MAY 24th Sunday.—We have had a fortnight of calm, dry, and warm weather. There is a hazy atmosphere, and the sun rises and sets wearing a blood-red aspect. At night the moon, dimly and indistinctly seen (now a crescent), has a somber and baleful appearance. This is strange at this season of the year; it [...]

MAY 23d.—The reports from Mississippi have not been confirmed by official dispatches, and it is understood that the President remarked yesterday, at dinner, that he was satisfied with the condition of affairs in that State. If this be so, Vicksburg must not only be still in our possession, but likely to be held by us [...]

MAY 22d.—A letter from Gen. Howell Cobb, declining the offer of the Secretary of War, of the position of Quartermaster-General, was received to-day. His wife is ill, and he prefers to remain with her; besides, he doubts his qualifications—he, who was Secretary of the Treasury of the United States! He says, moreover, referring to the [...]

MAY 21st.—There was a rumor on the street last night that Gen. Johnston had telegraphed the President that it would be necessary to evacuate Vicksburg. This has not been confirmed to-day, and I do not believe it. It would be irremediably disastrous. Mr. N. S. Walker writes from Bermuda, May 11th, 1863, that seventeen additional [...]

MAY 20th.—Reports from the West say we lost 3000 and the enemy 6000 men in the battle of the 15th inst., when Pemberton fell back over the Black River. Our forces numbered only 12,000, Grant’s three times that number. Something decisive must occur before Vicksburg in a few days. Mr. J. W. Henry writes from [...]

MAY 19th.—A dispatch from Gen. Johnston says a battle has been fought between Pemberton and Grant, between Jackson and Vicksburg, Mississippi, which lasted nine hours. Pemberton was forced back. This is all we know yet. Another letter, from Hon. W. Porcher Miles, remonstrating against the withdrawal of Beauregard’s troops, was received to-day. He apprehends the [...]

MAY 17th.—The last few days have been cool and dry; fine weather for campaigning. And yet we hear of no demonstrations apparently, though I believe Lee’s army is moving. Mr. Lamar, of Savannah (formerly president of the Bank of the Republic, New York), writes that he and others are organizing an Exporting and Importing Company, [...]

MAY 16th.—It appears, after the consultation of the generals and the President yesterday, it was resolved not to send Pickett’s division to Mississippi, and this morning early the long column march through the city northward. Gen. Lee is now stronger than he was before the battle. Gen. Pickett himself, with his long, black ringlets, accompanied [...]

MAY 15th.—The Tredegar Iron Works and Crenshou’s woolen factory were mostly destroyed by fire last night! This is a calamity. We have also intelligence of the occupation of Jackson, Miss., by the enemy. Thus they cut off communication with Vicksburg, and that city may be doomed to fall at last. The President is at work [...]

MAY 14th.—We have been beaten in an engagement near Jackson, Miss., 4000 retiring before 10,000. This is a dark cloud over the hopes of patriots, for Vicksburg is seriously endangered. Its fall would be the worst blow we have yet received. Papers from New York and Philadelphia assert most positively, and with circumstantiality, that Hooker [...]

MAY 13th.—Col. Gorgas, Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, sent in to-day a report of the arms captured in the recent battle. It appears from his statement that, so far, only eight guns have been found, taken from the enemy, while we lost ten. Thus, it would appear, our papers have been “lying,” in regard [...]

MAY 12th.—The departments and all places of business are still closed in honor of Gen. Jackson, whose funeral will take place to-day. The remains will be placed in state at the Capitol, where the people will be permitted to see him. The grief is universal, and the victory involving such a loss is regarded as [...]

MAY 11th.—Lieut.-Gen. J. T. Jackson died at 3 P.M. yesterday. His remains will arrive in the city at 5 P.M. this afternoon. The flags are at half-mast, and all the government offices and even places of business are closed. A multitude of people, mostly women and children, are standing silently in the streets, awaiting the [...]

MAY 10th.—Detachments of Federal troops are now marching into the city every few hours, guarded by (mostly) South Carolinians, dressed in home-spun, died yellow with the bark of the butternut-tree. Yesterday evening, at 7 o’clock, a body of 2000 arrived, being marched in by way of the Brooke Pike, near to my residence. Only 200 [...]

MAY 9th.—The papers contain the following order from Gen. Lee : “HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA, “May 7th, 1863. “GENERAL ORDERS No. 59. “With heartfelt gratification, the General Commanding expresses to the army his sense of the heroic conduct displayed by officers and men, during the arduous operations in which they have just been engaged. “Under [...]

MAY 8th.—To-day the city is in fine spirits. Hooker had merely thrown up defenses to protect his flight across the river. The following dispatch was received last night from Gen. Lee: “CHANCELLORVILLE, May 7th, 1863. “TO HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT DAVIS. “After driving Gen. Sedgwick across the Rappahannock, on the night of the 4th inst., I [...]

MAY 7th.—A scout came in to-day with the vexatious intelligence that a body of hostile cavalry is still in Louisa County. And later in the day we have information that the Mattapony bridge was burned last night! Thus again is communication interrupted between Gen. Lee and the city! Our wounded cannot be brought to the [...]

MAY 6th.—The excitement has subsided, as troops come pouring in, and many improvised cavalry companies go out in quest of the fox—who has vanished we know not exactly whither. It is believed we have taken 15,000 or 20,000 prisoners, and that the enemy’s killed, wounded, and prisoners must reach the appalling number of 40,000. On [...]

MAY 5th.—To-day the excitement was quite as great as ever, for bodies of the enemy are still in the vicinity. They are like frightened quails when the hawks are after them, skurrying about the country in battalions and regiments. Fitzhugh Lee defeated one of their parties, and reports that the entire calvary force of Hooker, [...]

MAY 4th.—This morning early the tocsin sounded, and the din, kept up for several hours, intensified the alarm. The presence of the enemy would not have produced a greater effect. But, in truth, the enemy were almost in sight of the city. Hon. James Lyons told me they were within a mile and a half [...]

MAY 3d.—We have no further news from the army, except the usual skirmishing. A number of our wounded arrived last evening. An officer reports that, from what he could see of the enemy’s conduct, the soldiers do not come to the point with alacrity. He thinks they fight with reluctance, and are liable to be [...]

MAY 2d.—The awful hour, when thousands of human lives are to be sacrificed in the attempt to wrest this city from the Confederate States, has come again. Now parents, wives, sisters, brothers, and little children, both in the North and in the South, hold their breath in painful expectation. At the last accounts the two [...]

MAY 1st.—Gov. Vance writes that Gen. Hill desires him to call out the militia, believing the enemy, balked in the attempt on Charleston, will concentrate their forces against North Carolina. But the Governor is reluctant to call the non-conscripts from the plow in the planting season. He thinks the defense of North Carolina has not [...]

APRIL 30th.—The enemy are advancing across the Rappahannock, and the heavy skirmishing which precedes a battle has begun. We are sending up troops and supplies with all possible expedition. Decisive events are looked for in a few days. But if all of Longstreet’s corps be sent up, we leave the southern approach to the city [...]