A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital Part 124

A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital Part 124

CHAPTER XLVI.

Waning confidence in the President.--Blockade running.--From the South.-- Beauregard on Sherman.--The expeditions against Wilmington.--Return of Mr. Pollard.--The Blairs in Richmond.--Arrest of Hon. H. S.

Foote.--Fall of Fort Fisher.--Views of Gen. Cobb.--Dismal.-- Casualties of the War.--Peace commissioners for Washington.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 1ST, 1865.--Snowed a few inches in depth during the night--clear and cool morning. The new year begins with the new rumor that Gen. Hood has turned upon Gen. Thomas and beaten him. This is believed by many. Hood's army was _not_ destroyed, and he retreated from before Nashville with some 20,000 men. Doubtless he lost many cannon; but the Federal accounts of his disaster were probably much exaggerated.

The cabinet still remains.

The President is considered really a man of ability, and eminently qualified to preside over the Confederate States, if independence were attained and we had peace. But he is probably not equal to the role he is now called upon to play. He has not the broad intellect requisite for the gigantic measures needed in such a crisis, nor the health and physique for the labors devolving on him. Besides he is too much of a politician still to discard his old prejudices, and persists in keeping aloof from him, and from commanding positions, all the great statesmen and patriots who contributed most in the work of preparing the minds of the people for resistance to Northern domination. And the consequence is that many of these influential men are laboring to break down his administration, or else preparing the people for a return to the old Union. The disaffection is intense and wide-spread among the politicians of 1860, and consternation and despair are expanding among the people.

Nearly all desire to see Gen. Lee at the head of affairs; and the President is resolved to yield the position to no man during his term of service. Nor would Gen. Lee take it.

The proposition to organize an army of negroes gains friends; because the owners of the slaves are no longer willing to fight themselves, at least they are not as "eager for the fray" as they were in 1861; and the armies _must_ be replenished, or else the slaves will certainly be lost.

Thus we begin the new year--Heaven only knows how we shall end it! I trust we may be in a better condition then. Of one thing I am certain, the PEOPLE are capable of achieving independence, if they only had capable men in all departments of the government.

The President was at St. Paul's to-day, with a knit woolen cap on his head. Dr. Minnegerode preached a sermon against the croakers. His son has been appointed a midshipman by the President.

JANUARY 2D.--Cold, and indications of snow.

Offered the owner of our servant $400 per annum. He wants $150 and clothing for her. Clothing would cost perhaps $1000. It remains in abeyance.

Saw Gen. Wise dancing attendance in the Secretary's room. He looks seasoned and well, and may be destined to play a leading part "in human affairs" yet, notwithstanding his hands have been so long bound by those who contrive "to get possession." It is this very thing of keeping our great men in the "background" which is often the cause of calamities, and if persisted in, may bring irretrievable ruin upon the cause.

The government has forbidden the transportation of freight, etc.

(private) from Georgia to Virginia, and perhaps from the intermediate States.

On Sat.u.r.day the government entered the market to sell gold, and brought down the price some 33 per cent. A spasmodic effort, the currency is gone beyond redemption.

It is said Gen. Hood has collected a large amount of supplies of meat, etc. He is in North Alabama, and probably Gen. Thomas will march toward Virginia.

The Secretary had his head between his knees before the fire when I first went in this morning. Affairs are gloomy enough--and the question is how Richmond and Virginia shall be saved. Gen. Lee is despondent.

From the Northern papers we learn that Gen. Butler's expedition against Wilmington, N. C, was a failure. Gen. Bragg is applauded here for this successful defense.

The salaries of the clergymen have been raised by their congregations to $10,000 and $12,000. I hear that Dr. Woodbridge received a Christmas gift from his people of upwards of $4000, besides seven barrels of flour, etc. _He owns his own house, his own servants_, stocks, etc. Most of these fortunate ministers are natives of the North, but true to the Southern cause, so far as we know. G.o.d knows I am glad to hear of any one, and especially a minister, being made comfortable.

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 October 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 dest.i.tute 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.

"The President, in a communication to Congress on the subject, says that the number of vessels arriving at two ports only from the 1st of November to the 6th of December was _forty-three_, and but a very small proportion of those outward bound were captured. Out of 11,796 bales of cotton shipped since the 1st of July last, but 1272 were lost--not quite 11 per cent.

"The special report of the Secretary of the Treasury in relation to the matter shows that there have been imported into the Confederacy at the ports of Wilmington and Charleston since October 26th, 1864, 8,632,000 pounds of meat, 1,507,000 pounds of lead, 1,933,000 pounds of saltpeter, 546,000 pairs of shoes, 316,000 pairs of blankets, 520,000 pounds of coffee, 69,000 rifles, 97 packages of revolvers, 2639 packages of medicine, 43 cannon, with a large quant.i.ty of other articles of which we need make no mention. Besides these, many valuable stores and supplies are brought, by way of the Northern lines, into Florida; by the port of Galveston and through Mexico, across the Rio Grande.

"The shipments of cotton made on government account since March 1st, 1864, amount to $5,296,000 in specie. Of this, cotton, to the value of $1,500,000, has been shipped since the 1st of July and up to the 1st of December.

"It is a matter of absolute impossibility for the Federals to stop our blockade-running at the port of Wilmington. If the wind blows off the coast, the blockading fleet is driven off. If the wind blows landward, they are compelled to haul off to a great distance to escape the terrible sea which dashes on a rocky coast without a harbor within three days' sail. The shoals on the North Carolina Coast are from five to twenty miles wide; and they are, moreover, composed of the most treacherous and bottomless quicksands. The whole coast is scarcely equaled in the world for danger and fearful appearance, particularly when a strong easterly wind meets the ebb tide.

"It is an easy matter for a good pilot to run a vessel directly out to sea or into port; but in the stormy months, from October to April, no blockading vessel can lie at anchor in safety off the Carolina Coast.

Therefore supplies will be brought in despite the keenest vigilance."

JANUARY 4TH.--Bright, but several inches of snow fell last night.

The President wrote a long letter to the Secretary yesterday concerning the _a.s.signment of conscripts in Western North Carolina_, at most only a few hundred, and the appointment of officers, etc. A small subject.

Congress has pa.s.sed a resolution calling on the Secretary of War for information concerning certain youths, alleged to have received pa.s.sports 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 a.s.sumes 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., pet.i.tion 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.

JANUARY 5TH.--Clear and cold.

It is understood now that Gen. Hood has crossed to the south side of the Tennessee River with the debris of his army.

Gen. Butler has returned to Virginia from his fruitless North Carolina expedition. It is supposed we shall have active operations again before this city as soon as the weather and roads will permit.

But it really does seem that the States respectively mean to take control of all their men not now in the Confederate States armies, and I apprehend we shall soon have "confusion worse confounded."

The President sends, "for his information," to the Secretary of War, a letter from Gen. Beauregard, dated at Augusta, Ga., Dec. 6th, 1864, in relation to Gen. Sherman's movement eastward, and Gen. Hood's Middle Tennessee campaign. It appears from Gen. B.'s letter to the President that he (Gen. B.) had control of everything. He says he did not countermand Gen. Hood's campaign, because Sherman had 275 miles the start, and the roads were impracticable in Northern Georgia and Alabama.

But he telegraphed the Governors of Alabama, Georgia, etc., to concentrate troops rapidly in Sherman's front, ordered a brigade of cavalry from Hood to Wheeler, etc., and supposed some 30,000 men could be collected to oppose Sherman's march, and destroy him. He computed Sherman's strength at 36,000 of all arms. The result shows how much he was mistaken. He will be held accountable for all the disasters. Alas for Beauregard! Bragg only played the part of chronicler of the sad events from Augusta. Yet the President cannot publish this letter of Beauregard's, and the country will still fix upon him the responsibility and the odium. Gen. Beauregard is still in front of Sherman, with inadequate forces, and may again be responsible for additional calamities.