Dubuque As It Is

It is not much wonder that people elsewhere have a bad opinion of this city when a newspaper, which is supported mainly by the business patronage of Dubuque is the principal cause and means of giving people at a distance the worst opinion possible of this city and its inhabitants. – Dubuque Herald.

Father Mahony has never uttered a truer expression and it is astonishing to us that the people of Dubuque, interested in its prosperity, will permit a vile secession sheet like the Herald to exist among them.  It is a remarkable instance of forbearance that they have not long since risen up and pitched the dirty concern into the river and sent its editor afloat down the Mississippi.  We venture the assertion that had they been governed by the same treasonable sentiments that that paper has sought to instill into their minds, the same disregard of law and order, they would have done this thing months ago.  As it is their forbearance has brought a stain upon their city that will prove a curse to it so long as treason has a name in our country.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 2

Brigadier General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, November 28, 1861

CAMP PIERPONT, VA., November 28, 1861.

If you remember what I told you before I came here, you will recollect that I always said McClellan had to be tried. That while he had shown in other positions talents and a mental organization leading to the belief that he was one who would make himself equal to the position, yet that fact had yet to be established. I fear he allows himself to be too much biased by personal influences and old associations. He has already in my judgment committed two grave errors. First, in whitewashing Stone, who was and is responsible for the Ball's Bluff disaster, greater in my judgment than Bull Run, inasmuch as it was clearly the result of bad generalship. Secondly, in permitting himself to be biased by tittle-tattle about McCall, and visiting his censure of that officer on the whole division under his command. Both these instances show a want of moral courage, without which no man can be a great commander.

We had a little excitement yesterday, in a scout from our division by our cavalry. They went some fourteen miles in front, capturing one of the enemy's pickets, and on their return were fired into by a party, whom they repulsed, killing several and bringing in eleven prisoners. Colonel Bayard (a young man you may remember at the first review, from the protuberance on his cheek, produced by an arrow wound), the commander, behaved with conspicuous gallantry. One of the prisoners confessed he took deliberate aim at him. He had two balls through his clothes and his horse killed under him.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 232

American Innovation In Italy

The first popular lecture ever heard in the city of Naples, was recently delivered by Dr. Armsby, of Albany, N. Y., U. S. Consul at that port.  His subject was, “The wisdom and goodness of God, as exhibited in the structure of man.”  It was delivered in a room in the British Consul’s apartments, in aid of the proposed English schools of that city.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 2

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Saturday, December 27, 1862

Nothing of importance.¹

__________

¹ The days of the latter half of the month of December were the darkest we had seen up to that time and, as it proved, they were the darkest days of the entire Union army during the whole four years of war. Our armies, all along the line, East and West, had not been successful. The second 600,000 men had been called for during the summer, and the loyal men of the North responded nobly, most of them being on the field by December, ready for action. But there was an element in the North holding nightly meetings and declaring that the war was a failure; there was also talk of England's recognizing the Confederacy; then there were discouraging letters from the home folks to the men In the field, for the times were hard and the situation looked very bad to them. They would, in writing to us, ask what we thought of the outlook, and almost to a man, the reply would be that we would push ahead until we were successful, for our loss already had been too great to give up the struggle short of going to the bitter end. — A. G. D.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 89

The War News

The Rebels Preparing to Evacuate Richmond.

Wonderful stories from Southern Sources.

Jeff. Thompson Rampant.

CONFISCATION BILLS.

The Rebel Fleet again Attacks our Boats and is Repulsed.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

General Robert E. Lee to Major W. H. Fitzhugh Lee

SEWELL MT., 12th October, 1861.

MY DEAR FlTZHUGH:

I am grieving over your absence and fear you are not comfortable. Tell me how you are. I learn that the baby is doing very well and getting quite fat. Your poor mother, who was in Charlottesville Saturday, was going to Richmond to join Charlotte and accompany her to the White House. I hope they will enjoy the quiet of the place and each other's company. Annie and Agnes are in Richmond, on their way to Cedar Grove. They have been to Uncle Carter's, and are well satisfied with their visit. The enemy in strong force threatened us for a week. I was in hopes they would attack, but after some sharp skirmishing with their reconnoitering parties last Saturday night they retired and by daybreak next morning their rear-guard was fifteen miles off. We followed the first day without provisions, and had to return at night in a drenching rain. We have only lived from day to day and on three-fourths rations at that. It is the want of supplies that has prevented our advancing, and up to this time there is no improvement. The strength of the enemy is variously reported by prisoners and civilians at from 17,000 to 24,000. General Floyd puts him down at 18,000. I think their numbers are much overrated, but that they are much stronger than we are. I believe they have crossed the Ganley and will not return this winter. God bless you, my dear son.

Your devoted father,

R. E. LEE.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 149

Local Matters

NEW invoice of spectacles at Newbern’s No 54 Brady street, near post-office.

FIFTH WARD. – Mr. Walter Kelly was selected as the Democratic candidate for alderman of the 5th Ward, last evening.

TO BUILDERS. – The attention of builders is called to the advertisement in to-day’s paper for proposals for the erection of a schoolhouse in Cleona township.

LADIES can get house shoes at Dow & Co’s. cheap.  They are selling the Suits’ stock of gaiters, slips, and buskins from 50 cents to $1.  They are worth double the goods bought expressly to sell for the same prices.

CRICKET. – The Cricket Club went out to North Davenport yesterday afternoon for a little exercise in their favorite game.  This club is a new one, though they use the bats and balls of the former club.

SWIMMING SCHOOL. – The Muscatine Journal says that the Davenporters are “going to establish a swimming school.”  Not going to, neighbor, it’s already an old thing here; but we’re enlarging and improving on the previous facilities of the kind.

KING ALCOHOL IS IN TOUBLE. – the people of Moline have gone before the grand jury of their county, and declared war against the doggeries of that place.  They seem determined to drive them out, or at least all where anything stronger than beer is sold.

WADSWORTH received per express this day another lot of those fashionable walking sacques; also black lace veils of all qualities, black blue and buff challies, beautiful goods for children and an elegant assortment of black cloths suitable for gentleman’s suits and ladies’ sacques and raglans.

REGISTERING DOGS. – The number of dogs registered yesterday was 123 – making 253 in all.  The town clerk will be found in his office the rest of the week, in order to afford all an opportunity who desire to avail themselves of the protection of the law.  In La Claire township, we are informed, the people are coming up promptly, and with a determination to enforce the law.

FELICITY. – Our city, it affords us pleasure to know, still increases in population, notwithstanding the hard times.  Our cotemporary, and a worthy member of the legislature, both of whom reside on the bluff, have within a few days welcomed each a stranger, of the kind which, combined with “white pantaloons and molasses candy,” raised in the mind of Artemus Ward such dreams of “unalloyed felicity.”

IOWA CITY, May 15, 1862.

EDITOR GAZETTE:–

Iowa City township, the Banner township!  Up to 9 o’clock, A. M. 309 dogs registered. – Can Davenport beat that?

Yours, &c.

Insurance against fire and the perils of inland transportation, and life insurance, can be had of W. F. ROSS, general insurance agent, Metropolitan building, who will not represent any but the most reliable companies.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Friday, December 26, 1862

The Fourth Division commanded by General Logan passed here today on their way to Memphis. Nearly all of the troops which started on the expedition south have now returned.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 89

Brigadier General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, November 26, 1861

CAMP PIERPONT, VA., November 26, 1861.

The weather continues quite cold. We had a slight fall of snow, and every night a heavy frost. No indications that I can see of a movement, and every one is beginning to be tired of inactivity, and to wonder when something will be done. The court martial still continues to occupy my time from 9 to 3 o'clock each day, but I hope to get through with it now in a day or two.

Charley Biddle has left his regiment and gone to Philadelphia, preparatory to taking his seat in Congress. He is really a great loss to this division. The command of his regiment devolves upon Lieutenant Colonel Thomas L. Kane.

Did you see Colonel Willcox was among those selected to be put to death, in case our Government hung any of the privateersmen condemned? I have no doubt they will carry out their threat and hang man for man, if we persist in the folly of denying them rights which we have always claimed for ourselves.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 231-2

Major General William T. Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, March 30, 1863

CAMP BEFORE VICKSBURG, March 30, 1863.

I got back from an excursion up to Deer Creek in connection with Admiral Porter the day before yesterday, and being on General Grant's boat which lies about four miles above me I wrote you a hasty note saying we were all well. I don't know what the people and press will make of this move, but I explain it to you. Our difficulty at Vicksburg has been to get a foothold on hard ground on that side of the Mississippi. We have endeavored to get east of the Yazoo without success by every possible channel, and Admiral Porter and General Grant thought they had discovered a new route up Yazoo and Steele's Bayou to Black Fork across into Deer Creek, up Deer Creek to Rolling Fork and then into Sunflower and Yazoo. I don't know if your maps show this route, but there is a channel during high water. Grant accompanied the Admiral up a short distance returned and ordered me to follow, to reconnoitre, to ascertain if the route was feasible to move my Corps. I got one of the Admiral's little tugs and with only two aids, Col. Johnson and Lt. Pitzman and my orderly Boyer, pushed up and overtook the Admiral in Black Bayou. I took no troops with me, but had ordered the 8th Missouri and some pioneers to go up in a steamboat to clear out trees and overhanging branches. I saw very soon that the channel was too narrow and obstructed by trees to be passable without a vast amount of clearing, and soon reported that it would not do, but the Admiral pushed up Deer Creek with his iron-clads. He had not proceeded twenty miles before the channel became so obstructed that he doubted his ability to proceed, and the enemy had detected the move and had begun to fell trees across the channel. At last he called on me for help; and having brought up three small regiments I sent them forward and worked like a beaver to get up more. I succeeded in getting up the better part of two brigades and afoot started for the fleet. I got there not a minute too soon. The enemy were swarming about the fleet, had chopped down trees in front and were in the act of doing the same below so as to block them in. There were five iron-clads and three little tenders or tugs. Their heavy guns could not contend with the rifle men who behind trees and logs picked off every man who showed his head. I do believe if I had not labored as I did, and moved as rapidly, the enemy would have got the boats and the tables would have been turned on us here at Vicksburg; but the Admiral had actually resolved to blow them all up. The mud and rain were terrific, but I marched afoot and the men were tickled to see me there; and such cheers as the gun-boats put up when they saw General Sherman! Of course we soon cleared the ground, and not a shot was fired at the gun-boats after I got there. For four days and nights they were beset by a crowd of guerrillas and soldiers and could not sleep or rest; it was the lion in a net.

The admiral was in the act of backing out when I got to him, and his judgment was that the route was impracticable. Of course, we gradually withdrew slowly and leisurely, and the enemy followed us at a distance. No place on earth is favored by nature with natural defense such as Vicksburg, and I do believe the whole thing will fail and we will have to go back to the original plan, viz: the main army to move by land from Memphis, Oxford, Grenada to Yazoo City and Vicksburg, whilst a smaller force hem in the river and attack in flank contemporaneous with the arrival of the main army. This was the original plan and the only one certain of success. Grant may resolve to attack Haines' Bluff, but we cannot bring our whole force to bear there. The river does not admit of it. . . .

SOURCES: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Home Letters of General Sherman, p. 244-6.  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 2/02.

Married

On Thursday morning, May 5th, by Rev. Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. A. H. CLARK, of Co. B, 2d Iowa regiment to Miss EMMA F. DALLAM, of East Davenport.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

General Robert E. Lee to Mary Custis Lee, September 26, 1861

CAMP ON SEWELL MOUNTAINS, September 26, 1861

I told you of the death of Colonel Washington. I grieve for his loss, though I trust him to the mercy of our Heavenly Father. It is raining heavily. The men are all exposed on the mountains, with the enemy opposite to us. We are without tents, and for two nights I have lain buttoned up in my overcoat. Today my tent came up and I am in it, yet I fear I shall not sleep for thinking of the poor men. I have no doubt the socks you mentioned will be very acceptable to the men here and elsewhere. If you can send them here, I will distribute to the most needy.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 148-9

Final Report of the Finance Committee

April 5, 1862	By cash on hand per last report		$52.00
May 12, 1862	To cash paid L. J. Center	19.00
May 15, 1862	To cas paid J. L. Davies, Treas. Scott Co. Ass’n,	38.00
		$52.00	$52.00

The committee have also handed over to J. L. Davies, the $14 received from Mr. Pinnen, of Princeton township, for the erection of a monument.

R. LOWRY	W. BURRIS
T. C. CAMPBELL	H. N. POWERS
JAMES THORINGTON	H. LISCITER,
S. HIRSCHL

Davenport, May 15, 1862.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Thursday, December 25, 1862

General Rosecrans's division passed here today on their way to Memphis. This is rather a gloomy, dry Christmas. We are still on half rations. But in spite of it, the boys are all enjoying themselves. They are taking everything that they can lay their hands on, carrying to their tents couches, rockers, chairs, tables, books, bric-a-brac — in fact, all kinds of household articles. Some of the boys, who are lovers of fancy books, sent home by express some of the most costly bound volumes. Holly Springs has certainly paid dear for burning our supplies.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 89

Brigadier General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, November 24, 1861

CAMP PIERPONT, VA., November 24, 1861.

There is but little new here. My duties at the court occupy me nearly all day, and in the afternoon, towards evening, I take a ride through the guards to see that they are on the alert and vigilant. The enemy do not show themselves nearer than eight miles, where they have their pickets. Now and then they make a dash at some part of the line with their cavalry, and drive ours in, killing and wounding a few, when they retire again to their old lines.

In to-day's papers we have Jeff Davis's¹ report to the Confederate Congress. A careful perusal of it leads me to think it is more desponding and not so braggadocio a document as those we have hitherto had from him. I have no doubt the blockade and the heavy expenditures required to maintain their large armies are telling on them, and that sensible people among them are beginning to say, cui bono? and where is this to end? If such should be the case, it proves the sagacity of our policy in keeping them hemmed in by land and sea, and forcing them to raise large forces by threatening them at many different points. You know I have always told you this would be a war of dollars and cents — that is, of resources — and that if the North managed properly, the South ought to be first exhausted and first to feel the ruinous effects of war. In other words, to use my familiar expression, it was and is a Kilkenny-cat business, in which the North, being the biggest cat and having the largest tail, ought to have the endurance to maintain the contest after the Southern gentleman was all gone. In the meantime, we at the North should continue the good work of setting aside such men as Fremont² and upholding such sentiments as those of Sherman, who declares the private property of Secessionists must be respected. Let the ultras on both sides be repudiated, and the masses of conservative and moderate men may compromise and settle the difficulty.

To-day has been raw and disagreeable; this afternoon we had a slight spit of snow. Camping out in such weather is very hard upon the men, and the health of the army is being seriously impaired.

I fear no amount of personal energy or efforts to do what is right will ever make these volunteers into soldiers. The radical error is in their organization and the election of officers, in most cases more ignorant than the men. It is most unsatisfactory and trying to find all your efforts unsuccessful, and the consciousness of knowing that matters grow daily worse instead of better is very hard to bear. The men are good material, and with good officers might readily be moulded into soldiers; but the officers, as a rule, with but very few exceptions, are ignorant, inefficient and worthless. They have not control or command over the men, and if they had, they do not know what to do with them. We have been weeding out some of the worst, but owing to the vicious system of electing successors which prevails, those who take their places are no better. I ought not perhaps to write this to you, and you must understand it is all in confidence, but you have asked me to tell you everything freely and without disguise, and I have complied with your request.

I had a visit to-day from Mr. Henry, of the Topographical Bureau, who says he saw the review on Wednesday and thought our division looked and marched the best of all.

__________

¹ Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy.

² Major-General John Charles Fremont, U. S. A.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 230-1

In The Review Queue: Jeb Stuart and the Confederate Defeat at Gettysburg

Jeb Stuart and the Confederate Defeat at Gettysburg

By Warren C. Robinson

“The Army was much embarrassed by the absence of the cavalry,” Robert E. Lee wrote of the Gettysburg campaign, stirring a controversy that continues even today. Lee’s statement was an indirect indictment of Gen. James Ewell Brown (“Jeb”) Stuart, who was the cavalry. This book reexamines the questions that have shadowed the legendary Confederate hero and offers a fresh, informed interpretation of his role at Gettysburg.

Avoiding the partisan pros and cons characterizing previous accounts, Warren C. Robinson reassesses the historical record to come to a clearer view of Stuart’s orders for the crucial battle (as well as what was expected of him), of his actual performance, and of the impact his late arrival had on the outcome of the campaign. Though Stuart may not have disobeyed Lee’s orders, Robinson argues, he did abuse the general’s discretion by raiding Washington rather than scouting for the army at Gettysburg—a move that profoundly affected Confederate fortunes and perhaps the war itself.

ISBN 978-0803248564, University of Nebraska Press, © 2007, Paperback, 216 Pages, Photographs & Illustrations, Maps End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $17.95.  To Purchase the book click HERE.

Major General William T. Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, March 13, 1863

CAMP BEFORE VICKSBURG,

March 13, 1863.

. . . The waters are still rising and Kilby Smith's Brigade is roosting on the levee with bare standing room. McClernand's Corps is at Milliken's Bend, and my Corps strung along the levee for four miles. The levee is about ten feet wide at top with sloping sides and can hold all the men and maybe horses in case of an absolute flood. We have not steamboats enough to float us and if we had there is no dry land to go to. An expedition has entered the Yazoo from above, and when it is heard from we probably will make another dash at Vicksburg or Drumgould's. I see the whole North is again in agonies about the amount of sickness down here. It is not excessively hot, more than should be expected, not more than we had on the Potomac and Tennessee, and our supplies are the best I ever saw. There is a deep laid plan to cripple us laid by Jeff Davis who is smart and knows our people well. By a few thousands of dollars well invested in newspapers he can defeat any plan or undertaking. Many really well disposed men have come from St. Louis, Cincinnati and Washington and have been amazed by the falsehood of these stories. Only one man of the regulars has died since we left Memphis. My old regiments are all in fine health and spirits. Some of the new regiments have passed through the ordeal which afflicts all new troops. . . .

The War Department have not given me any staff, and yet have taken from me the right to appoint any. The truth is now as it always was, that persons at a distance are neglected and those near the seat of power petted. We have made further progress than any army, with less means. In Vicksburg we meet our match and time must solve the difficulty; but so long as our camps are full of newspaper spies revealing each move, exaggerating our trouble and difficulties and giving grounds for discontent, success cannot be expected.

The new Conscript Law is the best act of our government and Mr. Lincoln can no longer complain of want of power. He now is absolute dictator and if he don't use the power some one will. . . .

SOURCES: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Home Letters of General Sherman, p. 242-3.  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 2/02.

We clip the following from the Chicago Tribune of Wednesday. Citizen Center is getting up in the world:

PERSONAL. – Ira M. Gifford and Dr. L. J. Centre, of Iowa, arrived at the Sherman House last evening.  These gentleman have been constituted by Gov. Kirkwood a commission to proceed to Pittsburg Landing to look after the sick and wounded of the Iowa soldiers.  No better soldiers have been sent to the battle field than those from Iowa, and we are glad to witness the interest which the excellent Governor of the State takes in their welfare.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

General Robert E. Lee to Mary Custis Lee, September 17, 1861

VALLEY MOUNTAIN, September 17, 1861

I had hoped to have surprised the enemy’s works on the morning of the 12th, both at Cheat Mountain and on Valley River. All the attacking parties with great labor had reached their destination over mountains considered impassable to bodies of troops, notwithstanding the heavy storm that had set in the day before and raged all night, in which they had to stand till daylight; their arms were then unserviceable, and they in poor condition for a fierce assault. After waiting till ten o'clock for the assault on Cheat Mountain, which did not take place, and which was to be the signal for the rest, they were withdrawn, and after waiting three days in front of the enemy, hoping he would come out of his trenches, we returned to our position at this place. I cannot tell you my regret and mortification at the untoward events that caused the failure of the plan. I had taken every precaution to insure success, and counted on it; but the Ruler of the Universe willed otherwise, and sent a storm to disconcert the well-laid plan. We are no worse off now than before, except the disclosure of our plan, against which they will guard. We met with one heavy loss which grieves me deeply: Colonel Washington accompanied Fitzhugh [his son] on a reconnoitering expedition. I fear they were carried away by their zeal and approached within the enemy's pickets. The first they knew there was a volley from a concealed party within a few yards of them. Three balls passed through the Colonel's body, three struck his horse, and the horse of one of the men was killed. Fitzhugh mounted the Colonel's horse and brought him off. I am much grieved. He was always anxious to go on these expeditions. This was the first day I assented. Since I had been thrown in such immediate relations with him, I had learned to appreciate him very highly. Morning and evening have I seen him on his knees praying to his Maker. "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; the merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come." May God have mercy on us all!

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 147-8

Adjutants And Quartermasters

A number of Adjutants and Quartermasters have recently been mustered out of service.  Among the most recent are Quartermaster M. L. Morris and Adjutant J. C. Stone, of the 1st Cavalry.  The Iowa City Republican says they were mustered out because of an informality in their appointment, the regulations requiring that they should be appointed from the list of lieutenants of the regiment, which was not done in their case.  If this rule is strictly adhered to, it will throw out a good many Adjutants and Quartermasters for nearly every regiment which went from Camp McClellan had such officers thus irregularly appointed.  The regimental adjutants and battalion quartermasters of the cavalry have all been mustered out of service, as been too much of a fifth wheel, and consequently, an unnecessary expense.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Wednesday, December 24, 1862

Nothing of importance. It is quite cold and our extra clothing, underwear, is in storage at La Grange, Tennessee. There is no chance to draw new clothing now.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 89

Brigadier General George G. Meade to John Sergeant Meade, November 22, 1861

CAMP PIERPONT, VA., November 22, 1861.

I received yesterday your letter of the 17th, with its enclosure, the "Loves of Harlequin and Columbine," which I read with much pleasure. The papers, I presume, have given you glowing accounts of the Grand Review. I should have been delighted for you to have seen it, as I expect, to an outsider, who could go where he pleased and take in all the views, the sight must have been very grand, particularly when the troops began to march past the reviewing officer. You will see from my account to your mother that we who took part in it, like the frogs in the fable, had but little appreciation of the fun we were affording others.

I got a letter to-day from old Potter. He is quartermaster in Chicago, up to his eyes in business, spending, he says, sometimes over a hundred thousand dollars a day. He begs to be remembered to your mother and yourself, and says that Detroit is no longer the same place, and that he never expects to have such nice times again as he had on the survey under me. Altogether, his letter exhibits quite a gratifying amount of feeling.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 229-30

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.

Ft. Warren Jones

Our city was honored yesterday with another visit from this man.  He is on his return home from a pilgrimage to the southern part of the State.  His object, we presume to be the re-organization of the Democratic party on the Vallandigham platform.  We believe George W. Jones to be a traitor from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, and that if his letter to Jeff. Davis had not been intercepted, and his plans frustrated, he would be as closely identified with the South at this moment as Floyd, Wise, or Pillow.  Will not some of his friends here, who claim loyalty for this man, try and remove the stench of treason that arises from his infamous letter to Jeff. Davis, and clings to him like the poisoned shirt of Nessus? – Until that be done, let no man say there is a drop of loyal blood in the veins of George W. Jones.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Fifth Minnesota

The Hawkeye State, Northern Line steamer, arrived yesterday afternoon from the North, having on board the Fifth Minnesota Regiment, or at least seven companies of it, which are all that will go down at present.  The remainder are left to garrison Forts Ridgely, Ripley, and Abercrombie.  The regiment disembarked above the bridge and preceded by their brass band, marched to the steamboat landing.  Their officers are: Colonel R. Von Bergersrode; Lt. Colonel L. J. Hubbard; Major W. B. Gere; Quartermaster W. B. McGrorty; Adjutant A. R. French; Surgeons F. B. Etheridge and B. Kennedy.  There was a very large admixture of Germans in the regiment, one or two companies being composed entirely of them.  The regiment re-embarked on the Hawkeye, and proceeded down the river.  They go to Pittsburg.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

General Robert E. Lee to Captain G. W. Custis Lee, September 3, 1861

VALLEY MT., 3d September, 1861.

MY DEAR SON:

I was very glad to receive your letter of the 27th ulto., and to learn something of your whereabouts. I did not know what had become of you, and was very anxious to learn. You say nothing of your health, and I will hope you are well and able to do good service to the cause so dear to us all. I trust you may be able to get a position and field agreeable to you; and know that wherever you may be placed you will do your duty. That is all the pleasure, all the comfort, all the glory we can enjoy in this world. I have been able to do but little here. Still I hope I have been of some service. Things are better organized. I feel stronger, we are stronger. The three routes leading east are guarded. The men have more confidence, our people a feeling of security. The enemy has been driven back, and made to haul in his horns, and to find he cannot have everything his own way. This has been done without a battle, but by a steady advance of positions. Now to drive him farther a battle must come off, and I am anxious to begin it. Circumstances beyond human control delay it, I know for good, but I hope the Great Ruler of the Universe will continue to aid and prosper us, and crown at last our feeble efforts with success. Rain, rain, rain, there has been nothing but rain. So it has appeared to my anxious mind since I approached these mountains. It commenced before, but since has come down with a will. The cold too has been greater than I could have conceived. In my winter clothing and buttoned up in my overcoat, I have still been cold. This state of weather has aggravated the sickness that has attacked the whole army, measles and typhoid fever. Some regiments have not over 250 for duty, some 300, 500, or about half, according to its strength. This makes a terrible hole in our effectives. Do not mention this, I pray you. It will be in the papers next. The rains and constant travel have cut these dirt turnpikes so deep, the soil being rich mould in most parts, that wagons can only travel with double teams. But there is a change in the weather. The glorious sun has been shining these four days. The drowned earth is warming. The sick are improving, and the spirits of all are rising. F. is anxious to get his buffalo robe. Did you ever get my letter concerning it? It was directed to be sent to the Spotswood to me. I asked you to put it up securely, and get Colonel Myers to send it to me at Huntersville. I have heard nothing of it. F. feels the want of it every night. He is very well, hearty, and sanguine. I am glad to hear of Gen. A. S. Johnston's approach and Captain Garnett's arrival. The disaster at Cape Hatteras was a hard blow to us, but we must expect them, struggle against them, prepare for them. We cannot be always successful and reverses must come. May God give us courage, endurance, and faith to strive to the end. Good-by, my dear son. F. has just come in. He sends his love and Colonel W. and Captain T. their regards. Give my kind remembrances to everybody.

Your fond father,

R. E. LEE.

CAPT. G. W. CUSTIS LEE.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 146-7

National War Claim Agency

Our fellow citizen, W. Barrows, Esq., who has recently returned from Washington, has entered into the business of procuring bounty money, arrears of pay, and invalid pensions, for the widows and heirs of deceased and disabled soldiers of the present war.  Having formed a partnership with Messrs. Reed & Millard, and established an agency at Washington, they are prepared to present claims tin person at the Departments, and procure returns at once for the claimants.  We certainly know of no one better qualified for this business than Mr. B., who has handled so many bounty land warrants in Iowa, and which the old “land hunter” abundant success in this, his new business.  See advertisement.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Tuesday, December 23, 1862

No news of importance. We pitched our tents this morning. I was out on a foraging train for some corn, but we got very little, as this section of the country is pretty well cleaned up. We are now on half rations.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 89

Brigadier General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, November 21, 1861

CAMP PIERPONT, VA., November 21, 1861.

I intended to have written to you last evening, but came back so tired from the grand review that I went right to bed. I have no doubt the papers will give you a glowing description of this event, so long talked about. For my part, all I can say is that I got up at half-past 3 A. M., the morning very cold, with a heavy frost lying on the ground. At 6 o'clock we moved and marched nine miles to the ground, at Bailey's Cross-Roads, where we arrived about 10 o'clock, and were posted in a field where the mud was six inches deep, and where we stood for four hours, after which we marched past General McClellan, and then home, where we arrived, tired, hungry and disgusted, at about 7 P. M. The day was cloudy, cold and raw, and altogether the affair as a “spectacle” was a failure. I understand the object of the movement was to show the soldiers what a large and well disciplined army had been collected together, and thus give them confidence in themselves. I fear standing in the mud for four hours and marching nine miles there and back took away greatly from the intended effect. My own brigade did very well going to the review and on the ground, but returning I found it utterly impossible to keep the men in the ranks. I used all my influence with the officers first, and afterwards with the men, but ineffectually, and at last abandoned it in disgust, one regiment being by the time it reached camp pretty much all broken up and scattered. I felt annoyed when I got back, and wearied at the fruitless efforts I had made. There was a notion that the Grand Review was to be converted into a fight by making a dash at Centreville, ten miles distant from the ground, but, instead of this, the enemy made a dash at us, driving in our pickets on several parts of the line and killing several of them. They also kept up a practicing with their heavy guns all the afternoon, as if in defiance of our parade. General Smith required his division to cheer McClellan. He passed our division front, but, not being posted in the programme, we were silent.

The foregoing part of this letter was written in the court room, where a poor devil was being tried for sleeping on his post.

As to horses, I did the best I could. The truth is, the exposure is so great, it is almost impossible to keep a horse in good health. Several of the officers of my staff have suffered in the same way. I have no doubt you can get me a good horse for two hundred and fifty dollars. I can do that here; but where are the two hundred and fifty dollars to come from? Remember, I have paid now two hundred and seventy-five dollars already.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 228-9

Major General William T. Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, February 22, 1863

CAMP NEAR VlCKSBURG,

February 22, 1863.

. . . As to my exposing myself unnecessarily, you need not be concerned. I know better than where danger lies and where I should be. Soldiers have a right to see and know that the man who guides them is near enough to see with his own eyes, and that he cannot see without being seen. At Arkansas Post the ground was nearly level and the enemy could see me, with officers coming and going and orderlies grouped near. Of course they fired at me, one rifled 10 pounder repeatedly, and when I was grouping the prisoners I recognized the very gun and asked for the gunner, who proved to be a real Paddy, and I gave him fits for aiming at me, which the fellow did not deny; but we gave them a fair return and the account was squared. . . .

SOURCES: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Home Letters of General Sherman, p. 239.  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.

General Robert E. Lee to Mary Custis Lee, September 1, 1861

VALLEY MOUNTAIN, September 1, 1861.

We have had a great deal of sickness among the soldiers, and those now on the sick list would form an army. The measles is still among them, but I hope is dying out. The constant cold rains, mud, etc., with no shelter or tents, have aggravated it. All these drawbacks, with impassable roads, have paralyzed our efforts.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 146

Off For The Army

Messrs. A. H. Clark, ____ Druacher,, J. H. Tracy, E. Stone, and B. P. Kelley of Capt. Littler’s company, left yesterday, on the Hawkeye State, to rejoin their regiment.  The first three were wounded at Fort Donelson, but have recovered from their wounds sufficiently to go into service.  Mr. Clark was accompanied by his young bride, who goes with her husband as far as St. Louis.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Brigadier General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, November 17, 1861

CAMP PIERPONT, VA., November 17, 1861.

I went into town yesterday to attend to my Lake Survey accounts at the Treasury, which I believe are now all explained satisfactorily, so that should anything happen to me, you will remember that my public accounts are all settled, and that my vouchers, etc., are in a tin box in Major Woodruff's office, Topographical Bureau.

People who think the war is about to close, because we have achieved one signal success, are very short-sighted. I agree with you in thinking it has only just begun. Think of Percy Drayton¹ firing into a fort commanded by his own brother!² Is not this enough to make one heartsick? We hear the news of the capture of Messrs. Mason and Slidell.³ I hope their being taken out of a British mail packet will not bring us into trouble with John Bull. If it is true that he is disposed to quarrel with us, this gives him a very pretty chance to begin.

November 17—9 P. M.

The foregoing part of my letter was written this A. M. General Brooks dined with us, we having a nice green goose for dinner. General McCall paid me a visit during the afternoon, but had no news to communicate. Every one is speculating, but no one knows what is going to be done; all we can do is to wait patiently.

I am very much pleased with Hamilton Kuhn. He is a gentleman and intelligent, and it is quite refreshing to have him for an associate.

__________

¹ Percival Drayton commanded the Pocahontas in the Port Royal, S. C., expedition November 7, 1861.

² Thomas F. Drayton, brigadier-general C. S. A. Led the Confederate troops in the Port Royal expedition.

³ Commissioners from the Confederate States Government sent to Great Britain and France, and captured by the United States Government on the British steamer Trent, November 8, 1862.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 228

The Fourth Minnesota

This regiment, whose martial appearance attracted so much attention in our city, a few weeks ago, met with a very serious accident, the telegraph informs us, while going up the Tennessee river.  They were on the steamer Gladiator, when the upper deck gave way, and five or six were killed, and a number of others injured.  Their names have not transpired.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Monday, December 22, 1862

The rebels before leaving town burned several houses, altogether some two or three squares, besides burning about one million of our rations, and we are again short of food. On that account the boys are not in the best of humor, and every man has practically a free hand to take anything that he can use or that he may want; and there are no officers out looking for corporals to reduce to the ranks as was done on our way south. Any citizen who in any way had aided the Union army found his property set on fire by the rebels under the pretext that it had caught fire from our burning supplies. We received word that we are to stay here until further orders.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 88-9

Lt. Col. 2d Regiment

The Washington Press learns that Capt. Cowles, of Co. H, 2nd Regiment, from Washington county, has been elected Lieutenant-Colonel of that regiment.  Capts. Huston and Littler, of Companies A and B, are the only Captains now left who held that position in the 2d regiment when it was first organized.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Major General William T. Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, January 28, 1863

CAMP NEAR VICKSBURG, January 28, 1863.

... The politician thinks results can be had by breath, but how painfully it begins to come home to the American people that the war which all have striven so hard to bring on and so few to avert is to cost us so many thousands of lives. Indeed do I wish I had been killed long since. Better that than struggle with the curses and maledictions of every woman that has a son or brother to die in any army with which I chance to be associated. Of course Sherman is responsible. Seeing so clearly into the future I do think I ought to get away. The President's placing McClernand here and the dead set to ruin me for McClernand's personal glory would afford me a good chance to slide out and escape the storm and trouble yet in reserve for us. Here we are at Vicksburg on the wrong side of the river trying to turn the Mississippi by a ditch, a pure waste of human labor. Grant has come and Prime¹ is here and they can figure it out, but the canal won't do. We must carry out the plan fixed up at Oxford. A large army must march down from Oxford to Grenada and so on to the rear of Vicksburg, and another army must be here to cooperate with the gun-boats at the right time. Had Grant been within sixty miles of Vicksburg, or Banks near, I could have broken the line of Chickasaw Bayou, but it was never dreamed by me that I could take the place alone. McClernand or Grant will not undertake it. Not a word of Banks. I doubt if he has left or can leave or has any order to leave New Orleans. Therefore here we are to sit in the mud till spring and summer and maybe another year. Soldiers will soon clamor for motion, life, anything rather than canal digging. The newspapers are after me again; I published an order they must not come along on pain of being treated as spies. I am now determined to test the question. Do they rule or the commanding general? If they rule I quit. I have ordered the arrest of one, shall try him, and if possible execute him as a spy. They publish all the data for our enemy and it was only by absolute secrecy that we could get to the Post of Arkansas without their getting ahead. They did reveal our attempt to attack Haines's Bluff. I will never again command an army in America if we must carry along paid spies. I will banish myself to some foreign country first. I shall notify Mr. Lincoln of this if he attempt to interfere with the sentence of any court ordered by me. If he wants an army he must conform to the well established rules of military nations and not attempt to keep up the open rules of peace. The South at the start did these things, and the result has been, they move their forces from Virginia to Mississippi and back without a breath spoken or written. . . .

__________

¹ Captain Prime of the Engineer Corps.

SOURCES: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Home Letters of General Sherman, p. 237-9.  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 1/150.

The Muscatine Journal . . .

. . . in noticing the death of Rev. J. S. Whittlesey, Chaplain of the 11th Iowa Regiment, says that a son of his died quite recently from a wound received at the battle of Shiloh.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Major General Robert E. Lee to Mary Custis Lee, August 9, 1861

Valley Mountain, August 9, 1861.

I have been three days coming from Monterey to Huntersville. The mountains are beautiful, fertile to the tops, covered with the richest sward and blue grass and white clover. The enclosed fields wave with a natural growth of timothy. This is a magnificent grazing country, and all it wants is labor to clear the mountainsides of timber. It has rained, I believe, some portion of every day since I left Staunton. Now it is pouring. Colonel Washington, Captain Taliaferro and myself are in one tent, which as yet protects us. I have enjoyed the company of our son ["Rooney"] while I have been here. He is very well and very active, and as yet the war has not reduced him much. He dined with me yesterday and preserves his fine appetite. Today he is out reconnoitering, and has the full benefit of this fine rain. I fear he is without his overcoat, as I do not recollect seeing it on his saddle. I told you he had been promoted to a major in the cavalry, and he is the commanding cavalry officer on this line at present. He is sanguine, cheerful, and hearty as ever. I sent him some cornmeal this morning, and he sent me some butter — a mutual exchange of good things. The men are suffering from measles and so on, as elsewhere, but are cheerful and light-hearted. Send word to Miss Lou Washington that her father is sitting on his blanket sewing a strap on his haversack. I think she ought to be here to do it.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 145-6

Wounded

Capt. Egbert, of the 2d Cavalry, arrived in town last evening, and is stopping at the Pennsylvania House.  He was wounded in the leg, last Saturday in the skirmish between Pope’s forces and those of Price.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

In The Review Queue: Greyhound Commander

Greyhound Commander:

Confederate General John G. Walker's

History of the Civil War West of the Mississippi

Edited By Richard Lowe

While a political refugee in London, former Confederate general John G. Walker wrote a history of the Civil War west of the Mississippi River. Walker’s account, composed shortly after the war and unpublished until now, remains one of only two memoirs by high-ranking Confederate officials who fought in the Trans-Mississippi theater. Edited and expertly annotated by Richard Lowe — author of the definitive history of Walker’s Texas division — the general’s insightful narrative describes firsthand his experience and many other military events west of the great river. Before assuming command of a division of Texas infantry in early 1863, Walker earned the approval of Robert E. Lee for his leadership at the Battle of Antietam. Indeed, Lee later expressed regret at the transfer of Walker from the Army of Northern Virginia to the Trans-Mississippi Department. As the leader of the Texas Division (known later as the Greyhound Division for its long, rapid marches across Louisiana and Arkansas), Walker led an attempt to relieve the great Confederate fortress at Vicksburg during the siege by the Federal army in the spring and summer of 1863. Ordered to attack Ulysses Grant’s forces on the west bank of the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Walker unleashed a furious assault on black and white Union troops stationed at Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana. The encounter was only the second time in American history that organized regiments of African American troops fought in a pitched battle. After the engagement, Walker realized the great potential of black regiments for the Union cause.

Walker’s Texans later fought at the battle of Bayou Bourbeau in south Louisiana, where they helped to turn back a Federal attempt to attack Texas via an overland route from New Orleans. In the winter of 1863–1864, Walker’s infantry and artillery disrupted Union shipping on the Mississippi River. According to Lowe, the Greyhound Division’s crucial role in throwing back the Union’s 1864 Red River Campaign remains its greatest accomplishment. Walker led his men on a marathon operation in which they marched about nine hundred miles and fought three large battles in ten weeks, a feat unmatched by any other division — Union or Confederate — in the war. Expertly edited by Richard Lowe, General Walker’s history stands as a testament to his skilled leadership and provides an engaging primary source document for scholars, students, and others interested in Civil War history.

ISBN 978-0807152508, Louisiana State Univ Press, © 2013, Hardcover, 135 Pages, Maps, Footnotes, Bibliography & Index. $3600.  To Purchase the book click HERE.

Major General George G. Meade to John Sergeant Meade, November 14, 1861

CAMP PIERPONT, VA., November 14, 1861.

I am very badly off for horses. The horse³ I first got has been an excellent horse in his day, but General Hunter broke him down at Bull Run.⁴ The other one has rheumatism in his legs, and has become pretty much unserviceable. This has always been my luck with horses; I am never fortunate with them. I should like much to have a really fine horse, but it costs so much I must try to get along with my old hacks.

I am very well satisfied with all my staff, and believe I have as nice a set of gentlemen as any brigadier in the field. Both Kuhn and Watmough are particularly clever fellows, and Captain Baird is a very nice fellow, too. We all get along most harmoniously and only want a little more to do. You have of course rejoiced over the glorious achievement of our navy at Port Royal.

__________

³ “Baldy,” remained with General Meade in the field until the spring of 1864. He was wounded twice at the first battle of Bull Run under General Hunter, and under General Meade he was wounded in the flank at the second battle of Bull Run, shot through the neck at Antietam, wounded at Fredericksburg, and again at Gettysburg, the ball remaining in his body. In the spring of 1864, General Meade, fearing that he might become an embarrassment in the campaign which was about to commence, sent him to Philadelphia, where he outlived his master.

⁴ First battle of Bull Run, Va., July 21, 1861.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 227

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, December 21, 1862

We left Abbeville this morning and marched through to Holly Springs, twenty-two miles. It was warm and dusty traveling. We arrived at dark, going into bivouac in the north edge of town, and I tell you the boys made the boards fly, for as the teams had not yet arrived with our tents, we pulled down vacant houses to build bunks and windbreaks to protect us from the cold wind.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 88

Providence, R. I., May 14 [1862].

Jabez C. Knight was re-elected Mayor without opposition.  The other Republican officers on the ticket with him were also chosen.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Major General William T. Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, January 12, 1863

POST OF ARKANSAS, January 12, 1863.

We carried the Post of Arkansas yesterday and captured all its stores and garrison, and Brigadier-General Churchill, and three brigades of soldiers, I cannot tell yet how many. They now stand clustering on the bank, and will today be put on board of boats and sent to Cairo. This relieves our Vicksburg trip of all appearances of a reverse, as by this move we open the Arkansas and compel all organized masses of the enemy to pass below the Arkansas River, and it will also secure this flank when we renew our attack on Vicksburg. . . .

SOURCES: M. A. DeWolfe Howe, Editor, Home Letters of General Sherman, p. 237.  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 1/150.

Southern News

Special to the Chicago Tribune.

CAIRO, May 14.

Memphis papers of the 9th, 10th and 11th, are just received, by special express.  They state, on the authority of a dispatch from Natchez, that the Federal fleet had returned down the river to New Orleans.

The Appeal, commenting upon the growing disposition of the part of citizens of Memphis to refuse Confederate notes, characterizes the parties as traitors, and threatens to publish their names in its columns.

The same journal says that the only condition upon which the South will accept peace is the recognition of the independence, not only of the cotton States, but of every border State whose people desire an alliance with the Confederacy.

The Appeal contains an account of the surprise and capture of the Federal cavalry by Col. Claiborne, with 15, 000 cavalry, near Dresden – substantially as I have before telegraphed.  The prisoners were taken to Jackson, Tenn.

The following telegraphic dispatch is published:

CORINTH, May 8.

The anniversary of Palo Alto opened with skirmishing between Gen. Pope’s forces and Gen. Price’s troops on the Farmington & Rienza roads.  At 2 o’clock the firing of the artillery was brisk.  Cox’s Alabama cavalry had several wounded.  There was heavy infantry firing late in the evening in which the enemy were driven back with great loss.  Surgeon W. R. Florall, of the 27th Ohio, and Maj. Applington, of the 42d Illinois were killed.  A flag of truce was sent by the enemy yesterday, asking for an exchange of Lt. Col. Adams, of Mo., and was refused.  The telegraph office at Farmington communicating directly with Washington City, was captured.

The Avalanche, of the 10th says that it has learned from reliable sources that the actual Federal loss at Shiloh exceeded forty thousand.

The Provost Marshal of Memphis has ordered the arrest of all persons refusing to accept Confederate money in payment of debts, or for goods purchased.  “Noting in the least degree calculated to discredit the operation of the Government will be tolerated.”

The Appeal of the 11th, says, “We have certain intelligence that Gen. Halleck has lost over 5,000 of his army by desertion.  The country between the Tennessee river and Kentucky is full of them.  The whole of the 40th Ohio deserted and disbanded after the battle of the 7th, and number of Kentuckians and Missourians have followed their example.  In consequence of disaffection produced by the late anti-slavery movements in Congress; one entire Kentucky regiment had unceremoniously quit Halleck’s army and gone home.

Five hundred Federal cavalry and 1,000 infantry have occupied Paris in consequence of the attack made by our cavalry on the Federal Camp at Dresden, a few days ago.

A report is brought from Little rock that Gen. Curtis’ division of the Federal army have commenced to march upon the capital of Arkansas.  Gen. Steel is marching upon the same point from Pocahontas.

The Appeal of the 11th, has the following special dispatches:

DES ARC, Ark., May 10.

The enemy are reported to be at Augusta, Jackson Co.  They took possession of all the cotton in the neighborhood.  They are reported to be in considerable force at Jacksonport and Batesville.  Their destination is unknown.

Some of the Federals, in disguise, entered this place to-day, and after reconnoitering, returned, pursued by the citizens.

Seventeen hundred bales of cotton were offered upon the shrine of liberty to-day by the citizens of this place.

The enemy are supposed to be under the command of Curtis.  His forces are reported to be between 8,000 and 10,000.

CORINTH, May 10.

Since the terrible thrashing administered to Pope’s command on yesterday, by Price and Van Dorn, we have had no further demonstrations.  Matters are accordingly quiet this morning.

The Appeal of the same date, also contains the following characteristic message from Thompson, relative to the great naval fight of Saturday:

FT. PILLOW RIVER DEFENCE FLEET,

GUNBOAT LITTLE REBEL, May 10.

Editors Appeal:  We Missourians concluded to celebrate to-day, the anniversary of the Camp Jackson massacre.  We have shown the enemy that we will still own the Mississippi river, and can run the blockade whenever we choose.  We gave them a few bullets this morning to show them our power, and after a handsome little skirmish of 30 minutes, we backed down the river with 2 men killed, and 8 slightly wounded.  The officers are all safe, with more confidence than ever, and our boats are uninjured.  The Van Dorn, Capt. Folkerson, has covered our fleet with glory; and all, from Com. Montgomery down to the powder boys, behaved like soldiers and gentlemen, and as good men as ever feathered an or round a quarter deck, or butted a Yankee.

Signed,

JEFF. THOMPSON.

The Appeal published this message without editorial comment.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, May 16, 1862, p. 1

Major General Robert E. Lee to Mary Custis Lee, August 4, 1861

Huntersville, August 4, 1861

I reached here yesterday to visit this portion of the army. The points from which we can be attacked are numerous, and the enemy's means unlimited, so we must always be on the alert; it is so difficult to get our people, unaccustomed to the necessities of war, to comprehend and promptly execute the measures required for the occasion. General Jackson, of Georgia, commands on the Monterey line, General Loring on this line, and General Wise, supported by General Floyd, on the Kanawha line. The soldiers everywhere are sick. The measles are prevalent throughout the whole army. You know that disease leaves unpleasant results and attacks the lungs, etc., especially in camp, where the accommodations for the sick are poor. I traveled from Staunton on horseback. A part of the road I traveled over in the summer of 1840 on my return to St. Louis after bringing you home. If any one had told me that the next time I traveled that road would have been my present errand, I should have supposed him insane. I enjoyed the mountains as I rode along. The views were magnificent. The valleys so peaceful, the scenery so beautiful! What a glorious world Almighty God has given us! How thankless and ungrateful we are!

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 145