To-day I saw the
memorandum of Mr. Ould, of the conversation held with Mr. Vallandigham, for
file in the archives. He says if we can only hold out this year that the
peace party of the North would sweep the Lincoln dynasty out of political
existence. He seems to have thought that our cause was sinking, and feared we
would submit, which would, of course, be ruinous to his party! But he advises
strongly against any invasion of Pennsylvania, for that would unite all
parties at the North, and so strengthen Lincoln's hands that he would be able
to crush all opposition, and trample upon the constitutional rights of the
people.
Mr. V. said nothing
to indicate that either he or the party had any other idea than that the Union
would be reconstructed under Democratic rule. The President indorsed, with his
own pen, on this document, that, in regard to invasion of the North, experience
proved the contrary of what Mr. V. asserted. But Mr. V. is for restoring the
Union, amicably, of course, and if it cannot be so done, then possibly he is in
favor of recognizing our independence. He says any reconstruction which is not
voluntary on our part, would soon be followed by another separation, and a worse
war than the present one.
The President
received a dispatch to-day from Gen. Johnston, stating that Lt.-Gen. Kirby
Smith had taken Milliken's Bend. This is important, for it interferes with
Grant's communications.
Gov. Shorter writes
that a company near Montgomery, Ala., have invented a mode of manufacturing
cotton and woolen handcards, themselves making the steel and wire, and in a few
weeks will be turning out from 800 to 1000 pairs of cards per week. This will
be a great convenience to the people.
Gen. Whiting writes
that the river at Wilmington is so filled with the ships of private
blockade-runners that the defense of the harbor is interfered with. These
steamers are mostly filled with Yankee goods, for which they take them cotton,
in the teeth of the law. He pronounces this business most execrable, as well as
injurious to the cause. He desires the President to see his letter, and hopes
he may be instructed to seize the steamers and cargoes arriving belonging to
Yankees and freighted with Yankee goods.
It is a difficult
matter to subsist in this city now. Beef is $1 and bacon $1.05 per pound, and
just at this time there are but few vegetables. Old potatoes are gone, and the
new have not yet come. A single cabbage, merely the leaves, no head, sells for a
dollar, and this suffices not for a dinner for my family.
My little garden
has produced nothing yet, in consequence of the protracted dry weather. But we
have, at last, abundant rains. To-day I found several long pieces of rusty
wire, and these I have affixed horizontally to the wood house and to the fence,
intending to lead the lima beans up to them by strings, which I will fasten to
switches stuck between the plants. My beets will soon be fit to eat, and so
will the squashes. But the potatoes do not yet afford a cheering prospect. The
tomatoes, however. are coming on finely, and the cherries are nearly ripe. A lady
has sent me 50 cabbage plants to set out, and two dozen red peppers. Every foot
of my ground is occupied, and there is enough to afford me some exercise every
afternoon.
SOURCE: John
Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate
States Capital, Volume 1, p. 357-9