January 9th, 1865

I had been suffering with the toothache for some days when on this day it became so bad that I made up my mind to go to the doctor and have the tooth extracted. I arrived at the doctor’s tent, he directed me to an ancient chair and asked me to show him the tooth. I pointed out the exact tooth, he hooked on, at the same time telling me to hold on to the chair, and pulled. He succeeded in bringing the tooth, but it was not the aching one. I however, concluded that one tooth at a time was enough, even if it was the wrong one, and returned to my rancho with the hope that it would soon quit aching. But the last state of that tooth was worse than the first.—A. G. D.

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 time to receive marching orders. The men’s clothing was packed in valises, and all the eatables sold to parties who remain here, save one barrel of Irish potatoes. We leave to-morrow morning. Major Willison’s resignation was accepted to-day, and this evening the officers unanimously agreed to recommend me to fill the vacancy. There was not a hint towards any one else. I take it as a high compliment. I am the youngest captain in the regiment, and this recommendation made by men whom I have campaigned with for two and a half years, and not one of whom has been accused of failing to do his duty in the service, makes me feel a little proud. I will value the recommendation more than the commission, if I get it.

9th. Monday. Put up picket poles and policed ground.

Monday, 9th–We remained in camp all day.^[1] It rained most of the day. No news of any importance.

[1] I had been suffering with the toothache for some days when on this day it became so bad that I made up my mind to go to the doctor and have the tooth extracted. I arrived at the doctor’s tent, he directed me to an ancient chair and asked me to show him the tooth. I pointed out the exact tooth, he hooked on, at the same time telling me to hold on to the chair, and pulled. He succeeded in bringing the tooth, but it was not the aching one. I however, concluded that one tooth at a time was enough, even if it was the wrong one, and returned to my rancho with the hope that it would soon quit aching. But the last state of that tooth was worse than the first.—A. G. D.

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 meeting in Savannah, over which the Mayor presided, embracing the terms of submission offered in President Lincoln’s message. They have sent North for provisions–indicating that the city was in a famishing condition. Our government is to blame for this! The proceedings will be used as a “form,” probably, by other cities–thanks to the press!

The Examiner is out this morning for a convention of all the (Confederate) States, and denouncing the President. I presume the object is to put Lee at the head of military affairs.

The rumor of the death of Gen. Price is not confirmed.

Gen. Pemberton has been relieved here and sent elsewhere.

The Piedmont Railroad has been impressed. A secret act of Congress authorizes it.

Miers W. Fisher writes that if the cabinet indorses the newspaper suggestions of giving up slavery and going under true monarchies, it is an invitation to refugees like himself to return to their homes, and probably some of the States will elect to return to the Union for the sake of being under a republican government, etc. He says it is understood that the Assistant Secretary often answers letters unseen by the Secretary; and if so, he can expect no answer from Mr. S., but will put the proper construction on his silence, etc.

Flour is $700 per barrel to-day; meal, $80 per bushel; coal and wood, $100 per load. Does the government (alone to blame) mean to allow the rich speculators, the quartermasters, etc. to starve honest men into the Union?

8th.—Some persons in this beleaguered city seem crazed on the subject of gayety. In the midst of the wounded and dying, the low state of the commissariat, the anxiety of the whole country, the troubles of every kind by which we are surrounded, I am mortified to say that there are gay parties given in the city. There are those denominated “starvation parties,” where young persons meet for innocent enjoyment, and retire at a reasonable hour; but there are others where the most elegant suppers are served– cakes, jellies, ices in profusion, and meats of the finest kinds in abundance, such as might furnish a meal for a regiment of General Lee’s army. I wish these things were not so, and that every extra pound of meat could be sent to the army. When returning from the hospital, after witnessing the dying scene of a brother, whose young sister hung over him in agony, with my heart full of the sorrows of hospital-life, I passed a house where there were music and dancing. The revulsion of feeling was sickening. I thought of the gayety of Paris during the French Revolution, of the “cholera ball” in Paris, the ball at Brussels the night before the battle of Waterloo, and felt shocked that our own Virginians, at such a time, should remind me of scenes which we were wont to think only belonged to the lightness of foreign society. It seems to me that the army, when it hears of the gayety of Richmond, must think it heartless, particularly while it is suffering such hardships in her defence. The weddings, of which there are many, seem to be conducted with great quietness. We were all very much interested in a marriage which took place in this house a short time ago. Our sweet young friend, Miss A. P., was married to a Confederate States’ surgeon from South Carolina. We assembled in the parlour, which was brilliantly lighted, before the dawn of day. The bride appeared in travelling costume; as soon as the solemn ceremony was done the folding-doors were thrown open, revealing a beautifully spread breakfast-table in the adjoining room. Breakfast being over, the [continue reading…]

8th. Sunday. Bruce got me a door. Busy with fireplace.

Sunday, 8th–It is quite cool. We lay in camp all day. We are once more drawing full rations, and it is well that we are, for there is absolutely nothing to forage here, not even rice in the hull. We have also received some of the Sanitary goods sent here for distribution. All is quiet at present and there is no news of any importance. Beaufort is a nice place, situated on an island, and has good shipping facilities. Goods of all kinds are sold here at reasonable prices, business being carried on much as in a Northern town. The Union army has been in possession of the place for some time. The entire Seventeenth Army Corps is here, but will move forward in a few days.

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, and it must fall if a sufficient force be not sent thither.

If the enemy are apprised of the weak condition of the fort, it is probable Grant has been sending another and a stronger expedition there, and it may be apprehended that before many days Wilmington will cease to be of value to us as a blockade-running port of entry.

I saw the Hon. Mr. Montague to-day, who told me there was a strong party in Congress (which he opposed) in favor of making Gen. Lee generalissimo without the previous concurrence of the President. He says some of the Georgia members declare that their State will re-enter the Union unless Lee be speedily put at the head of military affairs in the field–he being the only man possessing the unlimited confidence of the people. I agreed with him that the President ought to be approached in a proper manner, and freely consulted, before any action such as he indicated; and I told him that a letter from Gen. Beauregard, dated 6th of December, to the President, if ever published, would exculpate the latter from all blame for the march (unopposed) of Sherman through Georgia.

Col. Baylor, whom the President designated the other day as the proper man to raise troops in New Mexico, Arizona, Lower California and in Mexico, is the same man who invited the Indians to a council in 1861, to receive presents, whisky, etc., and then ordered them, men, women, and children, to be slaughtered. Even Mr. Randolph revolted at such conduct. But now the government must employ him.

The rotund Mr. Hunter is rolling about actively to-day, hunting for more news. His cheeks, though fat, are flat and emaciated– for he sees affairs in a desperate condition, and he has much to lose.

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 expected to listen to such proposals as they might be authorized to tender.

Butler’s canal is said to be completed, and probably operations will soon be recommenced in this vicinity.

Congress seems to be doing little or nothing; but before it adjourns it is supposed it will, as usual, pass the measures dictated by the President. How insignificant a legislative body becomes when it is not independent. The Confederate States Congress will not live in history, for it never really existed at all, but has always been merely a body of subservient men, registering the decrees of the Executive. Even Mr. Miles, of South Carolina, before introducing a bill, sends it to this department for approval or rejection.

Detailed soldiers here are restricted in their rations this month to 31 pounds of meal, 21 pounds of salt beef, etc. The commissary agent, Mr. Wilson, thinks no more “beef shanks” can be sold. I have been living on them!

An order has been issued that all detailed men in the bureaus (able-bodied) must go into Gen. Lee’s army; and the local defense troops will not be called out again except in the last necessity, and then only during the emergency. I have not seen it, but believe Gen. Lee has some such understanding with the President.

Mayor Arnold, and other rich citizens of Savannah, have held a meeting (Union), and called upon Gov. Brown to assemble a State Convention, etc.

Mr. Hunter followed Judge Campbell into his office this morning (a second visit), as if there were “any more news.” The judge gravely beckoned him into the office. I was out; so there must be news, when Mr. H. (so fat) is on the qui vive.

Gen. Beauregard has been ordered to the West to take command of Hood’s army.

The Secretary of War has ordered Col. Bayne to have as much cotton as possible east of Branchville, S. C.

The farmers down the river report that Grant is sending off large bodies of troops–so the Secretary says in a letter to Gen. Lee.

7th. Saturday. Letter from home. Sarah Felton.

Saturday, 7th–This morning we found that during the night our ship was driven by the high wind upon a sand bar in the bay. Here we lay, a cold northwest wind blowing across our deck forty feet above the water. But we fared better than the boys below, for, on account of their being so sick, it was reported that their floor was difficult to stand on even after the ship had stopped. They ran a small side-wheel steamboat alongside of the ship and set a tall ladder on the wheelhouse, reaching up to our deck, and one by one we climbed down the ladder to the other boat, which hauled us to the shore. We were glad to leave that ship. Some of the boys declared that they would rather walk the entire distance than ride on any ship. We marched out about two miles from town and went into camp in a heavy pine timber. Here we have plenty of wood with which to build a good fire, as a cold rain commenced to fall this afternoon.

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 before returning to the mountains. For that look she paid three hundred and fifty dollars in Confederate money. “Why, has this money any value at all?” she asked. Little enough in all truth, sad to say.

Brewster was here and stayed till midnight. Said he must see General Chesnut. He had business with him. His “me and General Hood” is no longer comic. He described Sherman’s march of destruction and desolation. “ Sherman leaves a track fifty miles wide, upon which there is no living thing to be seen,” said Brewster before he departed.

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 for one.

Corn-meal has risen from $50 up to $75 per bushel. Flour to $500 per barrel.

Vice-President Stephens has not left the city, but presides in the Senate.

Messrs. B. Woolley, Hart & Co., Nassau, N. P., write most pressing letters for the liquidation of their claims against the Confederate States Government. Perhaps they are becoming alarmed after making prodigious profits, etc.

Conner’s brigade and other troops are en route for South Carolina from Lee’s army.

Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War, was smoked out of his room to-day, and came into mine.

The judge, however, does but little more just now than grant passports into the enemy’s lines; permission to speculators to bring into the city supplies for sale, often under pretense of being intended for their own use; exemptions, details, etc. If he were disposed, he could realize a million of dollars.

It is said the Hon. A. R. Wright went North to get his son paroled, who is in prison there.

Judge Campbell talks of resigning.

6th. Friday. Worked on house some. Uncomfortable day.

Friday, 6th–We left our camp this morning at 8 o’clock and marched down to the coast about four miles below Savannah. At 2 o’clock we embarked on the transports for Beaufort, South Carolina. Our regiment is on board a ship built in England as a blockade-runner for the Southern Confederacy, but which was finally captured by our navy at Savannah. It rained all forenoon, but by noon it had cleared off with a high wind blowing in from the ocean. Our ship, not having enough ballast, rocked frightfully in the gale, upsetting tables in the dining room and frightening many of the boys lest we should be turned over. The sailors only smiled at our discomfiture. The rough sea made a great many of the boys sick, but our company being on the hurricane deck, did not become so sick. We reached Beaufort at 11 p. m., but cannot land, and so have to remain on the boats all night.

5th. Thursday. Relieved late in the day.

Thursday, 5th–The order for the Iowa Brigade to move was countermanded this morning, and we remained in camp all day. The weather has been pleasant and is quite warm today.

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 for information concerning certain youths, alleged to have received passports to Europe, etc. Also one relating to the Commissary-General’s traffic in Eastern North Carolina, within the enemy’s lines. Also one relating to instructions to Gen. Smith, trans-Mississippi Department, who assumes control of matters pertaining to the Treasury Department.

General J. S. Preston, Superintendent Bureau of Conscription, writes a long letter from South Carolina indorsing an act of the Legislature authorizing the impressment of one-fifth of the slaves between eighteen and fifty, for work on the fortifications within the State, but also providing for impressment of an additional number by the Confederate States Government. This, Gen. P. considers a treasonable move, indicating that South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, etc. have a purpose to disintegrate Confederate authority, and that they will not contribute another man, black or white, to the Confederate service, to be commanded by Confederate States authority. And he has several thrusts at Gen. Bragg and Gen. Kemper, and, indirectly, at the President, for interfering with his bureau. I see nothing in the act to warrant his interpretations, and I have no faith in his predictions.

W. F. D. Saussure and others, Columbia, S. C., petition the government to send a corps of Lee’s army to save their State and Georgia from devastation, as there are no adequate forces in them for defense. They confess that Richmond is important to hold, but insist that Georgia and South Carolina must be defended to hold it, etc. They are frightened evidently.

Gen. Withers, Alabama, denounces the inefficiency of the conscript system.

Lieut. Beverly Kermon writes from the Rappahannock that “thus far (to Jan. 1st) our movements (in connection with Capt. T. N. Conrad) are perfectly secret.” The next day he was to go to the Potomac. What has the Secretary sent him there for?

J. R. Bledsoe presents a design for a “new flag,” red, white, and blue cross, which Gen. Lee thinks both original and beautiful.

Judge Campbell has a box of clothing, sent from London by J. B. Bloodgood.

4th. Wednesday. Charge of picket. This morning failed to get out at roll call. Did not hear the bugle. My first failure since I have been an officer in the 2nd Ohio. A very cold windy day. Reserve at a large stone barn.

Wednesday, 4th–A large detail from the Fourteenth Army Corps was at work today on the fortifications. The Third Division of the Seventeenth Corps marched down to the coast and this afternoon embarked upon the expedition. Our division, the Fourth, received orders to be ready to move in the morning. Our regimental quartermaster received a consignment of clothing for the men. I drew a rubber blanket, one shirt, one pair of drawers and a hat. I also purchased at one of the stores here a military cap for $6.00. Captain Spencer left for home today on a thirty-day furlough; I sent $200.00 home by him to father.

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) bought up all the coffee and sugar in the city. They raised the price of the former from $15 to $45 per pound, and the latter to $15, from $10. An application has been made to Mr. Secretary Seddon to order the impressment of it all, at schedule prices, which he will be sure not to do.

Congress paid their respects to the President yesterday, by waiting upon him in a body.

There is a rumor of some fighting (12 M.) below, but I have not learned on which side of the river. It arises from brisk cannonading, heard in the city, I suppose.

I bought an ax (of Starke) for $15, mine having been stolen. I was asked from $25 to $35 for no better. Mr. Starke has no garden seeds yet.

The following article in the Dispatch to-day, seemingly well authenticated, would seem to indicate that our armies are in no danger of immediately becoming destitute of supplies; but, alas! the publication itself may cause the immediate fall of Wilmington.

“Blockade-Running.–Notwithstanding the alleged ceaseless vigilance of the Yankee navy in watching blockade-runners on the Atlantic and Gulf Coast of the Confederate States, their close attention has amounted to comparatively little. Setting aside all that has been imported on State and individual account, the proceeds of the blockade have been very great. The restrictions imposed upon foreign commerce by the act of Congress of last session prohibiting, absolutely, during the pending war, the importation of any articles not necessary for the defense of the country– namely: wines, spirits, jewelry, cigars, and all the finer fabrics of cotton, flax, wool, or silk, as well as all other merchandise serving only for the indulgence of luxurious habits,–has not had the effect to reduce the number of vessels engaged in blockade-running; but, on the contrary, the number has steadily increased within the last year, and many are understood to be now on the way to engage in the business. [continue reading…]

January 3d. Weather permitting, we have company, battalion drill, and dress parade. Weather very cold at this time. We have to lie close to the fires when off duty or post. Sergeants must keep awake all night. Corporals get sleep and rest when their reliefs are off post.

3rd. Finished the chimney and moved into the new house– little more than 8 ft. square.