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

Post image for “Mrs. Davis said. ‘The Yankees will make it hot for us, go where we will, and truly so if war comes.'”—A Diary From Dixie.

“Mrs. Davis said. ‘The Yankees will make it hot for us, go where we will, and truly so if war comes.'”—A Diary From Dixie.

May 20, 2011

A Diary From Dixie by Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut.,The American Civil War

May 20th.—Lunched at Mrs. Davis’s; everything nice to eat, and I was ravenous. For a fortnight I have not even gone to the dinner table. Yesterday I was forced to dine on cold asparagus and blackberries, so repulsive in aspect was the other food they sent me. Mrs. Davis was as nice as the luncheon. When she is in the mood, I do not know so pleasant a person. She is awfully clever, always.

We talked of this move from Montgomery. Mr. Chesnut opposes it violently, because this is so central a position for our government. He wants our troops sent into Maryland in order to make our fight on the border, and so to encompass Washington. I see that the uncomfortable hotels here will at last move the Congress. Our statesmen love their ease, and it will be hot here in summer. “I do hope they will go,” Mrs. Davis said. “The Yankees will make it hot for us, go where we will, and truly so if war comes.” “And it has come,” said I. “Yes, I fancy these dainty folks may live to regret losing even the fare of the Montgomery hotels.” “Never.”

Mr. Chesnut has three distinct manias. The Maryland scheme is one, and he rushes off to Jeff Davis, who, I dare say, has fifty men every day come to him with infallible plans to save the country. If only he can keep his temper. Mrs. Davis says he answers all advisers in softly modulated, dulcet accents.

What a rough menagerie we have here. And if nice people come to see you, up walks an irate Judge, who engrosses the conversation and abuses the friends of the company generally; that is, abuses everybody and prophesies every possible evil to the country, provided he finds that denouncing your friends does not sufficiently depress you. Everybody has manias—up North, too, by the papers.

But of Mr. Chesnut’s three crazes: Maryland is to be made the seat of war, old Morrow’s idea of buying up steamers abroad for our coast defenses should be adopted, and, last of all, but far from the least, we must make much cotton and send it to England as a bank to draw on. The very cotton we have now, if sent across the water, would be a gold mine to us.

Post image for A Diary of American Events – May 20, 1861

A Diary of American Events – May 20, 1861

May 20, 2011

The American Civil War,The Rebellion Record—A Diary of American Events; by Frank Moore

—Mrs. Judge Daly, of New York, and a number of ladies associated with her, sent to the Sixty-ninth regiment 1,260 linen havelocks—a complement sufficient to supply the whole regiment.—N. Y. Herald, May 21.

—The ship Argo, which was captured in Hampton Roads on Sunday afternoon, (May 10,) by the United States steam frigate Minnesota, arrived at New York in charge of a prize crew under command of Midshipman McCook and Clerk Elias W. Hall. The Argo was bound from Richmond, Virginia, for Bremen, and at the time of her seizure had on board $150,000 worth of tobacco.—N. Y. Journal of Commerce, May 21.

—At precisely 8 o’clock P. M., by order of the Government, a descent was made by the United States Marshals upon every considerable telegraph office throughout the Free States, and the accumulated despatches of the twelvemonth past were seized. The object was to obtain evidence of the operations of the Southern rebels with their Northern accomplices, which the confidential telegrams passing between them could most certainly furnish. The seizures in all the principal cities were made at the same time so as to prevent the destruction of evidence which might have followed the receipt of a warning from any particular point. The whole matter was managed with the greatest secrecy, and so well planned that the project was a complete success. By this bold manoeuvre the Government has obtained possession of a mass of evidence of the greatest importance. N. Y. Tribune, May 21.

—The ordinance of secession was passed by the North Carolina State Convention, together with an ordinance ratifying and assenting to the Constitution of the Confederate States.—(Doc. 179.)

—Bram S. Vosburgh, Colonel of the New York Seventy-first Regiment, died in Washington, D. C., of a pulmonary complaint.—N. Y. Express, May 20.

—Gen Butler left Washington for Annapolis. The New York Second Regiment left New York for the seat of war.—(Doc. 180.)—N. Y. Tribune, May 21.

—Gov. Magoffin, of Kentucky, issued a proclamation pretentiously in obedience to public; sentiment, by which Kentucky virtually takes a position of neutrality, and in which its citizens are bidden to “so conduct themselves that the deplorable calamity of invasion may be averted.”—(Doc. 181.)

—Military maps of Virginia made for Gov. Letcher, from special surveys, were seized in Washington by the War Department.—N. Y. Tribune, May 21.

Post image for William Howard Russell’s Diary.–Hot!

William Howard Russell’s Diary.–Hot!

May 19, 2011

My Diary North and South - William Howard Russell

May 19th.—The heat out of doors was so great that I felt little tempted to stir out, but at 2 o’clock Mr. Magee drove me to a pretty place, called Spring Hill, where Mr. Stein, a German merchant of the city, has his country residence. The houses of Mobile merchants are scattered around the rising ground in that vicinity; they look like marble at a distance, but a nearer approach resolves them into painted wood. Stone is almost unknown on all this seaboard region. The worthy German was very hospitable, and I enjoyed a cool walk before dinner under the shade of his grapes, which formed pleasant walks in his garden. The Scuppernung grape, which grew in profusion—a native of North Carolina — has a remarkable appearance. The stalk, which is smooth, and covered with a close grained grey bark, has not the character of a vine, but grows straight and stiff like the branch of a tree, and is crowded with delicious grapes. Cherokee plum and rose trees, and magnificent magnolias, clustered round his house, and beneath their shadow I listened to the worthy German comparing the Fatherland to his adopted country, and now and then letting out the secret love of his heart for the old place. He, like all of the better classes in the South, has the utmost dread of universal suffrage, and would restrict the franchise largely to-morrow if he could.

Post image for —Horatio Nelson Taft

—Horatio Nelson Taft

May 19, 2011

Diary of US patent clerk Horatio Nelson Taft.

SUNDAY, MAY 19, 1861.

Cool today, fire in Parlor in the morning. Went with Juliet to the camp of the 12th Regt in the morning and heard Rev Mathew Hale Smith (the Chaplin of the Regt) deliver an eloquent discourse to the soldiers. Got to church in time from there and heard Doct Smith, a good many soldiers in the house. Lieut [Millward?] of the 12th called in the evening. He lives in NY, an Englishman by birth. Went down onto the Ave at 6 o’ck and saw the Mich Regt parade. Their Band of Music is very fine. Back before dark, Juliet was with me.

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The three diary manuscript volumes, Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865, are available online at The Library of  Congress.

Post image for “I told him (The Secretary of War) my great desire was employment, and facilities to preserve interesting facts for future publication.”—Rebel War Clerk.

“I told him (The Secretary of War) my great desire was employment, and facilities to preserve interesting facts for future publication.”—Rebel War Clerk.

May 19, 2011

A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, By John Beauchamp Jones,The American Civil War

MAY 19th. — The Secretary of War sent for me this morning, and said he required more assistance in his correspondence, then increasing daily; but the act of Congress limiting salaries would prevent him from offering me an adequate compensation. He could only name some ten or twelve hundred dollars. I told him my great desire was employment, and facilities to preserve interesting facts for future publication. I was installed at once, with Major Tyler, in the Secretary’s own office. It was my duty to open and read the letters, noting briefly their contents on the back. The Secretary would then indicate in pencil marks the answers to be written, which the major and I prepared. These were signed by the Secretary, copied in another room, and mailed. I was happy in the discharge of these duties, and worked assiduously day and night.

Post image for “…a good deal of difficulty…”—Rutherford B. Hayes

“…a good deal of difficulty…”—Rutherford B. Hayes

May 19, 2011

Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes

May 19, 1861.—We find a good deal of difficulty in getting new companies or regiments accepted for the war, but we shall persevere.

Post image for (Mrs. Davis) “…finds playing Mrs. President of this small confederacy slow work..,”—A Diary From Dixie.

(Mrs. Davis) “…finds playing Mrs. President of this small confederacy slow work..,”—A Diary From Dixie.

May 19, 2011

A Diary From Dixie by Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut.,The American Civil War

May 19th.—Mrs. Fitzpatrick says Mr. Davis is too gloomy for her. He says we must prepare for a long war and unmerciful reverses at first, because they are readier for war and so much stronger numerically. Men and money count so in war. “As they do everywhere else,” said I, doubting her accurate account of Mr. Davis’s spoken words, though she tried to give them faithfully. We need patience and persistence. There is enough and to spare of pluck and dash among us, the do-and-dare style.

I drove out with Mrs. Davis. She finds playing Mrs. President of this small confederacy slow work, after leaving friends such as Mrs. Emory and Mrs. Joe Johnston¹ in Washington. I do not blame her. The wrench has been awful with us all, but we don’t mean to be turned into pillars of salt.

Mr. Mallory came for us to go to Mrs. Toombs’s reception. Mr. Chesnut would not go, and I decided to remain with him. This proved a wise decision. First Mr. Hunter² came.  came. In college they called him from his initials, R. M. T., ” Run Mad Tom ” Hunter. Just now I think he is the sanest, if not the wisest, man in our new-born Confederacy. I remember when I first met him.  He sat next to me at some state dinner in Washington.  Mr. Clay had taken me in to dinner, but seemed quite satisfied that my “other side” should take me off his hands.

Mr. Hunter did not know me, nor I him. I suppose he inquired, or looked at my card, lying on the table, as I looked at his. At any rate, we began a conversation which lasted steadily through the whole thing from soup to dessert. Mr. Hunter, though in evening dress, presented a rather tumbled-up appearance. His waistcoat wanted pulling down, and his hair wanted brushing. He delivered unconsciously that day a lecture on English literature which, if printed, I still think would be a valuable addition to that literature. Since then, I have always looked forward to a talk with the Senator from Virginia with undisguised pleasure. Next came Mr. Miles and Mr. Jameson, of South Carolina. The latter was President of our Secession Convention; also has written a life of Du Guesclin that is not so bad. So my unexpected reception was of the most charming. Judge Frost came a little later. They all remained until the return of the crowd from Mrs. Toombs’s.

These men are not sanguine—I can’t say, without hope, exactly. They are agreed in one thing: it is worth while to try a while, if only to get away from New England. Captain Ingraham was here, too. He is South Carolina to the tips of his fingers; yet he has it dyed in the wool—it is part of his nature—to believe the United States Navy can whip anything in the world. All of these little inconsistencies and contrarieties make the times very exciting. One never knows what tack any one of them will take at the next word.

______

¹ Mrs. Johnston was Lydia McLane, a daughter of Louis McLane, United States Senator from Delaware from 1827 to 1829, and afterward Minister to England. In 1831 he became Secretary of the Treasury and in 1833 Secretary of State. General Joseph E. Johnston was graduated from West Point in 1829 and had served in the Black Hawk, Seminole, and Mexican Wars. He resigned his commission in the United States Army on April 22,1861.

² Mr. Hunter was a Virginian. He had long served in Congress, was twice speaker of the House, and in 1844 was elected a United States Senator, serving until 1861. He supported slavery and became active in the secession movement. At the Charleston Convention in 1860, he received the next highest vote to Stephen A. Douglas for President.

Post image for A Diary of American Events – May 19, 1861

A Diary of American Events – May 19, 1861

May 19, 2011

The American Civil War,The Rebellion Record—A Diary of American Events; by Frank Moore

—Shots were exchanged between the U. S. Steamers Freeborn and Monticello, and a rebel battery at Sewell’s Point north of Elizabeth River, Virginia.—(Doc. 177.)

—Two schooners with secession troops on board were taken by U. S. steamer Freeborn, in the Potomac, 10 miles below Fort Washington.—N. Y. World, May 21.

—The rebels at Harper’s Ferry, Md., were reinforced from the south. Two thousand troops arrived from Mississippi and two regiments from Alabama.—N. Y. Herald, May 21.

—A meeting of the New York Bible Society was held, in reference to supplying the Bible to all soldiers, who go to fight for the Federal Government. Wm. Allen Butler presided, and speeches were made by the president, Dr. Tyng, Dr. Hitchcock, and others.—(Doc. 178.)

—A body of 1,000 Virginians and South Carolinians from Harper’s Ferry took a position on the Virginia side of the Potomac, opposite Williamsport, a town about seven miles from Hagerstown, Md. They there were in a situation to command the ferry at that spot.—Phila. Press, May 21.

Post image for William Howard Russell’s Diary:–Judge Campbell.—Dr. Nott.—Slavery.

William Howard Russell’s Diary:–Judge Campbell.—Dr. Nott.—Slavery.

May 18, 2011

My Diary North and South - William Howard Russell,The American Civil War

May 18th.—An exceedingly hot day, which gives bad promise of comfort for the Federal soldiers, who are coming, as the Washington Government asserts, to put down rebellion in these quarters. The mosquitoes are advancing in numbers and force. The day I first came I asked the waiter if they were numerous. “I wish they were a hundred times as many,” said he. On inquiring if he had any possible reason for such an extraordinary aspiration, he said, “because we would get rid of these darned black republicans out of Fort Pickens all the sooner.” The man seemed to infer they would not bite the Confederate soldiers.

I dined at Dr. Nott’s, and met Judge Campbell, who has resigned his high post as one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, and explained his reasons for doing so in a letter, charging Mr. Seward with treachery, dissimulation, and falsehood. He seemed to me a great casuist rather than a profound lawyer, and to delight in subtle distinctions and technical abstractions; but I had the advantage of hearing from him at great length the whole history of the Dred Scot case, and a recapitulation of the arguments used on both sides, the force of which, in his opinion, was irresistibly in favor of the decision of the Court. Mr. Forsyth, Colonel Hardee, and others were of the company.

To me it was very painful to hear a sweet ringing silvery voice, issuing from a very pretty mouth, “I’m so delighted to hear that the Yankees in Fortress Monroe have got typhus fever. I hope it may kill them all.” This was said by one of the most charming young persons possible, and uttered with unmistakable sincerity, just as if she had said, “I hear all the snakes in Virginia are dying of poison.” I fear the young lady did not think very highly of me for refusing to sympathize with her wishes in that particular form. But all the ladies in Mobile belong to “The Yankee Emancipation Society.” They spend their days sewing cartridges, carding lint, preparing bandages, and I’m not quite sure that they don’t fill shells and fuses as well. Their zeal and energy will go far to sustain the South in the forthcoming struggle, and nowhere is the influence of women greater than in America.

As to Dr. Nott, his studies have induced him to take a purely materialist view of the question of .slavery, and, according to him, questions of morals and ethics, pertaining to its consideration, ought to be referred to the cubic capacity of the human cranium— the head that can take the largest charge of snipe shot will eventually dominate in some form or other over the head of inferior capacity. Dr. Nott detests slavery, but he does not see what is to be done with the slaves, and how the four millions of negroes are to be prevented from becoming six, eight, or ten millions, if their growth is stimulated by high prices for Southern produce.

There is a good deal of force in the observation which I have heard more than once down here, that Great Britain could not have emancipated her negroes had they been dwelling within her border, say in Lancashire or Yorkshire. No inconvenience was experienced by the English people per se in consequence of the emancipation, which for the time destroyed industry and shook society to pieces in Jamaica. Whilst the States were colonies, Great Britain viewed the introduction of slaves to such remote dependencies with satisfaction, and when the United States had established their sovereignty they found the institution of slavery established within their own borders, and an important, if not essential, stratum in their social system. The work of emancipation would have then been comparatively easy; it now is a stupendous problem which no human being has offered to solve.

Post image for Horatio Nelson Taft

Horatio Nelson Taft

May 18, 2011

Diary of US patent clerk Horatio Nelson Taft.

SATURDAY 18

Fine cool day. Very pleasant for the soldiers to drill. “Squads” being seen all over the City marching to and fro under a drill officer. Had letter today from Brother C R. Wrote him in reply after going over to the Genl P.O. Was introduced to Mr Lewis Clephane, the City P.M., by Mr Vansantvoord of the Pat office. Was down to see the Dress Parade of the 12th. From there to “Willards” Hotel and then to Kirkwoods. Saw the officers of the Mich Regt who stop there. Came home about 9 o’clock, bed at 11.

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The three diary manuscript volumes, Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865, are available online at The Library of  Congress.

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