It rained moderately last night, and is cooler this morning. But the worst portion of the winter is over. The pigeons of my neighbor are busy hunting straws in my yard for their nests. They do no injury to the garden, as they never scratch. The shower causes my turnips to present a fresher appearance, for they were suffering for moisture. The buds of the cherry trees have perceptibly swollen during the warm weather.
A letter from Gen. Cobb (Georgia) indicates that the
Secretary of War has refused to allow men having employed substitutes to form
new organizations, and he combats the decision. He says they will now appeal to
the courts, contending that the law putting them in the service is
unconstitutional, and some will escape from the country, or otherwise evade the
law. They cannot go into old companies and be sneered at by the veterans, and
commanded by their inferiors in fortune, standing, etc. He says the decision
will lose the service 2000 men in Georgia.
The Jews are fleeing from Richmond with the money they have
made.
SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's
Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p.
139
