January 28th.–Clear and very cold; can’t find a thermometer in the city. The President did sign the bill creating a general-in-chief, and depriving Gen. Bragg of his staff. Major-Gen. Jno. C. Breckinridge has been appointed Secretary of War. May our success be greater hereafter! Gen. Lee has sent a letter from Gen. Imboden, exposing the [...]

January 27th.–Clear, and coldest morning of the winter. None but the rich speculators and quartermaster and commissary peculators have a supply of food and fuel. Much suffering exists in the city; and prices are indeed fabulous, notwithstanding the efforts of the Secretary of the Treasury and the press to bring down the premium on gold. [...]

January 26th.–Clear and cold. No further news from the iron-clad fleet that went down the river. Beef is selling at $8 per pound this morning; wood at $150 per cord. Major Maynard, instead of bringing 120, gets in but 30 or 40 cords per day. I am out of wood, and must do my little [...]

January 25th.–Clear, and very cold. We lost gun-boat Drewry yesterday in an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the enemy’s pontoon bridge down the river. Fort Harrison was not taken as reported, nor is it likely to be. The rumor of an armistice remains, nevertheless, and Mr. Blair dined with the President on Sunday, and has had [...]

January 24th.–Clear and cool. It is now said Mr. Seddon’s resignation has not yet been accepted, and that his friends are urging the President to persuade him to remain. Another rumor says ex-Gov. Letcher is to be his successor, and that Mr. Benjamin has sent in his resignation. Nothing seems to be definitely settled. I [...]

January 23d.–Foggy, and raining. F. P. Blair is here again. If enemies are permitted to exist in the political edifice, there is danger of a crash. This weather, bad news, etc. etc. predispose both the people and the army for peace–while the papers are filled with accounts of the leniency of Sherman at Savannah, and [...]

January 22d.–Another day of sleet and gloom. The pavements are almost impassable from the enamel of ice; large icicles hang from the houses, and the trees are bent down with the weight of frost. The mails have failed, and there is no telegraphic intelligence, the wires being down probably. It rained very fast all day [...]

January 21st.–A dark, cold, sleety day, with rain. Troopers and scouts from the army have icicles hanging from their hats and caps, and their clothes covered with frost, and dripping. The Examiner this morning says very positively that Mr. Secretary Seddon has resigned. Not a word about Messrs. Benjamin and Mallory–yet. The recent action of [...]

January 20th.–Clear and cold. No news–that is bad news. Nothing has transpired officially of the events and details near Wilmington, but there is a rumor, exaggerated perhaps, of the fall of Wilmington itself. No doubt Sherman is marching on Charleston, and if there be no battle soon, it is feared he will take the city [...]

January 19th.–Clear and frosty. Among the rumors, it would appear that the Senate in secret session has passed a resolution making Lee generalissimo. It is again said Mr. Seddon will resign, and be followed by Messrs. Benjamin and Mallory, etc. The following dispatch was received by the President yesterday: “Tupelo, Miss., January 17th, 1865.–Roddy’s brigade [...]

January 18th.–Cloudy and cool. Cannon heard down the river. No war news. But blockade-running at Wilmington has ceased; and common calico, now at $25 per yard, will soon be $50. The stupor in official circles continues, and seems likely to continue. A secret detective told the Assistant Secretary, yesterday, that a certain member of Congress [...]

January 17th.–Cloudy, and spitting snow. Mr. Foote’s release from custody has been ordered by Congress. The news of the fall of Wilmington, and the cessation of importations at that port, falls upon the ears of the community with stunning effect. Again we have a rumor of the retirement of Mr. Seddon. There are more rumors [...]

January 16th.–Clear and frosty. We learn vaguely that the attack on the defenses of Wilmington has been progressing since Friday, and that the enemy’s land forces have effected a lodgment between Fort Fisher and the town. Another “peace” visitor has arrived–Hon. Mr. Singleton, of the United States Congress. It is said that the President (Confederate [...]

January 15th.–Clear and frosty. Guns heard down the river. Dispatches came last night for ammunition–to Wilmington, I believe. We have nothing yet decisive from Fort Fisher, but I fear it will fall. Mr. Hunter was in the Secretary’s office this morning before the Secretary came. I could give him no news from Wilmington. He is [...]

January 14th.–Cloudy and cool. The news that Goldsborough, N. C., had been taken is not confirmed. Nor have we intelligence of the renewal of the assault on Fort Fisher–but no one doubts it. The government sent pork, butchered and salted a few weeks ago, to the army. An order has been issued to borrow, buy, [...]

January 13th.–Clear and pleasant–but little frost . Beef (what little there is in market) sells to-day at $6 per pound; meal, $80 per bushel; white beans, $5 per quart, or $160 per bushel. And yet Congress is fiddling over stupid abstractions! The government will awake speedily, however; and after Congress hurries through its business (when [...]

January 12th.–Bright and frosty. Gold at $66 for one yesterday, at auction. Major R. J. Echols, Quartermaster, Charlotte, N. C., says the fire there destroyed 70,000 bushels of grain, a large amount of sugar, molasses, clothing, blankets, etc. He knows not whether it was the result of design or accident. All his papers were consumed. [...]

January 11th.–Clear and pleasant. Cannon heard down the river. Mr. E. A. Pollard, taken by the Federals in an attempt to run the blockade last spring, has returned, and reports that Gen. Butler has been relieved of his command–probably for his failure to capture Wilmington. Mr. Pollard says that during his captivity he was permitted, [...]

January 10th.–Rained hard all night. House leaking badly! We have nothing new in the papers this morning. It is said with more confidence, however, that Butler’s canal is not yet a success. Daily and nightly our cannon play upon the works, and the deep sounds in this moist weather are distinctly heard in the city. [...]

January 9th.–Bright, clear, and cold. It is said the government depot at Charlotte, N. C, has been burned (accidentally), consuming a large amount of corn. We have nothing further of the movement of Grant’s troops. We have Hood’s acknowledgment of defeat, and loss of 50 guns before Nashville. The papers contain the proceedings of a [...]

January 8th.–Bright and cold. Snowed yesterday, and windy. Gen. Whiting writes that he had only 400 men in Fort Fisher, and it was a miracle that it was not taken. He looked for it, and a determined effort would have carried it. He says there is no reason to suppose the attempt has been abandoned, [...]

January 7th.–Rained yesterday and last night. Clear and windy to-day. It is said the Blairs (who have been looked for on some sort of mission) turned back after arriving in the camp of Gen. Grant. Of course they could not treat with this government, under existing circumstances. The President and his cabinet could not be [...]

January 6th.–Cloudy and thawing. No war news,–but it is known Sherman’s army is not quiet, and must soon be heard from in spite of the interdict of the government. It is said Mr. Trenholm, Secretary of the Treasury, is in the market buying gold, and that the fall has already been from $50 to $30 [...]

January 4th.–Bright, but several inches of snow fell last night. The President wrote a long letter to the Secretary yesterday concerning the assignment of conscripts in Western North Carolina, at most only a few hundred, and the appointment of officers, etc. A small subject. Congress has passed a resolution calling on the Secretary of War [...]