June 17th, 1865.—We had our first riding lesson yesterday and we had quite a respectable company, fifteen young ladies and as many gentlemen. Best of all, they, the gentlemen, came dressed in our beloved gray. We are so proud of the Confederate Army and we love the gray uniform. We love and reverence our captive President; we place the name of Jefferson Davis at the head of all martyred heroes. Our hearts throb with pride when we think of General Robert E. Lee and we love every officer and every man who served under him. We love, and we admire the courage of the Army of the West, which so stubbornly and so hopelessly, fought Sherman, inch by inch, in his hateful “March to the Sea”—and now, an insult has been offered these “heroes of the gray.”
These men have given their parole and a Southerner’s word of honor means everything to him and yet, afraid of men they have conquered; afraid of the men whose sworn promise they hold, an order comes from headquarters, that Confederate soldiers, both officers and privates, must remove from their uniforms all brass buttons and every insignia of rank.
At first, I have been told, it was the intention of the military to order the gray uniform to be discarded, but realizing that many of these men had nothing else to wear, this present order was issued. The cowards! They ought to be ashamed of themselves!
This piece of news quite spoiled the riding for me. I wonder if the time will ever come when I can take insults coolly?
Cousin Henry’s uniform, which he wore this afternoon, is right new, uncle Tom having ordered it by a blockade-runner, when Cousin Henry was in prison at Johnson’s Island. It is a magnificent suit of French broadcloth and he is so handsome in it; now he must “remove or cover all buttons and all insignia of rank.” Isn’t it a pity?
I have to go to town tomorrow. Father does not feel well enough to go and he has some business which needs attention. Of course Mother could do all that, but she insists that she will never go again to Tallahassee until the last Yankee soldier is gone.
