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by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 30TH.—Troops from the South are coming in and marching down the Peninsula.

edited by G.W. Cable

April 30.—The last two weeks have glided quietly away without incident except the arrival of new neighbors—Dr. Y., his wife, two children, and servants. That a professional man prospering in Vicksburg should come now to settle in this retired place looks queer. Max said:

“H., that man has come here to hide from the conscript officers. He has brought no end of provisions, and is here for the war. He has chosen well, for this county is so cleaned of men it won’t pay to send the conscript officers here.”

Our stores are diminishing and cannot be replenished from without; ingenuity and labor must evoke them. We have a fine garden in growth, plenty of chickens, and hives of bees to furnish honey in lieu of sugar. A good deal of salt meat has been stored in the smoke-house, and, with fish in the lake, we expect to keep the wolf from the door. The season for game is about over, but an occasional squirrel or duck comes to the larder, though the question of ammunition has to be considered. What we have may be all we can have, if the war last five years longer; and they say they are prepared to hold out till the crack of doom. Food, however, is not the only want. I never realized before the varied needs of civilization. Every day something is “out.” Last week but two bars of soap remained, so we began to save bones and ashes. Annie said: “Now, if we only had some china-berry trees here we shouldn’t need any other grease. They are making splendid soap at Vicksburg with china-balls. They just put the berries into the lye and it eats them right up and makes a fine soap.” I did long for some china-berries to make this experiment. H. had laid in what seemed a good supply of kerosene, but it is nearly gone, and we are down to two candles kept for an emergency. Annie brought a receipt from Natchez for making candles of rosin and wax, and with great forethought brought also the wick and rosin. So yesterday we tried making candles. “We had no molds, but Annie said the latest style in Natchez was to make a waxen rope by dipping, then wrap it round a corn-cob. But H. cut smooth blocks of wood about four inches square, into which he set a polished cylinder about four inches high. The waxen ropes were coiled round the cylinder like a serpent, with the head raised about two inches; as the light burned down to the cylinder, more of the rope was unwound. To-day the vinegar was found to be all gone and we have started to make some. For tyros we succeed pretty well.”

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 30TH.—Troops from the South are coming in and marching down the Peninsula.

April 30, 1862, The New York Herald

The necessity for the establishment of a direct line of railroad communication between the city of New York and the seat of our central government is now so clearly apparent to the public as to be beyond all question. No great commercial and military nation can be content to depend on private enterprise and party corporations alone for the means of maintaining safe and regular communication with the great centre of its governmental system. An open and untrammelled way of ingress and egress - as far as possible free from obstructions, dangers and delay - is an absolute necessity for the welfare of the government, in war or in peace. In times of peace we require a route by which the public mails may be faithfully and economically carried; and when, as now, war stalks through the land, the most rapid ways of communication with the capital are necessary for the conveyance of troops, stores, and the other paraphernalia of war. The present rebellion has developed the most urgent reasons for the immediate construction of this through line. By the insane act of the southern rebels in firing on the national flag, and the consequent necessity of the enrollment of citizen soldiers for its defence, our quiet capital was suddenly transformed into a frontier city, beleaguered and threatened by large bodies of armed men, and only saved from capture and pillage by the unshakable patriotism of the people. A network of railways that could have carried reinforcements to Washington from every point where loyal men were ready to advance would have been of incalculable advantage to the nation. But being almost altogether isolated from its various sources of strength, and especially from this great emporium of wealth and power - the Empire city - it has been subject to the perils of being bombarded, if not captured. At this moment there are a large army and formidable fortifications for the defense of the capital; but should an extraordinary emergency arise, and large bodies of soldiers be required there, we can only depend on a single stem of railroad, generally irregular and unreliable, but doubly so when the occasion calls for promptness and despatch.
The bill now before Congress for the breaking up of an intolerable monopoly by the completion of a direct line from New York to Washington, is worthy of serious consideration, and we trust it will pass into a law without any difficulty. We stand in need of this new road for the purposes of public convenience as well as for the security and protection of the capital. No large European seat of government is so cut off from its tributary cities as Washington is from New York and other important points. The city of London has no less than ten railroads extending outward as a means of support. Paris has seven, and probably will soon have more. The Austrian capital, with all the financial encumbrances of the empire has four; and Berlin, the capital of Prussia, has five. Spain is also concentrating her different railway lines so as to make them converge at Madrid; but the United States, with an area of country larger than all the others put together, have hither to been satisfied to depend on one single line, and this burdened by reason of its monopoly, with so much private traffic that the wants of the government can never properly be attended to.
The propositions of the Metropolitan Railroad Company, for the completion of the new road, appear to us to be very just. They seek to overthrow a monopoly which is as grievous and pressing on the public as it is expensive and exhausting to the government. The construction of this road will open up five new lines to New York, with the additional advantage of having through trains, without changes, from one end of the route to the other.
In an economical point of view, therefore, as well as in consideration of the great advantages to be conferred on the people by the establishment of this direct railroad to Washington, we hope that the question will be fully and fairly considered, and that three or four months hence we shall have the satisfaction of knowing that our national capital is within early reach of one hundred thousand men who would pour in from every quarter if the occasion required, and the means of swift transportation be provided to carry them forward. Then can the capital be said to be safe; but never while entire dependence, public and private is placed on a solitary and overburdened road.

April 30, 1862, The New York Herald

WASHINGTON, April 29, 1862.
FINANCIAL AFFAIRS.
Deposits on temporary loan accounts have been received from the New York Clearing House banks at five per centum, because the certificates of deposit are used by these banks in the transactions of the Clearing House, and the deposits are, therefore, of more permanent character than those of other banks and individuals, who are allowed four per centum. This discrimination, however, will be continued only during the present week, when the rate for all depositors will be made uniform at four per centum, in as much as it seems certain that even at that rate the limit of the $50,000,000 fixed by law will very soon be reached.
The Secretary of the Treasury is now prepared to pay all indebtedness of dates prior to the 1st of February in cash; of of the month of February 40 per centum in cash, and of subsequent date 30 per centum in cash.
IMPORTANCE OF ST. HELENA SOUND, ETC.
Professor Bache, of the Coast Survey, reports that next to Port Royal, St. Helena Sound is the best harbor on the Southern coast. Two channels, of seventeen feet each at mean low water, enter it, and from the Sound the country may be penetrated by gunboats nearly to the railroad. The width of the Sound renders all its shores healthy, as all are freely reached by the sea breeze, and Otter Island especially is finely situated for a settlement and commercial town. If ever other interests than planting ones rule in this region, he looks to see its commercial advantage made use of, and the lumber from the heads of the Ashepoo and Combahee find a market nearer these great rivers than either Charleston or Savannah.
THE CONTRACTS FOR ARMS.
The Commission on Ordnance and Ordnance Supplies have, it is said, rejected all the foreign contracts, and considerably curtailed these for the manufacture of arms in the United States.
The Ordnance Office has issued proposals for manufacturing, within one year, Springfield rifled muskets and Harper’s Ferry rifles, together with carbines, revolvers, sabres, swords and scabbards. The department reserves to itself the right to reject any bid, and will consider none made through any agent, broker or party other than the regular manufacturers.
NEWLY INVENTED ARMOR AND PROJECTILES.
All the inventive talent of the nation seems to have been suddenly directed to the construction of irresistible projectiles, impenetrable armor for vessels, or infallible machines for blowing up all sorts of vessels. The propositions to the Navy Department for the adoption of various inventions may be measured by the bushel, and the models presented would freight the Great Eastern. Some of these propositions are frivolous, but many of them are meritorious, and render decision as to superiority difficult. As fast as projectiles are presented which will penetrate any armor hitherto used, some new armor is brought forward, capable of resisting even the new projectiles. The inventions are not all entirely new but have hitherto remained unnoticed. Among them is the application of corrugated iron to the construction of gunboats, alluded to in the HERALD a few days ago. It was patented about two years ago by Mr. Sely, who was for several years a carpenter in the navy. It is claimed that it will insure greater strength and power of resistance, combined with lightness, than any other armor. The passage of the bill making an appropriation for experiments to test the value of these inventions is much needed.
THE OHIO TROOPS AT THE BATTLE OF SHILOH.
The charges made against the Seventy-seventh and Fifty-third Ohio regiments, in connection with the battle of Shiloh, are said by representatives from Ohio to be entirely unjust and unmerited. These regiments are both from the Sixteenth Congressional district of Ohio, represented by Hon. Wm. P. Cutler, who has communicated to the War Department reliable information, exonerating the regiments from the charges preferred […..] running from the field of battle. It has shown […..] Seventy-seventh on Sunday sustained for four hours the attack of four times their numbers, and that the Fifty-third was similarly situated when compelled to fall back. They contested the ground firmly, rallying for several times to meet the attack of the advancing rebels. Both these regiments were engaged in the battle of Monday and behaved bravely. The imputation against them, of want of courage is pronounced a gross misapprehension of a deliberate perversion of the fact, to screen from censure those who were really to blame for allowing that portion of our army to be surprised by the enemy on Sunday morning.
EDUCATION OF COLORED CHILDREN.
Mr. Grimes introduced in the Senate today a bill providing that the school tax collected from colored persons in the District of Columbia shall be expended for the support of the colored schools. The colored people here are to be required to maintain their own schools.

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 28TH.—We have rumors of an important cabinet meeting, wherein it was resolved to advise or command Gen. Johnston to evacuate Yorktown and retire toward Richmond! Also that Norfolk is to be given up! I don’t believe it; Lee’s name is not mentioned.

edited by G.W. Cable

April 28, 1862.—This evening has been very lovely, but full of a sad disappointment. H. invited me to drive. As we turned homeward he said:

“Well, my arrangements are completed. You can begin to pack your trunks to-morrow, and I shall have a talk with Max.”

Mr. R. and Annie were sitting on the gallery as I ran up the steps.

“Heard the news?” they cried.

“No! What news?”

“New Orleans is taken! All the boats have been run up the river to save them. No more mails.”

How little they knew what plans of ours this dashed away. But our disappointment is truly an infinitesimal drop in the great waves of triumph and despair surging to-night in thousands of hearts.

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 27TH.—Gen. Lee is calm—but the work of preparation goes on night and day.

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 26TH.—Gen. Lee is doing good service in bringing forward reinforcements from the South against the day of trial—and an awful day awaits us. It is understood that he made fully known to the President his appreciation of the desperate condition of affairs, and demanded carté blanche as a condition of his acceptance of the position of commanding general. The President wisely agreed to the terms.

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 25TH.—Gen. Wise, through the influence of Gen. Lee, who is a Christian gentleman as well as a consummate general, has been ordered into the field. He will have a brigade, but not with Beauregard. The President has unbounded confidence in Lee’s capacity, modest as he is.
Another change! Provost Marshal Godwin, for rebuking the Baltimore chief of police, is to leave us, and to be succeeded by a Marylander, Major Griswold, whose family is now in the enemy’s country.

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 24TH —Webster has been tried, condemned, and hung.
Is it not shameful that martial law should be playing such fantastic tricks before high heaven, when the enemy’s guns are booming within hearing of the capital?

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 23D.—The North Carolinians have refused to give up Dibble to Gen. Winder. And, moreover, the governor has demanded the rendition of a citizen of his State, who was arrested there by one of Gen. Winder’s detectives, and brought hither. The governor says, if he be not delivered up, he will institute measures of retaliation, and arrest every alien policeman from Richmond caught within the limits of his jurisdiction.

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 22D.—Dibble, the traitor, has been captured by our soldiers in North Carolina.

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 21ST.— A calm before the storm.

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 19TH.—All believe we are near a crisis, involving the possession of the capital.

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 18TH.—The President is thin and haggard ; and it has been whispered on the street that he will immediately be baptized and confirmed. I hope so, because it may place a great gulf between him and the descendant of those who crucified the Saviour. Nevertheless, some of his enemies allege that professions of Christianity have sometimes been the premeditated accompaniments of usurpations. It was so with Cromwell and with Richard III. Who does not remember the scene in Shakspeare, where Richard appears on the balcony, with prayer book in hand and a priest on either side?

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 17TH.—To-day Congress passed an act providing for the termination of martial law within thirty days after the meeting of the next session. This was as far as they could venture; for, indeed, a majority seem to be intimidated at the glitter of bayonets in the streets, wielded by the authority of martial law. The press, too, has taken the alarm, and several of the publishers have confessed a fear of having their offices closed, if they dare to speak the sentiments struggling for utterance. It is, indeed, a reign of terror! Every Virginian, and other loyal citizens of the South—members of Congress and all—must now, before obtaining Gen. Winder’s permission to leave the city for their homes, bow down before the aliens in the Provost Marshal’s office, and subscribe to an oath of allegiance, while a file of bayonets are pointed at his back!

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 16TH—Troops are being concentrated rapidly in Virginia by Gen. Lee.

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 15TH.—Gen. Beauregard has written to Gen. Wise, offering him a command in his army, if the government will consent to it. It will not be consented to.

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 14TH.—There will soon be hard fighting on the Peninsula.

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 13TH.—Gen. Wise now resolved to ask for another command, to make another effort in defense of his country. But, when he waited upon the Secretary of War, he ascertained that there was no brigade for him. Returning from thence, some of his officers, who had escaped the trap at Roanoke, crowded round him to learn the issue of his application.
“There is no Secretary of War!” said he.
“What is Randolph?” asked one.
“He is not Secretary of War!” said he ; “he is merely a clerk, an underling, and cannot hold up his head in his humiliating position. He never will be able to hold up his head, sir.”

edited by G.W. Cable

April 13, 1862.—This morning I was sewing up a rent in H.’s garden-coat, when Aunt Judy rushed in.

“Laws! Mis’ L., here’s Mr. Max and Mis’ Annie done come back!” A buggy was coming up with Max, Annie, and Reeney.

“Well, is the war over?” I asked.

“Oh, I got sick!” replied our returned soldier, getting slowly out of the buggy.

He was very thin and pale, and explained that he took a severe cold almost at once, had a mild attack of pneumonia, and the surgeon got him his discharge as unfit for service. He succeeded in reaching Annie, and a few days of good care made him strong enough to travel back home.

“I suppose, H., you’ve heard that Island No. 10 is gone?”

Yes, we heard that much, but Max had the particulars, and an exciting talk followed. At night H. said to me, “G., New Orleans will be the next to go, you’ll see, and I want to get there first; this stagnation here will kill me.”

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 12TH.—The committee (Congressional) which have been investigating the Roanoke Island disaster have come to the conclusion, unanimously, and the House has voted accordingly, and with unanimity, that the blame and guilt of that great calamity rest solely upon “Gen. Huger and Judah P. Benjamin.”

by John Beauchamp Jones

APRIL 11TH—The enemy are at Fredericksburg, and the Yankee papers say it will be all over with us by the 15th of June. I doubt that.

by Horatio Nelson Taft

Friday 11th

Fine pleasant day. The Event here has been the passage of the Bill by the House abolishing Slavery in the District of Columbia. It had passed the Senate. No particular War news today. I was down to the Hotels. They are all full and quite a crowd at Willards. Went to the “Festival” to call for Julia about 10, staid an hour, it is the last night. We got home about 111/2 o’clock. The nights are now bright and beautiful.

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