Clear and pleasant
weather, but dusty.
The Departmental
Battalion marched away, last night, from the Chickahominy (guarding a ford when
no enemy was on the other side!) for Chaffin's Farm, on the James River. They
were halted after marching an hour or so, and permitted to rest (sleep) while
the rest of the brigade passed on.
When Custis awoke he
was alone, the battalion having left him; and he was ill, and knew not the
road. So he set out for the city, with the intention of going down the river
road this morning. But he grew worse after reaching home. Still, he resolved to
go; and at 8 A.M., having marched all night nearly, he set out again, and met
his sergeant—who had likewise diverged as far as the city—who said if he was
really too ill to march, he would deliver the captain a surgeon's certificate
to that effect, which would be a sufficient explanation of his absence. So,
Surgeon C. Bell Gibson, upon an examination, pronounced him sick,
and certified to the captain that he could not be fit for service for a week or
ten days. At 3 P.M. he is in bed with a raging fever.
There was a fight at
Malvern Hill yesterday, the enemy being repulsed.
There was also
another assault on Petersburg, repulsed three times; but the fourth time our
forces, two regiments, were forced back by overwhelming
numbers from the outer line of defenses..
To-day it is
reported that they are fighting again at Petersburg, and great masses of troops
are in motion. The war will be determined, perhaps, by the operations of a day
or two; and much anxiety is felt by all.
A letter from Hon.
G. A. Henry, on the Danville Railroad, saying only 1000 men were there to
defend it, with but two cannon without appropiate ammunition!
Soon after a
dispatch came from Col. Withers, at Danville, stating it was reported 10,000 of
the enemy were approaching the road, and only thirty-two miles distant. He
called for reinforcements, but stated his belief that the number of the enemy
was exaggerated.
I delivered these to
the Secretary myself, finding him engaged writing a long letter to Gen. Kirby
Smith, beyond the Mississippi!
In this moment
of doubt and apprehension, I saw Mr. Randolph,
formerly Secretary of War, and Mr. G. A. Myers, his law colleague, at the
telegraph office eagerly in quest of news.
To-day the President
decided that Marylanders here are “residents," or "alien
enemies;" if the former, they must fight-if the latter, be expelled. A
righteous judgment.
Last night, as
Custis staggered (with debility) upon the pickets at the fortifications of the
city, not having a passport, he was refused permission to proceed. He then lay
down to rest, when one of the pickets remarked to him that he was not
"smart, or he would flank them.” Custis sprang up and thanked him for
the hint, and proceeded to put it in practice.
The Examiner to-day
says that Col. Dahlgren, a month before his death, was in Richmond, under an
assumed name, with a passport signed by Gen. Winder, to go whithersoever he
would. think this probable.
At 3 P. M. the wires
cease to work between here and Petersburg, and there are many rumors.
But from the
direction of the wind, we cannot hear any firing.
SOURCE: John
Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate
States Capital, Volume 2, p. 232-3
