Three weeks ago I was in Richmond. How I came
to be there, what I was doing, and how I made my way into the light of
civilization and freedom, it is no part of my present purpose to state. Nor
would it be safe or prudent for me to do so, because, the fates willing, it is
my intention - as it is an almost absolute necessity for me - to be soon back
again within the jurisdiction of Mr. Jefferson Davis. Enough to say that I spent
several weeks recently in the capital of the Confederate States - for here I may
say, in passing, that all over the South the pretty little city on the left bank
of the James river is spoken of as capital, just as Washington used to be in the
United States, and still is in the loyal portion thereof. I was not an idle or
uninterested observer of men and things in and about Richmond, and in that
section of the South through which I made way the border, and if you consider my
observations of sufficient interest to deserve a corner of the HERALD, they are
most willingly at your service.
RICHMOND AND ITS ENVIRONS.
The principal feature
that strikes every one who sees Richmond for the first time is its curious
topography. From the James river, which, tumbling over its rocky bed, makes a
wide bend here, with its convex face to the city, rise, without any regard to
uniformity of direction, some half dozen hills, of gravel formation, and of
pretty considerable elevation.There
has never been any attempt to grade them into level streets, but the city is
scattered promiscuously up and on and over them, just as fashion, taste or
business may have happened to dictate. The principal part of the city, however,
occupies actually only one of those elevations, and the garden spot of that one
is the Capitol square, where stands the building of which Jefferson procured the
design in France, but which, however magnificent it may have been deemed in the
simple, unostentatious days in which it was built, is certainly not to be lauded
now either for its beauty or for its adaptation to the wants of a State
Legislature, much less to those of a Congress of Confederate States. Within the
same enclosure is the Governor mansion, where poor John Letcher, badgered and
bullied and blackguarded on all sides, resigns himself to his fate, and, if all
be true that the Examiner charges, tries to beguile it with jolly living. In the
centre of the square is the beautiful equestrian statue of Washington, looking
as calm and serene and commanding as if the city which he overlooks was not the
centre and hotbed of the foulest treason that ever showed itself in the light of
day. The pedestal is designed for eight other statues of distinguished
Virginians, but three of which have yet been put in their places. These are
Jefferson, Henry and Mason - not the arrogant self-conceited blockhead who
recently represented the State in the Senate at Washington, and has gone seeking
recognition at London, as the diplomatic representative of secessiondom, but a
far purer, wiser and more patriotic namesake of his. Here also is a small statue
to Henry Clay.
THE UNION PRISONER OF WAR.
Richmond has really but
one business thoroughfare. That is Main street. Most of the hotels, banks,
newspaper offices and stores are located on it. It extends northward into the
open country, and southeastward to a suburb called Rocketts. In this latter
section of it are situated some of the tobacco warehouse where our Union
prisoners are now confined. (The map which we publish will show the points
referred to by our correspondent. - Ed. HERALD.) These are old brick edifices,
of mouldy, dilapidated appearance. They stand together on one side of the street
- which here is of a most dingy character - and two nearly opposite. Those on
the north side are overlooked by the bluffs in which Church Hill here
terminates, and which supply gravel for the city, while those on the south side
of the street have the James river and Kanawha Canal, and the river itself
immediately in their rear. I have often passed by these prison houses, and had
my feelings lacerated by seeing the condition of the brave men who are suffering
here for their loyalty and devotion to the country. It is hard to find out
anything relating to the affairs of the government, and inquisitiveness into
public matters is not a safe weakness to indulge in. Observations have therefore
to be made quietly, patiently, and on whatever slight data may be casually
presented or acquired. My observation leads me to think that there are, on the
average, two hundred men confined in each of these warehouses, huddled together,
with not much more regard to health than a humane captain of a slaver would show
to his freight of emigrants from the Congo river to the Havana. The lower floors
are assigned to the officers, the windows being strongly grated; the upper ones
are occupied by the rank and file of our men who fell into the rebels’ hands
at Manassas and elsewhere. The condition of all, officers and men, is pitiable
and deplorable to the last degree, and not another day should be lost without
our government adopting some means by which its faithful but unfortunate
adherents in Richmond may be rescued from their miseries and restored to the
light of freedom and the comforts of home. These men ought not to be sacrificed
any longer to a mere diplomatic or political technicality.
Humanity, reason,
justice, common sense, all appeal in tones that should not be ignored, for a
prompt termination to the senseless quibble of which those brave men are the
victims. The rebellion can be quelled just as effectually after an exchange of
prisoners is effected as before. I believe there are one or two other warehouses
and mills in the western part of the city, near the canal basins, where more of
our Union prisoners are confined. The bulk of them, however, have been sent
further South.
CHURCH HILL AND THE HOSPITALS
Near the summit of the
elevation known as Church Hill is a large, old fashioned brick building known as
the alms house. It has been converted from its original purpose, and now serves
as an hospital for our sick and wounded. Sisters of Charity come and go,
untiring angels of consolation, and the hearse is kept in constant requisition,
so great is the mortality that prevails here. Many of the private houses in the
vicinity are also converted into temporary hospitals. As a general thing, the
former residents of this part of the city have gone elsewhere since the location
of the hospitals here; and now on every tenth house or more you see waving a
little dirty, with his-yellow flag, denoting a lazaretto. The Odd Fellows’
Hall, on Broad street; is also used as a general hospital. A great deal of
sickness prevails in the Confederate army. Some whole regiments have been
completely ravaged by smallpox. Much of the sickness is ascribed to the
putrefied state of the atmosphere around Manassas, arising from the unburied
bodies of men and horses killed in the battle of Bull run; and great
dissatisfaction was expressed against Beauregard for keeping his army there
instead of advancing against Washington. On the most commanding part of Church
hill still stands, in good preservation too, the church in which Patrick Henry
made the famous speech at the commencement of the Revolutionary struggle, where
he used that memorable and oft-quoted phrase, “Give me liberty, or give me
death.” Around the church are the graves of the last generation of the people
of Richmond, and I was no little disgusted to observe that few of the headstones
had escaped the profane vandalism of some scoundrels, who, as a proof of their
wit, cut the figure “”before the figures recording the ages of the deceased,
making it appear that those who rested here from their labors had enjoyed
incredibly patriarchal length of years.
THE JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA
CANAL.
Between this hill and the
ricketty suburb known as Rocketts there is a large encampment, and I believe
there are also batteries here, for the defence of the river. I know that there
certainly are batteries on the bluffs, above and beyond Rocketts. Near here the
few steamers and sailing craft that used to trade to Richmond had their mooring
places, and here also The James River and Kanawha Canal has its southern outlet
into the river. This is a great work of internal improvement, so far as the
design is concerned; but, unfortunately for Virginia, her execution does not
keep pace with her plans, and the canal, though open for many years, does not
come within a long distance of the Kanawha river, which it was intended to tap.
If it ever will do so, it must be after secession is crashed and the Union
restored.
INTRENCHMENTS AND CAMPS OF
INSTRUCTION.
But Richmond is not, as
seems erroneously to be considered, garrisoned by a large army. So far as I
could see there are only camps of instruction maintained here. The recruits are
sent for drill and equipment, and when they are considered tolerable in those
respects they are forwarded to Manassas or other points, and their place
supplied by new comers. One camp of instruction is a level tract of ground
between the penitentiary and the new cemetery, which used to be occupied as a
fair ground. Another, and more extensive one, is on the he north side of the
city, about a mile and a half out on the line of the Fredericksburg Railroad,
where there is an enclosure of about a mile square, sometimes used as a race
course. I believe it is called the New Fair Ground. Near it is the Baptist
College, an institution for the whole South. The only extensive intrenchments in
the neighborhood of the city are also in this vicinity. They extend northward
for half a mile, commanding the railroad, but even they are not mounted with
guns, so confident are the military authorities of the strength of the rebel
army concentrated around Manassas, and which must be defeated before an army can
penetrate from the northward to the environs of the Confederate capital.
It would be vain to
attempt particularizing the localities of the encampments. Richmond, like
ancient Rome, is seated on her seven hills - or more - and wherever there is
space and eligible ground for camps, they are covered with tents. The soldiers
are not allowed quarters in the city, but are kept strictly to their camp life;
but the officers - scions of all the first families - are treated with more
consideration, and are allowed to consult their comfort so far as to occupy town
quarters. The hotels are consequently crammed with them from garret to basement.
There may be from eight to ten thousand soldiers around Richmond, but these are
not regarded, as I said, in the light of a garrison, but only as apprentices
acquiring their initiatory lessons in military life. They are, therefore, kept
constantly on the move; those who have had the advantage of a five or six weeks
training giving place to new hands.
They have commenced to
erect wooden barracks and huts for the soldiers at the various encampments, the
most numerous and extensive being on the fair grounds to the north of the city.These erections are becoming so extensive as to lead to the idea that a
large part of the rebel army in Virginia are to Winter in Richmond.
GOVERNOR LETCHER AND PRESIDENT
DAVIS.
I do not believe that
very friendly or confidential relations exist between John Letcher, as head of
the State government, and Jefferson Letcher, as head of the State government,
and Jefferson Davis, as head of the rebel confederacy. The former can, by no
proof of his subserviency to the rebel confidence in him. Besides, he is
altogether too plebeian in origin and appearance, and too democratic in his
tastes, to suit the delicate fastidiousnes and the exacting requirements of pure
blood, on which the chivalry pride themselves. I will not say that any decidedly
hostile feeling is manifested in the relations of the State and Confederate
executives, but I am inclined to believe, from all I can gather, that those
relations are the reverse of friendly. The citizens and the soldiers treat
Letcher with the utmost contempt, while Davis has from them demonstrations of
respect and confidence that might flatter the vanity of a European despot. When
Davis came first to Richmond, he put up at the Spottswood Hotel, but this
residence was too public and too vulgar to suit either his taste or necessities.
The citizens, therefore, procured for him and fitted up in the most expensive
manner, a very large and beautiful residence on Marshall street. I believe it is
built of white marble. It occupies a large plot of ground, the garden sweeping
down, terrace like, in the direction of that deep gully which separates this
part of the city from Church Hill. Here he holds his court, and is all the time
surrounded by military officers and civil dignitaries. He has but recently
recovered from a severe attack of intermittent fever, the same from which he was
reported to have died.
ARSENAL, IRON WORKS, WATER WORKS,
ETC.
In the western
section of the city, on the bank of the James river, is the State Arsenal, a
large, substantial building, where arms are being manufactured. Quite close to
it are the Tredegar iron works, and extensive concern, which has done nothing
since April last except cast cannon and balls for the use of there rebels. The
same day that the news of the fall of Fort Sumter reached Richmond the rebel
flag was hoisted from the grounds of the Tredegar - not, however, by the
proprietors, but by a party composed of several rebel members of the State
Convention then in session, one of the editors of the Enquirer, and Colonel
Moore, of the First Virginia Militia. This latter gentleman is an Irishman by
birth, long resident in Richmond, where he keeps a large headware establishment
on Main street, and is a genial, high- minded and high-toned man. He was wounded
at the battle of Bull run. On the bluff rising above the Tredegar works stands
the penitentiary, surrounded by a high wall, and some distance back of it is the
new cemetery. The level space between is used as a camp of instruction. A little
higher up the river, just where the grounds of the Cemetery come down, are the
waterworks. The conception of them is very simple, the water from the James
river being made by a dam to flow into a basin, from which it is pumped to a
reservoir in an elevated part of the city.
(The basin and other
points referred to by our correspondent are shown in the accompanying map. - ED.
HERALD.)
BUSINESS AND CURRENCY.
So much for the
topographical and other prominent features of the city. I wish I could present
them more clearly, but I still hope that they are sufficiently intelligible. As
to business, it is generally represented as completely ruined, except those
branches of trade that are connected with the equipment and supplies of the
army. These are flourishing, but the only currency to be had is paper money; and
when the war ends those who have appeared to drive the most thriving business
will probably find themselves rich only in worthless shinplasters. Nevertheless
the people do not seem inclined to look far into the future, and as bank notes,
issued in unlimited supply, and without any regard to a corresponding capital,
will pass current in trade, there do not appear to be very hard times. Those
branches of trade that are connected with articles of luxury; or articles not of
the first necessity, are entirely ruined, and many are the empty stores that can
be seen in Main street, silent witnesses against the madness of the hour. Still
the sidewalks are crowded with pedestrians, and on the whole Richmond may be
said to be a gay city.
SOUTHERN BOMBAST
The people are carried
away with the flush of the partial successes of the rebels, and more than ever
vaunted is the vast superiority of Southerners over Yankees. Oh, how I have
longed to see a check given to this bravado by a triumph of the national arms,
which would bring these people to their senses.I think that one grand battle and decisive victory in
Virginia would burst the bubble, dispel the insanity that has seized upon the
popular mind in the South, disorganize their immense army and lead to a speedy
restoration of peace, order and obedience to law. But every little check that
our arms sustain is magnified by these boasters, and is an additional obstacle
in the way of peace. Every party of Union soldiers that is paraded through the
streets of Richmond on their way to prison appears to these American Gascons
incontestable evidence of their great superiority over the men of the North.
Captivity itself is hard to bear, but the sting is made doubly severe by the
taunts of the women and negroes, and by the feeling that every one of those
unavoidable incidents of war is taken as proof of Southern valor. I have often
thought that the negroes, with the cunning of their race, make a show of
hostility to Northern prisoners only the better to ward off suspicion from
themselves, and gain the good will and confidence of the white folks.
HOTELS
The hotels are doing
a thriving business, as I said. They have increased their rates for board from
twenty-five to fifty per cent. The Exchange and Ballard- which constitute really
but one establishment - charge two and a half dollars per day, and the
Spottswood which is now the resort of the elite of Southern society, three
dollars. The American used to be the headquarters of the Western anti-secession
members of the Convention, but now it is among the most pronounced of rebel
establishments. Little secession flags flutter from every window, while larger
ones are displayed from all the principal buildings in the city. Payments are
all made in Virginia and Tennessee currency; and change given in the shape of
shinplasters, of one of which, for twenty-five cents, I give you a copy: -
TWENTY-FIVE CENT SHINPLASTER.
25 RICHMOND, L No. 11,281. Aug. 1, 1861.
25
THE METROPOLITAN SAVINGS BANK Will pay the bearer Twenty five Cents in current
funds, when presented in sums of five dollars or its multiple. Nat. W. Hart, for
Cashier.
W. P. PUHING, for
Pres.
Some of these promises to
pay descend to the low figure of five cents - the lowest coin that practically
circulates in the South, for copper and nickel cents are entirely beneath
notice.But all specie circulation
has really ceased, and nothing but paper passes from hand to hand. Wont there be
a universal smash up in the South when the hour of redemption - in a financial
as well as a political sense - arrives? But I verily believe that it is one of
the delusions of the hour which have got hold of the public mind here and which
encourages this rebellion, that when the pipe of peace comes to be smoked, Uncle
Sam will be liberal enough to pay the piper on all sides, and consequently that
they who hold sheaves of worthless paper money will, at the end of the war, find
them converted into shining heaps of gold and silver.
POSTAL AFFAIRS.
The handsome edifice
erected by the general government a few years ago in Main street, Richmond, for
the purposes of a post office, is still applied to the use for which it was
designed. Postal arrangements in the South, although sadly shorn of their former
completeness, still preserve an air of regular existence. To be sure it
sometimes takes the mail from Memphis a week or ten days to reach Richmond; but
then the answer to the grumblers is, that even in the North the regularity of
the mails is, at present and on account of the war, sadly deranged. There is
still an apparent postal system in the South. Many of the contractors for
carrying the United States mails continue to perform their contracts under the
Confederate government; receiving bonds in payment. Others have thrown up their
contracts rather than take such problematical remuneration, and besides that, a
large proportion of the mail routes have been discontinued. Perhaps there is no
deprivation resulting from this war which the people of the South regret and
miss more than they do the mail system. But recklessness and an utter disregard
of the future rule everywhere. The Southern mind seems to have resolved itself
into this one idea, “After us, the deluge.” It was that improvidence and
reckless disposition that drove them into this rebellion, and it is the same
that will retain them in the hostile attitude which they have assumed. It would
be idle and ridiculous to say that the prudent, sensible, conservative men of
the South do not deplore the secession movement, and wish in their hearts that
it were rushed, never to rise again; but it would be equally foolish for the
national government to calculate to any extent on that sentiment. The war is no
longer a matter of sentiment. It has long ago passed that point. It is now a
trial of strength between two giants, and the one who has most power, most
energy, and most endurance, will succeed.
GOOD-BYE TO RICHMOND.
Now I think I have told
you all about Richmond. I may have omitted some little points, for I write with
a running pen. It does just now occur to me that I have not said that the
numerous and extensive flour mills that stand along the James river are in
constant work; that flour is but $10 per barrel, which, considering the fifteen
per cent discount on paper currency, and the closing of the Southern ports, is
not very high; that other provisions are scarce, particularly fresh beef, butter
and bacon; that soldiers’ rations are very scant and inferior; that the
basements of churches are used for the manufacture and storage of military
equipments and supplies; that the large cotton factories at Manchester, on the
opposite side of the river, are running day and night, making cloth - a sort of
linsey-woolsey - for the army; that the ladies are industrious in knitting
mittens and socks for the soldiers; that small arms are manufactured at Fayette,
N. C., that she factories have been established in large numbers all along Main
street; that there is no such thing as beer or ale to be had in the restaurants;
that the tariff of other drinks is put up to fifteen cents; that strict
discipline is maintained among the soldiers, and drunkenness guarded against by
the most stringent regulations; that the style of drill differs from that
practised among the Northern troops, by being more slow, steady and solid -
resembling therein the old European style: that to that regularity of movement
of Southern cohorts is as cribed by some the repulse of our impetuous soldiers
at Bull Run; that it is yet a disputed point whether that victory is to be
credited to Johnson or Beauregard, as also whether Jeff.Davis was on the field at all that day; that there was great
dissatisfaction at the failure of the Southern troops to follow up their success
by the occupation of Washington; that they are now fortifying Warrenton
junction, some eight or ten miles southwest of Manassas; that ammunition was
beginning to fall short - although there are two powder mills at work in the
South - till the arrival of the steamer Bermuda, which ran the blockade at
Charleston, with a most valuable and immense cargo of supplies and munitions of
war, and that it is the settled conviction in the minds of the people that
France and England are about to recognise the confederacy and break the
blockade.
I also fancied that I observed a diminution in the number
of persons of color in Richmond and ascribed it to the fact of their being
employed as laborers in the intrenchments on York river and other points. The
Richmond papers often publish extracts from the NEW YORK HERALD, and I recollect
how intense was their astonishment when they found in your journal a full and
complete register of their army. No passes are given to any person to go
northward, except in some very special cases, and even in those cases an oath
has to be taken that no Southern secrets, nothing damaging to the cause of the
rebellion, will be divulged. I got no pass, took no oath, made my way into the
loyal States by my own energy, perseverance and devices, and just so I expect to
find myself once more in the regions of Secessia, huzzaing for Jeff. Davis,
loudly maledicting the federal baboon - as they often call Mr. Lincoln and
inwardly cursing the madness and the devilishness that have got possession of
the people of the South.
A TRIP SOUTHWARD.
There is but one daily
train running from Richmond to Nashville, and that one runs very irregularly. A
military guard at the depot examines passengers’passes and turns back those
who have not got a permit. There are no through tickets sold, and the fare has
increase one-half. The trains, however, are mostly filled with troops. There
were a great many sick and disabled soldiers returning to the South. It occurred
to me, as the train was crossing a valley - over the Appomattox river, I think -
on a trestle work viaduct of about half a mile in length, shaky and insecure,
how completely the destruction of that bridge would cut off the connection
between Richmond and the South. It is a most important link in the chain of
travel, and if broken it would take several months before the chain could be
restored. All along the road from Richmond to Lynchburg, and from Lynchburg to
Nashville, the hills are covered with encampments. In fact the whole country is
one continuous camp of armed men. The contrast between the South and the North
in that respect is most remarkable. When I come into the Northern States I find
the people pursing their usual peaceful avocations, without any apparent
disturbance or interruption, as if the blast of war had never sounded in their
ears, and as if the country was not now engaged in a most terrible conflict for
its existence as a nation. While I see in that attitude the confidence of
strength, I cannot but reflect that that disposition to take things quietly, and
not to put forth the utmost energies of the nation, is rather calculated to
protract the war which now devastates the fertile fields and pleasant homes of
the South, and brings sorrow and desolation to the hearth of the dweller on the
Adirondack, on the Western prairies, and in the pine groves and forests of our
Southern States.
LYNCHBURG.
There are more signs of
industry and enterprise in and around Lynchburg than are to be met with in any
other part of the Old Dominion, except Richmond. It is beautifully situated on
the right bank of the James river, in a sort of gorge formed by a spur of the
Blue Ridge. The high hills on each side of the town are now the picturesque site
of military encampments - for three regiments lie here - and the extensive
workshops of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad company are converted, I
believe, to the uses of war. There is an immense business done here in the way
of supplying Richmond and the rebel army in Virginia with provisions. It is the
entrepot, so to speak, for the supplies of cattle and grain from the Southwest.
The James river and Kanawha Canal adds to the importance of this place, being in
operation for some fifty miles farther west of it.The fine old Virginia gentleman who have his name to the
favorite Southern system of jurisprudence - Lynch law - administered the
junctions of a Justice of the Peace in Campbell county, and gave his name also
to its flourishing capital.
THE VIRGINIA AND TENNESSEE
RAILROAD.
The line from Lynchburg
to Knoxville takes the traveller through a most beautiful, fertile and
picturesque region of country. The bold peaks of Otter loom into view soon after
you leave Lynchburg, and keep in sight many hours. Riding through this country
and seeing the neatly kept farm houses and orchards, and general evidences of
thrift and prosperity that meet the eye on all sides, you soon forget that your
are in a slave State, and might rather fancy yourself riding through the rich
agricultural regions of Ohio or Pennsylvania or Western New York. But now this
part of the country has lost that peaceful look that so well becomes it. The
hillsides, as I have said, are white with encampments, and here and there you
find squads of soldiers, who are used to overawe the Union loving people of this
neighborhood. Every town and hamlet has its companies or regiments of rebel
troops, and on every train and wagon team, and by the roadside, awaiting
conveyance, you see war materials of all descriptions.
I did not stop at
Knoxville, as I should like to have done, but the risks of travelling in the
South at present are so great that he would be a fool who would needlessly
increase or aggravate those risks. It is dangerous to deal with madmen, and one
cannot put up at a Southern hotel or tavern without meeting more than one
maniac. Giving weight to this mental reasoning, I kept my seat in the cars, and
did not trouble mine host of the Knoxville hotel - I forget its title - of which
hospitable accommodations I bore no pleasant recollections.
LOUDON, CHATTANOOGA, ETC.
Some twenty-eight miles
southwest of Knoxville we passed the town of Loudon, built on the right bank of
a broad stream which flows into the Tennessee river. It owes its importance to
the railroad, and is now a flourishing place. There are several iron foundries
here, now engaged, I believe, in the rebel service. There are some six thousand
troops kept here which is an evidence of the importance attached to the
occupation of the place, or it may be that this point is a grand depot from
which troops are being constantly forwarded into Kentucky.
If I were to attempt a
description of all the points on this line of railroad I would have to repeat
myself. Suffice it to say, therefore, that the most astonishing military
activity prevails everywhere in this region. Chattanooga - a strategic point of
great strength, the centre [ ] the coal and iron mining region of Georgia, and a
railroad junction - has been recently abandoned as an encampment, the troops
having been moved form it to a point nearer Nashville. So, too, troops have been
lately withdrawn from Columbus and Union City, where twenty-eight regiments had
been stationed, and moved towards Bowling Green, where they are swelling
Buckner’s force.My idea is that
a great blow, a la Lexington, is meditated against Louisville, which, if the
blow succeeds, will be held as winter quarters for the rebel army of the
Southwest. All means of transportation are being seized and accumulated in that
design. As I passed through Decatur, I saw that a large encampment there was
breaking up, with marching orders northward.
NASHVILLE.
The city of Nashville is
at present the most important seat of manufactures in the confederate States.
Most of the shoes, harness and cavalry equipments used in the rebel army are
made here, the leather being procured principally from Chattanooga, where there
is a large tannery, owned by the Union Bank of Tennessee. I understood that many
of those shoe factories were established by the rebel government. They are also
erecting here a powder mill and an additional paper mill. The foundries, of
which there are several, are casing cannon balls, and two of them are casing
cannon, which are said to be much superior to those turned out at Memphis. The
people here seem more determined upon a vigorous prosecution of the war than the
people at Richmond do. The most vigilant surveillance is kept over person who
are suspected of having any design to make their way northward, and no person is
allowed to leave in that direction without first having his pass renewed.
Hundreds of persons are kept here on that account, being unable to obtain the
necessary papers. The only way to escape from here is by railroad to Bowling
Green, Kentucky, and thence to the Union lines. Baggage is overhauled four or
five times on the way.
Spies are always
surrounding you, and the slightest indiscretion exposes you to suspicion. If
suspicion be directed against you your pass is no security, and you are
mercilessly sent back. But still one who is reasonably well acquainted in
Tennessee and who has the necessary coolness, intrepidity and presence of mind,
may make his way by private conveyance through the State. The charges for such
conveyances, however are exorbitant. I knew one lady who had to pay $40 for
being carried three stations eastward.
The delusive idea of an anti-war movement in
the North is believed in here as religiously as the Turk believes in his
destiny, and the people think that if they can only hold our army at bay long
enough, the Northern people will get tired of the struggle, refuse further
supplies to the government, and favor a recognition of southern independence.
The military ardor and enthusiasm of the people of Tennessee are unbounded.The whole adult male population that can be spared from industrial
pursuits are in the field. These constitute at least fifty regiments.
FORTIFICATIONS AND STEAMERS ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
If all the fortifications on the
Tennessee shore of the Mississippi river were place in a line I think they would
extend fifteen miles. The commence at Memphis and extend northward to the State
line. The principal in entrenchments are above Fort Randolph, extending beyond
Fulton, at Pecan Point. Twenty-two guns, mostly thirty-two pounders, are mounted
at Forts Harris and Randolph, exclusive of a battery of flying artillery, under
command of Captain Miller. One of the forts in the immediate vicinity of Memphis
- that at the mouth of Wolfe river - is liable to be overflowed and carried
away. It has six guns mounted. The other is two and a half miles higher up the
river, and is mounted with twelve guns on turn wheels. There is no scarcity of
ammunition. The rebel government has two gunboats in Memphis. One is a large
vessel with her guards cut off, and mounted fore and aft with two sixty-four
pound guns. She is painted black. The other is of smaller size. They have also
fifteen large side wheel steamers, which are used as transports between
Columbus, Hickman and Memphis, and nine or ten small stern wheelers, which run
regularly up White river, establishing communication between the forces of Price
and McCullouch by way of Jacksonport, Jackson county, Arkansas. Two or three
packets leave Memphis daily with troops and munitions of war. I cannot recollect
the names of all the steamers in the service of the rebel government on this
part of the Mississippi, but I can give you some of them. The large side
wheelers - some of them to be remembered as crack boats on the St. Louis and New
Orleans line - are: -
Prince of Wales, Ingomar, Belfast,
Sovereign Kentucky, John Simons, Alonzo Childs, Admiral, Victoria, General Pike,
E. H. Mears, Nebraska, John Walsh, Cheeney, Louisville.
The stern wheelers (small and
inferior boats) are the -
Frederick Nortrebe, Little Rock,
Tucker, Equality, Arkansas, Chester Ashley, Mary Patterson, and others whose
names I cannot now recall.
The fortifications that are being erected at
Columbus, Ky., from which reinforcements were sent the other day against the
corps that attacked the rebels at Belmont, on the opposite bank of the river,
will surpass in extent and strength all others on the river. They are located on
the high chalk bluffs above that part of the city called Kentucky city, which
have been lately used as a fair ground, and are at an elevation of at least
eight feet above the river.
STRENGTH OF THE REBEL ARMY.
My estimate of the strength of the
rebel army, gathered from observation and from the data within my reach, gives
them not less than 350,000 men, who are distributed as follows: -
Virginia... 170,000
Tennessee and Kentucky 100,000
Missouri... 50,000
Along the coast... 30,000 Total... 350,000
I cannot doubt that the rebels have more men
in the field than the national government has, and I think that the numerous
disasters we have met with are attributable to our underrating the strength of
our enemy. While there is no manifestation of military ardor at the North, the
South is, as I have said, one universal camp. War is on every tongue and the
subject of every thought. Day and night you hear nothing but war shouts,
exaltations over victories and imprecations against the Yankees. No business
except what is connected with war is attended to or thought of. The
self-sacrifices which these people impose upon themselves are most
extraordinary. They take the blankets and quilts from their beds, the horses
from their stables, the cattle from their sheds, the provender from their barns,
the sons from their hearths, and give all to the cause which they deem sacred.
Universal madness seems to have gained possession of young and old; and the
women, who should be conservative, are more rabid than their husbands, fathers
or brothers. Nothing but a series of successive triumphs on all points, on the
part of the national forces, can restore them to reason. If we do not make up
our minds to crush out the rebellion by resistless forces we might as well cease
this effort of reestablishing the Union, and leave these Southern fools to the
consequences of their own mighty madness. It is a common thing to find old gray
haired men of wealth in the ranks with beardless boys. I do not believe that
there has been any drafting for the army. The force of public opinion is
stronger than that. Denunciation as cowards and poltroons, and as white livered
Northerners, exclusion from all society, and contemptuous and brutal treatment
are the spurs that are applied to me to force men to enlist.
ARMY
SUPPLIES.
It cannot be concealed that there is great
suffering among the rebel soldiers, and that immense proportions of them are
constantly in hospital. The necessaries of life are very scarce; the luxuries
are not to be had for love or money. In the matter of shoes, blankets and hats,
there is a great deficiency, and one which no activity on their part can supply.
As winter approaches, the complaints
on this score multiply, and I think that if the coast were thoroughly blockaded,
and all foreign and domestic supplies cut off, the rebels would have to yield
from downright exhaustion. Large consignments in supplies, provisions and mules
are received through Missouri and Southwestern Kentucky, Nashville, Memphis and
Richmond possess immense stocks of flour and corn meal. The prices in Memphis,
on the 20th of October were -
Flour... $9 per barrel.
Pork...30 cents per lb.
Butter...30 cents per lb.
Coffee...50 cents per lb.
Some
goods have increased enormously in price - such for instance, as gray woollen
goods. Steel pens sell at $5 per box, and soap, drugs and paper command fabulous
prices.
FOUNDRIES,
ARMS AND EQUIPMENTS.
The arms in general use among the rebel
troops are old United States muskets, altered from flintlocks into percussion,
and rifled. There is a factory of small firearms at Richmond, and one at
Fayette, North Carolina. In the former they rifle the smooth bores, and also
rifle cannon. The Tredegar Iron Works, at Richmond, are said to turn out eight
small and four large rifled cannon daily. There are also cannon foundries at
Atlanta, Ga., the iron be procured from Dalton, near by; two on the Cumberland
river, right in the midst of the iron country; two at Memphis and one at New
Orleans. Powder is manufactured at Little Rock, Ark., where sulphur is found in
large quantities. Gun carriages and forges are made at Nashville and at Atlanta,
Georgia.
Among the crack batteries in Virginia are the
Washington Artillery of New Orleans (Walton), Kempner and Eschleman.Kempner received his education at an Austrian school for artillery.
Small arms are in great abundance, and bowie
knives are among the favorite weapons of the rebels. In point of general
equipment, the Southern army is far inferior to the Union troops. In fact,
outside of Virginia they look more like an armed mob than a regular organized
army.
The government wagons
used throughout the Confederate States are, for the most part, the common
freight wagons, which are such peculiar features of Virginia roads. They are
boat shaped, canvass covered, and are usually drawn by four or six mules or
oxen. Sometime you find oxen, mules and horses in the same team. The tents are
of small size, but are generally in good condition.
DIFFERENCES
OF SENTIMENT - MILITARY LEADERS.
It is a mistake to
suppose that there is entire unanimity among the people of the South. Of course
you hear no Union principles avowed, but still they exist. “Lazarus is not
dead, but sleepeth.” The conduct of the war is criticised - tough not openly
or boldly. One party favors an offensive movement, including the capture and
destruction of Washington, and the occupation of Cincinnati and Baltimore as
winter quarters.Another party
thinks that the best policy is to act on the defensive and meet the Yankees
wherever they appear. In Richmond I found the rival factions of Wise and Floyd,
the adherents of Wise making the most of Floyd thefts and general dishonesty. In
Nashville I found the rival fractions of Pillow and Polk. The state authorities
lean toward Pillow; the Confederate toward the Bishop Paladin. Their is a
feeling in Tennessee also to keep their troops at home, and not let them go
crusading either in Virginia, Kentucky or Missouri. The military representative
of that feeling is General Cheatham, ex-Mayor of Nashville. Pillow is a
blustering, blundering, red faced, self conceited, good natured sort of fellow.
He is quite popular among his soldiers, and a laughing stock among educated
military men. Polk is treated everywhere with the greatest respect and
consideration. I saw McCullouch in Memphis last summer. He is a tall, thin,
bilious, determined looking man, of retiring habits, and with that humility of
manner that bespeaks great pride. To me he looked more like a thoughtful country
merchant than a military adventurer.
SOUTHERN
ARGUMENTS FOR THE WAR.
There is undoubtedly at
this moment an overwhelming preponderance of public opinion in favor of the war.
At first it was a movement precipitated by ambitious, restless demagogues; but
now the pride and self-conceit and other weak points of the people have been
brought into play and the whole community seem determined to fight it out. The
poorer classes must sigh in their innermost hearts of deliverance from the
grinding oppression and hard times that they now experience, but no voice is
heard in denunciation of the authors of all this national woe. The delusion
among the wealthier classes is, that if the rebellion were crushed, their
plantations would be sequestrated, their negroes manumitted and their families
reduced to poverty; while, as the result of separation, they look forward to a
career of individual and national prosperity of which their past experience
under the Union was but an insipid foretaste. In Virginia the lazy, thriftless
chivalry, who are held in contempt even by their Southern allies, puff
themselves up with the insane idea that in the new confederacy protective duties
are to be established for their benefit, and that their State will become the
New England for the cotton confederacy, just as if they could by any miracle
become industrious, or as if South Carolina would give up her free trade notions
for the sake of encouraging domestic manufactures. The people of the seaboard
cities flatter themselves that every little miserable port on the coast will
become a great mart of commerce, beside which New York and Boston will dwindle
into insignificance, and that the unrestricted developement of free trade
principles will enrich their importers, jobbers and mercantile men, and supply
the planters with cheap commodities. The importance of a middle class, dependent
upon home manufactures, these sapient Solons entirely ignore.
So much for the benefits
to be gained under the newfangled notion of secession. They for the injury to be
inflicted on their perfidious neighbors of the North. Oh, sir, that counts for a
great deal in Southern calculations. The hatred expressed to Northern men is
something demoniac. They are denounced as miserable Yankee cheats, liars,
swindlers, abolitionists, nigger stealers and the incarnation of all vileness
and iniquity. This I take as one of the most unanswerable evidences of Southern
insanity, for certainly all this rage and fury are entirely uncalled for.
COTTON
- REBEL NEWS - NEGROES, ETC.
The orders of the
Confederate government, forbidding the shipment of cotton to the seaports, has
been generally observed. The plantations and country villages are well stocked
with the staple. The difficulty is where to find a market for it. It must be
there either until the United States open ports for its transhipment, or until
that much talked of blockade breaking takes place. Messengers from the rebel
Commissioners in Europe arrive every month by way of Canada, of Texas, and even
of New York, but news from Washington is not so easily obtained as it was
heretofore.
McClellan is very highly
esteemed as a military leader; but Linkhorn - and they call the President - come
in for all sorts of abuse and vilification.
The negroes seem to
relish the present condition of affairs very much. The military excitement
possesses great charms for them. They sew yellow stripes to their pants as a
sort of Uniform, and fancy themselves thoroughpaced soldiers. Those who remain
on the plantations are delighted, because their labor is not so irksome and
continuous as it used to be, and the rigor of the overseer has been relaxed.
Those employed on the fortifications do their work cheerfully, incited to it by
the raw-head-and- bloody-bone stories about the terrible Yankee abolitionists,
which they think something worse than cholera or yellow fever. They are told
that the war is to defend them, and to keep them from being sold into Cuba. The
negroes in the cities, towns and border States know better than to give credence
to such stories, but not so the field hands in the cotton States.
There are no
apprehensions of a service insurrection entertained, nor is there a thought
bestowed upon the subject.The only
danger is from the mass of negroes that have been sent from the border States
into the interior of the Gulf States.These
are generally hard cases, and calculated, to spread mutiny and dissatisfaction
among their more ignorant and innocent fellow victims. Still it will take some
time for their influence to be manifested. The negroes from the northern border
of Tennessee are being daily sent South.I
have endeavored to give you in this familiar narrative a summary of the
observations and ideas that have occurred to me in a recent tour through
Virginia and Tennessee. If they should prove to be of interest to the HERALD and
it readers, and perhaps of importance to the government, my object will be
accomplished.
