Monday, 26. — A dull, foggy day; snow thawing rapidly. Savannah captured by Sherman on the 21st, Hardee making a hasty retreat across the river to South Carolina. Some important captures. Salute of one hundred guns fired. We expect to go to New Creek soon.
December 2014
26th.—The sad Christmas has passed away. J. and C. were with us, and very cheerful. We exerted ourselves to be so too. The Church services in the morning were sweet and comforting. St. Paul’s was dressed most elaborately and beautifully with evergreens; all looked as usual; but there is much sadness on account of the failure of the South to keep Sherman back. When we got home our family circle was small, but pleasant. The Christmas turkey and ham were not. We had aspired to a turkey, but finding the prices range from $50 to $100 in the market on Saturday, we contented ourselves with roast-beef and the various little dishes which Confederate times have made us believe are tolerable substitutes for the viands of better days. At night I treated our little party to tea and ginger cakes— two very rare indulgences; and but for the sorghum, grown in our own fields, the cakes would be an impossible indulgence. Nothing but the well-ascertained fact that Christmas comes but once a year would make such extravagance at all excusable. We propose to have a family gathering when the girls come home, on the day before or after New Year’s day, (as that day will come on Sunday,) to enjoy together, and with one or two refugee friends, the contents of a box sent the girls by a young officer who captured it from the enemy, consisting of white sugar, raisins, preserves, pickles, spices, etc. They threaten to give us a plum-cake, and I hope they will carry it out, particularly if we have any of our army friends with us. Poor fellows, how they enjoy our plain dinners when they come, and how we love to see them enjoy them! Two meals a day has become the universal system among refugees, and many citizens, from necessity. The want of our accustomed tea or coffee is very much felt by the elders. The rule with us is only to have tea when sickness makes it necessary, and the headaches gotten up about dark have become the joke of the family. A country lady, from one of the few spots in all Virginia where the enemy has never been, and consequently where they retain their comforts, asked me gravely why we did not substitute milk for tea. She could scarcely believe me when I told her that we had not had milk more than twice in eighteen months, and then it was sent by a country friend. It is now $4 a quart.
26th. Monday. News of the fall of Savannah. Monthly inspection. Detailed for picket.
December 26th, 1864.—Christmas was truly delightful. The joy of the children, at sight of the beautiful tree and toys fully compensated us for the time spent in their manufacture. Such exclamations of delight; such squeals of joy; as they received the gifts and realized that the blockade had not kept old Santa out. I never saw a happier set of youngsters in my life. We, who are grown old in service, do not expect gifts any more but this morning I have two letters, one from the Army of Northern Virginia and one from General Forrest’s Command in the West. Do diaries ever feel curious? I shall not tell you who these letters are from.
Monday, 26th—Everything is quiet this morning, though for a while last night there was quite an excitement in town when a fire broke out. We are still lying in camp, with no particular duty to perform, though we are expecting orders every day to move down the river to Ft. Johnson, below Savannah. We are on half rations now, but today got large quantities of fresh oysters, all we can make use of. They were in the shell and were hauled into our camps by the wagon load, and sold to the boys by the peck or bushel. Governor Stone of Iowa arrived in camp today from Morehead City, North Carolina. He came to issue commissions to the officers of veteran regiments, and also to see that the sick and wounded Iowa soldiers in the field hospitals of the South were receiving good care.
Colonel Lyon’s Letters.
Huntsville, Ala., Dec. 25, 1864.—I write now with some little expectation that you will receive the letter within a reasonable time, for I hear that they have at last got a mail through to Stevenson for us, which should reach us tomorrow.
Monday morning General Granger ordered me to take the 13th, the cavalry and a battery and go to Huntsville and assume my old command. I commenced the movement Monday afternoon, the infantry and artillery moving by rail. We knew nothing about the situation of things here, so we advanced cautiously, the cavalry reconnoitering ahead of the train. We reoccupied the place on the 21st, the few Confederates here fleeing at our approach. It has not been strongly occupied during our absence, and we find things much as we left them. The people profess to be glad to see us back here, although I think the most of them lie about that.
We have taken a comfortable sort of a house for headquarters, partly furnished; and when you hear that Hood’s army, including Forrest, is across the Tennessee river and everything gives promise of a season of quiet on this side, if the winter is not too far advanced you may expect marching orders for this place, but not until the tide of war has rolled farther off.
The next day after we got here my cavalry had a severe fight just a few miles out of town with a part of Roddey’s command, and we were victorious. The rebel loss was at least 100 in killed, wounded and prisoners. Our loss is quite light. We have now some 80 prisoners of war captured since we arrived in this vicinity, several of whom are from here. We smashed a new company raised here during our absence.
General Granger moved down the river with the balance of his command to Decatur, but found the place so strongly occupied that he did not deem it prudent to attack. He returned with his fleet to Whitesburg, came up here and waited for General Steadman, who passed here on Saturday with a large force in that direction. General Granger left me in addition to the 13th, the 73d Indiana, and took the rest of his force down the river again to co-operate with Steadman in taking Decatur. Our force is so large there that the rebels will probably evacuate without a fight. We know nothing of Hood’s army except that it was badly defeated before Nashville and is retreating towards the Tennessee river. He will get across badly damaged; retreat as long as he is pursued; and then halt, reorganize, and in sixty or ninety days will have a force that will require another hard campaign to disperse.
Sunday, December 25th. Christmas !—Clear and pleasant— white frost.
All quiet below. But it is believed on the street that Savannah has been evacuated, some days ago. I have not yet seen any official admission of the fact.
We have quite a merry Christmas in the family; and a compact that no unpleasant word shall be uttered, and no scramble for anything. The family were baking cakes and pies until late last night, and to-day we shall have full rations. I have found enough celery in the little garden for dinner.
Last night and this morning the boys have been firing Christmas guns incessantly—no doubt pilfering from their fathers’ cartridge-boxes. There is much jollity and some drunkenness in the streets, notwithstanding the enemy’s pickets are within an hour’s march of the city.
A large number of the croaking inhabitants censure the President for our many misfortunes, and openly declare in favor of Lee as Dictator. Another month, and he may be unfortunate or unpopular. His son, Gen. Custis Lee, has mortally offended the clerks by putting them in the trenches yesterday, and some of them may desert.
Many members of Congress have gone home. But it is still said they invested the President with extraordinary powers, in secret session. I am not quite sure this is so.
I append the following dispatches:
.
“Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia,
“December 23d, 1864.
“Hon. James A. Seddon, Secretary Of War.
“On the 20th, Gen. Early reported one division of the enemy’s cavalry, under Gen. Custer, coming up the valley, and two divisions, under Gen. Torbert, moving through Chester Gap, with four pieces of artillery and thirty wagons.
“On the 22d, Rosser attacked Custer’s division, nine miles from Harrisonburg, and drove it back, capturing forty prisoners.
“This morning, Torbert attacked Lomax near Gordonsville, and was repulsed and severely punished. He is retreating, and Lomax preparing to follow.
“R. E. Lee.”
.
“Dublin, December 20th, 1861.
“A dispatch from Gen. Breckinridge to-day, dated at Mount Airy, sixteen miles west of Wytheville, says he had fought the enemy for two days, successfully, near Marion. The enemy had retired from his front; but whether they were retreating to East Tennessee or not, he had not ascertained.”
.
“Charleston, December 22d, 1861.
“To Gen. S. Cooper.
“On the 16th inst., the enemy, 800 strong, occupied Pollard. After burning the government and railroad buildings, they retired in the direction they came.
“They were pursued thirty miles, losing a portion of their transportation, baggage, and supplies, and leaving many dead negro troops on the road.
“Our force, commanded by Gen. Liddell, acted with spirit and gallantry.
“G. T. Beauregard, General.”
.
“Our Indian Troops.—Gen. Stand Watie, commanding our Indian troops in the trans-Mississippi Department, has fully clothed and armed all his men, and is in the vicinity of Fort Smith, attacking and destroying Yankee wagon trains.”
Christmas, 1864, Village, St. Helena, S.C.
I am not so homesick this year as I was last, but yet how good it would be to look in awhile and see you all well and happy together. It is a cold, dull day here. We meant to go to church, but it rained just about the time we should have set out, and so we are quietly resting at home.
To-morrow we have the celebration for our school. I present my pocketbooks. Ellen gives each girl of her class a nice little workbox with needlebook, pincushion, thread, buttons, scissors, and thimble. Each boy she gives a comb and a knife. Harriet and Fanny have a variety for their classes, and in all about two hundred and fifty children will, we hope, have some pleasure in the day.
I have not had much preparation to make here, Our new school-house is not ready for the Xmas celebration, but we hope we have taught for the last day in the church, as we expect to begin school, after this week’s holiday, in the new building. Four classes going at once at the pitch of their lungs made confusion worse confounded.
Yesterday I baked a batch of gingercakes and to-day we have given two or so to all the children in our “yard,” and to a few others. We made the old African woman’s heart glad by a little tea and sugar, and a warm shawl from Mr. Wright’s store. You do not know what a fine, dignified old thing she can be. To-day her daughter came in bringing two quarts of groundnuts and a dozen big sweet potatoes — “Manners” on Christmas, the daughter said. She is a strapping, middle-aged woman. Mother Katie has a strange history and is over a hundred years old, but bright mentally as if she were but forty. She is blind and suffers horribly with her eyes.
Evening.
Miss Lynch and a colored teacher from the North, Mr. Freeman, dined here and seemed well satisfied. They have just gone. I suppose it would seem strange to you to sit down with two colored people, but to us it is the most natural thing in the world. I actually forget these people are black, and it is only when I see them at a distance and cannot recognize their features that I remember it. The conversation at dinner flowed just as naturally as if we were Northern whites. Both Mr. Freeman and Miss Lynch have education and talk well. General Sherman at Hilton Head received General Saxton with flattering honor, and General Foster more coolly. General Sherman is quartered in Savannah.[1] That evacuation is a blessing if it leaves the country as this has been left, for freedmen under Northern influence. I wish the Southerners would all evacuate their whole territory.
[1] General Sherman had succeeded in reaching Savannah on December 22, 1864, after marching two hundred and fifty miles from Atlanta to the sea.
Camp of the 5th Mass. Cav’y
Point Lookout, Md., Christmas Day, 1864
Who is to succeed Mr. Dayton? Sumner would be the man, and I think he would like it and Seward would like to get rid of him in that place; but the Governor and Motley both coming from Massachusetts would probably stand in the way of that consummation. General Dix it seems to me would do as well as anyone and the Army could spare him. By the way, do you know I have renewed relations with Sumner? I happened to mention to Dr. Palfrey that I should rather like to, as I thought four years a good Statute of Limitations for old scores, and lately he has been saying complimentary things of the Minister. So, a few days after, the Doctor invited me to meet L’Engel at breakfast at the Club, and there I found Sumner and Dr. Howe. Sumner has run more than ever to seed and now out-Sumners himself; but he was pleasant and cordial enough. He did not press me with any inquiries about the Minister or his family. I left a card on him as I came through Washington the other day. L’Engel I saw a number of times, chiefly at the Club, and called once on Mrs. L’Engel. He comes out to England in February, but she stays here until next Summer. . . .
December 25, 1864.
Sadai jumped out of bed very early this morning to feel in her stocking. She could not believe but that there would be something in it. Finding nothing, she crept back into bed, pulled the cover over her face, and I soon heard her sobbing. The little negroes all came in: “Christmas gift, mist’ess! Christmas gift, mist’ess!”
I pulled the cover over my face and was soon mingling my tears with Sadai’s.
