The Gold and the SilverHave vanished and fled,And people must carryShinplasters instead.
The Gold and the SilverHave vanished and fled,And people must carryShinplasters instead.
The Gold and the SilverHave vanished and fled,And people must carryShinplasters instead.
The Gold and the Silver
Have vanished and fled,
And people must carry
Shinplasters instead.
A gentleman from Florida, who has been a prisoner at Fort Lafayette, in New York harbor, was brought here yesterday. At Fort Lafayette he has been in double irons since the 27th of April last, because it was alleged that he was a captain of a band of guerillas to hang Union men. He is a private attached to the 3d Florida regiment, Colonel Dilworth. The Yankees have threatened to hang him several times. He was captured at St. Johns, while within an hundred yards of his house, whither he was going on furlough. A sermon was preached in the Fort this evening, and my friend Lieutenant W., who has fortunately a religious turn of mind, heard it, and informs me that it was a fine effort, although emanating from a Yankee.The gist of it was that religion is not incompatible with a soldier’s life. For my own part, I believe that as no good can come out of Nazareth, or pure water from a foul spring, so nothing sincere can fall from a Yankee’s lips.
Look at “Old Gip” (Captain Gibson) as he winds about the yard of the fort! His slim figure is made all the slimmer by tight pantaloons. He walks with as quick a step as his left leg twisted at an angle of forty-seven degrees will permit. He carries his chin as if conscious of a stiff cravat, and his old palm leaf hat is set with a knowing inclination to the left ear. “Old Gip” is a tall, spare and ungainly looking man, of about fifty years of age, with a pale ascetic countenance, which carries with it an expression vibrating between low suspicion and vulgarity. His hair is cut tolerably close, close enough to display in their full proportions a large pair of ears, which stand out in “relief” like turrets from a watch-tower, and with pretty much the same object. His beard is short, and of pepper and salt color, and he has a malicious twinkling eye. Most persons have some prevailing characteristic, which usually gives tone and color to all their thoughts and actions, forming what we denominatetemperament. The temperament of “Old Gip” seems to take delight in being as rough, uncouth, and disobliging as possible to all whom cruel fate has brought with the unfortunate limits of his tyranny. Occasionally the officers are allowed to walk on the parapet of the fort for recreation for about an half hour. Any conversation with the sentinels is strictly forbidden, and for not observing the rule in this respect, some officers have been placed in solitary confinement. Not long since, while the Confederate officers were walking on the parapet, they noticed a vessel approaching with a flag, which, at a distance, looked exactly like the Confederate flag, and the conversation became general upon the subject, in the course of which, one of the officers observed, in a jocular way, that he believed it was the “stars and bars,” and said, “Hurrah for Jeff Davis.” Soon the sentinel informed us, “Your time is up,” and we had scarcely reached our quarters when the officer above referred to received a note from “Old Gip,” in which the Yankee functionary used this language: “For this, your first offence, Iwarnyou, but for a repetition of the crime, may God have mercy on your soul!” The sentinel must have informed Captain Gibson of thecrime, for the latter was not within hearing when the remark was made.
July 14th.An old Dutch soldier in the fort said to-day, “I don’t care which side whips by Got, so I gets my thirteen dollars a month.” Another Yankee soldier remarked to a prisoner,“You have plenty of friends in this yard, but we must keep mum.” Captain Gibson has just issued an order preventing prisoners from receiving money from their friends, but allows them to buy necessaries from the sutler, and give an order on him when he has funds in his hands belonging to a prisoner. This is caused by the escape of several prisoners lately, for it is supposed that the sentinels were bribed by the parties who escaped.
The Black Republican members of the United States Congress are as far from mixing with the Democrats as oil with water. The two are always quarrelling in spite of the fact, that the Black Republicans are ever trying to be a little more Democratic, while the Democrats make constant efforts to be a little “Republican.” In this way the Black Republicans are like onions rubbed with Democratic spices; the strong original nigger odor is blended with new and foreign matter. However much the Democrats aim to conceal the fact, it is quite plain that Black Republican Onion offends Democratic nostrils, while the new Democratic spice is quite unwelcome to the genuine Black Republican.
July 15th.Ten prisoners escaped last night. From a Northern paper I learn that the following dispatch has just been received at the War Department, “Nashville,” July 14th. It was the ninth, instead of the eleventh Michigan regiment, that surrendered at Murfreesboro’, Tennessee. The eleventh arrived at the camp near the Davisville Fair Grounds, yesterday afternoon, after an unsuccessful three days’ chase after Morgan. Three members of Hewitt’s battery, who escaped from Murfreesboro’, report that the battery and the third Minnesota surrendered to the rebels. Colonel Duffield is mortally wounded, and General T. A. Crittenden, of Indiana, taken prisoner.
Mrs. Phillips, who was not long since released from the old capital prison at Washington city, and sent South, has been again arrested by an order from “Beast Butler,” on the charge of “mocking” at the funeral remains of Lieutenant De Kay, and imprisoned in one of the houses on Ship Island, intended for hospital purposes, where she is to be allowed one female servant, and no more, and a soldier’s ration a day, with the means of cooking it. Another order from the same source sentences Fidel Keller or Kelti to two years’ hard labor on Ship Island for exhibiting in his bookstore window a skeleton labelled “Chickahominy.” A third order sentences John W. Audins to hard labor for two years, for having exhibited a cross, which he said was fashioned from the bones of a Yankee soldier.
Lincoln has just had an interview with the members of Congress from the border States, the object of which is said to have been to impress upon them the necessity of urging their respective States to adopt the gradual emancipation policy, in order to avoid, says the New York Express, “immediate and bloody abolition.” The telegraph reports that General Curtis, (who is endeavoring to retreat through Arkansas to the Mississippi river, opposite Memphis,) is suffering terribly for want of forage and supplies. Also, on Monday, his command was at Jacksonport, and General Hindman had ordered the railroad bridge at Madison to be burned, to prevent Curtis from passing in that direction, and had also required all the inhabitants near Gauley bridge to burn their provisions and shoot their cattle, lest they should be seized by foraging parties sent out by Curtis. Charges have been preferred against General Mitchell by the division formerly commanded by him in North Alabama. He is accused of having permitted a portion of his troops to perpetrate upon the people of North Alabama “deeds of cruelty and of guilt, the bare narration of which makes the heart sick.” Ex-President Fillmore says “that the Abolitionists in Congress had undone what the army had done.”
The New York Express says: “Adjutant General Thomas came to this city a day or two ago to make arrangements concerning Confederate prisoners at Governor’s Island and Fort Lafayette. After a thorough examination, it was found inexpedient to permit any considerable number of Secessionists to occupy Governor’s Island. It is one of the largest ordnance depots in the United States. The arsenal on the island contains millions of dollars worth of war material, and as the different fortifications constitute a part of our harbor defences, and the armaments constantly ready for use, a comparatively small number of Secessionists, should the guard in any event be overpowered, could do a vast amount of damage. The prisoners, numbering 1,100, have been taken to Fort Delaware.” They have arrived.
July 16th.The papers report the thermometer at 90° in the shade. It must be 100° in the room in which we are confined. We are losing flesh and health rapidly. A call for a mass meeting in New Jersey says, among other things: “While the waning ranks of the rebels are furnished by conscription, let it be our boast that we defend the nation by the heroic volunteer.” The New York Tribune says: “There are upwards of three thousand prisoners on that island, (Pea Patch Island,) among which is the notorious Colonel Pettigrew. Colonel Gibson, with a sufficient force at his command, has charge of the prisoners. One of the finest forts in the country is being constructed on that island. The island is located forty miles south of Philadelphia, and two and a half from the nearest point of the main land.” A correspondent of the Buffalo Express, writing from Old Point Comfort, under date of July 4th, says:“The 44th, (Ellsworth Avengers,) which I persist in calling the finest regiment that ever took the field, is a mere wreck. On Wednesday, after the last of their many fights, they stacked arms with only 90 muskets—a sad remainder of the original 1,040 men. Of the greater portion, some are killed, more are wounded, and still more are home on sick leave.”
Horace Greeley says: “The proper cure for a guerilla is hemp, looped over the first tree, guerilla pendant.” The following also is from that infamous sheet, the New York Tribune: “There is much excitement in Nashville, and there is great fear of a rebel attack on that city. At the Murfreesboro’ fight $30,000 worth of army stores were lost on our side. The Pennsylvania 7th lost 200 men—only three or four of their officers escaped.The rebel loss is said to be greater than ours.” The latter is what the Yankees always record. In all their reports of battles they wind up by saying, “the rebel loss is said to be greater than ours.” In the case above referred to, a more disgraceful lie was never recorded even by a Yankee.
The Northern papers stated a week ago, and we were assured, that a general exchange of prisoners had been agreed upon by the two governments. In yesterday’s Tribune I find the following: “We are assured that the report of an agreement for a general exchange of prisoners is premature. Yet it is thought that both sides will favor some immediate arrangement.” The bill for the admission of the “State of Western Virginia,” after a long discussion, was yesterday adopted by a vote of 23 to 17. In the House the Ways and Means Committee reported the Miscellaneous Appropriation Bill, with the donation to Gales & Seatonstricken out. The Yankee Congress adjourned to-day.
July 17th.From the BaltimoreSun, of July 12th, I extract: “A Washington paper states that the government has agreed upon a general exchange of prisoners of war, and that arrangements will speedily be made for the sending South of the prisoners now held on the seaboard. All the prisoners confined at New York were taken on board a steamer yesterday.” A western correspondent of a Yankee paper, under date of Vicksburg, July 7th, says: “General Hindman is reported to be at Little Rock with a large force. He has with him a million dollars in gold and silver, which he obtained ‘by the authority of the sword’ from the banks in Memphis. He is disliked by his troops for his oppressiveness and tyranny. His last order was for the impressment of every man in Arkansas capable of bearing arms. This, of course, has created a great deal of indignation among the people, and has made many enemies to the cause of Secession. Hindman, as a General, is the same swaggering bombast that he was as a Congressman. In his own town of Helena he is despised worse than the meanest and most contemptible citizen. He took advantage of the temporary insanity of the people to put himself in a position that would not have been assigned him at any time since. His debut in the rebellion was made at the head of the “Hindman Legion,” which he raised immediately after his return from Washington City, after the secession of his gallant State.”
“Simon Cohen was arrested in Baltimore on Monday, by officerScott, charged with displaying a Secession flag at his store, No. 185 Gay street. He was held for the action of the provost marshal. Also, Leonard Strikpon spent the day at a lager beer saloon on the Belair Road, and imbibed somewhat freely, so much so, that he lost his senses, and hurrahed for Jeff. Davis. Officer Smith took him into custody, and Justice Spicer sent him to jail in default of bail to keep the peace.”—Baltimore News Sheet.
Colonel Hanson, of Kentucky, was to-day transferred to Fort Warren, according to his own request.
July 18th.Anniversary of the battle at Bull Run. The prisoners seem in fine spirits to-day in recollection of our victory a year ago, though it’s hard to be cheerful in a room so dull as the one in which we are confined! There is nothing in it that can awaken the mind or call up a sentiment of solace! “The dawning of morn, the daylight sinking,” generally furnishes us the same monotony! But the moody silence our thoughts shed over us in this comfortless confinement is often broken by the cheerful songs of Lieutenant S., who forces us to ask ourselves,
“Why, soldiers, whyShould we be melancholy, boys?”
“Why, soldiers, whyShould we be melancholy, boys?”
“Why, soldiers, whyShould we be melancholy, boys?”
“Why, soldiers, why
Should we be melancholy, boys?”
The daily promises of “Old Gip,” that Jackson’s men shall be paroled in a few days, are not believed; yet, with this unbelief is blended a ray of hope, and for one I say, “for God’s sake destroy not the hopes that man holds out to me; upon them I live.” Dr. Reid says if we cannot imbibe the spirit, it is often profitable to put on the appearance of cheerfulness. “Byseeminggay, we grow to what we seem.”
Thousands of dollars worth of clothing have been sent to the Confederate prisoners by Secessionists, and very little do they get. “Old Gip” refuses to give it to many who are in a destitute condition, but he makes the impression outside, that all clothing sent to us by Secession friends is given to us. A box was sent to Captain R. (a prisoner) with clothing in it, to distribute among the destitute prisoners, but Gibson refused to allow him. The clothing is given to Yankee soldiers. The Dutch CaptainMtowlowskipaid us a visit to-day. He is a florid, fat, happy-looking, short fellow, with legs so thick, that they very much resemble an elephant’s. His face is large and rosy, and its general expression a mixture of good humor and inexhaustible drollery. He wears a moustachea la militaire. On the whole, he presents the appearance of a migratory lager beer keg. He would be muscular, had not lager beer enervated his strong build, by placing a superabundance of useless fat where muscle ought to be. The Captain says that he was a prisoner in Europe, and that our fare is a paradise to what his was, which is very hard to believe.
To-day my thoughts have turned to my early friends—thosewho have been weighed in the balance and found not wanting. The thoughts of early friendship! what a world of tender memory they suggest. For what are all our later successes in life, however bright out fortunes, compared with the early triumphs of boyish days? Where, among the jealous rivalry of some, the cold and half-wrung praise of others, the selfish and unsympathizing regard of all, shall we find anything to repay us for the swelling exstacy of our young hearts, as we pledged ourselves to each other in prosperity or adversity in the noble bonds of friendship? Some moments we have which half seem to realize our early dreams of ambition, and rouse the spirit within us. But what were all compared to our boyish glories—to the little world of sympathy and love our early friendships teemed with as we pledged ourselves to each other? No, the world has no requital for this! It is like a bright day, which, as its glories gild the east, display before us a whole world of beauty and promise. Then our hopes have not withered—false friendships have not scathed—cold, selfish interest has not yet hardened our hearts or dried up our affections, and we are indeed happy; but equally, like the burst of morning, it is short-lived and fleeting, and equally does it pass away, never to return.
July 19th.My thoughts this morning have been engrossed upon the subject of being exchanged or paroled—on being again among congenial friends in the “Old Dominion!” But I shall no longer allow my fortune or lot to be the sport of my temperament. I shall not give way to that April-day frame of mind which is ever the jest and scoff of those hardier and sterner natures, who, if never overjoyed by success, are never much depressed by failure; for the glimpses of sunshine the world has afforded me, fleeting and passing enough, in all conscience, I am not so ungrateful as to repine, because it was not permanent. On the other hand, I am thankful for those bright hours, which, if nothing more, are, at least, delightful souvenirs. They form the golden thread in the tangled web of our existence, ever appearing amid the darker surface around, and throwing a fair halo of brilliancy on what—without it—were cold, bleak and barren.
Lieutenant -—-, since he has been in prison here, wrote to his cousin at York, Pennsylvania, a friendly letter, and received the following reply:—“Cousin, I can hardly call you dear cousin, for were I in the Union army you might have shot me if you would have had the chance, which I do think you would do if you get the chance; so as it is your thoughts to kill all Northern men that you can, relation or not, and which I do think it is a shame for you to do, being as all your relations lives in the North, and are all Union people, so far as I know of, which place I seen yesterday you was born in twenty years ago, and eighty years ago your grand father fought for the glorious country, and now you want to turn right around to drive it to nothing at the point of the bayonet, which I do think that you are doing wrong. Had I a hold of you I know I would make you git—if you was pressed into it I can forgive you, but if you fight against this country free-hearted I can’t forgive you, and don’t fear you neither. It is right that they have taken you a prisoner, and I hope they will deal with you as they ought, being as they have you, and all such friends and relations as I have in the rebel army, if there are more of them. I hope in some future day you may see how wrong you have done to trample down that banner which waves over once so glorious a country as this. Now, as a rebel, you want to destroy it. Shame on you as a Christian, as you wanted to be in days gone by. I still thought you had more respect for this country than you show for up to this time. Think of this letter whenever you write to me—think that you are writing to a Union cousin,which has more sense in his big toe than you have in your head. For me to come to see you is impossible for me to do. If you was there, and I knowed you was doing write, I might come, but so I cannot; and you must think hard of me for writing such a letter to you, for I have no sympathy for a man that will do such a villainous act as you have done to this country. If you had any thoughts for yourself and your relations you might have got out of that rascally rebel army as well as you have got into it. Your relations that you enquire about are all well. If I had Jeff Davis, and you together, I would hang both of you. So now you can do as you please; you can write, or leave it alone; but that is what I think of you. If you write, tell me where your father is.
J. S. B.”
This is the Lieutenant’s rejoinder:
“Cousin J., this is a wicked world, and there are many strange people and funny things in it. Your recent letter might be classed among the latter, if it were possible for a thing to be curious, without possessing some interest. And now, for yourself, you might be a strange man if you were not precisely like all the rest of the cowards, “Full of sound and fury, and doing nothing.” Why are you not in the army battling for that glorious country which you charge your rebel cousin with attempting to destroy. Your President wants men, and just such laggards as yourself will compel a draft upon the whole people before your army is complete. ’Tis nice talk and little labor tosay pretty things about the cause in which you pretend to be heartily enlisted with yourpen; but before all the rebels are destroyed, you may discover that many such windy patriots as yourself will be required to lay aside the pen, and buckle on the sword. The draft which will soon be resorted to in your State may bring you into the field, and the fates of war may place you in the hands of my government. Then, if you will let me hear from you, I will teach you a Christian’s duty; and while you have scoffed at my calamity, I will endeavor to alleviate your suffering, not because you happen to be my cousin, but for the sake of humanity. Before you write to me again, I would have you leave off such vulgar notions as you now entertain of me and my brother rebels. After nine days, even, a puppy’s eyes are opened. May not cousin Josiah hope for light?”
Sunday, July 20th.It is said that the small pox has broken out in the barracks. There is certainly a case of small pox at the upper part of the island, whither he has been taken from the barracks.
The most insidious schemes are constantly resorted to by the Yankees to lead men to take the oath of allegiance. Their present condition is placed before them in colors as dark as they are; and in contrast a most captivating picture of happy freedom, in flowers of rhetoric, is presented to them, provided they throw Secession to the winds, and assume the garb of “the Union, the Constitution and the laws.” Gold is also offered them as an inducement to become traitors. Very few, comparatively, have been thus seduced to treason, and those few have been mostly of Northern birth, or else outcasts from society at home, who joined the army not from principle but from necessity. On the contrary, to the large majority of the prisoners these seductive devices are as the storm to the oak, which, though it may scatter the leaves, and snap the smaller branches, serves but to rivet the roots, and to harden and condense the fibres of the tree.
Last night there was great excitement in the garrison on account of the attempt of prisoners to escape. Several companies were called out, and great noise prevailed, while getting the men into line of battle. Cannon was turned on the barracks. Several prisoners, I understand, escaped.
July 21st.Anniversary of the battle of Manassas! The disturbance last night has been denominated the “Pea Patch battle.” Mysterious as it may seem, Captain S. succeeded to-day in getting a bottle of whiskey, to the astonishment no less than the delight of our mess. A quart of whiskey! How charming to chase away dull care! The Captain brought itinto the room, with a commingled air of joy and self congratulation, as he exhibited the evidence of his prowess, while he repeated the lines:
“How sad and short were this life’s dull day,Were it not brightened with pleasure,I then, for my part, will sport it awayIn friendship, love, and of folly a measure.”
“How sad and short were this life’s dull day,Were it not brightened with pleasure,I then, for my part, will sport it awayIn friendship, love, and of folly a measure.”
“How sad and short were this life’s dull day,Were it not brightened with pleasure,I then, for my part, will sport it awayIn friendship, love, and of folly a measure.”
“How sad and short were this life’s dull day,
Were it not brightened with pleasure,
I then, for my part, will sport it away
In friendship, love, and of folly a measure.”
Lieutenant D. said if he meant by folly the whiskey, he heartily endorsed the sentiment, and with a general exchange of wit, the bottle was soon discussed among so many.
A Baltimore paper states that “no little excitement was created in Baltimore yesterday by the public display of a “Secesh rag” by Miss Mattie Gilpin, daughter of John Gilpin, of Elkton, Cecil county. Miss Gilpin was first observed passing from the President street depot in company with her sister, and in addition to the flag, which is about twenty inches in length, she wore a large Secesh rosette on the bosom of her dress. Two policemen followed them some distance, and finally took both in custody, conducting them to Marshal Van Nastrand’s office. A warrant was issued by Justice Hess, and after a long conversation with the Marshal, in which Miss Gilpin manifested no regret at the part she was playing, she was released on security to await the action of the grand jury on the charge of violating the treason act of the recent General Assembly of this State by displaying a Secession flag with the view of exciting seditious feelings.” The most important news to-day is, that Major General Halleck has been called to Washington, and put in chief command of all the armies of the Union. The tone of the papers, however, indicate that this does not affect Generals McClellan and Pope, who retain their present position.
The Tribune says: “General Pope’s advance, upon reaching Gordonsville, destroyed all the railway material at hand. As a great portion of the rebel supplies come by this route, the blow to them will be a serious one.” The same paper says: “The Richmond papers are much disturbed at the consolidation of the army of Virginia. Pope is reckoned a fighting General—hence their trouble.” General Pope has ordered his troops to subsist on the enemy, but adds that any man who is loyal from the date of the seizure of his property shall be paid. Dates from Fortress Monroe, to Wednesday last, give no news from McClellan’s army. “Cynthana, Kentucky, has been captured by the rebels under Morgan.” The difficulty about the exchange of prisoners seems to be about settled, if it be true, as reported in the papers, that General Dix had a satisfactory interview with General Hill, and then went up the James River to have an interview with General Lee to that end. The trouble all along has been that the Yankees have beenfoolsenough to suppose that they might capture some of the leaders of our cause, and have the pleasure of hanging them, or exercising their malice in some other way, and they know that the Confederate Government will not exchange, except in prospective or upon a cartel, that will occasion no trouble hereafter, by adopting the principle of the war of 1812. It is all a humbug about General Buckner standing in the way of exchange, for he has been treated as aprisoner of war; and what objection, in a civilized warfare, can they have to exchange him with the other prisoners of war?
July 22d.A Pennsylvania soldier Writes from Tuscumbia, Alabama, to the Philadelphia “Evening Bulletin:” “The people are, of course, very extensive slaveholders, few of them owning less than eighty slaves. Of course they are, without exception, the rankest kind of Secessionists, and bestow upon us looks anything but affectionate as we pass along. One old rebel, in whose clover meadow we encamped on our last day’s march, perfectly raved at the damned Yankees. His slaves were out in the cornfield when we came, and he ordered them in, and told them he would whip them within an inch of their lives if they attempted to escape.”
The noise and bombast of the Yankee editors over victories, large or small, or oftener over defeats, (for they always have some excuse other than cowardice,) is most remarkable and illaudable. For instance, General Jackson’s army advanced upon Front Royal, and the first Maryland and Wheat’s battalion on our side took prisoners, all but fifteen of the first Maryland and the Vermont cavalry, on the Yankee side. This the Yankee papers most plausibly distorted into a Confederate defeat, as it “placed Jackson in a position from which he cannot escape.” The sequel has proved that Jackson not only escaped, but whipped Banks most completely at Winchester, Fremont at Port Republic, and McDowell and Shields at Cross Keyes. The Yankees are ever bragging about their grand army—the number of their men. While boasting what they are going to do in one breath with this “grand army,” with the next, they call for volunteers.
The Wheeling Intelligencer says: “All the merchants in the city, except one, have taken the oath of allegiance. One physician, enjoying a large practice, gave it up, rather than take the oath.” Nearly all the Virginia merchants had left before the Yankees had the power to offer the insult. The physician, who would not take the oath of allegiance, is Dr. Hughes.The merchants, who did take it, had the alternative of taking the oath or being imprisoned, and lose all their property. It is hard for a man to work all his life, and then to give up all and go to prison, leaving his family destitute. The merchants took the oathunder protest. The abolition editor does not state this however, for the object of the Yankees is to deceive, and such a mark of magnanimity would not be in accordance with their character. Nearly all the regiments, which the bogus Pierpont government call Virginia regiments, are filled with Ohio Abolitionists.
July 24th.A lady, in Washington city, sent me the following by the “Underground mail carrier,” saying she “heartily endorsed the words:”
REBELS.BY A. P. T.Rebels! ‘tis a holy name!The name our fathers boreWhen batting in the cause of right,In the dark days of yore.Rebels! ’tis our family name!Our father—Washington—Was the arch-Rebel in the fight,And gives the name to us, a rightOf father unto son.Rebels! ’tis our given name!Our mother—Liberty—Received the title with her fameIn days of grief, and fear and shame,When at her breast were we.Rebels! ’tis our sealed name!A baptism of blood.The war-cry and the dire of strife,The fearful contest, life for life,The mingled crimson blood.Rebels! ’tis a patriot name!In struggles it was given;We bore it then, when tyrants raved,And thro’ their curses ’twas engravedOn the Dooms-day Book of Heaven.Rebels! ’tis our fighting name!For peace rolls o’er the land,Until they speak of craven woe,Until our rights receive a blowFrom foe’s or brother’s hand.Rebels! ’tis our dying name!For although life is dear,Yet freemen born, and freemen bred,We’d rather lie as freemen dead,Then live in slavish fear.Then call us Rebels if you will,We’ll glory in the name;For bending under unjust laws,And swearing faith to an unjust cause,We count a greater shame.
REBELS.
BY A. P. T.
Rebels! ‘tis a holy name!The name our fathers boreWhen batting in the cause of right,In the dark days of yore.Rebels! ’tis our family name!Our father—Washington—Was the arch-Rebel in the fight,And gives the name to us, a rightOf father unto son.Rebels! ’tis our given name!Our mother—Liberty—Received the title with her fameIn days of grief, and fear and shame,When at her breast were we.Rebels! ’tis our sealed name!A baptism of blood.The war-cry and the dire of strife,The fearful contest, life for life,The mingled crimson blood.Rebels! ’tis a patriot name!In struggles it was given;We bore it then, when tyrants raved,And thro’ their curses ’twas engravedOn the Dooms-day Book of Heaven.Rebels! ’tis our fighting name!For peace rolls o’er the land,Until they speak of craven woe,Until our rights receive a blowFrom foe’s or brother’s hand.Rebels! ’tis our dying name!For although life is dear,Yet freemen born, and freemen bred,We’d rather lie as freemen dead,Then live in slavish fear.Then call us Rebels if you will,We’ll glory in the name;For bending under unjust laws,And swearing faith to an unjust cause,We count a greater shame.
Rebels! ‘tis a holy name!The name our fathers boreWhen batting in the cause of right,In the dark days of yore.Rebels! ’tis our family name!Our father—Washington—Was the arch-Rebel in the fight,And gives the name to us, a rightOf father unto son.Rebels! ’tis our given name!Our mother—Liberty—Received the title with her fameIn days of grief, and fear and shame,When at her breast were we.Rebels! ’tis our sealed name!A baptism of blood.The war-cry and the dire of strife,The fearful contest, life for life,The mingled crimson blood.Rebels! ’tis a patriot name!In struggles it was given;We bore it then, when tyrants raved,And thro’ their curses ’twas engravedOn the Dooms-day Book of Heaven.Rebels! ’tis our fighting name!For peace rolls o’er the land,Until they speak of craven woe,Until our rights receive a blowFrom foe’s or brother’s hand.Rebels! ’tis our dying name!For although life is dear,Yet freemen born, and freemen bred,We’d rather lie as freemen dead,Then live in slavish fear.Then call us Rebels if you will,We’ll glory in the name;For bending under unjust laws,And swearing faith to an unjust cause,We count a greater shame.
Rebels! ‘tis a holy name!The name our fathers boreWhen batting in the cause of right,In the dark days of yore.
Rebels! ‘tis a holy name!
The name our fathers bore
When batting in the cause of right,
In the dark days of yore.
Rebels! ’tis our family name!Our father—Washington—Was the arch-Rebel in the fight,And gives the name to us, a rightOf father unto son.
Rebels! ’tis our family name!
Our father—Washington—
Was the arch-Rebel in the fight,
And gives the name to us, a right
Of father unto son.
Rebels! ’tis our given name!Our mother—Liberty—Received the title with her fameIn days of grief, and fear and shame,When at her breast were we.
Rebels! ’tis our given name!
Our mother—Liberty—
Received the title with her fame
In days of grief, and fear and shame,
When at her breast were we.
Rebels! ’tis our sealed name!A baptism of blood.The war-cry and the dire of strife,The fearful contest, life for life,The mingled crimson blood.
Rebels! ’tis our sealed name!
A baptism of blood.
The war-cry and the dire of strife,
The fearful contest, life for life,
The mingled crimson blood.
Rebels! ’tis a patriot name!In struggles it was given;We bore it then, when tyrants raved,And thro’ their curses ’twas engravedOn the Dooms-day Book of Heaven.
Rebels! ’tis a patriot name!
In struggles it was given;
We bore it then, when tyrants raved,
And thro’ their curses ’twas engraved
On the Dooms-day Book of Heaven.
Rebels! ’tis our fighting name!For peace rolls o’er the land,Until they speak of craven woe,Until our rights receive a blowFrom foe’s or brother’s hand.
Rebels! ’tis our fighting name!
For peace rolls o’er the land,
Until they speak of craven woe,
Until our rights receive a blow
From foe’s or brother’s hand.
Rebels! ’tis our dying name!For although life is dear,Yet freemen born, and freemen bred,We’d rather lie as freemen dead,Then live in slavish fear.
Rebels! ’tis our dying name!
For although life is dear,
Yet freemen born, and freemen bred,
We’d rather lie as freemen dead,
Then live in slavish fear.
Then call us Rebels if you will,We’ll glory in the name;For bending under unjust laws,And swearing faith to an unjust cause,We count a greater shame.
Then call us Rebels if you will,
We’ll glory in the name;
For bending under unjust laws,
And swearing faith to an unjust cause,
We count a greater shame.
“A perfect love of a man” is Parson Brownlow. The Louisville Journal says: “He has repeatedly assured us that he never swore an oath, never played a card, never took a drink of liquor, never went to the theatre, never attended a horse-race, never told a lie, never broke the Sabbath, never voted the Democratic ticket, never wore whiskers, and never kissed any woman but his wife.” He is a black-hearted traitor, besides being an unprincipled liar.
A Western editor says his paper is located immediately over arecruitingoffice, and that the fifing and drumming “drives everything out of his head.” What a scampering there must be over his shirt collar!
All the Yankees talk about is “the Union and its laws.” Of all injustice, that is the greatest which goes under the name of law; and of all sorts of tyranny, the forcing of the letter of the law against the equity is the most insupportable.
Many Yankee soldiers have assured me that they entered the army while intoxicated with drink, being victims of the wiles of those who do not scruple to do anything in their mad efforts to conquer the South. Wrong being at the root of their great armies, has caused them so often to bite the dust before inferior numbers:
“Although the ear be deaf, and will not hear,There is a voice in conscience which appealsUnto the heart of guilt. A still, small voice,Which, like the mountain streamlet, wears its wayOver the hardest rock.”
“Although the ear be deaf, and will not hear,There is a voice in conscience which appealsUnto the heart of guilt. A still, small voice,Which, like the mountain streamlet, wears its wayOver the hardest rock.”
“Although the ear be deaf, and will not hear,There is a voice in conscience which appealsUnto the heart of guilt. A still, small voice,Which, like the mountain streamlet, wears its wayOver the hardest rock.”
“Although the ear be deaf, and will not hear,
There is a voice in conscience which appeals
Unto the heart of guilt. A still, small voice,
Which, like the mountain streamlet, wears its way
Over the hardest rock.”
The small armies of the Confederates have the advantage ofrighton their side, and
“How weak an army can strike a giant’s blow,When Providence directs it.” * *
“How weak an army can strike a giant’s blow,When Providence directs it.” * *
“How weak an army can strike a giant’s blow,When Providence directs it.” * *
“How weak an army can strike a giant’s blow,
When Providence directs it.” * *
July 25th.Gold to-day is a peg higher, closing at 120⅛, with a sharp demand for export. Flour, wheat and corn, following the law of attraction, are “up” too. Inflation is the order of the day, and under the exhilarating influence of plenty of paper money, nobody appears to dream of the possibility that the bubble is ever going to burst. I glean the following from Northern papers: The news from Louisville, Kentucky, concerning Morgan’s movements is, that between Crab Orchard and London he destroyed several wagons of a Federal train destined for General Morgan’s command at Cumberland Gap. Of course the wagons, whose number is indefinitely stated, were not empty ones, but whether they contained commissary stores, or material of war, is not mentioned. The “Courier” and “Eugene,” whilst ascending Green River, Kentucky, with troops, were firedinto by a party of cavalry. At McAllister’s landing, two miles beyond Newburg, Indiana, the steamer Commercial was also attacked in a similar manner; whilst at Randolph, Missouri, the Belle, on her way from Memphis to St. Louis, was likewise fired upon. “The result,” we are told, “was unknown.” At Hudson, Missouri, Porter’s guerrillas were attacked and routed by a detachment of Federal cavalry under Colonel McNeill. The Federal loss is set down at fifteen killed and thirty wounded. The guerrilla loss is said to be much heavier. There was renewed excitement at Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday evening last—the Federal pickets on the Lebanon having been captured by the guerrillas under Colonel Forrest, who was reported to be in force within five miles of the city. The Confederates have also broken up the railway communication between Corinth and Tuscumbia. As the Tennessee river is no longer navigable, in consequence of the low stage of water, great difficulty, it is said, will be experienced in providing with adequate supplies those portions of Buell’s army which are at or near Tuscumbia.
We know but little concerning the present condition of the army now encamped under cover of the gunboats on the James river, beyond what is furnished by the correspondents of Northern journals. From these sources, however, we learn that the furlough fever has somewhat abated, that many of those who contemplated asking for leave of absence have concluded to remain, but that many other officers, surfeited with war and its horrors, have sent in their resignations, and “want to go home.” The Confederates are reported to be in considerable force on both sides of the James river, from four to eight miles below the mouth of the Chickahominy, whilst above, at Turkey Island Bend, Curl’s Neck, and at Dutch Gap, they are constructing large and massive batteries. On several occasions the gun boats have driven them from their work, but it was resumed again as soon as the boats retired, and the batteries are now supposed to be “fully prepared, equipped, and ready for future action.” It is not surprising, then, that it should be rumored “that the troops would receive orders, in the course of a few days, to evacuate their present position,” where they suffer terribly for want of pure and wholesome water, and are weakened down with diarrhœa and dysentery. It seems scarcely probable, however, that McClellan will abandon the “secure” position he has already sacrificed so much to attain. The report to that effect is, nevertheless, gravely announced by the correspondent of the Philadelphia Enquirer, and is reproduced, without comment, in the New York papers. The War Department has issued an order authorizing the military commanders within the States of Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, to seize any real or personal property which may be necessary or convenient for their respective commands, and also to destroy property for military purposes. It is further ordered that the negroes within and from the above States shall be employed as laborers for military purposes, giving them reasonable compensation for their services, and that a record shall be kept, showing from whom the property and persons are taken, as a basis upon which compensation can be made in proper cases.
Saturday, July 26th.The papers say that McClellan remains quiet, while his officers are resigning as fast as they can. He may fly from our brave soldiers, and seek shelter under his gunboats, but he cannot flee from the retributive justice of heaven, let him go where he may:
“In vain he flies—the furies still pursue.Avenging justice on the murderer’s trackFollows to claim her due.”
“In vain he flies—the furies still pursue.Avenging justice on the murderer’s trackFollows to claim her due.”
“In vain he flies—the furies still pursue.Avenging justice on the murderer’s trackFollows to claim her due.”
“In vain he flies—the furies still pursue.
Avenging justice on the murderer’s track
Follows to claim her due.”
It is with a loathing, sickening sensation, similar to that with which men regard the bloated toad or slimy reptile, that I view the Yankee officials who come round daily, often with no other object but to tantalize the prisoners. The idea that their treasonable invasion of the just rights of the South has placed me in my present position, sends the warm blood rushing to my heart and brain—my shattered nerves resume their elasticity, and feel as if they were suddenly transformed to steel. More than once I have clenched my hands with nervous impatience, till the nails almost cut the flesh, for the Yankees, from their very nature, seem to feel an almost inhuman joy in contemplating our imprisonment; and what is more calculated to vex? We were allowed to go a swimming this evening. Saw two young ladies—nearer than I have seen a lady for two months, for they passed directly by us. They were, indeed, fair and good-looking, but as they did not condescend to notice me:
“Why should I, wasting in despair,Die because a woman’s fair;What care I how fair she be,If she be not fair to me.”
“Why should I, wasting in despair,Die because a woman’s fair;What care I how fair she be,If she be not fair to me.”
“Why should I, wasting in despair,Die because a woman’s fair;What care I how fair she be,If she be not fair to me.”
“Why should I, wasting in despair,
Die because a woman’s fair;
What care I how fair she be,
If she be not fair to me.”
It was told us on Friday that we would certainly be sent to Dixie to-day, but to-day they say we are not to go until Monday. I believe the sole delight of the Yankee authorities here is to tantalize us as much as they can. I read somewhere that the word tantalize thus originated—a man named Tantalus had been found guilty of a crime in Germany, and as a punishment for the same he was denied water for a certain length of time, although water, by machinery, passed nearer every moment to his parched lips—every moment the cooling draught suddenlyswept by him in pipes, and became more and more close to his mouth, but yet never near enough for him to quench his thirst. Afterwards whenever a man had expectations of a flattering nature held out to him and was frustrated, he was said to be tantalized. Truly, the Yankees are fond of tantalizing—they like to deceive and tyrannize over those in their power. All cowards are prone to do the same.
On the 15th of July, Sergeant J. J. Cox, first battalion Louisiana volunteers, and John A. Toole, 9th Virginia cavalry, made their escape from Fort Delaware under the following circumstances: At 8 o’clock, P.M., when the sergeants were calling the roll in the enclosure, they a squeezed out of the apertures left for the passage of air throughout the quarters, and concealed themselves in the long grass outside the barracks. They now had about ten paces to crawl in order to reach the path on which the sentry walked, and they passed this point in safety and unobserved by the sentinel, with their knives between their teeth, ready to use at any moment. They then crossed the moat and embankment in safety. It was now seventy-five yards to the river. On the way there they discovered a board on which they tied their clothes. As they were about to get into the water, they saw a boat full (as they supposed) of soldiers rowing towards the shore, and in about ten minutes another came. This delayed them an hour, when they leaped into the water, and swam half way across the river. Here a government transport passed so close to them that they could discern every rope on board. Having eluded this boat they had no further trouble, and reached the shore between Delaware City and New Castle on the marsh, after being five or six hours in the water, and having swam a distance of three and a half miles on a board! They remained on the marsh until the night of the 16th, when they started on their journey South—paused the town of St. George, Delaware, the same night. They went to Baltimore and Washington to look round, and from the latter they made their way to Dixie, easy enough, in the character of stock buyers.
July 28th.This day has been spent in reading the “life of Washington,” loaned me by a fellow-prisoner. The war for independence has always been considered the heroic age in American history, and while many despaired of peace ever again smiling upon the land, Washington placed his confidence in God, and overcame all difficulties. In September, 1775, Washington wrote in relation to a proposed attack upon the enemy at Boston and Roxbury: “The success of such an enterprise, I well know,depends on the All-wise disposer of events, and it is not within the reach of human wisdom to foretell the result, &c.” InJanuary, 1776, he wrote: “For more than two months I have scarcely emerged from one difficulty before I have plunged into another. How it will end God in his great goodness will direct.” Those who fight the battles of a country may derive their loftiest inspirations from trust in providence. In July, 1775, Washington said in an order to the troops: “The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Let us rely upon the goodness of the cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being, in whose hands victory is.”
July 29th, 30th and 31st.Nothing of interest enough to record has transpired during the past three days, unless it be the arrival of transport boats to convey us to “Dixie,” which latter is the only evidence to our minds that we are really to be exchanged, for we have ceased to believe the Yankees any longer. And I might add, the general happiness manifested by the prisoners in anticipation of once more realizing that freedom which allows one to move about at pleasure, and untrammelled by a sentinel at every step. No one can entertain an adequate idea of what liberty is, until he has been confined in a Yankee prison, and then he will understand both liberty and tyranny.
August 1st.About three thousand Confederates were put on board boats to-day, and started for the South—landed at “Aiken’s Landing,” August 5th.
My prison experience has taught me that the Yankees are one grand bundle of lies and inconsistencies. The newspapers, particularly, have begun, and kept up, a wholsale system of lying, under the military censorship and direction of the Secretary of War. In spite of their disclaimers to the contrary, their own acts and words betray their purpose to steal all the negroes they can. It is true that some have pleaded, and are now pleading for peace under the old government, offering the South all she ever had, and claiming nothing that is not common to all. But this is simply because they have seen the folly of their undertaking, and would like now to slip out of the difficulty, especially since they believe they have about as many slaves as they will probably get. But those who are now causing all the bloodshed around us, will, if they persist, find the bounds of slavery yet spread beyond limits heretofore held. The Confederate Government, however, is fighting forConstitutional Liberty—the liberty of our forefathers against all things, and nothing but annihilation can prevent them from upholding it; and to the Yankees it may be said:
“The purpose you undertake is dangerous;The friends you have named uncertain;The time itself unsorted;And your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so great an opposition.”
“The purpose you undertake is dangerous;The friends you have named uncertain;The time itself unsorted;And your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so great an opposition.”
“The purpose you undertake is dangerous;The friends you have named uncertain;The time itself unsorted;And your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so great an opposition.”
“The purpose you undertake is dangerous;
The friends you have named uncertain;
The time itself unsorted;
And your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so great an opposition.”