A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary at the Confederate States Capital, By John Beauchamp Jones

by John Beauchamp Jones

            AUGUST 27Th.—Bright morning, and fine shower last night. The people are smiling to-day from our success of Thursday, announced in the following dispatch from Gen. Lee:

“HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
“August 26th, 1864.                           

“HON. J. A. SEDDON, SECRETARY OF WAR.
            “General A. P. Hill attacked the enemy in his intrenchments at Reams’s Station yesterday evening, and at the second assault carried his entire line.
            “Cook’s and McRae’s North Carolina brigades, under Gen. Heth, and Lane’s North Carolina brigade, of Wilcox’s division, under Gen. Connor, with Pegram’s artillery, composed the assaulting party.
            “One line of breastworks was carried by the cavalry under Gen. Hampton with great gallantry, who contributed largely to the success of the day.
            “Seven stands of colors, two thousand prisoners, and nine pieces of artillery are in our possession.
            “The loss of the enemy in killed and wounded is reported to be heavy—ours relatively small.
            “Our profound gratitude is due to the Giver of all victory, and our thanks to the brave men and officers engaged.

“R. E. LEE.”              

            It is said to-day that our captures will amount to 2500, and a brigadier-general is among the prisoners.

            The President intimated to-day to the Secretary that when he respites a prisoner condemned to death, he does not desire the case brought to him again to approve the execution.

by John Beauchamp Jones

            AUGUST 26TH —Clear; but rained copiously last night.

A letter from Gen. Lee indicates that the “Bureau of Conscription” fails to replenish the army. The rich men and slaveowners are but too successful in getting out, and in keeping out of the service. The Governor, who commissions magistrates, is exempting some fifty daily, and these, in many instances, are not only young men, but speculators. And nearly every landed proprietor has given bonds to furnish meal, etc. to obtain exemption. Thus corruption is eating to the heart of the cause, and I fear the result of the contest between speculation and patriotism. Mr. Seddon says he has striven to make the conscription officers do their duty, and was not aware that so many farmers had gotten exemption. He promises to do all in his power to obtain recruits, and will so use the strictly local troops as to render the Reserves more active. What that means we shall soon see.

            A dispatch from Mobile says Fort Morgan is in the possession of the enemy! Per contra, a dispatch from the same place saysMemphis is in the possession of Forrest.

by John Beauchamp Jones

            AUGUST 25TH.—Clear and warm.

            No war news, except reports that Gen. Wheeler has destroyed much of the railroad inSherman’s rear, and that Early has forcedSheridan back across thePotomac.

            Gen. Lee writes that he already notices the good effect of the order published by our government, encouraging desertions from the enemy’s armies. He suggests that it be translated into the German, and circulated extensively in the enemy’s country.

            My turnips seem to be coming up at last; have sown them everywhere, so that when other crops come off, the ground will still be producing something.

            Bought a bushel of red peas to-day for $30—the last for sale—the rest being taken for horses. Such is the food that my family is forced to subsist on.

            Mr. Haxall, a millionaire, of conscript age, has just been appointed assessor of tax-in-kind. The salary is a pitiful sum, but the rich man is kept out of the army while the poor man is forced to fight in defense of his property.

            The President is indefatigable in his labors. Every day the papers he sends to the department bear evidence of his attention to the minutest subject, even to the small appointments; he frequently rejects the Secretary’s recommendations.

            Gen. Bragg recommends that publication be made here, in theUnited States, and inEurope, encouraging enlistments of foreigners in our army.

by John Beauchamp Jones

            AUGUST 24TH—Clear and pleasant.

            Operations now must be initiated by the enemy. Gen. Lee writes that he is too weak to attempt to dislodge the Yankees from the Weldon Railroad. He cannot afford the loss of men necessary to accomplish it. He says the enemy, however, was “worsted” in the two conflicts, that of Friday and Sunday. And if he were to drive him away, the road would still be subject to interruption. He thinks we can still get supplies, by wagons, round the enemy’s position, as well as by theDanville Road. He also suggests that corn be imported atWilmington, and that every effort be made to accumulate supplies here; and he thinks we can hold out until corn matures some six weeks hence, so that the moral effect will be good, when it is apparent the efforts of the enemy to cut off our supplies are thwarted. He thinks the enemy has relinquished the idea of forcing our fortifications. But he says that Grant intended to force his way intoRichmond last week.

            I wrote a letter to the President to-day, urging the necessity of preventing the transportation of any supplies on the railroads except for distribution at cost, and thus exterminating the speculators. The poor must be fed and protected, if they be relied upon to defend the country. The rich bribe the conscription officers, and keep out of the ranks, invest their Confederate money and bonds in real estate, and would be the first to submit to the United States Government; and the poor, whom they oppress, are in danger of demoralization from suffering and disgust, and might also embrace reunion rather than a prolongation of such miseries as they have so long experienced. The patriotism of 1861 must be revived, or independence cannot be achieved. If a Peace Democrat be elected, no doubt terms of peace will be tendered, on the basis of reunion; and if they be rejected, perhaps the war may be continued. Or Lincoln may modify his conditions of peace; and the rich, always seeking repose and security, may embrace them. The surest plan is to break up speculation, and put the rich as well as the poor in the army. We must deserve independence, else we shall not get it. There must be no partiality, and especially in favor of the rich. I wrote plainly, intimating the danger of Reconstruction, without the greatest care, and a scrupulous performance of duty.

by John Beauchamp Jones

            AUGUST 23D. —Clear and pleasant.

            The enemy still occupy theWeldon Road, beyondPetersburg, in great force. Our loss in killed, wounded, and captured is estimated (in Sunday’s fight) at 1000; under the mark, perhaps.

            I hear of no raid yet against theDanville Road; but the flour speculators have put up the price again. Gen. Kemper told me this morning that he had 3000 of the reserves defending theDanville Road, the number Gen. Lee asked for.

            Gen. Hood is so strong atAtlanta, that he has promised to send, in an emergency, a brigade toMobile.

            Interesting events will crowd each other rapidly, now.

by John Beauchamp Jones

            AUGUST 22D.—Sunshine and clouds, cool and pleasant.

            There was heavy fighting on theWeldon Road yesterday evening, still held by the enemy; but no official account of the result—if it has yet reached a result—has been received. The city is full of extravagant rumors, and I incline to the belief that we gained no advantage yesterday. We took some 300 prisoners, certainly; but I fear Haygood’s Brigade ofSouth Carolinians ventured too far, when they were enveloped by greatly superior numbers—and —we shall know all to-morrow.

            The news from Hood, Wheeler, Forrest, etc. in the Southwest promises well.

by John Beauchamp Jones

            AUGUST 21ST.—Cloudy and pleasant; no rain last night, but the earth is saturated. No additional news from the army. It is said Gen. Bragg prevents news, good or bad, from expanding—believing that any intelligence whatever in the newspapers affords information to the enemy; and he is right. All the mysteries will be solved in a few days, and we shall have all the news, good, bad, and indifferent. I heard cannon last evening; also this morning. Our casualties could not have been large, else the ambulance train would have been in motion. That is certain. It may be that Grant’s army is crumbling,—I hope so; and it may possibly be that negotiations are in progress. There must be an end of this; for the people of both sections are tired of it.

            So far Grant has unquestionably failed in his enterprises againstRichmond, and his present reduced strength certainly renders it unlikely that he can prevail against us hereafter. His new levies, if he gets any, will not be fit for the field this year; and all his veterans will soon be gone,—killed, or home,—never to return. Thank God, the prospect of peace is “bright and brightening,” and a dark cloud is above the horizon in the North. Lincoln and his party are now environed with dangers rushing upon them from every direction.

            No doubt Lee’s army is weakened by detachments sent to Early; but then the local troops have been sent home, which is at least a favorable augury. The following order is published:

“GENERAL ORDER No. 65.

            “It having been represented to the War Department that there are numbers of foreigners entrapped by artifice and fraud into the military and naval service of the United States, who would gladly withdraw from further participation in the inhuman warfare waged against a people who have never given them a pretext for hostility; and that there are many inhabitants of the United States now retained in that service against their will, who are averse to aiding in the unjust war now being prosecuted against the Confederate States; and it being also known that these men are prevented from abandoning such compulsory service by the difficulty they experience in escaping therefrom, it is ordered that all such persons coming within the lines of the Confederate armies shall be received, protected, and supplied with means of subsistence, until such of them as desire it can be forwarded to the most convenient points on the border, where all facilities will be afforded them to return to their homes.

            “By order,

                        “(Signed)                                 S. COOPER,

                                                                                    A. and I. General.”

            My turnips have not come up yet, and I fear the hot sun has destroyed the vitality of the seed. It is said the enemy still hold theWeldon Road; if so, then I fear our flour will be delayed, if not lost.

            What if Grant now had the 140,000 more—lost in this campaign? Or ifLincoln should succeed in getting into the field the 500,000 men now called for?

            The next two months will be the most interesting period of the war; everything depends upon the result of the Presidential election in theUnited States. We rely some little upon the success of the peace party.

            The order from the Adjutant-General’s office was first suggested by Gen. Beauregard, discountenanced by Mr. Secretary Seddon, approved by the President, and slightly modified by Gen. Lee. It remains to be seen what will be its effect. Deserters are certainly coming over in large numbers; so much so, that it is proposed to establish a depot for them in Georgia. Gen. Winder writes that it is not his province to be charged with them as well as with the prisoners. He is miserable; his rogues and cut-throats have mostly remained behind, preferring a city residence; and the Bureau of Conscription will not, it seems, conscribe Marylanders, most of whom have grown rich here. Will the President and the Secretary of War yield to Assistant Secretary Campbell, and the “Bureau,” and Judge Halliburton,—or will they execute the act of Congress, enrolling all “residents” for the common defense? Nous verrons.

            One meets no beggars yet, although we have been suffering a famine for more than a year.

            The State Government is now selling a little rice—one and a half pounds per month to each member of a family—at 50 cents per pound, the ordinary price being about $2. And the City Council has employed a butcher to sell fresh meat at about $3.50 per pound. The State will also distribute cotton cloth and yarn, at something less than the usual prices. There would be quite enough of everything necessary, if it were equally distributed.

by John Beauchamp Jones

            AUGUST 20TH.—Rained hard all night, and a good deal to-day. Between 10 and 11 P.M. last evening, as we were retiring, a musket was fired somewhere in the rear of the building, and fragments of lime and brick were heard rattling against the window-shutters. This morning I perceived where the ball struck, a few inches below the window-sill of the chamber on the second floor, where Custis and Tom were lying. Some one, I suppose, had heedlessly fired his gun, after returning from the fortifications.

            Well, the papers to-day fall below the official announcement of the work of yesterday afternoon. Gen. Lee’s dispatch says we captured 2700 prisoners nearPetersburg on theWeldon Road. No other particulars are given, and the affair is still in mystery, for some purpose, perhaps.

            It is rumored that Gen. Hampton captured 4000 men last night or this morning; but I doubt. Without that, the week’s work is good—Grant losing from 10,000 to 15,000 men. A few more weeks, at that rate, will consume his army, and then—peace?

            Gen. Bragg complains, in a letter to the Secretary of War, that the orders of the department, and of the Adjutant-General, are not furnished him, which must diminish, if persisted in, his usefulness in the important position to which the President has called him. They are all inimical to Bragg—all but the President, who is bound in honor to sustain him.

            The price of flour has fallen again; Lee’s victory frightening the dealers.

            Robert Hill, commission merchant,Bank Street, gave me two pounds of coffee to-day when I told him of Lee’s dispatch. It was accepted, of course, and is worth some $20 per pound.

            Guns are heard down the river again this evening, and all are wondering what Lee is doing now.

by John Beauchamp Jones

            AUGUST 19TH.—Damp and cloudy.

            There was no serious battle. The wind was in a quarter which brought the sounds to us, even from the skirmishers, ten miles distant. But our gun-boats shelled the enemy out of their position on Signal Hill, and there was heavy cannonading along the line on the south side of the river. And, as appears by the papers, there was severe fighting at different points of the line.

            We have now some further details of the battle of Tuesday. Our loss was 1000; the enemy’s, it is said, 5000 to 8000.

            It is now, 5 P.M., raining gently, thank Heaven!

            To-day we had a distribution of meats, etc. brought fromNorth Carolina by our agent. Custis and I invested $200: we have received 26 pounds bacon and 24 smoked herrings—worth here about $200. Half the money remains in the agent’s hands, for which we expect to get 300 pounds of flour—if the enemy will let the railroads alone.

            It is believed another raid has crossed the Weldon Road, and is sweeping in the direction of the Lynchburg and Danville Road. The speculators are on the qui vive already, and no flour can be had. I fear our flour will be intercepted, delayed, and perhaps lost! The meat we got to-day will supply but two ounces for each member of my family daily for two months. This is war, terrible war But if Grant is not rapidly reinforced, at the present rate of his losses his army will be consumed in two months. There is some consolation in that prospect!