January 17th.–Cloudy, and spitting snow. Mr. Foote’s release from custody has been ordered by Congress. The news of the fall of Wilmington, and the cessation of importations at that port, falls upon the ears of the community with stunning effect. Again we have a rumor of the retirement of Mr. Seddon. There are more rumors [...]
January 17th.–The Bazaar for the benefit of the hospitals opens now. Sherman marches constantly. All the railroads are smashed, and if I laugh at any mortal thing it is that I may not weep. Generals are as plenty as blackberries, but none are in command. The Peace Commissioner, Blair, came. They say he gave Mr. [...]
January 16th.–Clear and frosty. We learn vaguely that the attack on the defenses of Wilmington has been progressing since Friday, and that the enemy’s land forces have effected a lodgment between Fort Fisher and the town. Another “peace” visitor has arrived–Hon. Mr. Singleton, of the United States Congress. It is said that the President (Confederate [...]
January 16th.–My husband is at home once more–for how long, I do not know. His aides fill the house, and a group of hopelessly wounded haunt the place. The drilling and the marching go on outside. It rains a flood, with freshet after freshet. The forces of nature are befriending us, for our enemies have [...]
CAMP FOURTH NORTH CAROLINA REGIMENT, NEAR PETERSBURG, COX’S BRIGADE, RODES’ DIVISION, W. VA., January 15, 1865. My Dear Mother: McBride came night before last and brought everything safely, except the butter. He looked all over his baggage and we searched the box thoroughly, but could not find it. The articles which you sent me were [...]
January 15th.–Clear and frosty. Guns heard down the river. Dispatches came last night for ammunition–to Wilmington, I believe. We have nothing yet decisive from Fort Fisher, but I fear it will fall. Mr. Hunter was in the Secretary’s office this morning before the Secretary came. I could give him no news from Wilmington. He is [...]
January 14th.–Yesterday I broke down–gave way to abject terror under the news of Sherman’s advance with no news of my husband. To-day, while wrapped up on the sofa, too dismal even for moaning, there was a loud knock. Shawls on and all, just as I was, I rushed to the door to find a telegram [...]
January 14th.–Cloudy and cool. The news that Goldsborough, N. C., had been taken is not confirmed. Nor have we intelligence of the renewal of the assault on Fort Fisher–but no one doubts it. The government sent pork, butchered and salted a few weeks ago, to the army. An order has been issued to borrow, buy, [...]
Beaufort, S. C., January 13, 1865. Retired about 11 p.m. and woke up here this morning. A very handsome, small town, about the size of Canton, but more fine dwellings. All have been confiscated and sold to the negroes and white Union men. Find the 17th A. C. here, but about ready to move out [...]
January 13th.–Clear and pleasant–but little frost . Beef (what little there is in market) sells to-day at $6 per pound; meal, $80 per bushel; white beans, $5 per quart, or $160 per bushel. And yet Congress is fiddling over stupid abstractions! The government will awake speedily, however; and after Congress hurries through its business (when [...]
On board the steamer Crescent, Atlantic Ocean, January 12, 1865. We are steaming on that rolling deep we’ve heard so much of, and which I have already seen and felt enough of. There is but little air stirring and the water is quite smooth, but so near the shore there is always a ground swell, [...]
January 12th.–Bright and frosty. Gold at $66 for one yesterday, at auction. Major R. J. Echols, Quartermaster, Charlotte, N. C., says the fire there destroyed 70,000 bushels of grain, a large amount of sugar, molasses, clothing, blankets, etc. He knows not whether it was the result of design or accident. All his papers were consumed. [...]
January 11th.–Clear and pleasant. Cannon heard down the river. Mr. E. A. Pollard, taken by the Federals in an attempt to run the blockade last spring, has returned, and reports that Gen. Butler has been relieved of his command–probably for his failure to capture Wilmington. Mr. Pollard says that during his captivity he was permitted, [...]
January 10th. During the past few days we had all kinds of weather, starting in with a cold rain, turning to hail, and winding up with a heavy snow storm. Now we have to go through about twelve inches of snow. The surrounding country for miles does look gloomy enough. Heard bells and saw one [...]
Thunderbolt, Ga., January 10, ’65. We joined the brigade in the suburbs of the city, and took the shell road to this place, only four miles by land, but 18 by water. There are some fine works here, erected by the Rebels to guard the water approach to the city. I send you a little [...]
January 10th.–You do the Anabasis business when you want to get out of the enemy’s country, and the Thermopylae business when they want to get into your country. But we retreated in our own country and we gave up our mountain passes without a blow. But never mind the Greeks; if we had only our [...]
January 10th.–Rained hard all night. House leaking badly! We have nothing new in the papers this morning. It is said with more confidence, however, that Butler’s canal is not yet a success. Daily and nightly our cannon play upon the works, and the deep sounds in this moist weather are distinctly heard in the city. [...]
Green Square, Savannah, Ga. January 9, 1865. Thinking we for once in the service had a chance to enjoy quiet life, two of our number were sent to Hilton Head for a full supply of men’s apparel for the outer man, and of refreshments substantial and fancy for the inner. They returned to-day just in [...]
January 9th.–Bright, clear, and cold. It is said the government depot at Charlotte, N. C, has been burned (accidentally), consuming a large amount of corn. We have nothing further of the movement of Grant’s troops. We have Hood’s acknowledgment of defeat, and loss of 50 guns before Nashville. The papers contain the proceedings of a [...]
January 8th.–Bright and cold. Snowed yesterday, and windy. Gen. Whiting writes that he had only 400 men in Fort Fisher, and it was a miracle that it was not taken. He looked for it, and a determined effort would have carried it. He says there is no reason to suppose the attempt has been abandoned, [...]
January 7th.–Rained yesterday and last night. Clear and windy to-day. It is said the Blairs (who have been looked for on some sort of mission) turned back after arriving in the camp of Gen. Grant. Of course they could not treat with this government, under existing circumstances. The President and his cabinet could not be [...]
January 7th.–Sherman is at Hardieville and Hood in Tennessee, the last of his men not gone, as Louis Wigfall so cheerfully prophesied. Serena went for a half-hour to-day to the dentist. Her teeth are of the whitest and most regular, simply perfection. She fancied it was better to have a dentist look in her mouth [...]
January 6th.–Cloudy and thawing. No war news,–but it is known Sherman’s army is not quiet, and must soon be heard from in spite of the interdict of the government. It is said Mr. Trenholm, Secretary of the Treasury, is in the market buying gold, and that the fall has already been from $50 to $30 [...]
January 4th.–Bright, but several inches of snow fell last night. The President wrote a long letter to the Secretary yesterday concerning the assignment of conscripts in Western North Carolina, at most only a few hundred, and the appointment of officers, etc. A small subject. Congress has passed a resolution calling on the Secretary of War [...]
January 3d.–Calm and quiet; indications of snow. By a communication sent to Congress, by the President, it is ascertained that 500,000 pairs shoes, 8,000,000 pounds bacon, 2,000,000 pounds saltpeter, 50 cannon, etc. etc., have been imported since Octoberr 1st, 1864. When the enemy’s fleet threatened Wilmington, the brokers here (who have bribed the conscript officers) [...]