Following the American Civil War Sesquicentennial with day by day writings of the time, currently 1863.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Monday, 8th.—Passed through Dry Ridge; took up camp one-half mile south of Chrittenden at 2 P. M.

SEPTEMBER 8TH.—But the Marylanders have not risen yet. Some of our divisions have touched the soil of Pennsylvania. And I believe the whole Yankee host would leave Washington, escaping by the Potomac, if it were not for the traitors here, who go to Norfolk and Baltimore by flag of truce, and inform the Lincoln Government (for pay) that we have no troops here—none between this and Manassas, none all the way to Lee, while thousands in the army are prostrated with physical exhaustion.

September 8.—A very warm day. Mrs. W. and myself went out to try to get some sweet potatoes for some of the men in the Buckner Hospital. They are very scarce here at present, as the season is a dry one. We got some from a lady who would not take up any for her own use, but as soon as we told her who they were for she gave them to us, and would take no money for them. This lady had two young daughters, who were busy weaving and spinning. They had on dresses spun and woven by themselves. This ancient work is all the fashion now, as we are blockaded and can get no other kind of goods.

We are much pleased with our kind hostess, Mrs. Evans. Some few days ago one of her sons, a Methodist preacher, came to see her, and the first thing he asked us about was Miss Augusta Evans, the authoress, of Mobile, saying he admired her and her works so much that he had named one of his daughters for her. We had a good prayer-meeting while he was here.

When I left Mobile Mr. McVoy gave me some money for his young son, a member of an Alabama regiment, who he had heard was sick up this way. On arriving here I found he was at Wither’s Division Hospital, which was at Tyner’s Station, Tenn. I wrote there, and received an answer from Mr. Colson of the same regiment, telling me that he was dead.

Judge Thornton of Mississippi is now at Dalton, with his wounded son. He brought him from Virginia, and has been unable to proceed further on the way with him. I intend going down to visit him. There is a good deal of trouble about the ladies in some of the hospitals of this department. Our friends here have advised us to go home, as they say it is not considered respectable to go into one. I must confess, from all I had heard and seen, for awhile I wavered about the propriety of it; but when I remembered the suffering I had witnessed, and the relief I had given, my mind was made up to go into one if allowed to do so. Mrs. W. and Mrs. M. have come to the same conclusion on the subject as myself. God has said, “Who can harm you if you be followers of that which is good?” I thought of this, and believed it, and gained strength from it. Christians should not mind what the world says, so that they are conscious of striving to do their duty to their God.

It seems strange that the aristocratic women of Great Britain have done with honor what is a disgrace for their sisters on this side of the Atlantic to do. This is not the first time I have heard these remarks. Not respectable! And who has made it so? If the Christian, high-toned, and educated women of our land shirk their duty, why others have to do it for them. It is useless to say the surgeons will not allow us; we have our rights, and if asserted properly will get them. This is our right, and ours alone.

In a book called the “Sunny South,” written by the lamented Rev. J. H. Ingraham, are the following words: “Soldiers fight the battles of our country, and the least we can do is to cherish them in their helplessness, and bind up their wounds, and all true women will do it, who love their country.” Who among us does not echo his sentiments? Women of the South, let us remember that our fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons are giving up all that mortals can for us; that they are exposed hourly to the deadly missiles of the enemy; the fatigues of hard marching, through burning suns, frost, and sleet; pressed by hunger and thirst; subject to diseases of all kinds from exposure; and last, though by no means least, the evil influences that are common in a large army. Are we aware of all this, and unwilling to nurse these brave heroes who are sacrificing so much for us? What, in the name of common sense, are we to do? Sit calmly down, knowing that there is many a parched lip which would bless us for a drop of water, and many a wound to be bound up? These things are not to be done, because it is not considered respectable! Heaven help the future of our country, for nothing but God’s special aid can save any country where such doctrines are inculcated.

Women of the South, let us remember we have a foe as relentless as Tamerlane or Atilla, who, if we are to believe his own threats, has resolved to lay our towns in ashes, lay waste our fields, and make our fair land a blackened mass of ruins if we will not submit to his domination; and, unless every man and woman in the South do their duty, he will succeed, even though we had a president gifted with the wisdom of Solomon, and generals endowed with the genius of Frederick or Napoleon. I know there are hundreds of our women who look on this subject in the proper light, having household duties to attend to, which they can not leave; but have we not thousands who, at this moment, do not know what to do to pass the time that is hanging heavily on their hands? I mean the young: the old are not able for the work. If it will hurt a young girl to do what, in all ages, has been the special duty of woman—to relieve the suffering—it is high time the youth of our land were kept from the camp and field. If one is a disgrace, so is the other.

Andrew Hull Foote in military uniform, full-length portrait, facing frontWikipedia: Andrew Hull Foote (September 12, 1806 – June 26, 1863) was an American naval officer who was noted for his service in the American Civil War and also for his contributions to several naval reforms in the years prior to the war. When the war came, he was appointed to command of the Western Gunboat Flotilla, predecessor of the Mississippi River Squadron. In that position, he led the gunboats in the Battle of Fort Henry. For his services with the Western Gunboat Flotilla, Foote was among the first naval officers to be promoted to the then-new rank of rear admiral. (more)

Library of Congress image.

Civil War Portrait 005

September 8.—L. C. Turner, Judge Advocate of the War Department, issued the following instructions to United States marshals, military commandants, and their officers in the several States:

“The quota of volunteers and enrolment of militia having been completed in the several States, the necessity for stringent enforcement of the orders of the War Department in respect to volunteering and drafting no longer exists. Arrests for violation of these orders, and for disloyal practices, will hereafter be made only upon my express warrant, or by direction of the military commander or governor of the State in which such arrests may be made; and restrictions upon travel imposed by those orders are rescinded.”

—Boyd’s Station, Ky., was taken possession of by a large force of rebel troops.

—A meeting took place at London, England, between the American and British Sunday-school delegates, relative to the civil war in the United States. The opinion seemed to prevail that the end of the war would be also the virtual end of slavery. One or two of the English delegates declared that the North, in attempting to preserve the Union and destroy slavery, had the sympathy of all Christian men in England.—London News, September 9.

—A meeting of several hundred women of various denominations was held at the Park-street Church, Boston, at which a circular was adopted to the women of the United States, suggesting to them to form circles of prayer throughout the land, and to pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the entire nation; for the President and his councillors; for the officers of the army and navy; for the soldiers and seamen; for their families; for ministers of the Gospel, and for the oppressed of the land; and agreeing to observe Monday of every week as a day of special prayer, assembling at ten A.m. and at three P.M.; each service to occupy two hours.—The Fortieth regiment of Massachusetts volunteers, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph A. Dalton, left the encampment at Boxboro’ for the seat of war.

—This afternoon two companies of the Third Indiana cavalry, under command of Major Chapman, went to Poolesville, Md., which they found in possession of a rebel cavalry regiment, who had planted on a hill to the right of the town one field-piece, which was opened on the Nationals as they approached. The command did not stop, but made a charge through the town. The enemy were then forming a line of battle near their gun. In a few moments reinforcements came up, consisting of two pieces of artillery and several companies of the Eighth Illinois cavalry, who, after a few shots, succeeded in silencing the enemy’s piece, when another charge was made by Major Chapman’s command, and the rebels broke and ran, leaving seven dead on the field. The National loss was one man killed, Sergeant David A. Fallis, of company B, and eight men wounded, Lieutenants Ladue and Davis, of company B, and six men of company A.—Washington Star, September 9.

—The water stations at Benson and Bagdad, Ky., on the Louisville and Frankfort Railroad, were destroyed and the road at the latter place torn up by a party of rebels.—Louisville Journal.

—A fight took place at a point on the right bank of the Mississippi River, twenty-five miles above New-Orleans, La., between the Twenty-first regiment of Indiana volunteers, and five hundred mounted Texan Rangers, resulting in the dispersion of the latter, and the capture of a greater part of their horses.—(Doc. 205.)

—Colonel Bradley T. Johnson, having been appointed by Gen. Lee, Provost-Marshal of Frederick, Md., on his entrance into that city, issued a proclamation addressed to the people of Maryland, in which he told them that after sixteen months of oppression, more galling than the Austrian tyranny, the victorious army of the South brought freedom to their doors; that its standard waved from the Potomac to Mason and Dixon’s line; that the men of Maryland had then the opportunity of working out their own redemption; and he called upon them to do their part, and to rise at once. He asked them to remember the cells of Fort McHcnry, the dungeons of Forts La Fayette and Warren; the insults to their wives and daughters; the arrests, the midnight searches of their houses, and to rise at once in arms and strike for liberty and rights.

—General Lee, commanding the rebel army in Virginia, issued a proclamation from his headquarters at Frederick, Maryland, addressed to the people of that State, in which he informed them that the people of the confederate States had long watched with the deepest sympathy the wrongs and outrages that had been inflicted upon them by the Government of the United States; that, believing they possessed a spirit too lofty to submit to such a Government, the people of the South had long wished to aid them in throwing off the foreign yoke, to enable them again to enjoy the inalienable rights of freemen, and restore the independence and sovereignty of their State. In obedience to this wish the Southern army had come among them, and was prepared to assist them with the power of its arms in regaining the rights of which they had been so unjustly despoiled. This was the mission of the Southern army. No restraint upon their free will was intended, no intimidation would be allowed, at least within the limits of his army. But it was for the people of Maryland to decide their own destiny, freely and without constraint. The army would respect their choice, whatever it might be; and while the Southern people would rejoice to welcome them to their natural position among them, they would do so only when they came of their own free will.

—Governor Bradford, of Maryland, in view of the fact that the rebel army under General Lee had entered the State and menaced the city of Baltimore and other places with a hostile attack, issued a proclamation calling upon the citizens to enroll themselves at once in volunteer military organizations; that no possible power at command might be overlooked in preparing to meet every emergency. Arms and accoutrements would be distributed to all military organizations, whether infantry or cavalry.

—The excitement among the people of Pennsylvania, consequent upon the invasion of the neighboring State of Maryland by the rebel army under General Lee, threatening an advance upon their own State, was most intense. Yesterday the citizens of Lancaster County held a great meeting, at which they appointed a committee of safety, who, to-day, issued an address appealing to the inhabitants of every township and borough in the county to organize committees of safety; to make out lists of all able-bodied men capable of bearing arms; to organize them into companies, and drill them daily; to put in order and have ready for immediate service every rifle and shot-gun; to provide themselves with ammunition; to form squads of cavalry in every district; to arrest every man who uttered a traitorous sentiment against the Government, and to watch every suspicious character whom they might find prowling about their neighborhoods.