FRIDAY 9

This day has not been so hot, rather cloudy and rain tonight. I was on the Ave and at the Pat office, got a Hack and brot home my Books and papers from the office. Nothing new stirring in the City. Do[c]t Vanslyck was here today and Capt Adams gave us a Call. I finished of[f] my model and did not do much else today about the House. The boys have been playing soldier in their tent opposite the House — keeping guard &c.

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The three diary manuscript volumes, Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865, are available online at The Library of   Congress.

August 9, Friday.–The colonel is out of humor with Lieutenant Rice for letting men on guard go to their tents to sleep and scolds him severely in the presence of his men. A little less grumbling and more instruction would improve the regiment faster. The men are disconcerted whenever the colonel approaches; they expect to be pitched into about something. A good man, but impatient and fault-finding; in short, he is out of health, nervous system out of order. Would he had sound health, and all would go well. He gives no instruction either in drill or other military duties but fritters away his time on little details which properly belong to clerks and inferior officers.– Begun to rain at noon, refreshing rather.

Our men returning from Sutton report our right wing under Lieutenant-Colonel Matthews gone on to Summersville. Also that a party in ambush fired on two companies of Colonel Lytle’s regiment, killing one and wounding four. This sort of murder must be stopped. The colonel is busy issuing passes to citizens, the patrol or picquets having been ordered to stop all persons travelling on the roads without passes. This must be a great annoyance to the inhabitants. Is there enough benefit to be gained for all the hate we shall stir up by it?

The mother of our adjutant at Camp Chase seeing a boy walking up and down on his sentinel’s beat took pity on him, sent him out a glass of wine and a piece of cake with a stool to sit on while he ate and drank. She told him not to keep walking so, to sit down and rest! She also advised him to resign!

More rumors of the approach of Lee with fifteen thousand men to attack our forces at Buchanan [Buckhannon]. Lieutenant Reichenbach with his party of twenty men marched yesterday twenty-eight miles and today, by noon, fifteen miles.

Joe Holt ¹ makes the best war speeches of any man in the land. It always braces my nerves and stirs my heart when I read them. At Camp Joe Holt, near Louisville, he said: “Since the sword flamed over the portals of Paradise until now, it has been drawn in no holier cause than that in which you are engaged.”

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CAMP NEAR WESTON, VIRGINIA, August 9, 1861.

Friday Afternoon.

DEAREST:–I have just read your letter postmarked the 5th at Kingston. Right pleased with you. Very happy to get your good letter. It has been bright, warm (hot) weather since Sunday, but today at noon a fine rain began to fall, and this afternoon I was loafing about in the tents, hard up for occupation. Lying alone in my tent, your letter came in with one from Uncle written Sunday. Wasn’t it so lucky? I’ve nothing to tell you, I believe. Dr. Joe is well–perfectly–again; busy changing his hospital from the court-house and jail to a secession church which doesn’t run now. The colonel is busy giving passes to citizens wishing to travel roads guarded by our picquets.

Colonel Matthews under Colonel Tyler has gone to Summersville about seventy miles south of this. They are looking for Wise. In the meantime we have rumors that General Lee is marching over the mountains to push the Union forces in this region out of the State, and to seize the stores so abundantly gathered hereabouts. We have no means of knowing the truth here; if there is anything in it, we shall be called to Buchanan [Buckhannon], sixteen miles east, where the first attack is expected. There is a little more activity among the enemy in this quarter since these rumors became rife. Our party from the south, returning today, report that an attack was made up the road on two companies of Colonel Lytle’s men by a party in ambush, who fired one volley and ran off into the hills. One man killed and four wounded. Captain Gaines (our prosecutor) called to see me last night. His company is detached from his regiment, guarding a party putting up telegraph wires. Mr. Schooley returned from Cincinnati with late news last night. He says, it [was] so lonely he really wished to get back to camp. I am sorry to have Colonel Matthews and the right wing gone, but except that we are doing nicely. Colonel Scammon is in better health and things go on very smoothly.

The soldiers fare very well here, and stand in little need of sympathy, but when I have an opportunity to smooth matters for them, I try to do it, always remembering how you would wish it done. What a good heart you have, darling. I shall try to be as good as you would like me to be.

Young Jewett got safely home. He is likely to have a long and serious time getting well, but will probably be very slightly, if at all, crippled. Colonel Ammen is at Clarksburg. If we have any force sent against us, we shall be with him; otherwise, not at present.

I am glad you are visiting at Aunt Margaret’s this hot weather. Do you recollect when we were up [the] Saguenay a year ago at this time? Here Colonel Scammon came in full of pleasant gossip, feeling happy with letters from his wife and daughters. No more chance to write in time for tonight’s mail. Continue to address me at Clarksburg until I direct otherwise. Love to all at Elmwood. Kiss the boys all around.

Affectionately,

R. B. HAYES.

MRS. HAYES.

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¹Joseph Holt, born in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, January 6, 1807; died in Washington, August 1, 1894. Famous as a jurist and an orator. He was Postmaster-General in Buchanan’s Cabinet for a time and in 1860, when John B. Flood resigned, he became Secretary of War. He was a vigorous Union man, urging his fellow Kentuckians “to fly to the rescue of their country before it is everlastingly too late.” In September, 1862, President Lincoln appointed him Judge-Advocate General of the army, in which capacity he served long with great distinction.

AUGUST 9th.—Gen. Magruder commands on the Peninsula. President Tyler had a villa near Hampton, which the Yankees despoiled in a barbarous manner. They cut his carpets, defaced the pictures, broke the statues, and made kindling wood of the piano, sofas, etc.

Arkansas True Democrat [Little Rock],
August 8, 1861

There are three or four cotton factories in this State, but we do not know of the number of spindles driven, or their capacity for turning out thread and cloth. If not now in operation, we hope to hear soon that they are under full headway. If they would be profitable at any time, it will be now and during the continuance of the war. We will be glad to receive information concerning this and other branches of industry in this State.

As a great deal of coal was floated down the Mississippi river, which is now closed above, and none can be brought up to New Orleans and other points, it appears to us that the coal beds of Arkansas can now be profitably worked. Those on the Ouachita river will, probably, be managed by a company from New Orleans. There is excellent coal up the Arkansas and plenty of it; that at Spadra being on the bank of the river and easily obtained.

Salt will become scarce and valuable unless we avail ourselves of the many salt springs in our State. Some of these salines are worked now. Others give a strong brine which would yield sufficient salt to pay for the erection of pumps, boilers, etc. And it should be remembered that the invariable rule is “the deeper the well, the stronger the brine.”

Every man who has a good tannery now, has a little fortune. We are afraid that there will be a great scarcity of leather and shoes next winter, unless more tanneries are established and better care taken by our farmers of the hides or skins of animals. We must economize in this respect, not only from patriotism, but from necessity. We have within ourselves a full supply for all our wants, and only need a development of our resources to make us independent. Let any man count up the amount paid by Arkansas to the North, in a year for the single articles of boots and shoes. At three dollars to each person, it would largely exceed a million of dollars.

Now is the time to set about these things, and by cold weather we can be prepared to supply those wants heretofore supplied by importations. We urge upon the farmers to be careful of the furs and skins of all wild and tame animals, and have them properly tanned. Let none be thrown away or nailed to barn doors and suffered to dry up and become worthless. A large tannery has been, or will be, established in the eastern part of the State. There is room for such a one in the west, as large numbers of hides can be procured from our Indian neighbors.

As regards salines and coal beds, those desiring information on that point will find it in the reports of the geological survey. The second report, though printed and delivered, has not been distributed, but, no doubt, any gentleman seeking information of that kind, can procure one by applying to the Governor, or Secretary of State.

9th.–What a wonderful effect the hardships of camp life, with the troubles and cares which they entail on a surgeon, have had on my health. For many years I have been dyspeptic. Now I can eat what I please, and go without sleep almost entirely, and suffer no inconvenience. Last night, at 11 o’clock, after having ate a piece of hard salt beef for my supper, I “cared for” a pint of rich ice cream, and feel no inconvenience from it to-day. This would kill an ordinary civil man. I have to work very hard, but feel it a great comfort to work amongst the sick without suffering from fatigue, as I have been accustomed to.

Having received an order this morning from Gen. Dix to put all my sick into general hospital, and finding them bitterly opposed, I visited Fort McHenry, saw Gen. D., and prevailed on him to rescind the order.

I was highly gratified with what I saw at Fort McHenry. It, being the first equipped fort I ever saw, was an object of much interest; its numerous cannon, large enough for a small soldier to sleep in, pointing in all directions overlooking Baltimore and guarding all the approaches to it. No matter from what direction you come, you find these monster guns looking right in your face. Low down behind the walls lie almost innumerable ugly bull-dog-looking mortars, not over two and a half feet long, loaded with a 20 to 40-pound shells filling them to the very muzzle, and ready to be vomited forth at the first approach of trouble. There, too, is the great Dahlgren, stretching its long black neck away beyond the embrasures, as if looking for an object into which to pour its monster shot and shell, or its shower of grape and cannister. Its howitzers are there, and its great Columbiads, into some of which I was strongly tempted to crawl and take a nap, but a sudden recollection of the history of Jonah reminded me that its stomach, too, might sicken, and that I might awake in a trip across the mighty deep on the wings of the wind. I didn’t go in. The bright little brass 6, 8, and 10 pounders, on the greater number of which Napoleon said God always smiled in battles, were conspicuous amongst these great leviathans, and above all, the newly invented rifle cannon, ready to demolish ships or houses at two to five miles distance.

Have lost no man yet from sickness, but I have one who, I fear, will not recover. He is supposed to he poisoned by a glass of lemonade, bought of a man suspected of being a rebel.

I have succeeded, by selling a half barrel of flour, and by the approval of a small requisition made on the commissary, in getting provisions of all kinds to make my little detachment comfortable.

August 9.–President Lincoln to-day made the following appointments of brigadier-generals for the volunteer force: Colonels Blenker and Slocum, of the volunteers, and Major Wadsworth, aide to Gen. McDowell; Colonel John A. Peck, Ex-Major of the regular army, who distinguished himself in the Mexican war; John H. Martindalc, a graduate at West Point; Ormsby M. Mitchell, Professor of Astronomy, of Cincinnati, a graduate of West Point and an ex-army officer.

–Ormond F. Nims’ battery of light artillery left Boston for the seat of war. The company departed from their camp at Quincy at 7J o’clock last evening, and, marching through South Boston, reached the Providence depot at 11 ¼ o’clock. An hour and a half was occupied in getting their guns, horses, and carriages on the cars. The battery consists of Bix rifled 6 pounders, and besides the regular caissons it has baggage wagons, forges, magazines, etc. Six hundred Schenckl’s shell and James’s projectile were sent from the State Arsenal for the use of the battery.

–The United States Marshal, at Boston, Mass., arrested a person who registered himself at the Parker House as “C. Jordan, Pittsburg, Pa.,” but who subsequently has confessed himself as John Williams, of Norfolk, Va., and was supposed to hold a commission in the rebel army. He was arrested as a spy, and by orders received from the Secretary of War, was sent to Fort Lafayette, New York harbor. –N. Y. Tribune, August 11.

–The Third Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers, who were in the battle at Bull Run, returned to Hartford, and were received amid the firing of guns, the cheers of the firemen and military, and an immense throng of citizens, who had assembled to welcome thorn home.– N. Y. Tribune, August 11.

–Lieut.-Col. Robert Nugent, of the Sixty-ninth Regiment N. Y. S. M., was appointed to a captaincy in the regular army of the United States. Captain Nugent was born in the North of Ireland, his brother John M. being at present the Mayor of Dumdalk. He came to America immediately after the abortive insurrection of ’43; and having strong military tastes, soon enrolled his name in the Fourth Company of the N. Y. National Guards, and served two years under Captain Riblet. On the organization of the Sixty-ninth in ’52, Captain Nugent became one of its earliest officers, and has served faithfully in its ranks as Lieutenant, Captain, Major, and Lieutenant-Colonel down to the present day.–N. Y. Tribune, August 11.

–General Lyon learned that the rebels, 22,000 in number, under Ben. McCulloch, were on Wilson’s Creek, nine miles from Springfield, Mo., and moved against them with his whole force, only 5,200. The force was disposed in two columns. One under Col. Siegel with his own regiment, and that of Col. Salomon’s, and six guns, moved 15 miles in a southerly direction to turn the enemy’s right flank, and the other wider Gen. Lyon moved forward to attack in front. Lyon’s column consisted of the Missouri First, Iowa First, Kansas First and Second, part of the Missouri Second, a detachment from Col. Wyman’s Illinois Regiment, all volunteers; eight hundred regulars, and two batteries of 4 and 6 guns respectively. There were also four mounted companies of Home Guards. Both columns left Springfield at about 8 P. M.–St. Louis Democrat, August 12.

August 9, 1861

A Chronological History of the Civil War in America¹

• Rebels attacked and routed at Potosi, Mo.

1. A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863

August 8th.–To-day I saw a sword captured at Manassas. The man who brought the sword, in the early part of the fray, was taken prisoner by the Yankees. They stripped him, possessed themselves of his sleeve-buttons, and were in the act of depriving him of his boots when the rout began and the play was reversed; proceedings then took the opposite tack.

From a small rill in the mountain has flowed the mighty stream which has made at last Louis Wigfall the worst enemy the President has in the Congress, a fact which complicates our affairs no little. Mr. Davis’s hands ought to be strengthened; he ought to be upheld. A divided house must fall, we all say.

Mrs. Sam Jones, who is called Becky by her friends and cronies, male and female, said that Mrs. Pickens had confided to the aforesaid Jones (nee Taylor, and so of the President Taylor family and cousin of Mr. Davis’s first wife), that Mrs. Wigfall “described Mrs. Davis to Mrs. Pickens as a coarse Western woman.” Now the fair Lucy Holcombe and Mrs. Wigfall had a quarrel of their own out in Texas, and, though reconciled, there was bitterness underneath. At first, Mrs. Joe Johnston called Mrs. Davis “a Western belle,” ¹ but when the quarrel between General Johnston and the President broke out, Mrs. Johnston took back the “belle” and substituted “woman” in the narrative derived from Mrs. Jones.

Commodore Barron ² came with glad tidings. We had taken three prizes at sea, and brought them in safely, one laden with molasses. General Toombs told us the President complimented Mr. Chesnut when he described the battle scene to his Cabinet, etc. General Toombs is certain Colonel Chesnut will be made one of the new batch of brigadiers. Next came Mr. Clayton, who calmly informed us Jeff Davis would not get the vote of this Congress for President, so we might count him out.

Mr. Meynardie first told us how pious a Christian soldier was Kershaw, how he prayed, got up, dusted his knees and led his men on to victory with a dash and courage equal to any Old Testament mighty man of war.

Governor Manning’s account of Prince Jerome Napoleon : “He is stout and he is not handsome. Neither is he young, and as he reviewed our troops he was terribly overheated.” He heard him say “en avant,” of that he could testify of his own knowledge, and he was told he had been heard to say with unction “Allons ” more than once. The sight of the battle-field had made the Prince seasick, and he received gratefully a draft of fiery whisky.

Arrago seemed deeply interested in Confederate statistics, and praised our doughty deeds to the skies. It was but soldier fare our guests received, though we did our best. It was hard sleeping and worse eating in camp. Beauregard is half Frenchman and speaks French like a native. So one awkward mess was done away with, and it was a comfort to see Beauregard speak without the agony of finding words in the foreign language and forming them, with damp brow, into sentences. A different fate befell others who spoke “a little French.”

General and Mrs. Cooper came to see us. She is Mrs. Smith Lee’s sister. They were talking of old George Mason–in Virginia a name to conjure with. George Mason violently opposed the extension of slavery. He was a thorough aristocrat, and gave as his reason for refusing the blessing of slaves to the new States, Southwest and Northwest, that vulgar new people were unworthy of so sacred a right as that of holding slaves. It was not an institution intended for such people as they were. Mrs. Lee said: “After all, what good does it do my sons that they are Light Horse Harry Lee’s grandsons and George Mason’s? I do not see that it helps them at all.”

A friend in Washington writes me that we might have walked into Washington any day for a week after Manassas, such were the consternation and confusion there. But the god Pan was still blowing his horn in the woods. Now she says Northern troops are literally pouring in from all quarters. The horses cover acres of ground. And she thinks we have lost our chance forever.

A man named Grey (the same gentleman whom Secretary of War Walker so astonished by greeting him with, “Well, sir, and what is your business?”) described the battle of the 21st as one succession of blunders, redeemed by the indomitable courage of the two-thirds who did not run away on our side. Doctor Mason said a fugitive on the other side informed him that “a million of men with the devil at their back could not have whipped the rebels at Bull Run.” That’s nice.

There must be opposition in a free country. But it is very uncomfortable. “United we stand, divided we fall.” Mrs. Davis showed us in The New York Tribune an extract from an Augusta (Georgia) paper saying, “Cobb is our man. Davis is at heart a reconstructionist.” We may be flies on the wheel, we know our insignificance; but Mrs. Preston and myself have entered into an agreement; our oath is recorded on high. We mean to stand by our President and to stop all fault-finding with the powers that be, if we can and where we can, be the fault-finders generals or Cabinet Ministers.

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¹ Mrs. Davis was born in Natchez, Mississippi, and educated in Philadelphia. She was married to Mr. Davis in 1845. In recent years her home has been in New York City, where she still resides (Dec. 1904).

² Samuel Barron was a native of Virginia, who had risen to be a captain in the United States Navy. At the time of Secession he received a commission as Commodore in the Confederate Navy.

Brevoort Place, August 8th, 1861.

Your response to my patriotic fervors gave me a sort of chill. We did not seem en rapport. . . . We are heartily ready to record our faith that the war is worth what it may cost, although the end may be only–only! the preservation of the Government, and not, just now, the liberation of the slaves. Perhaps you hold, with Mr. Phillips and Abby (I believe they comprise the entire party) that the war is not justifiable if it “means only stars and stripes.” We think, or to resume the perpendicular pronoun, I think that is enough for it to mean or seem to mean at present. “The mills of the Gods grind slow,” you know, or, if you will let me requote to you your own quotation, “you cannot hurry God.” Don’t you and Mr. Phillips want to hurry Him a little? I would rather, for my part, think with Mrs. Stowe, that the question of the existence of free society covers that other question, and that this war is Eternally Righteous even if it “means only the stars and stripes.” .. . We are all getting bravely over the two or three dreadful days of a fortnight ago, and coming to think that our retreat under the circumstances was not such a bad thing after all. . . . Monday after Bull Run was a frightful day in Washington. Georgy says a thick gloom oppressed them which the knowledge of the safety of those nearest them could not lighten in the least, and that a sad procession of the wounded was passing through the streets all day under the heavy rain. . . . Many of the men are but slightly wounded, and all are perfectly patient, cheerful and only eager for “another chance.” “Tell her about the wound in my hand preventing me from writing,” one man said, for whom Georgy was writing home. “And the wound in your leg?” G. asked. “No, never mind about that.” “And I shall say you fought bravely?” “Oh, no matter about that; she’d be sure of that.” They have known two or three cases of Southern barbarity to our wounded. But the poor wretches expected the same thing at our hands. Dr. Bacon, an intimate friend who has just come home with his regiment, Connecticut 2nd, says in the battle on Sunday he came upon a piece of shade in which four or five wounded Georgians were lying, and what was very painful to him, every man believed that he had come to kill them, lying there disabled. One young fellow called out, “Don’t hurt me, I’m hurt enough already,” and the rest made a feeble show of defending themselves. Of course he dressed their wounds, and did what he could for them with more than usual care and gentleness, and I can bear witness how careful and gentle that must have been, but it was hard to tell which emotion was uppermost with them, gratitude or astonishment. Mr. Maclise, of the 71st, which has come home, says he found a wounded man under a tree, a Carolinian, he thinks, who begged for his life in the same way. “Bless your soul,” Maclise said, “I wouldn’t hurt you for the world; don’t you want some water?” The poor fellow eagerly took the water from his enemy’s canteen. “If I only had a cup I could give you some brandy,” Mr. M. added. “Oh, just look in my knapsack and you’ll find a cup.” So Maclise opened the knapsack, took out a beautiful silver cup, mixed the draught, and made his patient as comfortable as he knew how, bringing home the silver cup, at the Carolinian’s most urgent entreaty, as a souvenir of that sad day. He will try and return it one of these days. But what a blackness of darkness, of falsehood and misrepresentation lies behind all this. These perfectly intelligent men devoutly believed that we would kill them, unarmed, sick and helpless! . . . The “prevailing” Prince comes and goes, and nobody seems to care much about it. We have learned something, or it is that we have too many troubles of our own to care for the pleasures of princes. He overstayed his time at Mount Vernon the other day, and there was a splendid story that he had been captured, but he spoiled the bulletins and the joke by coming back to a soiree at two o’clock at night. . . . We are going, as much for duty as pleasure, to Lenox, to-morrow or Saturday, for a few weeks, to refresh ourselves for the winter. As long as McClellan keeps quiet we shall stay. He resigned one day last week. Col. Davies dined with us yesterday and told us so, from his uncle, General Mansfield, who had seen the letter. The administration attempted some interference in his reforms, and he sent in his resignation. It was immediately hushed up, refused, of course, and he was allowed to have his way.

AUGUST 8th.—For some time past (but since the battle at Manassas) quite a number of Northern and Baltimore policemen have made their appearance in Richmond. Some of these, if not indeed all of them, have been employed by Gen. Winder. These men, by their own confessions, have been heretofore in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, merely petty larceny detectives, dwelling in bar-rooms, ten-pin alleys, and such places. How can they detect political offenders, when they are too ignorant to comprehend what constitutes a political offense? They are illiterate men, of low instincts and desperate characters. But their low cunning will serve them here among unsuspecting men. They will, if necessary, give information to the enemy themselves, for the purpose of convincing the authorities that a detective police is indispensable; and it is probable a number of them will be, all the time, on the pay-rolls of Lincoln.

HEADQUARTERS SECOND BRIGADE, C. S. TROOPS,
Near Pensacola, Fla., August 8, 1861.

Hon. L. P. WALKER, Secretary of War:

DEAR SIR: Perhaps you would like to hear from this place, once of so much importance. The departure of General W. H. T. Walker and the sickness of Colonel Clayton have for a time placed me in command of the Second Brigade here. I have the First Alabama Regiment, the Seventh Alabama, and a Georgia battalion, with two independent companies, in all about two thousand three hundred men, with Fort Barrancas and three-fourths of all the batteries at this place. If there could be a fight I would have a fair chance for a place in it of some importance, but we look for nothing of the kind now. I believe that with three thousand additional troops Pickens can be easily taken, certainly with five thousand. We have much sickness. In my eight infantry companies there are two hundred on sick-list. In First Regiment three hundred and twenty-four out of nine hundred and seventeen are sick. Not so many in the Georgia battalion. Our troops are dispirited by inaction, desponding at the thought that they will never have a fight. I have had several conversations with the general, and find that he is regretting that no opportunity could be afforded him on the field of Manassas to show his ability to control and fight an army. From what I have seen of him I have no doubt that his selection for this command has been a most judicious one. The army has throughout great confidence in him.

I find myself a good deal abused. I have established and maintained so far order and discipline in my regiment. It is difficult to bring volunteers down to a soldier’s life, but we cannot succeed without it. If all the regiments at Manassas had been as well drilled as mine we would not have lost so many men. I refer to General W. H. T. Walker, who will be in Richmond, as to my regiment and how we are doing. [continue reading…]

August 8. Thursday.–Rumors of the approach of a great army under Lee from eastern Virginia are still rife. The enemy is said to be near Monterey, the other side of the Alleghanies and aiming to come in this direction to reoccupy western Virginia, capture our stores, and to dash the war if possible into Ohio. The United States ought promptly to push into western Virginia an army of at least fifty thousand men to repel any such attack if made and to push on to the railroad leading from Richmond southwesterly through Lynchburg towards east Tennessee. This would cut off Richmond from the southwestern States and be otherwise useful. Horsemen and waggons are now passing towards Bulltown. This is the hottest day yet; it must rain before night.

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WESTON, VIRGINIA, August 8, 1861.

DEAR UNCLE:–I am glad to learn by a letter from Mother that you are getting well enough to ride about town. I hope you will continue to gain. If you should want to take a short trip this fall, I am not sure but a journey this way would be as enjoyable as any you could make. By getting a note from Governor Dennison, you could travel on railroad (now run by the Government) to Clarksburg, and thence, there are all sorts of conveyances, from a teetering ambulance to an old-fashioned Pennsylvania six-horse waggon.

Our regiment is divided for the present. One half under Colonel Matthews has gone forty-four miles south. We remain in charge of a great supply depot, and charged with keeping in order the turbulent of this region. The Union men are the most numerous, but the other side is the more wealthy and noisy. We are kept busy enough with them.

This town is about as large as Fremont was ten years ago, has a fine court-house and other county buildings. A lunatic asylum for the State of great size was building when the war broke out. It is a healthy hilly country, very picturesque, and hotter today than the Cincinnati landing. We are so busy that we do not complain much of the tediousness of camp life. We are now constantly hearing of the approach of General Lee from eastern Virginia with a force large enough to drive us out and capture all our stores, if one-fourth that is told is true. He is said to be about seventy-five miles southeast of us in the mountains. Whether there is truth in it or not, I have no doubt that troops will be urged into this region to hold the country. At any rate, as it is on the route to east Tennessee, and on a route to cut off the railroads from the southwest, I am sure there ought to be a splendid Union army assembled here. I suppose it will be done.

Lucy and the boys are in Pickaway County. Dr. Jim was taken prisoner at Manassas, but escaped; lost his carpet-sack, but captured a secession horse which he brought home. Dr. Joe enjoys it well. Colonel Scammon is an agreeable gentleman to associate with. We have a great deal of amusement. Dr. Joe visits the secession folks, and reports a great many good things. They say that in two weeks they will see us scattering like sheep before the great army of Lee and Wise.

When you write, direct to me, “Twenty-third Regiment, Ohio Volunteers, Clarksburg, Virginia,” and it will be sent wherever I may chance to be. We are now connected by telegraph with the whole country. A dispatch to or from Weston, is more certain of delivery than a letter. Love to all.

Sincerely,

R. B. HAYES.

S. BIRCHARD

Daily Chronicle & Sentinel [Augusta, GA],
August 8, 1861

Those who have relatives or dear friends in the army ought not to write gloomy or discouraging letters to camp. The soldier has food for sad and gloomy fits, in his own quiet meditations, without being assisted by despondent missives from home. Write the soldiers cheerful and encouraging letters. A letter from home passes the rounds of the camp, and if its tones are bright and cheerful it puts a pleasant hue on all. If you feel sad, don’t write at all, rather than write in a sad strain.

August, 8th.–”I am monarch of all I survey.” Last night, intelligence being received that an attack was expected on Washington ; we were ordered to move there instanter, and at once the regiment was in motion. It got off in the course of the night, leaving me here in charge of about forty men who were too sick to be moved. I am left without provisions or money, except a few pounds of flour with which to feed and care for the sick, and the ten well ones left with me, to aid me and to look up deserters who have been left here. How am I to do it? I find a strong secession element here, and at times it is very bold. The hurrahs for Jeff. Davis are frequent, and all day the children are flaunting secession flags in our faces, and flying secession kites in our camp ground

August 8th.–I had arranged to go with Mr. Olmsted and Mr. Ritchie to visit the hospitals, but the heat was so intolerable, we abandoned the idea till the afternoon, when we drove across the long bridge and proceeded to Alexandria. The town, which is now fully occupied by military, and is abandoned by the respectable inhabitants, has an air, owing to the absence of women and children, which tells the tale of a hostile occupation. In a large building, which had once been a school, the wounded of Bull Bun were lying, not uncomfortably packed, nor unskilfully cared for, and the arrangements were, taken altogether, creditable to the skill and humanity of the surgeons. Close at hand was the church in which George Washington was wont in latter days to pray, when he drove over from Mount Vernon–further on, Marshal House, where Ellsworth was shot by the Virginian landlord, and was so speedily avenged. A strange strain of thought was suggested, by the rapid grouping of incongruous ideas, arising out of the proximity of these scenes. As one of my friends said, “I wonder what Washington would do if he were here now–and how he would act if he were summoned from that church to Marshall House or to this hospital?” The man who uttered these words was not either of my companions, but wore the shoulder-straps of a Union officer. “Stranger still,” said I, “would it be to speculate on the thoughts and actions of Napoleon in this crisis, if he were to wake up and see a Prince of his blood escorted by Federal soldiers to the spot where the troops of the Southern States had inflicted on them a signal defeat, in a land where the nephew who now sits on the throne of France has been an exile.” It is not quite certain that many Americans understand who Prince Napoleon is, for one of the troopers belonging to the escort which took him out from Alexandria declared positively he had ridden with the Emperor. The excursion is swallowed, but not well-digested. In Washington the only news to-night is, that a small privateer from Charleston, mistaking the St. Lawrence for a merchant vessel, fired into her and was at once sent to Mr. Davy Jones by a rattling broadside. Congress having adjourned, there is but little to render Washington less uninteresting than it must be in its normal state.

The truculent and overbearing spirit which arises from the uncontroverted action of democratic majorities developes itself in the North, where they have taken to burning newspaper offices and destroying all the property belonging to the proprietors and editors. These actions are a strange commentary on Mr. Seward’s declaration “that no volunteers are to be refused because they do not speak English, inasmuch as the contest for the Union is a battle of the free men of the world for the institutions of self-government.”

The following is taken from the Lexington “Gazette,” dated August 8,1861:

”It is due to our worthy fellow-citizen, Mr. E. F. Paxton, or rather it is due to the county of Rockbridge, to claim credit for Mr. Paxton’s conduct, which he has been too modest to claim for himself. A correspondent of one of the Richmond papers a short time since spoke of a Virginian who had been lost from his company during the fight, and fell in with the Georgia Regiment just as their standard-bearer fell. The lost Virginian asked leave to bear the colors. It was granted to him. He bore them bravely. The flag was shot through three times, and the flag-staff was shot off whilst in his hands. But he placed the flag on the Sherman Battery, and our brave men stood up to their colors and took the battery. That lost Virginian was E. F. Paxton, of Rockbridge.”

August 8.–This evening, at Baltimore, Md., Charles King, from North Carolina, was arrested by officer Stevens, of the Southern District, by order of Major-General Dix, on the charge of being concerned in the raising of a number of men, whoso purpose it was to organize themselves into a crew, and take passage on some boat, intending to capture it in the same manner as the St. Nicholas, and then turn her into a pirate.–Baltimore Patriot, August 9.

–The Nineteenth Regiment of Indiana Volunteers passed through Philadelphia for the seat of war.–N. Y. Herald, August 9.

–F. K. Zollicoffer was appointed a brigadier-general in the rebel army, and assigned to the command of the Department of East Tennessee. On assuming his command, he issued a proclamation assuring all who desire peace, that they can have it by quietly and harmlessly pursuing their lawful avocations.–(Doc. 171.)

–The Massachusetts Fifteenth Regiment, under the command of Colonel Charles Devens, left Camp Scott, Worcester, Mass., for the seat of war. This regiment is armed with the Springfield musket, and numbers 1,040 men. They are all tall, muscular men, possessing the lightness of limb and full development of natural powers which denote the true specimen of a soldier. Their dress consists of the regular army uniform–gray pantaloons, blue coats, and hat, which is as neat and useful a thing as our fighting men could have.–N. Y. Herald, August 10.

–One hundred men of the Nineteenth Regiment N. Y. V., commanded by Capt. Kennedy, crossed the Potomac at Rock Ferry, at 1 A. M., and marched to Lorrettsville, Loudon co., Va., where it was reported that a company of rebel cavalry were engaged in the impressment of citizens. “When they reached the town the rebels had left, and they retraced their steps; but late in the afternoon, while upon their return march, they were overtaken with word that another detachment of about 130 cavalry had entered the town. Tired and worn out, almost shoeless, and hungry, the brave follows with a shout at once voted unanimously to return and attack the rebels. Starting at a double-quick time they reached the town, and under the cover of a corn-field gained sight of the cavalry about thirty rods distant. Resting for a few minutes, they heard the rebel captain give orders to mount, and believing they had been discovered and were about to be charged upon, Captain Kennedy charged upon the town at a double-quick, firing two volleys as they ran. The enemy, after firing a few harmless shots, made their way, concealed by houses, out of the opposite side of the town, but not until they had one lieutenant killed and five men wounded.–N. Y. Times, August 18.

–The office of the Democratic Standard at Concord, N. H., was completely relieved of its contents this afternoon by a mob composed of the soldiers of the returned First Regiment and citizens. The Standard published an article reflecting on the soldiers. They demanded retraction, and the Palmers–the editors and proprietors–shook pistols and axes out of the windows and dared the mob, while the city authorities endeavored to quell the disturbance. The Palmers fired four shots, wounding two soldiers. The office was immediately stripped, and the materials burnt in the street. The Palmers took refuge in the attic, but were finally found and carried to the police station, protected by the police, though with great difficulty.–(Doc. 172.)

–Dissatisfaction at the supposed intention of the Government not to receive men in its army who could not speak the English language, and a misconception of a War Department order upon the subject, led to the withdrawal as thus stated:

Department Of State,
Washington, August 8,1861.

To F. A. Alberger, Esq., Mayor of the city of Buffalo, N. Y.:

Dear Sir : I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 5th inst., and to state in reply, that the order to which it refers was officially explained a day or two since by the Secretary of War, but having still been a subject of great misapprehension it has now been entirely rescinded and vacated. Consequently there is no obstacle whatever to the acceptance of the services of volunteers, on the ground of their nationality or language. The contest for the Union is regarded, as it ought to be, a battle of the freemen of the world for the institutions of self-government.

I am very truly yours,

William H. Seward.

–In a communication of this date, in respect to the disposition to be made of contrabands, the Secretary of War informed General Butler that he was to be governed by the act of Congress, 1861, which “declares that if persons held to service shall be employed in hostility to the United States, the right to their services shall be forfeited.”–(Doc. 173.)

–The Massachusetts Fourteenth Regiment, under the command of Colonel Wm. R. Greene, left Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, for the seat of war. The regiment numbers 1,046 members. Their uniform is light brown pants, deep blue jacket, light blue overcoat, and regulation hat. They are armed with the Springfield musket of the pattern of 1842. They have with them twenty-four baggage wagons, four ambulances, two hospital wagons, and 220 horses.

All the field and staff officers of this regiment but two are natives of Massachusetts. Of the whole corps 350 are married men, and 5 widowers with families. It has one “gentleman,” a host of shoemakers and laborers, and samples of every kind of craftsmen and operatives known among us. There are several teachers on the roll, and one “missionary.” There are a great many blacksmiths–more than any other regiment probably will average. The Amesbury section (Co. E) has thirteen disciples of Vulcan on its roll. The farmers are about equal in number to the blacksmiths. There are three artists, one photographer, one physician, only one printer, two students, and a number of hatters and machinists. One-half of the whole regiment is composed of men connected with the boot and shoe business.–N. Y. World, August 9.

–The ” Confederate” Congress in session at Richmond, Va., adopted the following resolution this day:–

Whereas it has been found that the uncertainty of maritime law in time of war has given rise to differences of opinion between neutrals and belligerents, which may occasion serious misunderstandings, and even conflicts;

and whereas the Plenipotentiaries of Great Britain, France, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, and Russia, at the Congress of Paris of 1856, established a uniform doctrine on this subject, to which they invited the adherence of the nations of the world, which is as follows:

1. That privateering is and remains abolished.

2. That the neutral flag covers the enemy’s goods, with the exception of contraband of war.

3. That neutral goods, with the exception of contraband of war, are not liable to capture under the enemy’s flag, and

4. That blockades, in order to be binding, must be effective; that is to say, maintained by a force sufficient really to prevent access to the coast of the enemy.

And whereas it is desirable that the Confederate States of America shall assume a definite position on so important a point; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Congress of the Confederate States of America accept the second, third, and fourth clauses of the above-cited declaration, and decline to assent to the first clause thereof.

–There was published a letter dated April 15, from Gen. Frost, Missouri Militia, to Gov. Jackson of Missouri, apropos to the President’s proclamation calling out 75,000 volunteers. He advises the Governor to convene the Legislature, proclaim to the people of the Slate that the President’s proclamation is illegal, and especially to take St. Louis, held by United States troops.–(Doc. 174.)

August 8, 1861

A Chronological History of the Civil War in America¹

• Rebels routed at Lovettsville, Va.
• Of?ce of the Democratic Standard, a secession paper, at Concord, N. H., cleaned out by a mob, and the materials burned in the street.

1. A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863

25 Cooper Union, N. Y., August 7th, 1861.

My dear Miss Woolsey: Dr. Blackwell, at our last board meeting, read a very interesting letter from you, giving details about the hospitals. We should be very much obliged if you would be willing to write us a few incidents in regard to hospital supplies. Any little personal anecdote relative to the pleasure caused by the receipt of these delicacies and stores, any message from a wounded soldier, would go farther to interest our country contributors, than any figure-statements of what has been, and is to be, done. . . .

The response made to our appeals is grand, and it is a privilege to know and feel the noble spirit that animates the women of the loyal states. We have contributions not only from our own states, but from Conn., New Jersey, Massachusetts and Michigan. Within the last fortnight our receipts have amounted to over 7000 different articles of clothing and 860 of edibles. . . .

Our letters from the Sanitary Commission say that the hospitals near Washington are now well supplied.

AUGUST 7th.—Saw Col. Pendleton to-day, but it was not the first time. I have seen him in the pulpit, and heard him preach good sermons. He is an Episcopal minister. He it was that plowed such destruction through the ranks of the invaders at Manassas. At first the battery did no execution; perceiving this, he sighted the guns himself and fixed the range. Then exclaiming, “Fire, boys! and may God have mercy on their guilty souls!” he beheld the lanes made through the regiments of the enemy. Since then be has been made a colonel, and will some day be a general; for he was a fellow-cadet at West Point with the President and Bishop Polk.

A tremendous excitement! The New York Herald has been received, containing a pretty accurate list of our military forces in the different camps of the Confederate States, with names and grades of the general officers. The Secretary told me that if he had required such a list, a more correct one could not have been furnished him. Who is the traitor? Is he in the Adjutant-General’s office? Many suppose so; and some accuse Gen. Cooper, simply because he is a Northern man by birth. But the same information might be supplied by the Quartermaster’s or Commissary-General’s office; and perhaps by the Ordnance Bureau; for all these must necessarily be in communication with the different organizations in the field. Congress was about to order an investigation; but it is understood the department suggested that the matter could be best searched into by the Executive. For my part, I have no doubt there are many Federal spies in the departments. Too many clerks were imported from Washington. And yet I doubt if any one in a subordinate position, without assistance from higher authority, could have prepared the list published in the Herald

August 7, Wednesday.–Another bright, warm day. With Adjutant Fisher pistol shooting this A. M. Tolerably good firing. Last night a picket shot through the hand; said he fired twice at his assailant; doubted. Supposed to be an accidental wounding. Letters from Ohio.