April 15, 1863, The Charleston Mercury

Now that the immediate pressure of the impending Yankee attack upon Charleston is somewhat removed, we feel a peculiar pleasure in complimenting those brave troops of our sister Georgia, who came, under the lead of one of their most efficient as well as most popular Generals, Brigadier-General W. H. T. WALKER, to assist us in our hour of danger, perhaps of need. Without an invidious distinction, we are enabled to spread upon record the roll of the First Regiment Georgia State Troops. These troops, it will be remembered, were raised for State defence, without the least probability that they would ever be called beyond the limits of that State. With one accord, they felt that Georgia was best to be defended at Charleston; that the threatened point was the post of honor; and they could not abide the thought that they could rest comfortably at Savannah, while the balls of the enemy were hurtling over the roofs of Charleston. The officers of this regiment express themselves alone apprehensive that they would be retained at Savannah, under the plea that the regiment was too recently organized to be effective on the field. The alacrity with which they have obeyed the coveted summons, and the enthusiasm which pervades their ranks, are a sufficient guarantee that the apprehension was unfounded.

The commissions of the regiment, issued by Governor BROWN, above the Lieutenants of the Line, are borne by the following named gentlemen:

E. M. GALT, Colonel.
JAMES BRYAN, Lieutenant Colonel.
JOHN M. BROWN, Major.
JESSE J. NORTHCUTE, Captain, A. Q. M.
GEO. A. GORDON, Lieutenant, A. Q. M.
SMITH LEMON, Captain, A. C. S.
Dr. A. P. BROWN, Surgeon.
Dr. J. H. SPEAR, Assistant Surgeon.
EMMETT WATERS, Adjutant.
ALBERT HOWELL, Captain Co. A, 120 men.
J. H. PATRICK, Captain Co. B, 100 men.
ROBT. A. GRAHAM, Captain Co. D, 100 men.
F. M. COWEN, Captain Co. E. 90 men.
E. G. NELSON, Captain Co. F, 85 men.
LITTLETON STEPHENS, Captain Co. G, 100 men.
A. J. WEST, Captain Co. H, 95 men.

Companies C, I and K, 260 men, are absent from the regiment, on detached service at different points in Northwestern Georgia.

April 14th. Nothing has occurred or come under my notice this day worthy of especial mention. After the rain and thunder storm of last evening, the air is quite cool and agreeable–quite a relief from that of yesterday, so close, &c.

Tuesday, April 14th.

Ah! another delightful glimpse of society has been offered to our charmed view. Such a treat has not often fallen to our lot. Good Mrs. Greyson, in her anxiety to make all around her happy, determined we should have a dance. I should say “Miriam”; for Mrs. Bull and Mrs. Ivy never indulge in such amusements, and I can’t; so it must have been for Miriam alone. Such a crew! The two ladies above mentioned and I almost laughed ourselves into hysterics. Poor Miriam, with a tall, slender Texan who looked as though he had chopped wood all his life, moved through the dance like the lady in “Comus”; only, now and then a burst of laughter at the odd mistakes threatened to overcome her dignity. We who were fortunately exempt from the ordeal, laughed unrestrainedly at the mêlée. One danced entirely with his arms; his feet had very little to do with the time. One hopped through with a most dolorous expression of intense absorption in the arduous task. Another never changed a benign smile that had appeared on entering, but preserved it unimpaired through every accident. One female, apparently of the tender age of thirty, wore a yellow muslin, with her hair combed rigidly â la chinoise, and tightly fastened at the back of her head in a knot whose circumference must have been fully equal to that of a dollar. In addition to other charms, she bore her neck and chin in a very peculiar manner, as though she were looking over the fence, Mr. Christmas remarked. Mr. Christmas had ridden all the way from Ponchatoula to see us, and if it had not been for him, Mr. Worthington, and Dr. Capdevielle, who came in after a while, I think I should have expired, and even Miriam would have given up in despair. The Doctor was an old friend of Harry’s, though we never met him before.

April 14, 1863, The Charleston Mercury

THE WAR IN WESTERN VIRGINIA.

SALEM, VA., April 13. – Gen. A. G. JENKINS’ expedition, with a small portion of his command, in Western Virginia, has been completely successful. The elections and Spring Courts of the bogus Government in all the counties west of the Kanawha River were broken up. The enemy was driven with loss into his fortifications at Hurricane Bridge. General JENKINS proceeded next to the Kanawha river, and four miles below Winfield riddled two Government steamboats which were passing. He embarked at night in flat boats and floated down the Kanawha, attacking and capturing Point Pleasant next morning, killed and captured a number of the enemy, took 150 horses, and destroyed a large amount of stores. The enemy made a most desperate effort to cut off his retreat from the Ohio river, but they were eluded and the command extricated in safety.

VICTORY IN NORTH CAROLINA.

GOLDSBORO’, April 13. – News of a partial victory over the Abolitionists near Washington, N. C., was received today. It appears that the Yankees, under FOSTER, marching to the relief of Washington (which is now invested by our troops) were met and routed last Thursday evening, near Bland’s Creek, by General PETTIGREW. No loss on our side.

DEFEAT OF VAN DORN IN TENNESSEE.

CHATTANOOGA, April 13. – A sharp fight has taken place at Franklin, Tennessee. VAN DORN attacked the enemy with 7000 cavalry and FREEMAN’S battery. The Federals retreated, but advanced again with large reinforcements. A bloody battle ensued. FREEMAN’S battery was captured by the enemy, and FREEMAN was killed. Our loss heavy. We retreated from the place after six hours’ hard fighting.

Later accounts represent that our artillery was recaptured after the fall of FREEMAN. We took no prisoners.

MORE SUCCESSES OF WHEELER.

TULLAHOMA, April 13. – We have trustworthy information today to the effect that General WHEELER has captured two trains – one between Louisville and Nashville, and the other between Nashville and Murfreesboro’– with a large number of men and officers. The trains were destroyed. All is quiet elsewhere.

April 14, 1863, The Charleston Mercury

Most serious amidst all the perils our young Confederacy has now to encounter, is the irregularity of supply in the provision market. There is not, nor has there been, any real scarcity of food in these Southern States; the difficulty is owing solely to the lack of systematic energy and enterprise in the distribution of the abundance of particular districts, amongst the communities of less favored localities. Doubtless the work of distribution has been seriously embarrassed by the want of adequate railroad facilities; yet we cannot but believe that with such as we have, economically and prudently managed; the more pressing wants of the country might easily be met.

In a matter so vitally important to our cause the people ought to come forward and assist the Government, as they have already done in the clothing of the army and the care of our sick. The men who, in a crisis like this, hold back grain or provisions from the market, in the hope of hereafter reaping larger money profits, are inflicting upon their imperiled country a blow more deadly than any the traitor’s hand could give. While the government is exerting all its energies in the great emergency, the people should see to it that the whole existing resources of the land are brought out. The planters ought strictly to limit their cotton production to the quantity required for seed, and bestow all their attention upon the raising of corn and provisions; and, with organization and combined action, we have no fears for the result.

April 14, 1863, The New York Herald

The reports from general Porter’s expedition to Washington, N.C., are not very favorable. He appears to be completely hemmed in by the enemy, and all efforts to reinforce him from Newbern have, so far, been unsuccessful. These facts we have before published. The repulse of our fleet by the batteries on Pamlico river, and the grounding of the Miami on the Swash while proceeding to Washington, rendered the arrival of assistance impossible for the time. It seems evident from all the movements of the rebel forces that the destruction of General Foster’s expedition is resolved upon. News from Richmond indicate that a vast concentration of rebel forces has taken place between Petersburg and Suffolk, while the bold movements of General Hill and Longstreet, in threatening the latter place, points unquestioningly to a settled intention on the part of the rebels to prevent reinforcements from reaching General Foster. The suspension of hostilities at Charleston has also been manifestly taken advantage of by the enemy for the purpose of strengthening their force against Foster; and we should not be at all surprised to hear of some great battles at Newbern, Washington and Suffolk, and to learn that Norfolk was seriously threatened – if, indeed, these events have not already taken place. It is said, however, that the authorities at Washington believe that if General Foster is not able to maintain his present position, he will, at least, be able to extricate himself.

Admiral Du Pont has forwarded a very brief account of the attack on Charleston to the Navy Department, but the continuation of the story, admirably told by our special correspondents, published in our columns today, supplies all the deficiency of an official report. The account is distinctly and faithfully given. The Navy Department considers the statement of Admiral Du Pont so incomplete, that it is deemed inadvisable to publish it until fuller reports come in. Our latest news from Charleston is to the evening of the 9th, by way of Richmond. All was reported quiet then, and there was no probability of the fight being renewed. Six of our Monitors and the Ironsides were then lying inside the bar, within two and a half miles of Fort Sumter. A Confederate officer visited the wreck of the Keokuk and found her turret pierced with a shot. The rebel despatch says that eighty shots were fired at Sumter, of which thirty-four struck it with effect. [continue reading…]

Kentucky

14th. Ordered on to Stanford. Started right away after breakfast. Passed many large massive residences along the road. Excellent fences and beautiful farms. Saw a great many negroes, generally well dressed, but very wishful. Drew and issued rations at Lexington in the evening. Saw West Hospital. Rode through the city, twelve or fifteen thousand. H. Clay’s monument, 150 ft. high.

April 14, 1863, The New York Herald

THE FIFTH OF APRIL.

OUR SPECIAL NAVAL CORRESPONDENCE.

FLAGSHIP JAMES ADGER,

NORTH EDISTO, S.C., April 5, 1863.

READY TO START.

After long weeks of anxious waiting, during which time the preparations for the contemplated expedition against Charleston have been ceaselessly pushed forward, night and day, to a final completion, the expedition is now fairly off.

No one not cognizant of all the multitudinous details necessary to be carefully observed and carried out to insure success can imagine the immense proportions which Admiral Du Pont’s labors have assumed in placing his part of the expedition on a complete basis. Other men of less determination would have quailed before the prospect; but he grappled with the difficulty and needs, and overcame the one and fully met the others.

THE PREPARATIONS.

The preparations were necessarily on a scale of gigantic proportions. No boy’s play was his, to enter the harbor of Charleston and capture the city, begirt with hundreds of guns of the heaviest description and of the most modern style, gathered from the first manufactories of the world by long continued and expensive efforts, to defend a city to which the eyes of all the world were turned, and about the final fate of which hung the hopes and fears of a continent. He was not to risk an attack with the ordinary means at his disposal. He called to his aid the hitherto invincible iron-clads, and his demand was met as promptly as the position of affairs would permit. Seven Monitor iron-clads and the Whitney battery Keokuk, besides the iron-clad frigate New Ironsides, were sent to him, and an untold quantity of ordnance stores, [continue reading…]

April 14, 1863, The Charleston Mercury

In compliance with the request of Congress, contained in resolutions passed on the fourth day of the current month, I invoke your attention to the present condition and future prospects of our country, and to the duties which patriotism imposes on us all during this great struggle for our homes and our liberties.

These resolutions are in the following language:

JOINT RESOLUTIONS RELATING TO THE PRODUCTION OF PROVISIONS.

Whereas, a strong impression prevails through the country that the war now being waged against the people of the Confederate States may terminate during the present year; and whereas, this impression is leading many patriotic citizens to engage largely in the production of cotton and tobacco, which they would not otherwise do; and whereas, in the opinion of Congress, it is of the utmost importance, not only with a view to the proper subsistence of our armies, but for the interest and welfare of all the people, that the agricultural labor of the country should be employed chiefly in the production of a supply of food to meet every contingency; therefore,

Resolved, by the Congress of the Confederate States of America, That it is the deliberate judgment of Congress that the people of these States, while hoping for peace, should look to prolonged war as the only condition proffered by the enemy short of subjugation; that every preparation necessary to encounter such a war should be persisted in, and that the amplest supply of provisions for armies and people should be the first object of all agriculturists; wherefore, it is earnestly recommended that the people, instead of planting cotton and tobacco, shall direct their agricultural labor mainly to the production of such crops as will insure a sufficiency of food for all classes and for every emergency, thereby, with true patriotism, subordinating the hope of gain to the certain good of the country.

SEC. 2. That the President is hereby requested to issue a proclamation to the people of these States, urging upon them the necessity of guarding against the great perils of a short crop of provisions, and setting forth such reason therefor as his judgment may dictate.

Fully concurring in the view thus expressed by the Congress, I confidently appeal to your love of country for aid in carrying into effect the recommendations of your Senators and Representatives.

We have reached the close of the second year of the war, and may point with just pride to the history of our young [continue reading…]

Tuesday, 14th–Another rainy day. I went to town two miles up the river this morning in a canoe, with the cook of Company K (I am taking cooking lessons from him) to buy provisions. I bought ten pounds of ham and other things for $3.95. I wrote a letter home to Albert Downing and enclosed $10.00 in it. General Quimby’s Division landed at Lake Providence this afternoon. It is reported that the expedition that was trying to find a way to get the army past Haines’s Bluff on the Yazoo river has been forced to give it up on account of the floods. The river is flooded for a hundred miles up from the mouth, and four miles on either side. It is thought that they will have to run the fleet past the batteries at Vicksburg and march the army down the Louisiana side and then across the river on high ground below Vicksburg.

Camp 103d Illinois Infantry, Lagrange, Tenn.,
April 14, 1863.

I am brigadier officer of the day again, and of course it is a rainy, muddy, disagreeable day. Visiting the pickets occupied my whole forenoon and I rode through a constant rain. You may consider it an evidence of perverted taste, or maybe demoralization, or possibly of untruthfulness in me, if I say that I enjoy being on duty in the rain, but it is a fact. I don’t like to lie in bed, or sit by the fire, and think of floundering about in the mud and being soaked to the skin, but once out of doors, let it rain and wind ever so hard I enjoy it. At my request the general relieved me from that “Board of Survey,” and I am again with my company. If I could but get 15 days’ exemption from duty, I could finish up the drilling I wish to give them. Since we left Peoria we have been driven so much with duty that drilling has been next to impossible. The health and spirits of the regiment are now excellent. Such a body of soldiers as this now is cannot be considered otherwise than as a credit to even immaculate Fulton County and New Jersey, two Edens without even one snake. That is one point in which the ninteenth century beats Adam’s time. Rumors of another move down the Mississippi Central R. R. are flying now. I credit them. Within 20 days we will again be allowed to strike our tents. I’m getting well over my Vicksburg fever and wishing considerably in regard to this land movement. Before I write again the cavalry, some six to ten regiments, will have started on a raid of considerable magnitude. You can see from the way I write that I know nothing of what is in prospect, but from hints dropped feel certain that a move with force will be made from here at once. Anything to end this horrible inactivity. Every newspaper I read raises my disgust ten per cent. I’m sure I’ll become a chronic swearer if it lasts this summer through. I suppose that you know by this time whether the Charleston attack is a failure or not. I’m not much interested in that. It will cause no loss of sleep on my part if we fail there, only I’d like to hear of the town being burned. I believe there are more chances for a general to immortalize himself, working southward from this line of road as a base, than in any other part of the field. But where is the general?

APRIL 14th.—We have nothing additional from Gen. Wise’s expedition against Williamsburg; but it was deprecated by our people here, whose families and negroes have been left in that vicinity. They argue that we cannot hold the town, or any portion of the Peninsula in the neighborhood; and when the troops retire, the enemy will subject the women and children to more rigorous treatment, and take all the slaves.

We have news from Tennessee, which seems to indicate that Gen. Van Dorn has been beaten, losing a battery, after a sanguinary battle of several hours. Van Dorn had only cavalry—7000. This has a depressing effect. It seems that we lose all the battles of any magnitude in the West. This news may have been received by the President in advance of the public, and hence his indisposition. We shall have news now every day or so.

Albert Pike is out in a pamphlet against Gens. Holmes and Hindman. He says their operations in Arkansas have resulted in reducing our forces, in that State, from forty odd thousand to less than 17,000. It was imprudent to publish such a statement. Albert Pike is a native Yankee, but he has lived a long time in the South.

Gov. Vance is furious at the idea of conscribing magistrates, constables, etc. in North Carolina. He says it would be an annihilation of State Rights—nevertheless, being subject to militia duty by the laws of the State, they are liable under the Act of Conscription.

Well, we are getting only some 700 conscripts per month in Virginia—the largest State! At this rate, how are we to replenish the ranks as they become thinned in battle? It is to be hoped the enemy will find the same difficulty in filling up their regiments, else we have rather a gloomy prospect before us. But God can and will save us if it be His pleasure.

April 14, 1863, Natchez Daily Courier

A female spy was caught last week at Enterprise on the Mobile and Ohio railroad. We think it would be well to demand passes from all peregrinating females. We noticed last week that women were frequently passed by the passport examiner on the cars without a question being asked. Female spies are the most dangerous, and all travelers should be compelled to provide proper vouchers, and the guard instructed to make all give a proper account of themselves.–Vicksburg Whig.

April 14, 1863, Natchez Daily Courier

For the Natchez Courier.

She nursed the sick soldier,
            He will not forget
She gave him her blessing,
            She blesses him yet!
To world-hate and world-pride
            Alike she was blind,
She was kind to the soldier,
            And nothing but kind!
She spurned not his sorrows,
            The rags that he wore;
She saw that he suffered,
            She saw nothing more!
She cheered the sick soldier,
            When others forgot;
She was kind to the soldier
            When others were not!
When head-ache and heart-ache
            Had rendered him mad,
When others had saddened,
            This angel made glad!
To virtues and errors
            Alike she was kind;
She was blind to her own faults,
            And Christ will be blind!
She spurned not his sorrows,
            The rags that he wore;
The poor soldier’s blessing
            Be hers evermore!
He will not forget her–
            So deep to her debt!
Christ, too, a Poor Soldier,
            Will never forget!
                                     Gamma.

April 14, 1863, The Charleston Mercury

(CORRESPONDENCE OF THE MERCURY.)

BATTERY WAGNER, Morris Island, April 13.

There was, perhaps, no better position for witnessing the recent battle in the outer harbor of Charleston than Morris Island; and having fortunately arrived upon the island just as the iron monsters were moving, I had an opportunity of seeing the entire action, from its commencement to its final close. Their appearance was most unusual and peculiar to one who had never seen them. Notwithstanding the frequent descriptions which have from time to time appeared, we all looked with wondering eyes at the strange looking objects, which, from their grim, solemn appearance, showing no sign of life, but floating slowly towards us, were calculated to cause a thrill of terror for a moment in the breast of every person who stood watching for their first discharge.

The day was still, with but a slight breeze stirring, not sufficiently strong to cause even a ripple upon the quiet, glass-like surface of the water, yet enough to carry off, in graceful curves, the smoke of the artillery. Placing myself in a position upon Battery Wagner, commanding an unobstructed view of the entire harbor, I awaited, with almost breathless attention, the coming contest.

Slowly the monsters approached, their hulls so low down in the water as to be almost imperceptible to an observer from the shore, and presenting more the appearance of a floating plank, which is as often under the surface of the water as on top. Amidships stands the mysterious turret, looking like a medium-sized gasometer, surmounted by a smaller circular turret, which is the pilot house. Aft of the turret is the smoke stack, and upon these the marks are put, designating them. For instance, the first one which advanced, supposed to be the Passaic, Captain Drayton, had her chimney painted black, with a red and black band around the top. Another chimney was painted lead color, with a green band at top, while two were entirely black, and their distinguishing mark could not be seen by us. Upon the bow and stern short flagstaffs were erected, from the forward one of which floated the boat’s pennant, and the Federal flag aft. Immediately in front of the first Monitor was attached their much vaunted ‘Obstruction Destroyer,’ or ‘Devil.’ Upon this was also a short flagstaff, [continue reading…]

April 14, 1863, The New York Herald

The repulse of iron-clads from the gateway of Charleston, though almost bloodless in its results, may be classed among our most discouraging military disasters. After many months of preparation, and with the enormous means and forces at the command of the government, the most prominent and the most painful fact in this affair is that the attempt to reduce the city of Charleston, after two years of defensive preparations, was made with thirty-two cannon on shipboard against three hundred, around an enfilading semicircle of casemated forts and strong earthworks, within range of every vessels engaged, from every side.

We have reason to believe that in entering into this unequal contest not a single officer of our squadron entertained a hope of success, but that the enterprise, against the positive information obtained on the spot by our officers, was peremptorily ordered by our supreme military authorities at Washington. The results of the engagement have demonstrated the splendid fighting qualities of our Monitors, and that they might have passed directly up to Charleston, through the fire of all the opposing forts and batteries, but for those obstructions which were stretched across the channel between Forts Sumter and Moultrie; but it is also demonstrated that our ships cannot pass beyond those obstructions until they are removed. We know at length that, with a cheap network of piles, old hulks, scows, chains, &c., across the Narrows and the entrance to the East river, New York may be easily defended against all the iron-clads of Europe; but the price which we pay for this simple lesson in the art of defensive war, taught by other nations centuries ago, is the repulse of our own iron-clads from the entrance to Charleston.

It was generally expected, before this fruitless attack was made, that Admiral Du Pont would be assisted by a co-operating land force, and it was generally believed that for this purpose General Hunter could bring to the work some thirty or forty thousand men. But it appears that his available force was too small, and that to furnish for South Carolina this insufficient army for any aggressive enterprise General Foster was so weakened in North Carolina as to place him in [continue reading…]

April 14, 1863, Peoria Morning Mail (Illinois)

Providence, La., March 22, ’63.

 Dear Parents:–Having a few spare moments and the poor dim light of a candle to see my way by, I will pencil a line or so to you…

 General Grant is using every means to bring about a complete victory at Vicksburg, and in the opinion of the troops here he will not fail in his object. He is the man that never fails, and troops under him have no fear of his ultimate success over the great overthrow of the work now before him. The lion works of the rebels must fall; a great defeat stares them in the face more terrible than all the past combined. Terror will strike deep into every heart of those rebels who cherished hopes of success till this might crash fell upon them and their voice will be hushed forever…

 But to the end. We are expecting to leave here in a day or two far down the river to participate in the fight. The whole army is being concentrated some forty miles below here for the purpose of getting in the rear of the enemy so that we may entrap them if they may try to break out and escape. Grant wants to take the whole force prisoners if it can be done, and will do so if possible. As I said before, hard fighting will alone do it. This we are all prepared for and will enter into it with a spirit never before manifested, knowing how much depends on the victory. We are hemming them in on all sides, and to-day, they hold no communication west of the Mississippi. Farragut has passed the batteries at Port Royal with gunboats of his fleet and now lays below Vicksburg waiting for orders to give the rebs a compliment in the way of a hundred and twenty four pounder. Two of his boats have gone up Blackwater river to batter down the railroad bridge across that stream. When this is done the enemy has no longer any communication with the east, but are left inside their works to work their way out as best they can, if able to do it. We think they can be prevented, at all events we’ll do our best. Time alone will tell.

IRA.

April 13th. Commences with pleasant weather, and continued so during the early hours, nothing of importance occurring. At seven thirty P. heavy squalls of rain came on, accompanied by thunder and lightning. The storm raged up to midnight. Since no awnings or boom covers were spread, tarpaulins placed over the hatches, or allowed to be, the berth deck was a trough for the water, and caught it all; the watch below (poor lads) with no hammocks slung to turn into, or permitted to have, got no sleep; neither were their comrades on deck any more fortunate.

Monday, April 13th.

Having nothing to do, I may as well go on with the history of our wanderings. When the cars were moving off with the handsome Mr. Howard, mother turned to a gentleman who seemed to own the place, and asked to be shown the hotel. He went out, and presently returning with a chair and two negroes, quietly said he would take us to his own house; the hotel was not comfortable. And, without listening to remonstrances, led the way to a beautiful little cottage, where he introduced his wife, Mrs. Cate, who received us most charmingly, and had me in bed before five minutes had elapsed. I don’t know how any one can believe the whole world so wicked; for my part I have met none but the kindest people imaginable; I don’t know any wicked ones.

Before half an hour had passed, a visitor was announced; so I gathered up my weary bones, and with scarcely a peep at the glass, walked to the parlor. I commenced laughing before I got there, and the visitor smiled most absurdly, too; for it was – Mr. Halsey! It seemed so queer to meet in this part of the world that we laughed again after shaking hands. It was odd. I was thinking how much amused the General would be to hear of it; for he had made a bet that we would meet when I asserted that we would not.

After the first few remarks, he told me of how he had heard of our arrival. A gentleman had walked into camp, asking if a Mr. Halsey was there. He signified that he was the gentleman, whereupon the other drew out my note, saying a young lady on the cars had requested him to deliver it. Instantly recognizing the chirography, he asked where I was. “Hammond. This is her name,” replied the other, extending to him my card. Thinking, as he modestly confessed, that I had intended it only for him, Mr. Halsey coolly put it into his pocket, and called for his horse. Mr. Howard lingered still, apparently having something to say, which he found difficult to put in words. At last, as the other prepared to ride off, with a tremendous effort he managed to say, “The young lady’s card is mine. If it is all the same to you, I should like to have it returned.” Apologizing for the mistake, Mr. Halsey returned it, feeling rather foolish, I should imagine, and rode on to the village, leaving, as he avers, Mr. Howard looking enviously after the lucky dog who was going to see such a young lady. [continue reading…]

13th. Ordered to remain here at present. Prospect of staying in “Sturges’s” division in east Ky. Don’t like him on account of Mo. notoriety. After breakfast cleaned up my revolvers and loaded them. After noon, wrote home and went down town. Pitched quoits over at Co. H. Charlie came over and we reviewed old letters of mine. Saw the boys gamble. One little 15-year-old had $120 won.

Monday, 13th–Our nice weather was broken today by an all day rain. A large number of transports loaded with troops went down the river; the Twenty-fourth Iowa was on board. I went down to the sutler in the Fifteenth Iowa camp and bought a bushel of potatoes, paying $2.50.

APRIL 13th.—The Federal monitors, gun-boats, and transports no more menace the City of Charleston! The fleet has sailed away, several of the iron-clads towed out of the harbor being badly damaged. But before leaving that part of the coast, the Yankees succeeded in intercepting and sinking the merchant steamer Leopard, having 40,000 pairs of shoes, etc. on board for our soldiers. It is supposed they will reappear before Wilmington; our batteries there are ready for them.

Gen. Wise assailed the enemy on Saturday, at Williamsburg, captured the town, and drove the Federals into their fort–Magruder.

The President was ill and nervous on Saturday. His wife, who lost her parent at Montgomery, Ala., a month ago, and who repaired thither, is still absent.

Congress still refuses to clothe the President with dictatorial powers.

Senator Oldham, of Texas, made a furious assault on the Secretary of War, last Saturday. He says Senators, on the most urgent public business, are subjected to the necessity of writing their names on a slate, and then awaiting the pleasure of some lackey for permission to enter the Secretary’s office. He was quite severe in his remarks, and moved a call on the President for certain information he desired.

The Sentinel abuses Congress for differing with the President in regard to the retention of diplomatic agents in London, etc. And the Enquirer, edited by John Mitchel, the fugitive Irishman, opens its batteries on the Sentinel. So we go.

April 13, 1863, Memphis Daily Appeal (Jackson, Mississippi)

From the Richmond Examiner.

 The reader will find in the report of evidence in the police court, the true account of a so-called riot in the streets of Richmond. A handful of prostitutes, professional thieves, Irish and Yankee hags, gallows birds from all lands but our own, congregated in Richmond, with a woman huckster at their head, who buys veal at the toll-gate for a hundred and sells the same for two hundred and fifty in the morning market, undertook the other day to put into private practice the principles of the commissary department. Swearing that they would have goods “at government prices,” they broke open half a dozen shoe stores, hat stores, and tobacco houses, and robbed them of everything but bread, which was just the thing they wanted least. Under the demagogue’s delusion that they might be “poor people,” “starving people,” and the like, an institution of charity made a distribution of rice and flour to all who would ask for it. Considering the circumstances, it was a vile, cowardly and pernicious act; but the manner in which it was received exhibits the character of this mob. Miscreants were seen to dash the rice and flour into the muddy street, where the traces still remain, with the remark that “if that was what they were going to give, they might go to h-ll.” It is greatly to be regretted that this most villainous affair was not punished on the spot. Instead of shooting every wretch engaged at once, the authorities contented themselves with the ordinary arrest, and hence the appearance of the matter in the police report of the morning.

 If it were the only thing of this sort which has appeared in Southern cities, it would not be worth attention. But as the reader has already seen from our columns, some two weeks ago there was one in Atlanta, immediately followed by one in Mobile; which was succeeded by another in Salisbury; then in Petersburg; and the very next day by this in Richmond. Now if these were unconcerted tumultuous movements, caused by popular suffering, they would not, could not, have this regular gradation of time from one city to another in the line of travel from the South to North. It is impossible to doubt that the concealed investigators in each case were the same. Having done the work in one city, they took the cars to the next. That they are emissaries of the Federal government it is equally difficult to doubt. For some time past the Northern press has teemed with intimations of some wonderful secret machinery which was at work to overthrow the South. This is what they meant. No doubt the next arrival of Northern newspapers will be filled with lies about these thief saturnalia, which will shame Munchausen. As three hundred Yankee prisoners went off by flag of truce on yesterday, the whole story, with all the additions which malice and invention can supply, has already got as far as Old Point.

 No doubt either that they will be represented as “bread riots!” Bread riots! while this and every other city of the South has always had large appropriations for the poor uncalled for; when labor is so scarce that everything in human shape that is willing to work can make from two to four dollars in the day; when seamstresses refuse two dollars and a half, with board, because the said board does not include tea and butter! Plunder, theft, burglary, and robbery, were the motives of these gangs, foreigners and Yankees the organizers of them.

 One thing is certain, that if any exhibition of the sort appear again, it must be put down in such a manner that it will never be repeated. There would never have been but one if the magistrates and citizens of the town in which they occurred had done their duty. A most contemptible notion, that such disturbance is a shame, which must be hidden, (as well try to hide the sun!) led them to coax and wheedle the audacious miscreants engaged in it. That course ensured their recurrence. It always does so. When an individual permits himself to be black-mailed by a scoundrel, he is always bled again and again till he is exhausted; so too a community which permits itself to be bullied by its criminal population, must expect to find it bolder every day until it rules all. We know that a street rabble, of which a cowardly king was afraid, once got such possession of Paris; that it produced an anarchy of blood and horror which lasted two years; lasted till the mob met a Corsican lieutenant who was not afraid of it or aught; when it vanished in a whiff of powder smoke and never was heard of again. Times of revolution and war are always fertile in this species of crime, and unless checked properly it becomes exceedingly dangerous to the public cause. There is only one way to check it properly. The opportunity to do so should not be avoided, or approached reluctantly, but eagerly sought and pursued to its very utmost extent of availability.

 It is useless to dwell on this truth. For citizens who have arms in their hands and yet permit their money and property to be ravished from them by cowardly burglars and thieves, because they are incited to come in a gang of fifty in broad day light, instead of by twos or threes at midnight, we have no sympathy. If the officers of the law, with the ample decision and energy to do more than arrest highway robbers and disperse a mob of idlers at their heels, whose presence there deserved immediate death quite as well, no words or arguments can furnish them with the pluck they lack.

April 13, 1863, Savannah Republican (Georgia)

 The editor of the Lake City Columbian paid a visit to Jacksonville, and gives the following account of the destruction of that town by the Abolitionists:

 Probably about one-third of the town was destroyed by the fires set by the enemy. A heavy rain and the efforts of the few citizens remaining, with the heavy aid of our troops as soon as they reached town, extinguished the flames in many of the buildings. Of the Churches, but two were burned–the Episcopal and the Catholic. The residence of the late Judge Pearson, and another dwelling near the former, was destroyed. Around the Catholic Church, pretty much all the buildings for the space of two blocks, were consumed. The Washington Hotel and the former residence of Mrs. Foster, and all for the space of two blocks in their rear, were destroyed with the exception of Mr. Hern’s house on the upper corner. The Court House and Jail were consigned to the flames. The four stores in the two-story brick block on Ocean street, north of Hoeg & Ambler’s block, were entirely destroyed. On Bay street, the following buildings were totally consumed: Bisbee & Canova’s block, T. O. Holmes’ block, Mr. Kipp’s house, Mr. Bisbee’s, Judge Dorman’s, Dr. Baldwin’s, and the four brick stores below Hoeg & Ambler’s owned by Messrs. Canova, Blackwell and Miller; also a brick store near, on the street running north. On the hill above the late Judson House, the buildings were entirely swept away, including the residences of Messrs. Geo. R. Foster, Emery, Gibbs, Fairbanks and several others whose names are unknown to us. In fact, from the railroad Depot to Mrs. Haddock’s place, (a distance of two miles,) there is not a building of any description left standing; even the brick church being burned and the brickyard destroyed. Besides this, an almost irreparable injury has been done to Jacksonville by the destruction of her beautiful shade trees. It was evidently the intention of the villains to destroy the whole town; but as usual, in their infamous and cowardly undertakings, they only partially succeeded.