May 14, 1863, Savannah Republican (Georgia)

            In referring to this enterprise some days ago, we omitted to give deserved credit to Mr. F. W. Maura, a worthy mechanic of Macon, who invented the entire machinery used in the establishment, and that without any previous knowledge on the subject.

            In addition to the specimens of their work alluded to some days ago, we have a sample of large wooden buttons, suitable for soldiers’ coats, &c., which are the best we recollect to have seen.

May 14, 1863, The New York Herald

We have some important news from the Southwest. General Grant had a severe action on Wednesday last, at Clinton, ten miles from Jackson, on the railroad, with a rebel force under General Bowen. The fight lasted all day, and the rebels were defeated. Reports are said to have reached General Grant that large reinforcements of rebels are coming from Mobile and Charleston to protect Vicksburg and Jackson, and that he (Grant) has accordingly fallen back to the river to await further support.

The stories circulated by the rebel authorities at Jackson, Miss., that our forces were beaten, after a severe battle of four hours duration, on the 4th inst., on the Big Black river, prove to be entirely without foundation. A telegraphic despatch from General Grant, dated the 6th, two days later than the reported fight, was received in Washington yesterday, and it makes no mention whatever of any battle at Anderson’s ferry on the 4th inst.

A skirmish between a party of sixty thousand rebels and a detachment of Union troops occurred on Tuesday between Franklin and Woodburn, Ky., on the railroad, in which the former were routed and driven back, our forces still pursuing them at last accounts on that night.

The rebels on front of Murfreesboro, Tenn., continue to exhibit symptoms of activity which keep the army of Gen. Rosecrans on the qui vive. The cavalry of the enemy is constantly changing its position. The rebel Generals Morgan and Wheeler are said to be at Liberty and Alexandria, with a force of 5,000 cavalry, and are supposed to be meditating an attack on Nashville. [continue reading…]

May 14, 1863, The Charleston Mercury

A gentlemen of this city, of military experience, and cool, clear judgment, who spent the greater part of last week on the battle field of Chancellorsville, gives us the following information, which may be depended on as being as nearly accurate as can be obtained in the absence of official reports. Our loss in killed, wounded and missing, he puts at 10,000, of whom about 2000 were taken prisoners, and of the remainder an unusually large percent wounded. He is confident these figures will cover our loss. That of the enemy he estimates at 20,000 including from 8000 to 10,000 prisoners, not counting the wounded who fell into our hands. He could not hear certainly of more than twenty-seven pieces of artillery captured; and we lost eight pieces, six of the Washington Artillery, and two of Capt. Parker’s battery, from this city. The number of small arms captured by us was immense, greater, our informant thinks, than in any former battle. The field was strewn with knapsacks, blankets and clothing, and with all the evidences of a complete rout. The fighting of our men was superb, and General Lee is understood to have been particularly pleased with the part borne in it by the artillery, which exhibited a decided improvement both in practice and ammunition – the latter being in part due to the recent invention of our townsman, Charles McEvoy. The artillery was frequently up in front with the skirmishers. The spirits of our men since the fight are at the highest pitch of exultation, and their enthusiasm for their great commander boundless. One circumstance only threw a shade over the army, the precarious condition of the heroic Jackson. The solicitude on this account was profound and universal. Great praise was awarded Gen. Stuart for the masterly manner in [continue reading…]

Near Vicksburg.

Wednesday, 13th.—Last night started at 9 o’clock and marched till 1 this morning. Rested until day. Started at daylight; crossed Big Black on railroad bridge at 11 A. M. Halted in line two miles from Edwards’ Station, near Vicksburg. Change of brigadier-generals to-day, General Taylor being superseded by General Cummings, of Georgia.

(Note: picture is of an unidentified Confederate soldier.)

Wednesday, 13th.—I have just heard that my dear nephew, Will’by N., was wounded at Chancellorsville, and that his left leg has been amputated. He is at Mr. Marye’s, near Hamilton’s Crossings, receiving the warm-hearted hospitality of that house, now so widely known. His mother has reached him, and he is doing well. I pray that God may have mercy upon him, and raise him up speedily, for the Saviour’s sake.

Wednesday, 13th–After an early breakfast we left bivouac at 6 o’clock and took up our march. By noon we reached the Mississippi river, where we took boat, and going down about two miles landed on the east bank at Grand Gulf or Hard Times Landing—where the town once was. The town was destroyed just a year ago by the Union fleet, and there is nothing left but the streets and sidewalks. We went into camp here to stay until relieved.

13th. Took our horses out. Issued beef. Cleaned up and went over to town. Col. Abbey bought me a good woolen hat. John Ritter moved over to town–Div. saddler–good place. Took Thede some cheese. Diarrhoea. Sorry. Played chess with A. B.–got the worse. Rainy evening. No letters.

Camp 103d Illinois Infantry, Lagrange, Tenn.,
May 13, 1863.

I have been on a General Court Martial for the last ten days, and we will not, in all probability, adjourn for some weeks yet. We tried Governor Yates’ brother. He is Adjutant of the 6th Illinois Cavalry. Another little reverse on the Rappahannock. All right! My faith is still large—in the army, but the commanders and citizens can be improved. We think that Grant is going to beat them all yet. But his army is more responsible for his good fortune than himself. Do you notice that one of our “raids” missed fire? Straight into Georgia, I mean. Grierson’s and Stoneman’s make up for all the rest though. We are constantly active here, in fact our troops move so much that I am unable to keep the run of even our brigade.

May 13th. Commences with pleasant weather; firing commenced between the hours of one and two o’clock this morning, and continued up to three o’clock; it was heard to the southward; at daylight the gunboat Benton, with the General Price and tug Ivy, got under way and steamed up the river; at 10 o’clock a steam tug came down and out of Red river alongside of us, with despatches for Rear-Admiral D. D. Porter; gave her some coal; at two P. M., after finished coaling, the tug got under way and steamed up the Mississippi river in chase of the flag-ship Benton, and I think she was not long in overhauling this slow, cumbersome, and ungainly specimen of river craft. This afternoon the Albatross got under way and steamed up Red river; at six o’clock Albatross returned from her foraging trip up Red river; received from her a quantity of fresh beef.

MAY 13th.—Col. Gorgas, Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, sent in to-day a report of the arms captured in the recent battle. It appears from his statement that, so far, only eight guns have been found, taken from the enemy, while we lost ten. Thus, it would appear, our papers have been “lying,” in regard to that item, as well as the Northern papers about the number of prisoners lost and taken. But, so far, we have collected 12,000 of the enemy’s small arms left upon the field, and 8000 of our own, indicating the number of our killed and wounded. But the New York journals say we captured only 1700 prisoners; whereas, up to this time, more than 6000 have arrived in Richmond; 5000 of whom leave to-day, paroled until exchanged. I doubt whether we lost 2000 prisoners in the battle.

The Philadelphia Press, just received, charges the government at Washington with circulating false reports, and is now convinced Hooker met with a most crushing defeat.

It is rumored the enemy are disembarking troops at the White House, York River. If this be so, it is to prevent reinforcements being sent to Lee.

The Governor of Alabama declares that Mobile is neglected, and says he will continue to protest against the failure of the government to make adequate preparations for the defense of the city.

I saw Gen. Wise to-day. He seems weather-beaten, but hardy.

From the diary of Osborn H. Oldroyd

MAY 13TH.–Up early, and on the march to Jackson, as we suppose.

I dreamed of my bunk-mate last night. Wonder if his remains will be put where they can be found, for I would like, if I ever get the chance, to put a board with his name on it at the head of his grave. When we enlisted we all paired off, each selecting his comrade–such a one as would be congenial and agreeable to him–and as yesterday’s battle broke a good many such bonds, new ties have been forming,–as the boys say, new couples are getting married. If married people could always live as congenial and content as two soldiers sleeping under the same blanket, there would be more happiness in the world. I shall await the return of one of the wounded.

We arrived at Clinton after dark, a place on the Jackson and Vicksburg railroad. Yesterday a train ran through, the last that will ever be run by confederates. The orders are to destroy the road here in each direction. We expected to have to fight for this spot, but instead we took possession unmolested. “Cotton is king,” and finding a good deal here, we have made our beds of it.

May 13, 1863, The Charleston Mercury

FUNERAL OF GENERAL JACKSON.

RICHMOND, May 12. The funeral procession of General JACKSON today was a grand pageant. The streets along which it passed were thronged with ladies and gentlemen. The procession left the Governor’s mansion at 10 1/2 o’clock this morning, and marched in column, with bands of music, down Government street to Main street, up Main street to Second street, thence through Grace street to the Capitol, where the body was placed in the Hall of Congress. The President, the Cabinet, the Governor and other dignitaries, with the civil and military, were in the procession. The military escort consisted of infantry, cavalry and artillery. The body will be removed tomorrow to Lexington County, Va.

FROM THE WEST.

VICKSBURG, May 11. A coal barge ran past our batteries last night. The enemy’s fleet above is anchoring.

JACKSON, May 12. One thousand of GRANT’S cavalry entered and burned Crystal Springs, on the New Orleans Railroad, at noon yesterday. OSTERHAUS is reported to be at Cayuga, with one hundred and fifty cavalry and six or seven regiments of infantry. The enemy is reinforcing Willow Springs and Rocky Springs from the river. GRANT will probably advance eastward and not direct to Vicksburg.

We have reports from the river that General PRICE met and chastised the Yankees at St. Francis’ River. It was reported in Memphis that the Confederates had occupied Pittsburg, Pa. A despatch, dated Cincinnati, May 8, says that affairs at Dayton have been comparatively quiet. After 10 o’clock yesterday the troops from Cincinnati and Columbus began pouring in. Thirty of the ringleaders had been arrested, and every precaution had been taken to prevent a renewal of the riot.

A St. Louis despatch of May 5 says that the most prominent of the secessionists had [continue reading…]

            “Hermes,” the correspondent of the Charleston Mercury, says the following story, is current in Richmond:

            In the Capitol Square, a few days ago, a drunken soldier accosted the President:

            “Are you Mr. Davis?”

            “I am,” was the stern reply.

             “Are you the President of the Confederate States?”

             “I am.”

            “Well, I thought you looked like a postage stamp.”

May 13, 1863, The Charleston Mercury

We glean from the Richmond papers some additional details of the recent battles on the Rappahannock. The correspondent of the Dispatch writes:

THE FIGHT IN THE WILDERNESS.

The fight on the plank road – in the country known as the ‘Wilderness’ was, beyond doubt, one of the must stubbornly contested of any that has been fought since the commencement of this war; yet at no time during the struggle, from the time the first works were assailed till the last, in the vicinity of Chancellorsville, was carried, was the result in the least doubtful.

To form any correct conception of the difficulties encountered by our troops in their assaults upon the enemy works, a view of the bloody field, extending a distance of nearly five miles, is necessary. Imagine a narrow road, skirted on either side with a dense and apparently impenetrable growth of stunted oaks, whose branches reach the ground, and whose gnarled trunks nearly touch each other, and some idea may be had of the country in its natural condition. Here and there, at intervals of perhaps half a mile, was a cleared spot of from 50 to 100 acres. Upon these Hooker had thrown up his entrenchments, and behind them posted his artillery and infantry. In approaching them our forces had either to huddle in the narrow passway, or feel their way as best they could through the woods above described. In addition to this, a part of the ground over which they had to pass was of a soft, marshy character, covered with a less [continue reading…]

May 13, 1863, The Charleston Mercury

Seldom, indeed, has a people manifested so deep and universal a sorrow as that which has spread over the land with the announcement of the loss of the loved and trusted leader, whom both hemispheres had learned to know and admire as ‘Stonewall’ JACKSON. General LEE’S sublime tribute to his services in the late battles, his profound and sincere sympathy for his sufferings previous to their fatal termination, leaves us at a loss which to admire and love most – the author or the receiver of the letter, in which this magnanimity and manly sorrow are conveyed. ‘How gladly would I have borne, in my own person, the serious loss you have sustained, for to you, and to you alone is due the victory we have achieved.’ To this effect is LEE’S letter. Who, asks the Richmond Whig, is not proud to live in the same day and to belong to the same race with such men? Together, they make up a measure of glory which no nation under Heaven ever surpassed. The central figure of this war is, beyond all question, that of ROBERT E. LEE. His, the calm, broad intellect that reduced the chaos after Donelson to form and order. But JACKSON was the motive power that executed, with the rapidity of lightning, all that LEE could plan. LEE has been the exponent of Southern power of command; JACKSON, the expression of its faith in God and in itself, its terrible energy, its enthusiasm and daring, its unconquerable will, its contempt of danger and fatigue, its capacity to smite, as with bolts of thunder, the cowardly and cruel foe that would trample under foot its liberty and its religion.

But, though Stonewall Jackson is dead, his fiery and unquailing spirit survives in his men. He has infused into them that which cannot die. The leader who succeeds him, be he whom he may, will be impelled, as by a supernatural impulse, to emulate his matchless deeds. […..] JACKSON’S way.’ The leader who will not or cannot comply with that demand, must drop the baton quickly. JACKSON’S corps will be led forever by the memory of its great chieftain.

May 13, 1863, Dallas Herald

            We find the following paragraph in the Texas Almanac Extra, of the 30^th ult:

            We are happy to say that the Military Board has received a large number of superior cotton cards, which they intend to distribute to the several counties upon the basis of the scholastic census.  A letter has been addressed to the Chief Justice of every county in the State, to the effect that they will receive their pro rata by sending for them and paying the price fixed, viz:  $10 pr. pair, in currency.  The Board requests the County Courts to make the distribution in such way as will result in most good to the public, enjoining upon them that the needy families of those in the service be first supplied, and that, in no case, shall a greater price be charged for the cards than the cost to the county, including transportation.  Should any county decline the offer of the Board, they are requested to notify them at once.–The Board are supplying these cards at the third of the ruling market price, and in distributing the present invoice will save the people from $150,000 to $200,000.

            The County of Dallas will receive 200 pairs of cards under the above distribution, and we learn that our Chief Justice has notified the Military Board that he will send for them as soon as arrangements can be made for the transportation.

May 13, 1863, Galveston Weekly News

            The Item gives the following as the correct form for an application to obtain Penitentiary goods:

The State of Texas, county of ________

            Before me the undersigned authority, this day personally came Mrs. ________ of the same county, who made oath that the goods sought to be bought of the Texas Penitentiary, are for immediate use in her own family, consisting of _____ whites and ________ blacks, excluding male members in the army; and are not for barter, sale, exchange or speculation; and that she is the wife of a soldier in the Confederate States’ army, and that this is her [first or second] application.

            I ________ Chief Justice of ________ county, certify that the above application was subscribed and sworn to before me, and that the facts set forth in the same are true [being verified by the oath of one credible witness.]  In testimony of which witness [L. S.] my hand and seal of the County Court, the ____ day of ________ 1863.

            ____________________ Chief Justice.

May 13, 1863, Tri-Weekly Telegraph (Houston, Texas)

            We have received from three little girls–Misses Eva Hutchins, Belle Smith, an Cora Gentry–the sum of four dollars and fifteen cents, the net proceeds of a juvenile fair gotten up by them for the benefit of the soldiers.  We shall apply it where we think the donation will be most appreciated.

May 13, 1863, Savannah Republican (Georgia)

            We would state, for the information of persons who may write to friends abroad, or in the enemy’s lines, that no flags of truce are now allowed on the Georgia or Carolina coast, and all letters should be addressed via Petersburg, Va., and flag of truce to City Point, and a three cent piece inclosed to pay the United States postage.  Letters that have been sent to this office up to the present time have been forwarded to their destination.

May 13, 1863, Galveston Weekly News

            Under this impressive head the Philadelphia Sunday Mercury publishes the following extract from a letter of a staff officer in one of the brigades of Sherman’s Division of the army of the Southwest.  It is written in camp on the Tallahatchie river, and the writer, says the Mercury, was “decidedly opposed to, and used all his influence against what he considered the absurd and suicidal policy of protecting rebel property.”  The letter says:

            I believe the time has come when I am ashamed to acknowledge that I belong to the Union party.  Of all the disgraceful proceedings that I ever witnessed, I think what I have seen on this march caps the climax.  Two-thirds of Sherman’s army is composed of new troops from Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, and they have come down here with the intention of burning and destroying, and well are they carrying out their intentions.  The whole line of our march is one continued scene of destruction.  Private dwellings burned, women and children driven out of their houses, and even the clothes stripped from their backs, to say nothing of acts committed by the soldiery which would almost make the blackest-hearted libertine blush for shame.  This very day I have witnessed scenes from which I turn with loathing and disgust.  True, stringent orders have been issued against these excesses, but I fear they will do no good.  The only sure remedy is for General Sherman to shoot about a dozen of these infernal rascals in the presence of his whole division, but whether he will resort to any such stringent measure remains to be seen.  I have always blamed Union Generals for guarding rebel property, but I now see the necessity of it.  Not so much to save the property, but our own safety demands it.  Three weeks of such unbridled license would ruin our army.

            I tell you the truth when I say we are about as mean a mob as ever walked the face of the earth.  It is perfectly frightful.  If I lived in this country, I never would lay down my arms while a “Yankee” remained on the soil.  I do not blame Southerners for being secessionists now.  I could relate many things that would be laughable if they were not so horribly disgraceful.  For instance, imagine two privates in an elegant carriage, belonging to some wealthy Southern nabob, with a splendid span of horses riding in state along the road we are marching over, with a negro coachman holding the reins in all the style of an English nobleman, and then two small drummer boys going it at a two-forty pace, in an elegant buggy, with a fast horse, and the buggy loaded with a strange medly of household furniture and kitchen utensils, from an elegant parlor mirror to a pair of fire dogs, all of which they have “cramped” from some fine house, which from sheer wantonness they have rifled and destroyed.  Hundred of such scenes are constantly occurring along the line of our march, as ridiculous and absurd, as they are a burning shame to the army of the Union.

May 13, 1863, Montgomery Weekly Advertiser

            A young woman, apparently about 17 years of age, was arrested in Augusta, on Tuesday last, attired in military apparel.–She said she was a married woman from Mississippi, and that she belonged to a company in Charleston.  The Augusta Chronicle thinks it likely she pants for glory.

May 13, 1863, Montgomery Weekly Advertiser

            A project is on foot to establish a paper mill at Pine Bluff, Ark., and another is to be erected at some point in Texas.

May 13, 1863, Dallas Herald

            The Bath paper mills in South Carolina, the most extensive in the South, have been destroyed by fire.  Many of the leading journals Eastward were dependent upon them for supply.  The Charleston Mercury, amongst others, will be suspended, and several will come down to a half sheet.  Those who appreciate the value of the press will lament this deeply.

May 12th. This morning, at 1 o’clock, heard heavy firing down the river in the neighborhood of Port Hudson, which ceased in twenty minutes afterwards; at five forty -five steamer L. A. Sykes arrived from Alexandria, and at six thirty steamed back up Red river again; finished tricing the logs upon port side of ship; at 3 P. M., the steamer General Price came down Red river; light, easterly breezes; at four twenty the ironclad gunboat Pittsburgh, from Black river, came down and anchored ahead of us; ten of our men, volunteers who went on the expedition up Red river on board of her, returned to this ship with bag and hammock; at seven thirty-five the iron-clad Benton, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Porter’s fleet, came down and out of Red river also; sent steam tug Ivy for our men, some twenty in number, detached on board of her for above referred-to expedition; the lads returned in good spirits, having had a pleasant trip to Alexandria and back, which place is now occupied by General Banks’s forces, and has the glorious stars and stripes once more flung to the breeze, whose colors the inhabitants are thrice glad to see once more. The boats did not come across the enemy during their absence. Many of the beautiful plantations of noted secessionists on Red river, left in charge of overseers, furnished the boys plenty of good food, such as chickens, turkeys, eggs, &c., and greatly did they enjoy this change of fodder from hard bread and salt horse.