has been working for them. All its trials have been theirs; the fruits of its experience, its labors, its research, its discoveries, are theirs. Steam has enabled them to turn their rivers into highways, to open primeval forests to the light of day and to man. All these, however, would have availed them little had not the demands of manufacture abroad, and the increasing luxury and population of the North and West at home, enabled them to find in these swamps and uplands sources of wealth richer and more certain than all the gold mines of the world.

There must be gnomes to work those mines. Slavery was an institution ready to their hands. In its development there lay every material means for securing the prosperity which Manchester opened to them, and in-supplying their own countrymen with sugar. The small, struggling, deeply-mortgaged proprietors of swamp and forest set their negroes to work to raise levees, to cut down trees, to plant and sow. Cotton at ten cents a pound gave a nugget in every boll. Land could be had for a few dollars an acre. Negroes were cheap in proportion. Men who made a few thousand dollars invested them in more negroes, and more land, and borrowed as much again for the same purpose. They waxed fat and rich — there seemed no bounds to their fortune.

But threatening voices came from the North — the echoes of the sentiments of the civilized world repenting of its evil pierced their ears, and they found their feet were of clay, and that they were nodding to their fall in the midst of their power. Ruin inevitable awaited them if they did not shut out these sounds and stop the fatal utterances.

The issue is to them one of life and death. Whoever raises it hereafter, if it be not decided now, must expect to meet the deadly animosity which is now displayed towards the North. The success of the South — if they can succeed — must lead to complications and results in other parts of the world, for which neither they nor Europe are prepared. Of one thing there can be no doubt — a slave state cannot long exist without a slave trade. The poor whites who have won the fight will demand their share of the spoils. The land for tilth is abundant, and all that is wanted to give them fortunes is a supply of slaves. They will have that in spite of their masters, unless a stronger power than the Slave States prevents the accomplishment of their wishes.

The gentleman in whose house I was stopping was not insensible to the dangers of the future, and would, I think, like many others, not at all regret to find himself and property safe in England. His father, the very day of our arrival, had proceeded to Canada with his daughters, but the Confederate authorities are now determined to confiscate all property belonging to persons who endeavor to evade the responsibilities of patriotism. In such matters the pressure of the majority is irresistible, and a sort of mob law supplants any remissness on the part of the authorities. In the South, where the deeds of the land of cypress and myrtle are exaggerated by passion, this power will be exercised very rigorously. The very language of the people is full of the excesses generally accepted as types of Americanism. Turning over a newspaper this morning, I came upon a “card” as it is called, signed by one “Mr. Bonner,” relating to a dispute between himself and an Assistant-Quarter-Master-General, about the carriage of some wood at Mobile, which concludes with the sentence that I transcribe, as an evidence of the style which is tolerated, if not admired, down South: —

“If such a Shylock-hearted, caitiff scoundrel does exist, give me the evidence, and I will drag him before the bar of public opinion, and consign him to an infamy so deep and damnable that the hand of the Resurrection will never reach him.”

SOURCE: William Howard Russell, My Diary North and South, p. 290

Major-General John A. Dix to Secretary William H. Seward, November 16, 1861

Unofficial.

November 16, 1861

Dr. Coxe, one of the most distinguished of the Episcopal clergy in this city, is a strong Union man. His congregation are the reverse. President Lincoln's Fast-day was scarcely observed. There were from one to two hundred persons in church. Yesterday (Jefferson Davis's Fast-day) it was crowded to overflowing. The attendance is but one manifestation among many of the bitter feeling of the Secessionists here. These people must be held by a hand as inflexible as iron. They are not to be conciliated. I speak of the principal portion of the wealthy classes. They are still as absurd in their confidence in the success of the Confederate cause as they are disloyal to their own government. The least advantage gained over us elates them ridiculously. I am satisfied that no act of clemency on the part of the Government will make any impression on them; and certainly, while they are making daily demonstrations of hostility, they deserve none.

I feel it my duty to say to you that, notwithstanding the overwhelming vote this State has just given, its quietude depends on prudent management and on the ability of the Government to keep the Confederate forces at a distance. The Union men are, for the most part, the quiet, industrious portions of the people. The Secessionists, on the other hand, are composed of the more active portions, sustained by a large majority of the wealthy and aristocratic citizens of Baltimore (most of whom are connected with the South by marriage and pecuniary interests) and the broken-down politicians, merchants, and spendthrifts, who hope to repair their fortunes by a change of government. The leaders are bold, fierce, and implacable; and if our forces were to be withdrawn from the fortification on Federal Hill, pointing its guns from the heart of the city into every ward and almost every street, and a successful demonstration should be made by the Confederate army on the Potomac, the State and the city would be thrown into commotion by the intrigues of these men. With the strong hand of the Government upon them they cannot conceal their enmity to it. On ’Change to-day, when the news of the capture of Messrs. Slidell and Mason on board a British mail-steamer was announced, they were jubilant with the hope that it would lead to a rupture with Great Britain, and that she would be thrown into the scale of the Confederates. While such a feeling exists, notwithstanding our recent successes, our hold on them cannot be safely relaxed.

I do not make this letter an official one. But I desire that the President and his Cabinet and Major-general McClellan should know what view I take of the existing status of Secessionism in this city.*

_______________

* See Appendix VI.

SOURCE: Morgan Dix, Memoirs of John Adams Dix, Volume 2, p. 34-5

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: Wednesday [August 19, 1863]

We are all pursuing the even tenor of our way, as if there were no war. An order from General Lee is in to-day's paper, exhorting officers and soldiers to a strict observance of fast-day, which is on Friday. In the mean time the enemy is storming Charleston with unprecedented fury. It is an object of peculiar vengeance. Sumter has literally fallen, but it has not yielded; its battered walls bid defiance to the whole power of the North.

SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, p. 237

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: August 26, 1863

A week ago I was called to Camp Jackson to nurse –––, who has been very sick there. The hospital is very extensive, and in beautiful order. It is under the supervision of Surgeon Hancock, whose whole soul seems engaged in making it an attractive home to the sick and wounded. The beautiful shade-trees and bold spring are delightful to the convalescents during this warm weather. Fast-day was observed there with great solemnity. I heard a Methodist chaplain preach to several hundred soldiers, and I never saw a more attentive congregation.

SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, p. 237

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: July 30, 1863

Our good President has again appointed a day for fasting and prayer.

The Florida and Alabama are performing wonderful feats, and are worrying the North excessively. Many a cargo has been lost to the Northern merchant princes by their skill, and I trust that the Government vessels feel their power.

Several members of our household have gone to the mountains in pursuit of health — Mr. —— among the rest. Mrs. P., of Amelia, is here, cheering the house by her sprightliness; and last night we had Mr. Randolph Tucker, who is a delightful companion — so intellectual, cheerful, and God-fearing!

The army is unusually quiet at all points. Does it portend a storm? Many changes are going on in “our village.” The half-English, half-Yankee Wades are gone at last, to our great relief. I dare say she shakes the dust from her feet, as a testimony against the South; for she certainly has suffered very much here, and she will not have as many difficulties there, with her Yankee Colonel father. She professes to out-rebel the rebels, and to be the most intense Southern woman of us all; but I rather think that she deceives herself, and unless I mistake her character very much indeed, I think when she gets among her own people she will tell them all she knows of our hopes, fears, and difficulties. Poor thing! I am glad she is gone to those persons on whom she has a natural claim for protection.

SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, p. 235-6

Major Wilder Dwight: Friday, September 27, 1861

PLEASANT HILL, CAMP NEAR Darnestown,

September 27, 1861.

A dark, dull, rainy day without, a calm, quiet, cosey tent within. At peace with ourselves, and apparently with all mankind. Such is this Friday morning.

Yesterday * was a grand day for our army. The orders were issued for its observance by a grand division parade and service, and at eleven o'clock the brigades moved to Darnestown, and formed in a large field for the service. Our friend Mr. Quint gave the address on the occasion. I did not go myself, being detained by the combined influence of a headache and a court-martial. The headache and court-martial have both adjourned to-day, and I think they will not be called together again.

It is said that the division looked very well indeed, and that the Massachusetts Second appeared bright beside the other regiments. This is probably exactly true. We have never been drawn up to face anything else except the Reverend Chaplain, but it is said that the column stood his fire like heroes!

The impression seems to be gathering force that our term of inaction is drawing to a close. I only hope that when we go across the Potomac, it will be by a grand concerted movement, which will sweep everything before it clean. “Nulla vestigia retrorsum.” Not a single about face in the whole movement. I think we have reason to be glad that our regiment is getting through the chills-and-fever season so well. The place where we are seems quite healthy, and we suffer much less than our neighbors. By a new division of brigades, Colonel Gordon becomes the Senior Colonel of the Third Brigade, which makes him the Acting Brigadier. This puts Colonel Andrews in command of the regiment.

I hope soon to hear of Howard's movements, and also of Charley's coming on to join William.

_______________

* The President's Fast Day.

SOURCE: Elizabeth Amelia Dwight, Editor, Life and Letters of Wilder Dwight: Lieut.-Col. Second Mass. Inf. Vols., p. 106-7

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: March 27, 1863

To-day was set apart by the President as a day of fasting and prayer. Some of us went to Richmond, and joined in the services at St. Paul's. The churches were all crowded with worshippers, who, I trust, felt their dependence on God in this great struggle. The President was in church, and, I believe, most of the dignitaries. One of the ladies of the hospital, seeing this morning two rough-looking convalescent soldiers sitting by the stove, exhorted them to observe the day by prayer and fasting. They seemed to have no objection to the praying, but could not see the “good of fasting,” and doubted very much whether “Marse Jeff fasted all day himself—do you reckon he does?” The lady laughingly told him that she would inquire and let them know, but she reckoned that such was his habit. In the course of the morning she met with Mrs. Davis, and told her the anecdote. “Tell them from me,” said Mrs. D., “that Mr. Davis never eats on fast-day, and that as soon as he returns from church he shuts himself up in his study, and is never interrupted during the day, except on public business.” Of course this was soon given as an example, not only to the two convalescents, but to the whole hospital.

SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, p. 201-2

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: March 5, 1863

Spent last night in Richmond with my friend Mrs. R. This morning we attended Dr. Minnegerode's prayer-meeting at seven o'clock. It is a blessed privilege enjoyed by people in town, that of attending religious services so often, particularly those social prayer-meetings, now that we feel our dependence on an Almighty arm, and our need of prayer more than we ever did in our lives. The President has issued another proclamation, setting aside the 27th of this month for fasting and prayer.

Again I have applied for an office, which seems necessary to the support of the family. If I fail, I shall try to think that it is not right for me to have it. Mr. –––'s salary is not much more than is necessary to pay our share of the expenses of the mess. Several of us are engaged in making soap, and selling it, to buy things which seem essential to our wardrobes. A lady who has been perfectly independent in her circumstances, finding it necessary to do something of the kind for her support, has been very successful in making pickles and catsups for the restaurants. Another, like Mrs. Primrose, rejoices in her success in making gooseberry wine, which sparkles like champagne, and is the best domestic wine I ever drank; this is designed for the highest bidder. The exercise of this kind of industry works two ways: it supplies our wants, and gives comfort to the public. Almost every girl plaits her own hat, and that of her father, brother, and lover, if she has the bad taste to have a lover out of the army, which no girl of spirit would do unless he is incapacitated by sickness or wounds. But these hats are beautifully plaited of rye straw, and the ladies' hats are shaped so becomingly, that though a Parisian milliner might pronounce them old-fashioned, and laugh them to scorn, yet our Confederate girls look fresh and lovely in them, with their gentle countenances and bright, enthusiastic eyes; and what do we care for Parisian style, particularly as it would have to come to us through Yankeeland? The blockade has taught our people their own resources; but I often think that when the great veil is removed, and reveals us to the world, we will, in some respects, be a precious set of antiques. The ladies occasionally contrive to get a fashion-plate “direct from France,” by way of Nassau; yet when one of them, with a laudable zeal for enhancing her own charms by embellishments from abroad, sends gold to Nassau, which should be kept in our own country, and receives in return a trunk of foreign fabrics, she will appear on the street immediately afterwards in a costume which seems to us so new and fantastic, that we are forced to the opinion that we would appear to the world ludicrously passé. A gentleman, lately from Columbia, tells me that the South Carolina girls pride themselves on their palmetto hats; and the belle of large fortune, who used to think no bonnet presentable but one made by the first New York or Parisian milliner, now glories in her palmetto. The balmoral, too, the product of our own spinning-wheel and loom, would show well with the prettiest imported ones. I have seen several, which the young wearers told me were “dyed in the wool, spun, and woven by the poor of our own neighbourhood. The dye-stuffs were from our own woods.” These are little things, but, proving the independence of our people, I rejoice in them. The croakers are now indulging themselves with fears of famine; they elongate their gloomy visages, and tell us, in sad accents, that butter was $3.50 per pound in market this morning, and other things in proportion. I am sorry to say that it is true, and that it is evident we must have scarcity, particularly of such things as butter, for the cattle must go to feed the army. The soldiers must be fed; our gardens will give us vegetables; God will give us the fruits of the earth abundantly, as in days past, and if we are reduced, which 1 do not anticipate, to bread and water, we will bear it cheerfully, thank God, and take courage:

"Brought safely by his hand thus far,

Why should we now give place to fear?”

The poor, being well supplied with Government work, are better off than usual.

All quiet in the army. This may portend a storm. Several pieces of cannon passed this morning on the Fredericksburg train. Raids still continue in the Northern Neck, keeping us very uneasy about our friends there.

SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, p. 195-8

Diary of Judith W. McGuire: May 18, 1862

The 16th was the day appointed by the President for fasting and prayer. The churches here were filled, as I trust they were all over the land.

SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, p. 117

Diary of Judith W. McGuire: March 3, 1862

Last Friday was the third day appointed by our President as a day of fasting and prayer within nine months. The churches were filled to overflowing, with, I trust, heart-worshippers, and I believe that God, in his great mercy, will direct our Government and our army.

SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern Refugee, During the War, p. 96