Bright and cold. Snowed
yesterday, and windy.
Gen. Whiting writes
that he had only 400 men in Fort Fisher, and it was a miracle that it was not
taken. He looked for it, and a determined effort would have carried it. He says
there is no reason to suppose the attempt has been abandoned, and it must fall
if a sufficient force be not sent thither.
If the enemy are
apprised of the weak condition of the fort, it is probable Grant has been
sending another and a stronger expedition there, and it may be apprehended that
before many days Wilmington will cease to be of value to us as a
blockade-running port of entry.
I saw the Hon. Mr.
Montague to-day, who told me there was a strong party in Congress (which he
opposed) in favor of making Gen. Lee generalissimo without the previous
concurrence of the President. He says some of the Georgia members declare that
their State will re-enter the Union unless Lee be speedily put at the head of
military affairs in the field—he being the only man possessing the unlimited
confidence of the people. I agreed with him that the President ought to be
approached in a proper manner, and freely consulted, before any action such as
he indicated; and I told him that a letter from Gen. Beauregard, dated 6th of
December, to the President, if ever published, would exculpate the latter from all
blame for the march (unopposed) of Sherman through Georgia.
Col. Baylor, whom
the President designated the other day as the proper man to raise troops in New
Mexico, Arizona, Lower California and in Mexico, is the same man who invited
the Indians to a council in 1861, to receive presents, whisky, etc., and then
ordered them, men, women, and children, to be slaughtered. Even Mr. Randolph
revolted at such conduct. But now the government must employ him.
The rotund Mr.
Hunter is rolling about actively to-day, hunting for more news. His cheeks,
though fat, are flat and emaciated—for he sees affairs in a desperate
condition, and he has much to lose.
SOURCE: John
Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate
States Capital, Volume 2, p. 380-1
