FEBRUARY 2d.—The rumor of yesterday originated in the assertion of a Yankee paper that New Orleans would be taken without firing a gun. Some of our people fear it may be so, since Mr. Benjamin’s friend, Gen. Lovell, who came from New York since the battle of Manassas, is charged with the defense of the [...]

FEBRUARY 1st.—We had a startling rumor yesterday that New Orleans had been taken by the enemy, without firing a gun. I hastened to the Secretary and asked him if it could be true. He had not heard of it, and turned pale. But a moment after, recollecting the day on which it was said the [...]

JANUARY 31st.—What if these men (they have passports) should be going to Washington to report the result of their reconnoissances in Tennessee? The Tennessee River is high, and we have no casemated batteries, or batteries of any sort, on it above Fort Henry.

JANUARY 30th.—Some of the mysterious letter-carriers, who have just returned from their jaunt into Tennessee, are applying again for passports to Baltimore, Washington, etc. I refuse them, though they are recommended by Gen. Winder’s men; but they will obtain what they want from the Secretary himself, or his Assistant Secretary.

JANUARY 29th.—What we want is a military man capable of directing operations in the field everywhere. I think Lee is such a man. But can he, a modest man and a Christian, aspire to such a position? Would not Mr. Benjamin throw his influence against such a suggestion? I trust the President will see through [...]

JANUARY 28th.— There must soon be collisions in the West on a large scale; but the system of lying, in vogue among the Yankees, most effectually defeats all attempts at reliable computation of numbers. They say we have 150,000 men in Tennessee and Kentucky, whereas we have not 60,000. Their own numbers they represent to [...]

JANUARY 27th.—The Secretary of War has issued such a peremptory order to Gen. Wise, that the latter has no alternative but to attempt the defense of Roanoke Island with 3000 men against 15,000 and a fleet of gun-boats. The general is quite sick, but he will fight. His son, Capt. O. Jennings Wise, who has [...]

JANUARY 26th.—President Tyler has been elected to Congress by an overwhelming majority.

JANUARY 25th.—The French players have been permitted by the Secretary to leave the country. But British subjects are now refused passports.

JANUARY 24th.—Beauregard has been ordered to the West. I knew the doom was upon him! But he will make his mark even at Columbus, though the place seems to me to be altogether untenable and of no practicable importance, since the enemy may attack both in front and rear. It would seem that some of [...]

JANUARY 23d.—Again the Northern papers give the most extravagant numbers to our army in Kentucky. Some estimates are as high as 150,000. I know, and Mr. Benjamin knows, that Gen. Johnston has not exceeding 29,000 effective men. And the Secretary knows that Gen. J. has given him timely notice of the inadequacy of his force [...]

JANUARY 22d.—Some of the letter-carriers’ passports from Mr. Benjamin, which have the countenance of Gen. Winder, are now going into Tennessee. What is this for? We shall see.

JANUARY 21st.—A great number of Germans and others are going to Norfolk, thinking, as one remarked, if they can’t go to the United States the United States will soon come to them. Many believe that Burnside will get Norfolk. I think differently, but I may be mistaken.

JANUARY 20th.—Mr. Memminger advertises to pay interest on certain government bonds in specie. That won’t last long. He is paying 50 per cent. premium in treasury notes for the specie, and the bonds are given for treasury notes. What sort of financiering is this?

JANUARY 19th.—There has been a storm on the coast, sinking some of the enemy’s ships. Col. Allen, of New Jersey, was lost. He was once at my house in Burlington, and professed to be friendly to the Southern cause. I think he said he owned land and slaves in Texas.

U. S. Flag-Ship Hartford, Philadelphia, Jan. 19, 1862. This morning, at 10 o’clock, the U. S. screw sloop Hartford was put in commission as the flag-ship of the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron. The following is a list of officers ordered to join her: Flag Officer–David G. Farragut. Fleet Captain–Henry H. Bell. Commander–Richard Wainwright. Lieutenant and [...]

JANUARY 18th.—Gen. L. P. Walker, the first Secretary of War, is assigned to duty in the Southwest under Gen. Bragg. How can he obey the orders of one who was so recently under his command? I think it probable he will resign again before the end of the campaign.

JANUARY 17th.—A Mr. O. Hendricks, very lately of the U. S. Coast Survey, has returned from a tour of the coast of North Carolina, and has been commissioned a lieutenant by the Secretary of War. He says Burnside will take Roanoke Island, and that Wise and all his men will be captured. It is a [...]

JANUARY 16th.—To-day, Mr. Benjamin, whom I met in the hall of the department, said, “I don’t grant any passports to leave the country, except to a few men on business for the government. I have ceased to grant any for some time past.” I merely remarked that I was glad to hear it. Immediately on [...]

MANASSAS JUNCTION, VA., January 16, 1862. Dear Sister: I received your letter some days since and was very much rejoiced to hear from you, but I thought that you were a very long time in answering my last. It came at last and eagerly did I devour the contents and with what pleasure I lingered [...]

JANUARY 15th.—I forgot to mention the fact that some weeks ago I received a work in manuscript from London, sent thither before the war, and brought by a bearer of dispatches from our Commissioner, Hon. Ambrose Dudley Mann, to whom I had written on the subject. I owe him a debt of gratitude for this [...]

JANUARY 14th.—All calm and quiet to-day.

Bird’s Point, Mo., January 13, 1862. After all the excitement and promise we have had of a trip into Dixie, we are still here in our cabins, with the prospect of a move further off than ever. The 25,000 troops that are “on their way from St. Louis to Cairo” must have went up in [...]

JANUARY 13th.—The department leaves Gen. Wise to his superior officer, Gen. Huger, at Norfolk, who has 15,000 men. But I understand that Huger says Wise has ample means for the defense of the island, and refuses to let him have more men. This looks like a man-trap of the “Red-tapers” to get rid of a [...]