May 18.—Dr. Hunter has come back, and brought his wife with him.
News has come that there has been a destructive raid in Mississippi, and that the raiders have destroyed Jackson. Mrs. H.’s home is near there, so she is miserable accordingly. The papers are filled with accounts of raids which have taken place all over the Confederacy. Mississippi and North Alabama have suffered from these horrible scourges. The raiders burn houses and destroy provisions of all kinds, and I am told they have positive orders to destroy all farming implements. This is the way they think they will make us submit—ruin the country, and starve us. I have no fear of their succeeding by such fiendish means. There is an overruling Providence who will not permit this long. There is no doubt but we will have great suffering, but it will be of short duration. General Forrest has lately captured four times his own number of these marauders, at Rome, Georgia.
I received a letter from Mr. Davis, father of the young man who died a short time since. Poor man! he had just heard of the death of another son, who was wounded and a prisoner (he was captured at the battle of Murfreesboro), and of two others, who are very sick at Wartrace, where part of our army is at present.
I am told that Breckinridge’s command is now on its way to Mississippi, to join the army at Vicksburg, which is closely besieged. I can not see how it is possible that we are ever going to hold it against the immense power which the enemy are bringing against it.
We have more trials with our domestic arrangements. It seems that the laundresses, for whom transportation was provided, have husbands in the army, and have taken this method of getting to see them without expense. The transportation agent here found out they were at the depot, and what they intended doing. He sent word to Dr. Stout, and Dr. Hunter sent down three of our surgeons to see after them. They brought up two of them to our room; I could scarcely keep from laughing, as they looked like real prisoners of war, and the doctors like their captors. They were very nice looking women; one of them said she had never washed her own clothes, and did n’t see how she was going to wash for any one else. I felt provoked at them for being so dishonest. Dr. Stout has sent orders that they must be kept till they work out the price of their transportation tickets.
Joseph Morton died to-day; he was a member of the Second Arkansas Regiment, and was from Sylvia County, Arkansas.
