Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, February 28, 1863

WATERLOO. We got under way yesterday evening and came up to Waterloo, the scene of our first battle, where we again tied up, to allow the men to cook rations and take on wood. We will impress some negroes here, and make some other preparations for the voyage, so that we might get started to-day, our gallant commander being too much of a sailor to begin any great undertaking on Friday.

We had quite a peaceful time last night, as the officers and men were not allowed to approach the vicinity of the Bad Spirit, as Surgeon Houston facetiously terms the Louisiana rum on which we all got so drunk on the first voyage. Speaking of the Doctor, I will say that he is a trump. He keeps a journal in which he jots down every good thing that is said and done, and has written an account of our late victory for the papers.

We have no better fellow on board; and during the fight with the Indianola, he was on deck all of the time, though his proper place was below. It is now ascertained that we are going to raise the wreck of the Indianola, if possible, and have twenty-five carpenters on board for this work. It is confidently believed by practical men, that she can be raised without much trouble.

We are now opposite Bayou Sara, once a pretty village of which nothing remains except the blackened walls and a few scattering houses which escaped the flames. It was destroyed by the Federals last summer, in retaliation for the loss of one of their gun-boats which got aground on the opposite shore and was burned, after it was abandoned, by some of our cavalry. This morning the weather is decidedly wet.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 122-3

Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, Friday, March 6, 1863

After a lapse of several days, I again resume my diary. I was taken sick on the 1st inst., and have been unable to note the incidents as they occurred, and will have to depend on my memory for the facts. On Sunday morning we met seven skiffs loaded with men from the wreck of the Indianola, who reported that there was another Federal gun-boat in the vicinity, and that our men had thrown part of her armament overboard, and had burnt her to the water's edge. They gave, however, a rather confused account of the appearance of the vessel, and all acknowledged that they had not been near enough to make her out, but believed her to be quite as formidable as the Indianola. Colonel Brand determined to go on up the river until he got some more reliable information, and at Natchez the report was confirmed that the Federal vessel was above and the Indianola was destroyed. It was then determined to go up Red river as far as Alexandria and prepare for the capture of another prize. Accordingly we returned to the mouth of Red river, and ascended that muddy, crooked stream to Alexandria, where we arrived on the morning of the 5th, and where we are now lying, waiting for General E. Kirby Smith to assume command of this department and give us orders, as General Dick Taylor refused to have anything to do with us.

We had a good time generally at Natchez, and left there with regret. As soon as the boat touched the shore, the boys struck a beeline for town, and paid no attention whatever to the guards. In a few hours every man was in a glorious state, and it was with a great deal of difficulty that they could be gotten on board again. In fact, some were left.

The boys had another spree here yesterday, but the fun was cut short by some fool officer emptying the whisky into the street. I am sorry to see a strong feeling of jealousy existing between the officers and crews of the different boats engaged in the capture of the Indianola, and a strong prejudice in the minds of the people of this place against the crew of the Doctor Beatty. The feeling extends even to those highest in command, whose minds should be above such petty considerations. General Taylor makes an open display of his feelings against the men who are from another Military Department. This morning his Adjutant came down to Colonel Brand with the request that we take ourselves away from this vicinity, as we were a nuisance. Our Colonel didn't see fit to notice the request, however, and we still lie at the wharf. I fear that there will be a fight before we leave here. The officers of the Webb and Queen refuse to give us credit for doing anything in the late action.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 123-4

Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, February 19, 1863

ON BOARD THE CONFEDERATE GUN BOAT DR. BEATTY,}

February 19, 1863.}

YESTERDAY the expedition for the "wiping out" of the Yankee Gun-Boat Indianola started, and I had the good fortune to ship as carpenter for the voyage. After many delays and false starts, we got under way and came up the river to the little town of Waterloo, where we tied up for the purpose of cooking and taking on more cotton; but as soon as the boat touched shore, the men started, at a double-quick, in search of a certain vile compound called Louisiana rum, and by night nearly every man and most of the officers were too drunk to stand on their pegs. About 11 o'clock the command "to arms" was given, as a boat was seen coming down on us. Then, ensued a scene which, for the honor of some of our officers, had better not be described; but, fortunately for us, it proved to be one of our own boats. I think that the effect of this lesson will be good, and may prove fortunate in the end.

I remained in the cabin and saw the "wounded" brought in. Our loss was one Irishman stabbed in three places, one (ditto) head broken in, and several with bruises. If the enemy had been aboard the Frolic, they could have taken us with ease. In the future, our officers will be in better condition, and, if they can keep the men under proper discipline, they will make a good fight when the hour of action arrives. The command is made up of one hundred men from Miles' Louisiana Legion, fifty from the Fourth Louisiana, fifty from the Fifty-fifth Tennessee, and Captain Bowen's Louisiana Artillery.

I have been kept too busy to-day to notice the officers in detail, but I am satisfied they are a merry set of fellows, and will fight well. The worst to fear is that they will not enforce a strict discipline. Colonel Brend has pleased every one, so far, by his quiet, pleasant manners and his agreeable firmness in commanding.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 65

Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, February 21, 1863—5 p.m.

We have passed the danger for the present, and our boat is now steaming up Red river. The Indianola went up the Mississippi last night, and left the way open to us. It is the intention of our commander to join our fleet above and make a combined attack on the enemy as soon as our arrangements are complete. I understand that we have several boats up this river, among them an iron-clad gunboat and the Queen of the West, lately captured by our batteries. We are having fine weather. The morning was ugly, but now it is as pleasant as April.

I confess to feeling some relief since we left the Mississippi.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 66

Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, February 22, 1863—Evening

About one o'clock we met the balance of our fleet coming down, and our boat turned her prow down stream to act in concert with them. The whole fleet consists of the Queen of the West, the Gun-Boat Webb, our own steamer (the Dr. Beatty), and the transport Grand Era. Altogether, we make quite a formidable appearance, and can certainly take one Yankee vessel.

We are stearing down stream at a rate that will soon bring us upon the broad bosom of the Mississippi, and, unless the Indianola has skedaddled, we will soon be in our first naval engagement; and, to judge from the fitting out of our craft, it will be a novel one. I do not know the plan of action, and will have to wait for it to develop itself, when, if nothing prevents, I will record the events as they occur. I am enjoying the expedition more than I expected at the starting, and have no greater desire than to go into action.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 66-7

Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, Monday, February 23, 1863—Evening

We have just had some sport. Five negroes hailed us, and on being asked if they wished to come aboard, answered "yes" with every demonstration of joy, as they supposed us to be Yankees. The shout that went up when they were safely aboard made the welkin ring. They never found out their mistake until Colonel Brend told the mate to take them below and pay them for their loyalty, which he knew how to do from long practice. They had been working on the fortifications at Vicksburg, and said they had "been trying to get with us for several months." One yellow rascal shouted for Lincoln as he stepped aboard. We are now in sight of Natchez, and have not found the Indianola yet.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 67

Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, February 24, 1863—7 p.m.

We had to stop and take on wood this morning, and that let the Indianola get a start on us, but we are in sight again. She is around a sharp bend of the river, and going at full speed. We will overtake her before midnight, and the darkness will be to our advantage, as it will prevent her taking us at long range with her sixty-fours. My duties as carpenter will consign me to the hold during the action, so that I cannot see the fun. I will probably be safer there than on deck, but I have an almost irresistible desire to witness a naval engagement at night.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 68

Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, February 24, 1863—12 p.m. [sic, likely 12 a.m. February 25]

12 o'clock p. m.—We came up with the enemy at half-past ten, and, after a spirited engagement of forty minutes, she surrendered to us unconditionally. We lost three men killed and wounded, all on the same boat, but I have not yet learned which. The Dr. Beatty was struck but once—a shot striking between two cotton bales on the upper deck and passing full length of the cabin, without again touching. All of our men behaved nobly, and the only trouble was to keep them behind the cotton bales. The Webb claimed the prize, though she surrendered to the Dr. Beatty, just as we were in the act of boarding her. The first throw of our grapnels failed to hold, and as we turned to make another throw, a head appeared from a hole in the top of the Indianola and proposed to surrender. This was Lieutenant Brown, commanding her, and on his asking to whom he surrendered, Colonel Brend called out: “To Colonel Brend, commanding the Confederate States Mosquito Fleet." The Webb is probably entitled to the prize, as she disabled her by ramming her in the wheel-house. She is said to be sinking. We got a fine lot of the ardent in her liquor chest. I know a man who came on board the Beatty with his arms full of fine bottled wine.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 68

Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, February 25, 1863

We took one hundred and five prisoners on board the Indianola, and a few are said to have gone down the river on a coal barge. The Beatty was sent down to look after them, and, on her return, she was run into by the Queen of the West, who mistook us for a gun-boat from above, which was reported as having passed Vicksburg a short time before. On our return we had passed the fleet in the darkness unobserved, and when we turned again, the Queen ran at us with the full speed of her powerful engines [they were the most powerful on the river], and did not discover her mistake until too late, although we signalled with might and main. At the last moment she managed to sheer a little, and only took off our larboard quarter, carrying all of the cotton bales into the river on that side. The Beatty then careened to the heavy side, and we had to throw off the cotton in haste to keep her trim.

I have just been aboard the Indianola, and find her to be a splendid craft, mounting four guns: two 11-inch Columbiads forward, and two 9-inch Parrots aft. She is heavily ironed. We rammed her in the only vulnerable place, and if she could have worked her guns and her men had been more gallant she would have blown us into the middle of next week. However, she had little chance to work her guns, for the action was fought at close range, and our infantry poured a constant stream of bullets into her port-holes. Thousands of balls had flattened on her sides, particularly in the neighborhood of the port-holes. The prisoners themselves say that she was their best iron-clad.

The boys, following the example of the officers, have stripped her of every thing portable, from a fine sofa down to old newspapers. We didn't get much in the way of commissary stores, as the water was too deep in the hold this morning. A few barrels of flour and a box of soap were fished out. We will get a great many articles if we succeed in raising her, which is extremely doubtful unless we go about it with more energy than has yet been shown. We have two men at work making pumps, but every one is too intent on plunder to think of raising a gun-boat worth millions of dollars to our government at this particular time.

The affair is now being badly managed, and I fear that the Yankees will run another boat past Vicksburg and recapture our prize before we can get her up. We are only twenty-five miles below this place, and they could plainly hear the firing. In our present crippled condition we couldn’t make much of a fight, if we were to attempt it at all.

The Webb is in almost a sinking condition, from damage to her prow. The Queen of the West is the only one of the fleet uninjured. She is now up the river reconnoitering, and if danger approaches, will give us timely warning.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 68-9

Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, February 8, 1863

Yesterday we moved back into civilization, and took up quarters in a swamp near the broad Mississippi. Have a good camping-ground for this country, and if we can get good rations, I think we will have a healthy regiment once more. We have been through the flint-mills since we went into quarantine.

The men have suffered a great deal from bowel complaints, colds, and measles: some have died of small-pox, and but for the promptness of Surgeon McNelly in having us well vaccinated, and the infected sent to the pest-house, we might have had a serious time of it. We are now in better spirits, as we can see what is going on and hear the news, besides having the advantage of the sunshine and facilities for purchasing provisions, etc. While writing, I have been detailed as ship's carpenter on board of a steamboat now fitting out to capture the Federal gunboat Indianola, which passed our batteries at Vicksburg sometime since, and has been annoying our transports between this point and Red River. The attempt will be dangerous, and nothing but the exigency of the case would warrant the undertaking.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 22-3

Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, February 15, 1863

Another week has passed over without any excitement, save what is occasioned by the preparations for the attack on the Indianola, and what is afforded by the weekly visit of the Federal gunboat Essex. This boat is said to be the best in their fleet below this point. She wastes considerable ammunition in the woods, firing at our pickets. On Thursday heavy cannonading was heard above, in which the Indianola is supposed to have a hand. The preparations for the expedition are nearly complete, and the Dr. Beatty, our flagship, will be ready to start in a day or two. The Forty-first Tennessee furnished twenty-five volunteers for the expedition, and of that number Captain Feeney's company furnished twelve good and true men, excepting the writer, who goes as assistant ship's carpenter, provided his detail is approved, according to the promise of Colonel Brend, who commands the "Musquitto Fleet."

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 23

Diary of Gideon Welles: Thursday, May 28, 1863

I this morning got hold of the pamphlet of Sir Vernon Harcourt, “Historicus,” and am delighted to find a coincidence of views between him and myself on the subject of mails captured on vessels running the blockade, or carrying contraband. He warns his countrymen that “the danger is not that Americans will concede too little but that Great Britain may accept too much.” This is a mortifying, humiliating fact, the more so from its truth. Mr. Seward is not aware of what he is doing, and the injustice and dishonor he is inflicting on his country by his concession. It is lamentable that the President is misled in these matters, for Mr. Seward is tampering and trifling with national rights. I have no doubt he acted inconsiderately and ignorantly of any wrong in the first instance when he took upon himself to make these extraordinary and disgraceful concessions, but, having become involved in error, he has studied, not to enlighten himself and serve the country, but to impose upon and mislead the President in order to extricate himself.

Dahlgren to-day broached the subject of operations against Charleston. He speaks of it earnestly and energetically. Were it not so that his assignment to that command would cause dissatisfaction, I would, as the President strongly favors him, let him show his ability as an officer in his legitimate professional duty. He would enter upon the work intelligently and with a determination to be successful. Whether he has the skill, power, and ability of a first-rate naval commander is yet to be tested. He has the zeal, pride, and ambition, but there are other qualities in which he may be deficient.

Brown of the wrecked Indianola and Fontané of the burnt Mississippi, each called on me to-day. They were both captured last February, have been exchanged, and arrived to-day from Richmond. Their accounts correspond with each other and with what we have previously heard in regard to the deplorable state of things in the Rebel region. Poor beef three times a week and corn bread daily were dealt to them. The white male population was all away. The railroads are in a wretched condition, the running-stock worse than the roads.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 315-6

Diary of 1st Lieutenant John S. Morgan: Sunday, July 2, 1865

Storm nearly all night. Wind high all day but so unsteady that the sea remains comparatively smooth. Several of the officers and quite a no of the Men become sea sick Col. bears dispatches for Indianola, run into harbor at Corpus Christi. find the mistaken coast along to Indianola at 5. P. M. leave dispatches on board gunboat, & strike out for Galveston.

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, 33rd Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 13, No. 8, April 1923, p. 607

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: March 21, 1863

The snow is nearly a foot deep this morning, as it continued to fall all night, and is falling still. It grows warmer, however.

But we now learn that the Indianola was destroyed in the Mississippi by the officers, upon the appearance of a simulated gun boat sent down, without a crew! This was disgraceful, and some one should answer for it.

Col. Godwin writes from King and Queen County, that many of the people there are deserting to the enemy, leaving their stock, provisions, grain, etc., and he asks permission to seize their abandoned property for the use of the government. Mr. Secretary Seddon demands more specific information before that step be taken. He intimates that they may have withdrawn to avoid conscription.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 277-8

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: March 7, 1863

The President is sick, and has not been in the Executive Office for three days. Gen. Toombs, resigned, has published a farewell address to his brigade. He does not specify of what his grievance consists ; but he says he cannot longer hold his commission with honor. The President must be aware of his perilous condition. When in adversity, some of those he has trusted, discuss the bases of reconstruction; and when we are prosperous, others, in similar positions, agitate the question of reorganization — the motive of both being his ruin. But I suppose he has calculated these contingencies, and never anticipated paving a bed of roses to recline upon during the terrible, and sometimes doubtful struggle for independence.

The rumor that Vicksburg had fallen is not confirmed; on the contrary, the story that the Indianola, captured from the enemy, and reported to have been blown up, was unfounded. We have Gen. Pemberton's official assurance of this.

Col. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, a Pennsylvanian, sent into the department to-day, with a request that it be filed, his oath of allegiance to this government, and renunciation of that of the United States, and of his native State. This would indicate that the location of his nativity has been the subject of remark. What significance is to be attributed to this step at this late day, I know not, and care not. An error was committed in placing Northern men in high positions to the exclusion of Southern men, quite as capable of filling them.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 269-70

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: February 26, 1863

We have good news from Vicksburg to-day. The Queen of the West, lately captured by us, and another gunboat, attacked the Indianola, the iron-clad Federal gun-boat which got past our batteries the other day, and, after an engagement, sunk her. We captured all the officers and men.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 264

Brigadier-General Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, March 17, 1864

Headquarters Div. Seventeenth Army Corps,

Red River Expedition, Fort De Russey,

Avoyelles County, Louosiana, March 17, 1864.

My Dear Wife:

My last hurried letter to you was dated from on board ship at Vicksburg. The fleet of transports under my command sailed from that point at seven o'clock, Thursday, 10th inst., arrived at mouth of Red River and reported to Admiral Porter on Friday at noon. At 10 A.m., Saturday, sailed up Red River and Atchafalaya under orders and signals from flagship Black Hawk, to Simmesport. Morning of Sunday debarked my troops for inspection, review and drill by regiments. At seven o'clock P.M., received marching orders, and at 8 P.M. marched, bringing up the rear of the column, repaired bridges through the night, roads for greater part of the way bad and swampy; bivouacked at 4 A.M., Monday, eight miles from Simmesport. Meanwhile, Gen. A. J. Smith, with General Mower's command, had reconnoitred the front, driven four regiments of the enemy from a fortification, situate some five miles from Simmesport, and was making across country for Moreauville on Bayou L'Eglise. Gave my troops rest two hours; at six o'clock took up the line of march, moving forward rapidly till eleven o'clock, when I halted, ordered coffee for the men and fed the animals. Meanwhile pioneers were reconstructing bridge destroyed by the enemy. At noon resumed march which till this time had led us for the most part through a rich and highly-cultivated country past extensive canefields and sugar-houses, now crossing a bayou and penetrating a swamp spreading some few miles before us. Ascending a slight elevation, we suddenly emerged in one of the most beautiful prairies imaginable. High table land, gently undulating, watered by exquisite lakes occasional groves, the landscape dotted with tasteful houses, gardens and shrubberies. This prairie, called Avoyelles, is settled exclusively by French emigrés, many of whom, as our army passed, sought shelter under the tricolor of France. Pushing forward rapidly, we gained Marksville at 4.30 P.M. Deserters had warned us that the enemy were on our left flank and rear as early as three o'clock. My troops were well closed up. Two and a half miles beyond Marksville, I formed line of battle at 5.30, my right resting immediately on the left of the advanced forces. My transportation and ambulances parked far to the rear. As my command came to front, brisk musketry firing commenced at the fort. Some shells fell to the rear and right of my line. I was ordered by the general commanding to look well to my rear and left wing, that I might anticipate attack from General Walker with six thousand Texans. I stood to arms. At 6.30 news was brought me that the fort had surrendered. I threw out heavy pickets, stacked arms and went into bivouac, a piercing cold “Norther” sweeping over the plain. In summary, I remark that the command on the 14th inst, marched twenty-eight and a half miles, built a substantial bridge of sixty feet in length, repaired minor ones, and took a fort between sunrise and sunset. But one brigade, Colonel Ward, commanding, was actively engaged; their casualties nine killed, thirty-seven wounded. The substantial results I enclose in memorandum of ordnance and ordnance stores, to which may be added a large amount of commissary stores, flour, beef, sugar and molasses, and three hundred and thirty-four prisoners, thirty-four of whom were officers from lieutenant-colonel to third lieutenant.

Meanwhile, convoy and fleet had made slow and devious way through the tortuous windings of Red River, where navigation at present stage of water is difficult. Rapid current, frequent eddies, sharp bends and snags, are the natural obstacles; to these the enemy added rafts and spiles; nevertheless, as the fort surrendered, the Black Hawk rounded to land shortly afterwards the general commanding received the congratulations of the Admiral, whom he will compliment by present of the nine-inch Dahlgren, of the Indianola, and the two heavy guns of the Harriet Lane, recaptured. My command is in occupation of the fort, and will be engaged to-day and to-morrow in the demolition of the casemates, bridges, etc., etc., and finally the blowing-up of the magazines, in which we shall permit to be destroyed vast quantities of powder. The main body under command of General Mower, convoyed by Admiral Porter, sailed last night for Alexandria, where I expect to join them in three days. Gen. A. J. Smith remains with me, and gunboats Essex and Benton, Captains Grier and Townsend.

A glance at the map will give you my present locality without the aid of sketch; but I will enclose herewith draft and dimensions of fortifications that you may intelligently answer questions; to which end, indeed, I have written you a sort of condensed report. If you have not “Colton's” maps, you had better buy first volume, North and South America; meanwhile you can borrow and trace me down the Mississippi, up the Atchafalaya, pronounced “Chafalia,” to Simmesport, across country to Marksville, from thence to Fort De Russy, on the Red, thence up the river to Alexandria.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 356-9

Major General William T. Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, February 26, 1863

CAMP NEAR VICKSBURG, February 26, 1863.

I have yours of the 14th inst. and indeed I think all your letters have come somewhat in bunches, but I think all are at hand up to that of the 14th. Of course, I will heed your counsel about the newspaper correspondents, but it is hard for me to know that they are used to spy out and report all our acts of omission and commission to be published at home to prejudice the cause and advance that of the enemy. It is hard enough to know that we have a strong well organized and vindictive enemy in front and a more dangerous insidious one within our very camp. These causes must defeat us unless the people have resources enough to learn by the slow and sad progress of time what they might so much easier learn from books or the example of our enemy. We look in vain to their newspapers for scraps from which to guess at the disposition of their forces, and know and feel all the time that every thing we do or attempt to do is paraded in all our newspapers which reach Vicksburg by telegraph from Richmond, Va. or Memphis long before we are ourselves advised. I feel also that our government instead of governing the country is led first by one class of newspapers, then another, and that we are the mere shuttle-cocks flying between. We get all the knocks and rarely see one grain of encouragement from “home.”  I see the eulogies of the brave and heroic acts of men at Springfield, Illinois, and Cincinnati, and rarely anything but the paid and hired encomiums of some worthless regiment here, that, understanding the notions of our people, can get cheap reputation by writing for the press, and neglecting all their duties here. The further we penetrate, the further we remain from home, the less we are esteemed or encouraged. I did not intend to resign unless the public opinion of the North made it prudent for the President to recall me nominally to some other command, or unless I detected in my own corps some symptoms of the natural results of the continued attacks of the press. In either event being foot-loose I would be justified before God and man in making my own choice of vocation. My old troops believe in me, but in this move I had a new batch that did not know me and I had reason to apprehend mistrust on this point, as some of them are known to me, like, to be mere politicians who come to fight not for the real glory and success of the nation but for their own individual aggrandizement. Let any accident befall me or any temporary rumor like that at Vicksburg, the same howl will be renewed because these buzzards of the press who hang in scent about our camps know full well that death awaits them whenever I have the power or when time develops their true character and influence. You in Ohio have one or two papers to conciliate, here we have all — St. Louis, Chicago, New York, Cincinnati, Charleston, Atlanta and Vicksburg. Now these are all antagonistic save in one particular, in esprit de corps. They stand by each other as a profession, but each gathers facts and draws its pictures to suit the home market, and really the Southern correspondents are the more fair. Were I to judge of public opinion by the tone of the press I would say we were here regarded as an enemy to the North and rather favorable to the South. Of course, I shall no longer attempt to exclude spies from camp, and allow these to come and go freely and collect their own budgets. The ram Queen of the West was captured by the enemy in Red River and yesterday came close up to Vicksburg with the Rebel flag flying in defiance. We have an iron boat below, the Indianola, but night before last heavy firing was heard until about one o'clock, when it ceased, and this fact being followed by the appearance of the captured ram looks bad. I fear the Indianola is gone, and that the enemy has recovered the use of the river below Vicksburg. This to us is a bad blow, and may lead to worse consequences. I at once established a battery of 20 pound rifles below the town and made other dispositions, but the ram has again gone below. I fear for the safety of the Indianola. If sunk it is not so bad, but if like the Queen of the West she has fallen into the hands of the enemy, it may prove a calamity. Rain, rain, — water above, below and all round. I have been soused under water by my horse falling in a hole, and got a good ducking yesterday walking where a horse could not go. No doubt they are chuckling over our helpless situation in Vicksburg. Accounts from Yazoo and Providence Lake favorable, but rain, rain, and men can't work —  indeed hardly a place to stand, much less lie down. . . .

SOURCES: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Home Letters of General Sherman, p. 239-42.  A full copy of this letter can be found in the William T Sherman Family papers (SHR), University of Notre Dame Archives (UNDA), Notre Dame, IN 46556, Folder CSHR 2/01.