MARCH 10th.—One of the friends of the Secretary of War came to me to-day, and proposed to have some new passports printed, with the likeness of Mr. Benjamin engraved on them. He said, I think, the engraving had already been made. I denounced the project as absurd, and said there were some five or ten [...]
March 10th.–Second year of Confederate independence. I write daily for my own diversion. These mémoires pour servir may at some future day afford facts about these times and prove useful to more important people than I am. I do not wish to do any harm or to hurt any one. If any scandalous stories creep in [...]
MARCH 9th—Gen. Winder has appointed Col. Porter Provost Marshal,—Godwin not being high enough in rank, I suppose.
March 9th. The Brooklyn tried all day, but with no effect, to cross the barrier before us. Capt. Bell went up the river in the gunboat Winona on a reconnoissance, and this evening came down with five prisoners, who were duly examined by the flag-officer, who after examination discharged them as neutrals.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, March 9th, 1862. Here I am, at your service, Madame Idleness, waiting for any suggestion it may please you to put in my weary brain, as a means to pass this dull, cloudy Sunday afternoon; for the great Pike clock over the way has this instant struck only half-past three; and if [...]
MARCH 8th.—Gen. Winder has appointed Capt. Godwin Provost Marshal
March 8th. This afternoon the Brooklyn made an attempt to cross the bar, being led by a gunboat, but the Brooklyn grounded, and after persevering with commendable zeal gave it up for the day. The men are grinding their cutlasses, and making other preparations of a warlike character.
MARCH 7th.—Gen. Winder has established a guard with fixed bayonets at the door of the passport office. They let in only a few at a time, and these, when they get their passports, pass out by the rear door, it being impossible for them to return through the crowd.
March 7th. Weighed anchor for the mouth of the Mississippi River; arrived in the evening, where we found the Pensacola and Brooklyn at Pass á l’Outre on the blockade. Our object in coming here was to go up the river, with the subsequent view of capturing New Orleans. Preparations were immediately made to cross the [...]
March 7th.–Mrs. Middleton was dolorous indeed. General Lee had warned the planters about Combahee, etc., that they must take care of themselves now; he could not do it. Confederate soldiers had committed some outrages on the plantations and officers had punished them promptly. She poured contempt upon Yancey’s letter to Lord Russell. ¹ It was [...]
The following material contains wording that is offensive to many in the world of today. However, the work is provided unedited for its historical content and context. Near New Madrid, Mo., March 6, 1862. What oceans of fun we are having here. Here goes for all of it to date, and I’ll be lucky if [...]
MARCH 6th.—Some consternation among the citizens—they dislike martial law.
MARCH 5th.—Martial law has been proclaimed.
March 5th. The Rhode Island arrived, after having been to Galveston, Texas, visiting our ships as she passed them. On her way home she is to call among the blockaders, carrying home the sick and leaving stores. We put four patients aboard her for home. In the evening the U. S. sloop-of-war Richmond arrived from [...]
MANASSAS JUNCTION, VA., March 5, 1862. Dear Mother: As I have nothing to do to-day, I thought I would let you all know how we are getting along. The weather is still very bad, ground muddy and miry as it can be. We all have had orders to have our heavy baggage ready to send [...]
March 5th.–Mary Preston went back to Mulberry with me from Columbia. She found a man there tall enough to take her in to dinner–Tom Boykin, who is six feet four, the same height as her father. Tom was very handsome in his uniform, and Mary prepared for a nice time, but he looked as if [...]
MARCH 4th.—We shall have stirring times here. Our troops are to be marched through Richmond immediately, for the defense of Yorktown—the same town surrendered by Lord Cornwallis to Washington. But its fall or its successful defense now will signify nothing.
MARCH 3.—But McClellan would not advance. He could not drag his artillery at this season of the year; and so he is embarking his army, or the greater portion of it, for the Peninsula.
March 2d. The Niagara left to-day for home; we sent our mails and good wishes with her, and felt rather lonely when this noble frigate was gone.
MARCH 2d.—Gen. Jos. E. Johnston has certainly made a skillful retrograde movement in the face of the enemy at Manassas. He has been keeping McClellan and his 210,000 men at bay for a long time with about 40,000. After the abandonment of his works it was a long time before the enemy knew he had [...]
MARCH 1st.—It is certain that the City of Nashville has been evacuated, and will, of course, be occupied by the enemy. Gen. Johnston, with the remnant of his army, has fallen down to Murfreesborough, and as that is not a point of military importance, will in turn be abandoned, and the enemy will drop out [...]
March 1st. The Pensacola arrived from Key Wrest to-day; also a store-ship which brought us two nine-inch guns, increasing our number to twenty-two nine-inch, and two rifled pivots. This morning a boat expedition left the ship in tow of the New London for Biloxi, a small village on the main land, and returned in the [...]
FEBRUARY 28th.—These calamities may be a wholesome chastening for us. We shall now go to work and raise troops enough to defend the country. Congress will certainly pass the Conscription Act recommended by the President.
FEBRUARY 27th.—Columbus is to be evacuated. Beauregard sees that it is untenable with Forts Henry and Donelson in possession of the enemy. He will not be caught in such a trap as that. But he is erecting a battery at Island No. 10 that will give the Yankees trouble. I hope it may stay the [...]
February 27th. Practiced the ship’s company at target-firing with the battery; thirty to forty rounds were fired, at some fifteen hundred yards, and some splendid shots were made. The marines were also drilled with muskets at a target.