Diary of Musician David Lane, April 13, 1863

Lebanon, April 13th, 1863.

We have lost our favorite commander, Brigadier General Poe. He is promoted to captain in the regular service, and delivered his farewell address early yesterday morning. He has won the confidence and esteem of every man in the brigade, and they deeply regret his loss. It was his disobedience of orders that saved the First Brigade from slaughter at Fredericksburg. His disobedience led to his promotion. In appearance he is just the man I would select from among a thousand for a bandit chief.

We had a riffle of excitement yesterday in camp. Early in the morning the Eighteenth and Twenty-second Michigan Regiments were ordered to leave for Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The officers of these regiments, in common with others, have employed negroes as servants. Kentucky is violently opposed to the President's Emancipation Proclamation. Here was a fine opportunity for a Kentucky General to show the "Abolitionists" that his state was not included in that pronunciamento. As the Eighteenth was about to board the cars, General Manson, commander of this post, ordered them to halt and deliver up all negroes in the regiment. Upon inquiry it was found that all, except one, were Kentucky negroes, and were given up. This did not satisfy; he must have the free man also. The Sixteenth Kentucky Infantry and the Twelfth Kentucky Cavalry are doing post duty here. These General Manson ordered to form in line of battle, and again demanded the surrender of the negro. But Michigan was not to be intimidated. Colonel Doolittle resolutely refused, formed his men for battle with loaded guns and fixed bayonets, and defiantly bade the Kentuckian to "come and take him." Not caring to attack with only two to one, General Manson sent for the Seventy-ninth New York to come and help him, but the gallant Colonel of that regiment replied: "I am not fighting Michigan men." In the meantime General Burnside had been telegraphed for orders. He replied: "I have nothing to do with it." Colonel Doolittle then telegraphed the War Department, and is now awaiting orders. The Eighteenth lay with their arms beside them all last night, apprehensive of an attack. They kept the negro.

We have a fine camping ground, nearly as good as at Newport News. The brigade is encamped in the form of a square. There is a spring of water in the center. In our front is the City of Lebanon, a place nearly as large as Jackson, and old enough in appearance to have been built in the middle ages. On our right and left are splendid farms, on which negro slaves are busily engaged plowing and planting. In our rear is a piece of timber from which we supply ourselves with fuel. We have thickly planted the borders of our streets with evergreen trees, which not only gives our camp a picturesque appearance, but affords a comfortable shade these hot, sultry days.

Our stay here depends entirely on the movements of the Rebels. We are here to protect the loyal people of Kentucky from guerillas; also to support Rosencrans should his rear be threatened by way of Cumberland Gap. The Ninth Corps is separated into fragments; the Third Division is in Virginia; the First and Second are in Kentucky, a brigade in a place, but so situated they can be quickly concentrated at a given point. Doubtless it is pleasant, this lying in camp with nothing to do but drill and play ball, which is all the rage just now, but it is not satisfying. It may do for regulars, who have so long a time to serve, but for volunteers who enlisted to do a given amount of work, would like to do that work and go home to their families.

SOURCE: David Lane, A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, p. 39-41

From Washington

WASHINGTON, March 24.

Col. Segur representative from the Accomac district, arrived here this evening, confirming the intelligence about the destruction of the Privateer Nashville, and Fort Macon, by the rebels.

Times’ Correspondence

The commission on State prisoners will to-morrow take up the case of the celebrated Mrs. Greenough [sic], who will probably be transferred from a State prison to a lunatic asylum.

Gen. Montgomery has been transferred from his post as military governor of Alexandria and placed in a like command at Annapolis.

Painful rumors have been afloat for two days affecting a prominent officer in the civil department of the government.  We are promised the denouncement this week.

It is not true that the steamer Vanderbilt has been purchased by the Government to be altered to an iron-clad vessel.  She is merely charted for a short time as transport.

The commanding officer at Fort Craig writes to the Government that he has not a doubt of being able to hold that post.

Tribune Correspondence.

It is rumored that Green Clay will be transferred from the Secretaryship of Legation at St. Petersburg to that at Turin, the present incumbent, Mr. Fry, having resigned on account of ill health.

Dr. John Evans, of Chicago, has been nominated and confirmed as Governor of Colorado Territory, vice Gov. Gilpin.

Stephen S. Harding, of Ind., was, on Friday, nominated Governor of Utah, vice Gov. Dawson, rejected.

Small squads of rebel horsemen are scouring the country within five miles of Manassas, impressing all the able bodied men left, robbing the former for the hundredth time, and destroying what they can’t carry away.

The Saturday’s work of the ways and means committee on demands of delegations for modifications of the tax bill, was to put a 3 per cent ad valorem charge upon paper of every description; to adopt the schedules on leather substantially as they were presented to the committee by Mr. Alley, a tanner and a member of the House; to fix the rate on hoop skirts, umbrellas, and parasols, at 5 per cent ad valorem; on ready made clothing, at 3 per cent ad valorem; to leave salt as is in the bill; and after long discussion, to let the tax as first reported on tobacco and all its manufacturers stand unaltered.  The tax on billiard tables was reduced half to ten dollars a year; on rock oil, petroleum and coal oils, the only change was of phraseology, so that gas, tar, and the products from redistillation shall not be changed; for brokers the committee took off the tenth of one per cent on their stock sales, thinking that through their use of powers of attorney, transferred stamps and other assessable incidents of the business, they would get taxed enough.  Flour was not disposed, the desire to tax it of course duly exists of; the only difficulty in fixing the rate has been presented by the Canadian reciprocity treaty.  The belief has at least obtained in committee that flour can be taxed by branding the barrels and taxing the sales without violating the stipulations of that treaty; the charge on the gross receipts of horse railroads was reduced one half; it was decided not to tax coal at all; because it enters into the business and domestic life of nearly the whole nation.

During the discussions on the bill the work on the tariff progresses.  Reference is continually had to it, when an article is tax for internal revenue; at the same time an equivalent customs entry is placed on the tax list.  This principle will be adhered to throughout.

Herald’s Dispatch.

The party which left here on Tuesday ot look for the remains. Of Col. Slocum, Major Ballou, and Capt. tower of the 2d Rhode Island regiment, killed at Bull Run, returned this morning bringing their remains.  The party was composed of Gov. Sprague, Col. Arnold, Mr. Walter Coleman, his secretary Tristram Burges, Lieut. Col. Sayles and Capt. Dennison and Surgeon Greely, of the R. I. Cavalry, accompanied by two of the R. I. volunteers, who had been twin prisoners at Bull Run, and had noted the place where the officers were buried.  The party arrived Friday at Sudley’s Church.

Col. Slocum and Maj. Ballou were buried in the yard of a building near by, which was used as a hospital on the day of the battle.  This building had been destroyed by the rebels, but the graves were found.  After they had commenced to dig a negro girl inquired if they were digging for the body of Col. Slocum, and stated that about six weeks after the battle some soldiers of a Georgia regiment had dug it up, cut off the head, and buried the body at the side of the run close by, and taken the coffin away to bury a dead negro.  Her story was corroborated by a white boy and a white man who lived in the same neighborhood.  On repairing to the spot indicated, there was found a pile of ashes and bones, which were pronounced by the surgeon to be human. – Col. Slocum had been buried in a box, and Maj. Ballou in a coffin.  Upon opening the graves the box was recognized by Mr. Richardson, who was present at the interment, and the remains in it were identified as Col. Slocum.  Upon opening the other grave it was found to be empty, showing that the body dug up and burned by the Georgia barbarians was that of Maj. Ballou, only those two having been buried in that yard.

Gen. Hitchcock is here, aiding the war department by his advice.

Senator Lane, of Ind., has received advices from Savannah, Tenn., of the formation of a Union regiment in Alabama.

The Republican asserts that the President has remove Gen. Denver from the command of the department of Kansas.

The entire national debt is now four hundred millions of dollars.

The Senate to-day confirmed about 400 army appointment, principally of minor ranks.  Among them in the Adjutant General’s office department is R. J. Wagoner, of Ky.; Assistant Ad.t. Gen., with rank of Captain.  The only two Brigadier Generals of volunteers confirmed are Wm. K. Strong and Col. Mahon M. Monson [sic], of Ind.

Postmaster General Blair to-day issued the following notice to the Postmasters of the U. S.:

“The Secretary of War now regulates the transmission of information by telegraph affecting the conduct of the war.  In order to prevent the communication of such information to the rebels, it is also thought necessary by the secretary to put restrictions on the publication of facts of this character, however derived, and the aid of this department is requested for this purpose.

“You will therefore notify publishers not to publish any fact which has been excluded from the telegraph and that a disregard of this order will subject the paper to be excluded from the mails.

Signed,

M. BLAIR, P. M. Gen.”

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, March 25, 1862, p. 1