A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital Part 59

A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital Part 59

AUGUST 27TH.--There is trouble in the Conscription Bureau. Col.

Preston, the new superintendent, finds it no bed of roses, made for him by Lieut.-Col. Lay--the lieutenant-colonel being absent in North Carolina, sent thither to _compose_ the discontents; which may complicate matters further, for they don't want Virginians to meddle with North Carolina matters. However, the people he is sent to are supposed to be _disloyal_. Gen. Pillow has applied to have Georgia in the jurisdiction of his Bureau of Conscription, and the Governors of Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee unite in the request; also Generals Johnston and Bragg. Gen. Pillow already has Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, etc.--a much larger jurisdiction than the bureau here. Col.

Preston, of course, protests against all this, and I believe the Secretary sympathizes with him.

Prof. G. M. Richardson, of the Georgia Military Inst.i.tute, sends some interesting statistics. That State has furnished the army 80,000, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years. Still, the average number of men in each county between sixteen and eighteen and forty-five and sixty is 462, and there are 132 counties: total, 60,984. He deducts 30 per cent, for the infirm, etc. (18,689), leaving 42,689 men able to bear arms still at home. Thus, after putting some 500,000 in the field (if we could put them there), there would yet remain a reserve for home defense against raids, etc. in the Confederate States, of not less than 250,000 men.

Gen. Winder sent to the Secretary of War to-day for authority to appoint a clerk to attend exclusively to the mails to and from the United States--under Gen. Winder's sole direction.

Major Quantrel, a Missouri guerrilla chief, has dashed into Lawrence, Kansas, and burnt the city--killing and wounding 180. He had Gen. Jim Lane, but he escaped.

Gen. Floyd is dead; some attribute his decease to ill treatment by the government.

I saw Mr. Hunter yesterday, bronzed, but bright. He is a little thinner, which improves his appearance.

Gen. Lee is in town--looking well. When he returns, I think the fall campaign will open briskly.

A dispatch received to-day says that on Tuesday evening another a.s.sault on Battery Wagner was in progress--but as yet we have no result.

Lieut. Wood captured a third gun-boat in the Rappahannock, having eight guns.

The prisoners here selected to die, in retaliation for Burnside's execution of our officers taken while recruiting in Kentucky, will not be executed.

Nor will the officers taken on Morris Island, serving with the negroes, suffer death in accordance with the act of Congress and the President's proclamation. The Secretary referred the matter to the President for instruction, and the President invited the advice of the Secretary. The Secretary advised that they be held indefinitely, without being brought to trial, and in this the President acquiesces.

AUGUST 28TH.--Another letter, from Gen. Whiting, calls vehemently for reinforcements, artillery, cavalry, and infantry--or else the city and harbor are soon to be at the mercy of the enemy. He is importunate.

After all, Morgan's head was _not_ shaved--but his beard, and that of his officers, was cut, and their hair made _short_. This I learn from a letter at the department from Morgan's a.s.sistant Adjutant-General.

The tocsin was ringing in my ears when I awoke this morning. Custis packed his haversack, and, taking blanket, etc. etc., joined his department comrades, and they were all marched out the Brooke turnpike.

Yesterday the enemy in considerable force came up the Peninsula and attacked the guard (70 men) at Bottom's Bridge, killing, so report says, Lieut. Jetu, of South Carolina, and some twelve or fifteen others. But I believe the attacking party have recrossed the Chickahominy. We shall know in a few hours. Gen. Lee is still here. Gen. Wise's brigade, with the militia, the department companies, and the convalescents from the hospitals, must number some 8000 men in this vicinity. If the enemy be in formidable numbers, we shall soon be reinforced.

We have nothing from Charleston since Tuesday evening, when, it is said, the "_first_ a.s.sault" was repulsed. It is strange we get nothing later.

AUGUST 29TH.--After all, it appears that only a few hundred of the enemy's cavalry came up the Peninsula as far as Bottom's Bridge, from whence they quickly fell back again. And this alarm caused Gen. Elzey, or the government, to put in movement nearly 20,000 men! But something else may be behind this demonstration; it may be the purpose of the enemy to strike in another direction, perhaps at Hanover Junction--where, fortunately, we have nearly a division awaiting them.

The Hon. Mr. Dargan's letter, received at the department a few days ago, saying that the reinstatement of Gen. Pemberton in command would be the ruin of the cause, was referred by the Secretary to the President, with some strong remarks, to the effect that popular opinion was almost universal against Pemberton. It came back to-day, with the following indors.e.m.e.nt of the President: "_The justice or injustice of the opinion will be tested by the investigation ordered_.--J. D." If the President desires it, of course Pemberton will be exonerated. But even if he be honorably and fairly acquitted, the President ought not to forget that he is not a ruler by Divine right to administer justice merely, but the servant of the people to aid in the achievement of their independence; and that their opinions and wishes, right or wrong, must be respected, or they can deprive him of honor, and select another leader.

AUGUST 30TH.--The department companies and militia returned yesterday, through a heavy shower, from the wild-goose chase they were rushed into by Gen. Elzey's order.

Mr. Reagan, the Postmaster-General, informed me to-day (the government will not allow bad news to transpire) that at the _second_ a.s.sault on Battery Wagner, Morris Island, the enemy captured and held the rifle-pits. This, perhaps, involves the loss of the battery itself--and indeed there is a report, generally believed, that it fell subsequently.

I fear that the port of Charleston is closed finally--if indeed, as I hope, the city will be still held by Beauregard.

Letters from Wilmington, dated 21st instant, urgently ask the Secretary of War to have one of the Great Blakely guns for the defense of that city--and protesting against both being sent to Charleston. From this, I infer that one or both have been ordered to Beauregard.

Gen. Samuel Jones has had a small combat with the enemy in Western Virginia, achieving some success. His loss was about 200, that of the enemy much greater. This is a grain of victory to a pound of disaster.

The owners of several fast blockade-running steamers, in antic.i.p.ation of the closing of all the ports, are already applying for letters of marque to operate against the commerce of the United States as privateers, or in the "volunteer navy"--still with an eye to gain.

Gen. Lee has returned to the Army of Northern Virginia--and we shall probably soon hear of interesting operations in the field. Governor Vance writes for a brigade of North Carolinians to collect deserters in the western counties of that State.

There must be two armies in Virginia this fall--one for defense, and one (under Lee) for the aggressive--150,000 men in all--or else the losses of the past will not be retrieved during the ensuing _terrible_ campaign.

Some good may be antic.i.p.ated from the furious and universal outcry in the Confederate States against the extortioners and speculators in food and fuel. Already some of the millers here are selling new flour at $27 to families; the speculators paid $35 for large amounts, which they expected to get $50 for! But meat is still too high for families of limited means. My tomatoes are now maturing--and my b.u.t.ter-beans are filling rapidly, and have already given us a dinner. What we shall do for clothing, the Lord knows--but we trust in Him.

AUGUST 31ST.--Governor Vance writes that large bodies of deserters in the western counties of North Carolina are organized, with arms, and threaten to raise the Union flag at the court-house of Wilkes County on next court-day. The Governor demands a brigade from Virginia to quell them. Lieut.-Col. Lay has been sent thither, by the new good-natured chief of the Bureau of Conscription, to cure the evil. We shall see what good this mission will effect. Col. Preston writes to the Secretary to-day that disorders among the conscripts and deserters are now occurring in South Carolina for the first time--and proposes shortly to visit them himself. The best thing that can be done is to abolish the Bureau of Conscription, and have the law enforced by the military commanders in the field.

I saw to-day a letter to the Secretary of War, written by Mr. Benjamin, Secretary of State, on the 18th inst., referring to a Mr. Jno.

Robertson, an artist, whom the Secretary of War promised a free pa.s.sage in a government steamer to Europe. Mr. B. says the promise was made in the President's room, and he asks if Mr. Seddon could not spare an hour in his office, for Mr. R. to take his portrait. He says Mr. R. has the heads of the President, all the heads of departments (except Mr. Seddon, I suppose), and the princ.i.p.al generals. It does not appear what was done by Mr. Seddon, but I presume everything asked for by Mr. Benjamin was granted. But this matter has not exalted the President and his "heads of departments" in my estimation. If it be not "fiddling while Rome is burning," it is certainly _egotizing_ while the Confederacy is crumbling. On that day Sumter was falling to pieces, and some 40 locomotives and hundreds of cars were burning in Mississippi, and everywhere our territory pa.s.sing into the hands of the invader!

Mr. Robertson, I believe, is a stranger and an Englishman, and a _free pa.s.sage_ in a government ship is equivalent to some $2000, Confederate States currency. Almost every day pa.s.sages are denied to refugees, natives of the South, who have lost fortunes in the cause, and who were desirous to place their children and non-combatants in a place of security, while they fight for liberty and independence. The privileged pa.s.sage is refused them, even when they are able and willing to pay for the pa.s.sage, and this refusal is recommended by Col. Gorgas, a Northern man. They do not propose to immortalize "the President, the heads of departments, and the princ.i.p.al generals." But Mr. Benjamin has nothing else to do. Washington would accept no meed of praise until his great work was accomplished.

CHAPTER x.x.x.

Situation at Wilmington.--Situation at Charleston.--Lincoln thinks there is hope of our submission.--Market prices.--Ammunition turned over to the enemy at Vicksburg.--Attack on Sumter.--Stringent conscription order.--Disaffection in North Carolina.--Victory announced by Gen.

Bragg.--Peril of Gen. Rosecrans.--Surrender of c.u.mberland Gap.-- Rosecrans fortifying Chattanooga.--Mr. Seward on flag-of-truce boat.--Burnside evacuating East Tennessee.--The trans-Mississippi army.--Meade sending troops to Rosecrans.--Pemberton in Richmond.-- A suggestion concerning perishable t.i.thes.

SEPTEMBER 1ST.--Another letter from Gen. Whiting, urging the government by every consideration, and with all the ingenuity and eloquence of language at his command, to save Wilmington by sending reinforcements thither, else it must be inevitably lost. He says it will not do to rely upon what now seems the merest stupidity of the enemy, for they already have sufficient forces and means at their command and within reach to capture the fort and city. He has but one regiment for its defense!

I saw to-day a telegraphic correspondence between the Secretary of War and Gen. Buckner in regard to the invasion of Kentucky, the general agreeing to it, being sure that with 10,000 men he could compel Rosecrans to fall back, etc. But I suppose the fall of Vicksburg, and the retreat from Pennsylvania, caused its abandonment.

Hon. Wm. Capeton, C. S. Senate, writes the Secretary on the subject of compelling those who have hired subst.i.tutes now to serve themselves, and he advocates it. He says the idea is expanding that the rich, for whose benefit the war is waged, have procured subst.i.tutes to fight for them, while the poor, who have no slaves to lose, have not been able to procure subst.i.tutes. All will be required to fight, else all will be engulfed in one common destruction. He will endeavor to get an expression of opinion from the Legislature, about to a.s.semble, and after that he will advocate the measure in Congress, intimating that Congress should be convened at an early day.

SEPTEMBER 2D.--We have no news of any importance from any of the armies.

Gen. Bragg, however, telegraphs, August 31st, that he is concentrating his forces to receive the enemy, reported to be on the eve of a.s.sailing his position. He says he has sent our paroled men to Atlanta (those taken at Vicksburg), and asks that arms be sent them by the _eastern road_. Col. Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, says this is the first intimation he has had as to the disposition of the paroled prisoners. Does he understand that they are to fight before being exchanged?

Brig.-Gen. G. J. Rains writes from Charleston that the grenades reported by the enemy to have been so destructive in their repulse at Battery Wagner, were his subterra sh.e.l.ls, there being no hand-grenades used.

The other night Beauregard sent a steamer out with a torpedo to destroy the _Ironsides_, the most formidable of the enemy's iron-clads. It ran within forty yards of the Ironsides, which, however, was saved by swinging round. The torpedo steamer's engine was so imperfect that it could not be worked when stopped, for several minutes, to readjust the arrangements for striking the enemy in his altered position. When hailed, "What steamer is that?" the reply was, "The Live Yankee," and our adventurers got off and back to the city without injury--and without inflicting any.

There has been much sh.e.l.ling the last few days, but Sumter and Battery Wagner are still under the Confederate flag. How long this will continue no one knows. But it is hoped the great Blakely guns are there by this time, and that Gen. Rains's torpedoes may avail something for the salvation of the city.

SEPTEMBER 3D.--Night before last the heavens were illuminated, it is said, by the terrific bombardment of the batteries and forts in the vicinity of Charleston, and earth and sea trembled with the mighty vibrations. Yet no material injury was done our works, and there were not more than a dozen casualties. On the side of the enemy there is no means of ascertaining the effect.

N. S. Walker, Confederate States agent, Bermuda, writes that the steamer R. E. Lee was chased, on her last trip out, twelve hours, and was compelled to throw 150 bales government cotton overboard. He says the British crown officers have decided that British bottoms, with British owners of cargo, running out of blockaded ports, are liable to seizure anywhere on the high seas.

Some of the papers say Knoxville is in the hands of the enemy, and others deny it.

Hon. F. S. Lyon writes from Demopolis, Ala., that the Vicksburg army have not reported upon the expiration of the thirty days' leave, in large numbers, and that the men never can be reorganized to serve again under Pemberton.

Gen. Jos. E. Johnston writes from Morton, Miss., that he is disposing his force to oppose any raids of the enemy, and that he shall keep the Vicksburg troops (when exchanged) in Eastern Mississippi.

Gov. Jos. E. Brown telegraphs that the men (militia) in Georgia cannot be _compelled_ to leave the State; but if the government will send them 5000 arms, he thinks he can _persuade_ them to march out of it, provided he may name a commander. The President indorses on this: "If they are militia, I have no power to appoint; if C. S. troops, I have no power to delegate the authority to appoint."

Gen. Lee is still here (I thought he had departed), no doubt arranging the programme of the fall campaign, if, indeed, there be one. He rode out with the President yesterday evening, but neither were greeted with cheers. I suppose Gen. Lee has lost some popularity among idle street walkers by his retreat from Pennsylvania. The President seeks seclusion.

A gentleman who breakfasted with him this morning, tells me the President complained of fatigue from his long ride with Gen. Lee.