May
7
A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary, May 7, 1861
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by John Beauchamp Jones
MAY 6th. —To-day a Yankee was caught in the street questioning some negroes as to which side they would fight on, slavery or freedom. He was merely rebuked and ordered out of the country. Another instance of Southern magnanimity! It will only embolden the insidious enemy.
MAY 7th. —Col. R. E. Lee, lately of the United States army, has been appointed major-general, and commander-in-chief of the army in Virginia. He is the son of “Light Horse Harry” of the Revolution. The North can boast no such historic names as we in its army.
Gov. Wise is sick at home, in Princess Ann County, but has sent me a strong letter to President Davis. I fear the governor will not survive many months.
May
5
A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary, May 5, 1861
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by John Beauchamp Jones
MAY 5th. —President Tyler has placed in my hands a memorial to President Davis, signed by himself and many of the members of the Convention, asking appropriate civil employment for me in the new government. I shall be content to obtain the necessary position to make a full and authentic Diary of the transactions of the government. I could not hope for any commission as a civil officer, since the leaders who have secured possession of the government know very well that, as editor, I never advocated the pretensions of any of them for the Presidency of the United States. Some of them I fear are unfit for the positions they occupy. But the cause in which we are embarked will require, to be successful, the efforts of every man. Those capable of performing military duty, must perform it; and those physically incapable of wielding the bayonet and the sword, must wield the pen. It is no time to stand on ceremony or antecedents. The post of duty is the post of honor. In the mighty winnowing we must go through, the wheat will be separated from the chaff. And many a true man who this day stands forth as a private, will end as a general. And the efficient subordinate in the departments may be likewise exalted if he deserves it, provided the people have rule in the new confederacy. If we are to have a monarchy for the sake of economy and stability, I shall submit to it in preference to the domination of the Northern radicals.
May
5
May 5, 1861, Diary of a Yankee in the Patent Office
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by Horatio Nelson Taft
SUNDAY 5
Went to ch this morning with whole family, some soldiers in the congregation in uniform. Cool day, wore my cloak. Chas was up to dine with us. Doct Eddy called in the afternoon with Mr Cramer. He is on a visit to the City, staid an hour or two. Went down to Willards, saw A B Williams, Mr Pomeroy, the new M.C. from our district, and other gentlemen at his room. On my return home, got challenged by the Sentinel at Franklin Square. I did not understand that he was talking to me as it was dark, until he cried Stand, and cocked his Musket. I was very near the point of his Bayonet then, but backed down and went another way home.
May
4
May 4, 1861, Diary of a Yankee in the Patent Office
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by Horatio Nelson Taft
SATURDAY, MAY 4, 1861.
Rain all the first part of the day. Soldiers still drilling in the Halls. Our ears are constantly saluted with the word of command and and [sic] the clangor of arms on the marble floors. Went on to the Ave after dinner with wife and Juliet. Soldiers and citizens crowded that prominade about equaly divided in numbers. In the streets Regiments were paraded. We saw 2200 march into the Treasury. At the Pat office the RI Regt were paraded and reviewed by Gov Sprague. On Louisiana Ave another Regt were paraded. Went down to Willards in the evening. Not much of a crowd. Mostly soldiers.
May
4
A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary, May 4, 1861
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by John Beauchamp Jones
MAY 4th. —Met Win. H. B. Custis, Esq., to-day in the square, and had a long conversation with him. He has made up his mind to sign the ordinance. He thinks secession might have been averted with honor, if our politicians at Washington had not been ambitious to figure as leaders in a new revolution. Custis was always a Democrat, and supported Douglas on the ground that he was the regular nominee. He said his negro property a month before was worth, perhaps, fifty thousand dollars; now his slaves would not bring probably more than five thousand; and that would be the fate of many slaveowners in Virginia.
May
3
May 3, 1861, Diary of a Yankee in the Patent Office
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by Horatio Nelson Taft
FRIDAY 3
Rainy day, cold and chilly. In the Pat office the troops have been drilling in all the Halls. The RI Marine Battery, 6 [Janus?] rifled cannon, 150 men, 90 Horses, &c have arrived. They marched through PA Ave to the Prests with their guns and attracted much attention. There is not much doing in the office at present. I have plenty of time to read and write letters. But there is so much excitement that it is almost impossible to fix ones mind upon any one subject long at a time.
May
3
A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary, May 3, 1861
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by John Beauchamp Jones
MAY 3d. —No letters from my wife. Probably she has taken the children to the Eastern Shore. Her farm is there, and she has many friends in the county. On that narrow peninsula it is hardly to be supposed the Yankees will send any troops. With the broad Atlantic on one side and the Chesapeake Bay on the other, it is to be presumed there will be no military demonstration by the inhabitants, for they could neither escape nor receive reinforcements from the mainland. In the war of the first Revolution, and the subsequent one with Great Britain, this peninsula escaped the ravages of the enemy, although the people were as loyal to the government of the United States as any; but the Yankees are more enterprising than the British, and may have an eye to “truck farms” in that fruitful region.
May
2
May 2, 1861, Diary of a Yankee in the Patent Office
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by Horatio Nelson Taft
THURSDAY 2
Cold today, fire comfortable. M. down to 40. A fine flag was raised on the Pat office today at noon. The RI Regt paraded with Gov Sprague at the head on 7th St. The 7 NY Regt went into camp up 14th St. near Collumbia College. Regiments are now drilling and parading in the streets every day. I was at Willards tonight when the NY Zuaves Col Ellsworth Regt marched up the “Ave” to the War department, eleven hundred strong, and every man with a Sharps Rifle on his shoulder. Signed a petition for Mr Wood of NY to be Comr of public Buildings. Conversed an hour with Prof Heidrick. Went “Maying” with wife & Julia after dinner.
May
2
A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary, May 2, 1861
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by John Beauchamp Jones
MAY 2d. —There are vague rumors of lawless outrages committed on Southern men in Philadelphia and New York; but they are not well authenticated, and I do not believe them. The Yankees are not yet ready for retaliation. They know that game wouldn’t pay. No — they desire time to get their money out of the South; and they would be perfectly willing that trade should go on, even during the war, for they would be the greatest gainers by the information derived from spies and emissaries. I see, too, their papers have extravagant accounts of imprisonments and summary executions here. Not a man has yet been molested. It is true, we have taken Norfolk, without a battle; but the enemy did all the burning and sinking.
May
1
May 1, 1861, Diary of a Yankee in the Patent Office
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by Horatio Nelson Taft
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 1861.
A cold windy day with some rain, as unpleasant a “May day” as could well be. Have been in the office all day as usual surrounded by a crowd of soldiers when out of my room. Have a new 2nd Assistant, have today been “breaking him in.” His name is C H Upton of V.A. The 12th NY Regt are now building barracks on Franklin Square near house where they are to be stationed. The troops keep coming and will continue to come I suppose until we have forty or fifty thousand here. There was a mail from the North this morning, the first in 12 days. Did not go from Home after dinner, to bed early.
May
1
A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary, May 1, 1861
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by John Beauchamp Jones
MAY 1st.─Troops are coming in from all directions, cavalry and infantry; but I learn that none scarcely are accepted by the State. This is great political economy, with a vengeance! How is Gov. Letcher to be ready to fight in a few days? Oh, perhaps he thinks the army will spontaneously spring into existence, march without transportation, and fight without rations or pay! But the Convention has passed an act authorizing the enlistment of a regular army of 12,000 men. If I am not mistaken, Virginia will have to put in the field ten times that number, and the confederacy will have to maintain 500,000 in Virginia, or lose the border States. And if the border States be subjugated, Mr. Seward probably would grant a respite to the rest for a season.
But by the terms of the (Tyler and Stephens) treaty, the Confederate States will reimburse Virginia for all her expenses; and therefore I see no good reason why this State, of all others, being the most exposed, should not muster into service every well-armed company that presents itself. There are arms enough for 25;000 men now, and that number, if it be too late to take Washington, might at all events hold this side of the Potomac, and keep the Yankees off the soil of Virginia.
May
1
The Situation of Affairs.
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May 1, 1861; The New York Herald
A crisis is approaching in the military movements progressing at the seat of war. Troops have not been concentrating there for so many days without a definite object, and it is manifest now what the purpose of government is. Baltimore is to be completely filled with troops, and Maryland is to be compelled to act like a State still in the Union. All the information which reached us up to a late hour last night plainly indicated that this is the policy of the government of Washington. Let us state the points of the latest news in brief. The greatest activity prevails in Southern Pennsylvania, seventeen thousand troops being in the field there at the present time. At Camp Scott, York, Pa., there are 6,000 men; at Camp Siffler, near Chambersburg, 2,600; at Camp Curtin, near Harrisburg, 4,000; two regiments from Ohio are quartered near Lancaster, and 1,200 United States regulars at Carlisle. Scattered at different points between Philadelphia, Elkton and Perrysville there are 6,000 more. Read more
May
1
Confederate Loan
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May 1, 1861; Memphis Daily Appeal (Tennessee)
The Montgomery papers announce the fact that two negroes there had subscribed liberally to the Confederate loan—$200 each. The Gainesville niggers are not behind. Mr. T. D. Bell’s Henry (Henry says he was raised by Mr. Davenport, of Northumberland County, Va.) and Mr. R. G. McMahon’s “Jim Cotton” have gone into the support of the government, each taking a $50 bond, and paying the money down. They were greeted with hearty cheers by the assembled crowd.
At Warsaw, two negroes, one belonging to Mr. Little and the other to Mr. Gill, gave each $2.50 to the volunteer fund. Mr. Little’s man was “in luck.” Three or four gentlemen standing by were so pleased with his act that they made up for him $10 to take the place of his $2.50.
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