[7]A lantern for a candle, made of white linen and wire, which collapses when not in use. They are always used in the streets of Constantinople. The Texans admired it immensely.
[7]A lantern for a candle, made of white linen and wire, which collapses when not in use. They are always used in the streets of Constantinople. The Texans admired it immensely.
15th April(Wednesday).—I slept well last night in spite of the tics and fleas, and we started at 5.30p.m.After passing a dead rattlesnake eight feet long, we reached water at 7a.m.
At 9a.m.we espied the cavalcade of GeneralMagruder passing us by a parallel track about half a mile distant. M'Carthy and I jumped out of the carriage, and I ran across the prairie to cut him off, which I just succeeded in doing by borrowing the spare horse of the last man in the train.
I galloped up to the front, and found the General riding with a lady who was introduced to me as Mrs ——, an undeniably pretty woman, wife to an officer on Magruder's staff, and she is naturally the object of intense attention to all the good-looking officers who accompany the General through this desert.
General Magruder, who commands in Texas, is a fine soldierlike man, of about fifty-five, with broad shoulders, a florid complexion, and bright eyes. He wears his whiskers and mustaches in the English fashion, and he was dressed in the Confederate grey uniform. He was kind enough to beg that I would turn back and accompany him in his tour through Texas. He had heard of my arrival, and was fully determined I should do this. He asked after several officers of my regiment whom he had known when he was on the Canadian frontier. He is a Virginian, a great talker, and has always been a great ally of English officers.
He insisted that M'Carthy and I should turn and dine with him, promising to provide us with horses to catch up Mr Sargent.
After we had agreed to do this, I had a long and agreeable conversation with the General, who spoke of the Puritans with intense disgust, and of the first importation of them as "that pestiferous crew of the Mayflower;" but he is by no means rancorous against individual Yankees. He spoke very favourably of M'Clellan, whom he knew to be a gentleman, clever, and personally brave, though he might lack moral courage to face responsibility. Magruder had commanded the Confederate troops at Yorktown which opposed M'Clellan's advance. He told me the different dodges he had resorted to, to blind and deceive the latter as to his (Magruder's) strength; and he spoke of the intense relief and amusement with which he had at length seen M'Clellan with his magnified army begin to break ground before miserable earthworks, defended only by 8000 men. Hooker was in his regiment, and was "essentially a mean man and a liar." Of Lee and Longstreet he spoke in terms of the highest admiration.
Magruder was an artilleryman, and has been a good deal in Europe; and having been much stationed on the Canadian frontier, he became acquainted with many British officers, particularly those in the 7th Hussars and Guards.
He had gained much credit from his recent successesat Galveston and Sabine Pass, in which he had the temerity to attack heavily-armed vessels of war with wretched river steamers manned by Texan cavalrymen.
His principal reason for visiting Brownsville was to settle about the cotton trade. He had issued an edict that half the value of cotton exported must be imported in goods for the benefit of the country (government stores). The President had condemned this order as illegal and despotic.
The officers on Magruder's Staff are a very good-looking, gentlemanlike set of men. Their names are—Major Pendleton, Major Wray, Captain De Ponté, Captain Alston, Captain Turner, Lieutenant-Colonel M'Neil, Captain Dwyer, Dr Benien, Lieutenant Stanard, Lieutenant Yancey, and Major Magruder. The latter is nephew to the General, and is a particularly good-looking young fellow. They all live with their chief on an extremely agreeable footing, and form a very pleasant society. At dinner I was put in the post of honour, which is always fought for with much acrimony—viz., the right of Mrs ——. After dinner we had numerous songs. Both the General and his nephew sang; so also did Captain Alston, whose corpulent frame, however, was too much for the feeble camp-stool, which caused his sudden disappearance in the midst of a song with a loud crash. Captain Dwyerplayed the fiddle very well, and an aged and slightly-elevated militia general brewed the punch and made several "elegant" speeches. The latter was a rough-faced old hero, and gloried in the name of M'Guffin. On these festive occasions General Magruder wears a red woollen cap, and fills the president's chair with great aptitude.
It was 11.30 before I could tear myself away from this agreeable party; but at length I effected my exit amidst a profusion of kind expressions, and laden with heaps of letters of introduction.
16th April(Thursday).—Now our troubles commenced. Seated in Mexican saddles, and mounted on raw-boned mustangs, whose energy had been a good deal impaired by a month's steady travelling on bad food, M'Carthy and I left the hospitable mess-tent about midnight, and started in search of Mr Sargent and his vehicle. We were under the guidance of two Texan rangers.
About daylight we hove in sight of "Los Animos," a desolate farmhouse, in the neighbourhood of which Mr Sargent was supposed to be encamped; but nowhere could we find any traces of him.
We had now reached the confines of a dreary region, sixty miles in extent, called "The Sands," in comparisonwith which the prairie and chaparal were luxurious.
The sand being deep and the wind high, we could not trace the carriage; but we soon acquired a certainty that our perfidious Jehu had decamped, leaving us behind.
We floundered about in the sand, cursing our bad luck, cursing Mr Sargent, and even the good Magruder, as the indirect cause of our wretchedness. Our situation, indeed, was sufficiently deplorable. We were without food or water in the midst of a desert: so were our horses, which were nearly done up. Our bones ached from the Mexican saddles; and, to complete our misery, the two rangers began to turn restive and talk of returning with the horses. At this, the climax of our misfortunes, I luckily hit upon a Mexican, who gave us intelligence of our carriage; and with renewed spirits, but very groggy horses, we gave chase.
But never did Mr Sargent's mules walk at such a pace; and it was 9a.m.before we overtook them. My animal had been twice on his head, and M'Carthy was green in the face with fatigue and rage. Mr Sargent received us with the greatest affability; and we were sensible enough not to quarrel with him, although M'Carthy had made many allusions as to the advisability of shooting him.
We had been nine and a half hours in the saddle, and were a good deal exhausted. Our sulky Texan guides were appeased with bacon, coffee, and $5 in coin.
We halted till 2p.m., and then renewed our struggle through the deep sandy wilderness; but though the services of the Judge's horse were put into requisition, we couldn't progress faster than two miles an hour.
Mule-driving is an art of itself, and Mr Sargent is justly considered aprofessorat it.
He is always yelling—generally imprecations of a serio-comic character. He rarely flogs his mules; but when one of them rouses his indignation by extraordinary laziness, he roars out, "Come here, Judge, with a big club, and give him h——ll." Whilst the animal is receiving such discipline as comes up to the judge's idea of the infernal regions, Mr Sargent generally remarks, "I wish you was Uncle Abe, I'd make you move, you G——d d——n son of a ——." His idea of perfect happiness seems to be to have Messrs Lincoln and Seward in the shafts. Mules travel much better when other mules are in front of them; and another dodge to which Mr Sargent continually resorts is, to beat the top of the carriage and kick the foot-board, which makes a noise, and gratifies the mules quite as much as licking them. Mr Sargent accounts for hishumanity by saying, "It's the worst plan in the world licking niggers or mules, because the more you licks 'em, the more they wants it."
We reached or "struck" water at 5.30p.m.; but, in spite of its good reputation, it was so salt as to be scarcely drinkable. A number of cotton waggons, and three carriages belonging to Mr Ward, were also encamped with us.
We have only made sixteen miles to-day.
17th April(Friday).—Having spent last night in a Mexican saddle, our bullock-rug in the sand appeared to me a most luxurious bed.
We hitched in at 5a.m., and struck water at 9a.m., which, though muddy in appearance, was not so bad to drink.
I walked ahead with the Judge, who, when sober, is a well-informed and sensible man. Mr Sargent and I are great friends, and, rough as he is, we get on capitally together.
A Mr Ward, with three vehicles—a rival of Mr Sargent's—is travelling in our company. He drove his buggy against a tree and knocked its top off, to the intense delight of the latter.
We breakfasted under difficulties. The wind being high, it drove up the sand in clouds and spoiled our food.
Our travelling companion, Mr ——, is a poor little weakly Israelite, but very inoffensive, although he speaks with a horrible Yankee twang, which Mr Sargent and the Judge are singularly free from.
We went on again at 2p.m.I had a long talk with a big mulatto slave woman, who was driving one of Ward's waggons. She told me she had been raised in Tennessee, and that three years ago she had been taken from her mistress for a bad debt, to their mutual sorrow. "Both," she said, "cried bitterly at parting." She doesn't like San Antonio at all, "too much hanging and murdering for me," she said. She had seen a man hanged in the middle of the day, just in front of her door.
Mr Sargent bought two chickens and some eggs at a ranch, but one of the chickens got up a tree, and was caught and eaten by the Ward faction. Our camp to-night looks very pretty by the light of the fires.
18th April(Saturday).—At daylight we discovered, to our horror, that three of our mules were absent; but after an hour's search they were brought back in triumph by the Judge.
This delayed our start till 6.30a.m.
I walked ahead again with the Judge, who explained to me that he was a "senator," or member of theUpper House of Texas—"just like your House of Lords," he said. He gets $5 a-day whilst sitting, and is elected for four years.[8]
We struck water at 8.30a.m., and bought a lamb for a dollar. We also bought some beef, which in this country is dried in strips by the sun, after being cut off the bullock, and it keeps good for any length of time. To cook it, the strips are thrown for a few minutes on hot embers.
One of our mules was kicked last night. Mr Sargent rubbed the wound with brandy, which did it much good.
Soon after leaving this well, Mr Sargent discovered that, by following the track of Mr Ward's waggons, he had lost the way. He swore dreadfully, and solaced himself with so much gin, that when we arrived at Sulphur Creek at 12.30, both he and the Judge were, by their own confession,quite tight.
We halted, ate some salt meat, and bathed in this creek, which is about forty yards broad and three feet deep.
Mr Sargent's extreme "tightness" caused him to fall asleep on the box when we started again, but the more seasoned Judge drove the mules.
The signs of getting out of the sands now began tobe apparent; and at 5p.m.we were able to halt at a very decent place with grass, butno water. We suffered here for want of water, our stock being very nearly expended.
Mr Sargent, who was now comparatively sober, killed the sheep most scientifically at 5.30p.m.; and at 6.30 we were actually devouring it, and found it very good. Mr Sargent cooked it by the simple process of stewing junks of it in a frying-pan, but we had only just enough water to do this.
[8]I was afterwards told that the Judge's term of service had expired. El Paso was his district.
[8]I was afterwards told that the Judge's term of service had expired. El Paso was his district.
19th April(Sunday).—At 1a.m.this morning, our slumbers on the bullock-rug were disturbed by a sudden and most violent thunderstorm. M'Carthy and I had only just time to rush into the carriage, and hustle our traps underneath it, when the rain began to descend in torrents.
We got inside with the little Jew (who was much alarmed by the thunder); whilst Mr Sargent and the Judge crept underneath.
The rain lasted two hours; and at daylight we were able to refresh ourselves by drinking the water from the puddles, and effect a start.
But fate seemed adverse to our progress. No sooner had we escaped from the sand than we fell into the mud, which was still worse.
We toiled on till 11.30a.m., at which hour wereached "King's Ranch," which for several days I had heard spoken of as a sort of Elysium, marking as it does the termination of the sands, and the commencement of comparative civilisation.
We halted in front of the house, and after cooking and eating, I walked up to the "ranch," which is a comfortable, well-furnished wooden building.
Mr and Mrs King had gone to Brownsville; but we were received by Mrs Bee, the wife of the Brownsville general, who had heard I was on the road.
She is a nice lively little woman, a red-hot Southerner, glorying in the facts that she has no Northern relations or friends, and that she is a member of the Church of England.
Mr King first came to Texas as a steamboat captain, but now owns an immense tract of country, with 16,000 head of cattle, situated, however, in a wild and almost uninhabited district. King's Ranch is distant from Brownsville only 125 miles, and we have been six days in reaching it.
After drying our clothes and our food after the rain of last night, we started again at 2.30p.m.
We now entered a boundless and most fertile prairie, upon which, as far as the eye could reach, cattle were feeding.
Bulls and cows, horses and mares, came to stare atus as we passed. They all seemed sleek and in good condition, yet they get nothing but what they can pick up on the prairie.
I saw a man on horseback kill a rabbit with his revolver. I also saw a scorpion for the first time.
We halted at 5.30p.m., and had to make our fire principally of cow-dung, as wood is very scarce on this prairie.
We gave up the Judge's horse at King's Ranch. The lawgiver now rides on the box with Mr Sargent.
20th April(Monday).—I slept well last night in spite of the numerous prairie-wolves which surrounded us, making a most dismal noise.
The Jew was ill again, but both Mr Sargent and the Judge were very kind to him; so also was M'Carthy, who declared that a person incapable of protecting himself, and sickly, such as this little Jew, is always sure of kind treatment and compassion, even from the wildest Texans.
We started at 5a.m., and had to get through some dreadful mud—Mr Sargent in an awful bad humour, and using terrific language.
We were much delayed by this unfortunate rain, which had converted a good road into a quagmire. We detected a rattlesnake crawling along this morningbut there are not nearly so many of them in this country as there used to be.
We halted at 9a.m., and, to make a fire for cooking, we set a rat-ranch alight, which answered very well; but one big rat, annoyed by our proceedings, emerged hastily from his den, and very nearly jumped into the frying-pan.
Two Texan rangers, belonging to Taylor's regiment, rode up to us whilst we were at breakfast. These rangers all wear the most enormous spurs I ever saw.
We resumed our journey at 12.30, and reached a creek[9]called "Agua Dulce" at 2p.m.M'Carthy and I got out before crossing to forage at some huts close by. We got two dozen eggs and some lard; but, on returning to the road, we found that Mr Sargent had pursued his usual plan of leaving us in the lurch.
I luckily was able to get hold of a Mexican boy, and rode across the creeken croupe. M'Carthy dismounted a negro, and so got over.
We halted at 5p.m.
After dark M'Carthy crossed the prairie to visit some friends who were encamped half a mile distant. He lost his way in returning, and wandered about forseveral hours. The Judge, with great presence of mind, kept the fire up, and he found us at last.
The heat from nine to two is pretty severe; but in Texas there is generally a cool sea-breeze, which makes it bearable.
[9]All streams or rivers are called creeks, and pronounced "criks."
[9]All streams or rivers are called creeks, and pronounced "criks."
21st April(Tuesday).—We started at 5a.m., and reached a hamlet called "Casa Blanca" at 6. We procured a kid, some Indian corn, and two fowls in this neighbourhood.
We had now quitted the flat country, and entered an undulating or "rolling" country, full of live oaks of very respectable size, and we had also got out of the mud.
Mr Sargent and the Judge got drunk again about 8a.m., which, however, had a beneficial effect upon the speed. We descended the hills at a terrific pace—or, as Mr Sargent expressed it, "Going like h——ll a-beating tan bark."
We "nooned it" at a small creek; and after unhitching, Mr Sargent and the Judge had a row with one another, after which Mr Sargent killed and cooked the goat, using my knife for these operations. With all his faults he certainly is a capital butcher, cook, and mule-driver. He takes great care of his animals, and is careful to inform us that the increased pace we have been going at is not attributable to gin.
He was very complimentary to me, because I acted as assistant cook and butcher.
Mr Ward's party passed us about 1p.m.The front wheels of his buggy having now smashed, it is hitched in rear of one of the waggons.
We made a pretty good afternoon's drive through a wood of post oaks, where we saw another rattlesnake, which we tried to shoot.
We halted at Spring creek at 6.30p.m.; water rather brackish, and no grass for the mules.
The Judge gave us some of his experiences as a filibuster. He declares that a well-cooked polecat is as good to eat as a pig, and that stewed rattlesnake is not so bad as might be supposed. The Texans call the Mexicans "greasers," the latter retort by the name "gringo."
We are now living luxuriously upon eggs and goat's flesh; and I think we have made about thirty-two miles to-day.
22d April(Wednesday).—We got under weigh at 5a.m., the mules looking rather mean for want of grass.
At 8a.m.we reached the Nueces river, the banks of which are very steep, and are bordered with a beautiful belt of live oak-trees, covered with mustang grapes.
On the other side of the Nueces is "Oakville," amiserable settlement, consisting of about twenty wooden huts. We bought some butter there, and caught up Ward's waggons. The women at Oakville were most anxious to buy snuff. It appears that the Texan females are in the habit of dipping snuff—which means, putting it into their mouths instead of their noses. They rub it against their teeth with a blunted stick.
We reached grass about 10a.m., and "nooned it," the weather being very trying—very sultry, without sun or wind.
We hitched in at 1.15—Ward's waggons in our front, and a Frenchman's four-horse team in our rear. At 4p.m.we reached the "Weedy," a creek which, to our sorrow, was perfectly dry. We drove on till 7p.m., and halted at some good grass. There being a report of water in the neighbourhood, Mr Sargent, the Judge, Ward, and the Frenchman, started to explore; and when, at length, they did discover a wretched little mud-hole, it appears that a desperate conflict for the water ensued, for the Judge returned to us a mass of mud, and presenting a very crestfallen appearance. Shortly after, Mr Sargent appeared, in such a bad humour that he declined to cook, to eat, to drink, or do anything but swear vehemently.
Deprived by this contretemps of our goat's fleshwe had recourse to an old ham and very stale bread.
We met many cotton trains and government waggons to-day, and I think we have progressed about thirty-four miles.
23d April(Thursday).—The wily Mr Sargent drove the animals down to the mud-hole in the middle of last night, and so stole a march upon Ward.
Our goat's flesh having spoiled, had to be thrown away this morning. We started at 5.30a.m., and reached "Rocky" at 7.30; but before this two of Ward's horses had "caved in," which completely restored our driver's good-humour.
Rocky consists of two huts in the midst of a stony country; and about a mile beyond it we reached a pond, watered our mules, and filled our barrels. The water was very muddy to look at, but not bad to drink.
The mules were lazy to-day; and Mr Sargent was forced to fill his bucket with stones, and pelt the leaders occasionally.
At 8a.m.we reached an open, undulating prairie, and halted at 10.30. Mr Sargent and I killed and cooked the two chickens.
He has done me the honour to call me a "right good companion for the road." He also told me thatat one time he kept a hotel at El Paso—a sort of half-way house on the overland route to California—and was rapidly making his fortune when the war totally ruined him. This accounts for his animosity to "Uncle Abe."[10]
We hitched in again at 3p.m., and after pushing through some deepish sand, we halted for the night only twenty-four miles from San Antonio. No corn or water, but plenty of grass; our food, also, was now entirely expended. Mr Ward struggled up at 8.15, making a desperate effort to keep up with us, and this rivalry between Sargent and him was of great service.
This was our last night of camping out, and I felt almost sorry for it, for I have enjoyed the journey in spite of the hardships. The country through which I have passed would be most fertile and productive (at least the last 150 miles), were it not for the great irregularity of the seasons. Sometimes there is hardly any rain for two and three years together.
[10]General Longstreet remembered both Sargent and the Judge perfectly, and he was much amused by my experiences with these worthies. General Longstreet had been quartered on the Texan frontiers a long time when he was in the old army.—August 1863.
[10]General Longstreet remembered both Sargent and the Judge perfectly, and he was much amused by my experiences with these worthies. General Longstreet had been quartered on the Texan frontiers a long time when he was in the old army.—August 1863.
24th April(Friday).—We made a start at 4.15a.m., and with the assistance of M'Carthy, we managed tolose our way; but at 6.15 a loud cheer from the box, of "Hoorraw for h——ll! who's afraid of fire?" proclaimed that Mr Sargent had come in sight of Grey's ranch.
After buying some eggs and Indian corn there, we crossed the deep bed of the river San Antonio. Its banks are very steep and picturesque.
We halted immediately beyond, to allow the mules to feed for an hour. A woman was murdered at a ranch close by some time ago, and five bad characters were put to death at San Antonio by the vigilance committee on suspicion.
We crossed the Selado river at 11, and nooned it in its neighbourhood.
Mr Sargent and the Judge finished the gin; and the former, being rather drunk, entertained us with a detailed description of his treatment of a refractory negro girl, which, by his own account, must have been very severe. M'Carthy was much disgusted at the story.[11]
After bathing in the Selado, Mr Sargent, being determined to beat Ward, pushed on for San Antonio; and we drew up before Menger's hotel at 3p.m., ourmules dead beat—our driver having fulfilled his promise of "making his long-eared horses howl."
Later in the day I walked through the streets with M'Carthy to his store, which is a very large building, but now desolate, everything having been sold off. He was of course greeted by his numerous friends, and amongst others I saw a negro come up to him, shake hands, and welcome him back.
I was introduced to Colonel Duff's brother, who is also a very good-looking man; but he has not thrown off his British nationality and become a "citizen."
The distance from Brownsville to San Antonio is 330 miles, and we have been 11 days and 4 hoursen route.
[11]However happy and well off the slaves may be as a general rule, yet there must be many instances (like that of Mr Sargent) of ill-treatment and cruelty. Mr Sargent is a Northerner by birth, and is without any of the kind feeling which is nearly always felt by Southerners for negroes.—July 1863.
[11]However happy and well off the slaves may be as a general rule, yet there must be many instances (like that of Mr Sargent) of ill-treatment and cruelty. Mr Sargent is a Northerner by birth, and is without any of the kind feeling which is nearly always felt by Southerners for negroes.—July 1863.
25th April(Saturday).—San Antonio is prettily situated on both banks of the river of the same name. It should contain about 10,000 inhabitants, and is the largest place in Texas, except Galveston.
The houses are well built of stone, and they are generally only one or two storeys high. All have verandahs in front.
Before the war San Antonio was very prosperous, and rapidly increasing in size; but trade is now almost at a complete stand-still. All the male population under forty are in the military service, and manynecessary articles are at famine prices. Coffee costs $7 a lb.
Menger's hotel is a large and imposing edifice, but its proprietor (a civil German) was on the point of shutting it up for the present.
During the morning I visited Colonel Bankhead, a tall, gentlemanlike Virginian, who was commanding officer of the troops here. He told me a great deal about the Texan history, the Jesuit missions, and the Louisiana purchase, &c.; and he alarmed me by doubting whether I should be able to cross the Mississippi if Banks had taken Alexandria.
I also made the acquaintance of Major Minter, another Virginian, who told me he had served in the 2d cavalry in the old United States army. The following officers in the Confederate army were in the same regiment—viz., General A.S. Johnston (killed at Shiloh), General Lee, General Van Dorn, General Hardee, General Kirby Smith, and General Hood.[12]
By the advice of M'Carthy, I sent my portmanteau and some of my heavy things to be sold by auction, as I could not possibly carry them with me.
I took my place by the stage for Alleyton (Houston): it cost $40; in old times it was $13.
I dined with M'Carthy and young Duff at 3p.m.The latter would not hear of my paying my share of the expenses of the journey from Brownsville. Mrs M'Carthy was thrown into a great state of agitation and delight by receiving a letter from her mother, who is in Yankeedom. Texas is so cut off that she only hears once in many months.
Colonel and Mrs Bankhead called for me in their ambulance at 5p.m., and they drove me to see the source of the San Antonio, which is the most beautiful clear spring I ever saw. We also saw the extensive foundations for a tannery now being built by the Confederate Government.
The country is very pretty, and is irrigated in an ingenious manner by ditches cut from the river in all directions. It is thus in a great degree rendered independent of rain.
At San Antonio spring we were entertained by a Major Young, a queer little naval officer,—why a major I couldn't discover.
Mrs Bankhead is a violent Southerner. She was twice ordered out of Memphis by the Federals on account of her husband's principles; but she says that she was treated with courtesy and kindness by the Federal General Sherman, who carried out the orders of his Government with regret.
None of the Southern people with whom I havespoken entertain any hopes of a speedy termination of the war. They say it must last all Lincoln's presidency, and perhaps a good deal longer.
In the neighbourhood of San Antonio, one-third of the population is German, and many of them were at first by no means loyal to the Confederate cause. They objected much to the conscription, and some even resisted by force of arms; but these were soon settled by Duff's regiment, and it is said they are now reconciled to the new regime.
My portmanteau, with what was in it—for I gave away part of my things—sold for $323. Its value in England couldn't have been more than £8 or £9. The portmanteau itself, which was an old one, fetched $51; a very old pair of butcher boots, $32; five shirts $42; an old overcoat $25.
[12]Also the Federal Generals Thomas and Stoneman.
[12]Also the Federal Generals Thomas and Stoneman.
26th April(Sunday).—At 11.30a.m., M'Carthy drove me in his buggy to see the San Pedro spring, which is inferior in beauty to the San Antonio spring. A troop of Texan cavalry was bivouacked there.
We afterwards drove to the "missions" of San José and San Juan, six and nine miles from the town. These were fortified convents for the conversion of the Indians, and were built by the Jesuits about one hundred and seventy years ago. They are now ruins, andthe architecture is of the heavy Castilian style, elaborately ornamented. These missions are very interesting, and there are two more of them, which I did not see.
In the afternoon I saw many negroes and negresses parading about in their Sunday clothes—silks and crinolines—much smarter than their mistresses.
At 5p.m.I dined with Colonel Bankhead, who gave an entertainment, which in these hard times must have cost a mint of money. About fourteen of the principal officers were invited; one of them was Captain Mason (cousin to the London commissioner), who had served under Stonewall Jackson in Virginia. He said that officer was by no means popularat first. I spent a very agreeable evening, and heard many anecdotes of the war. One of the officers sang the Abolition song, "John Brown," together with its parody, "I'm bound to be a soldier in the army of the South," a Confederate marching-song, and another parody, which is a Yankee marching-song, "We'll hang Jeff Davis on a sour-apple tree."
Whenever I have dined with Confederate officers they have nearly always proposed the Queen's health, and never failed to pass the highest eulogiums upon Her Majesty.
27th April(Monday).—Colonel Bankhead has givenme letters of introduction to General Bragg, to General Leonidas Polk, and several others.
At 2p.m.I called on Mrs Bankhead to say good-bye. She told me that her husband had two brothers in the Northern service—one in the army and the other in the navy. The two army brothers were both in the battles of Shiloh and Perryville, on opposite sides. The naval Bankhead commanded the Monitor when she sank.
—— introduced me to a German militia General in a beer-house this afternoon. These two had a slight dispute, as the latter spoke strongly in disapproval of "secret or night lynching."
The recent escapade of Captain Peñaloso seems to have been much condemned in San Antonio. This individual (formerly a butcher) hanged one of his soldiers a short time ago, on his own responsibility, for desertion and stealing a musket. This event came off at 12 o'clock noon, in the principal plaça of the city. The tree has been cut down, to show the feelings of the citizens.
There can be no doubt that the enforcement of the conscription has, as a general rule, been extremely easy throughout the Confederacy (except among the Germans); but I hear of many persons evading it, by getting into some sort of government employment—suchas contractors, agents, or teamsters to the Rio Grande. To my extreme regret I took leave of my friend M'Carthy this evening, whose hospitality and kindness I shall never forget.
I left San Antonio bystagefor Alleyton at 9p.m.The stage was an old coach, into the interior of which nine persons were crammed on three transverse seats, besides many others on the roof. I was placed on the centre seat, which was extremely narrow, and I had nothing but a strap to support my back. An enormously fat German was myvis-à-vis, and a long-legged Confederate officer was in my rear.
Our first team consisted of four mules; we afterwards got horses.
My fellow-travellers were all either military men, or connected with the Government.
Only fiveout of nine chewed tobacco during the night; but they aimed at the windows with great accuracy, and didn'tsplashme. The amount of sleep I got, however, was naturally very trifling.
28th April(Tuesday).—We crossed the river Guadalupe at 5a.m., and got a change of horses.
We got a very fair breakfast at Seguin at 7a.m., which was beginning to be a well-to-do little place when the war dried it up.
It commenced to rain at Seguin, which made the road very woolly, and annoyed the outsiders a good deal.
The conversation turned a good deal upon military subjects, and all agreed that the system of election of officers had proved to be a great mistake. According to their own accounts, discipline must have been extremely lax at first, but was now improving. They were most anxious to hear what was thought of their cause in Europe; and none of them seemed aware of the great sympathy which their gallantry and determination had gained for them in England in spite of slavery.
We dined at a little wooden hamlet called Belmont, and changed horses again there.
The country through which we had been travelling was a good deal cultivated, and there were numerous farms. I saw cotton-fields for the first time.
We amused ourselves by taking shots with our revolvers at the enormous jack-rabbits which came to stare at the coach.
In the afternoon tobacco-chewing became universal, and the spitting was sometimes a little wild.
It was the custom for the outsiders to sit round the top of the carriage, with their legs dangling over (like mutes on a hearse returning from a funeral). This practice rendered it dangerous to put one's head out ofthe window, for fear of a back kick from the heels, or of a shower of tobacco-juice from the mouths, of the Southern chivalry on the roof. In spite of their peculiar habits of hanging, shooting, &c., which seemed to be natural to people living in a wild and thinly-populated country, there was much to like in my fellow-travellers. They all had a sort ofbonhommiehonesty and straightforwardness, a natural courtesy and extreme good-nature, which was very agreeable. Although they were all very anxious to talk to a European—who, in these blockaded times, is arara avis—yet their inquisitiveness was never offensive or disagreeable.
Any doubts as to my personal safety, which may have been roused by my early insight into Lynch law, were soon completely set at rest; for I soon perceived that if any one were to annoy me the remainder would stand by me as a point of honour.
We supped at a little town called Gonzales at 6.30.
We left it at 8p.m.in another coach with six horses—big strong animals.
The roads being all natural ones, were much injured by the rains.
We were all rather disgusted by the bad news we heard at Gonzales of the continued advance of Banks, and of the probable fall of Alexandria.
The squeezing was really quite awful, but I did notsuffer so much as the fat or long-legged ones. They all bore their trials in the most jovial good-humoured manner.
My fatvis-à-vis(in despair) changed places with me, my two bench-fellows being rather thinner than his, and I benefited much by the change into a back seat.
29th April(Wednesday).—Exhausted as I was, I managed to sleep wonderfully well last night. We breakfasted at a place called Hallettsville at 7a.m., and changed carriages again.
Here we took in four more Confederate soldiers as outsiders, and we were now eighteen in all. Nowhere but in this country would such a thing be permitted.
Owing to the great top-weight, the coach swayed about like a ship in a heavy sea, and the escapes of a capsize were almost miraculous. It is said that at the end of a Texan journey the question asked is not, "Have you been upset?" but, "How many times have you been upset?"
The value of the negroes working in the fields was constantly appraised by my fellow-travellers; and it appeared that, in Texas, an able-bodied male fetched $2500, whilst a well-skilled seamstress was worth $3500.
Two of my companions served through the latesevere campaign in New Mexico, but they considered forty-eight hours in a closely-packed stage a greater hardship than any of their military experiences.
We passed many cotton-fields and beautiful Indian corn, but much of the latter had been damaged by the hail.
I was told that one-third of the land formerly devoted to cotton is still sown with that article, the remainder being corn, &c.[13]
We also passed through some very pretty country, full of fine post-oak and cotton trees, and we met many Mexican cotton-teams—some of the waggons with fourteen oxen or twelve mules, which were being cruelly ill-treated by their drivers.
We crossed several rivers with steep and difficult banks, and dined at a farmhouse at 2.30p.m.
I have already discovered that, directly the bell rings, it is necessary to rush at one's food and bolt it as quickly as possible, without any ceremony or delay, otherwise it all disappears, so rapacious and so voracious are the natives at their meals whilst travelling. Dinner, on such occasions, in no case lasts more than seven minutes.
We reached Columbus at 6p.m., and got rid of half our passengers there. These Texan towns generallyconsist of one large plaça, with a well-built courthouse on one side and a hotel opposite, the other two sides being filled up with wooden stores. All their budding prosperity has been completely checked by the war; but every one anticipates a great immigration into Texas after the peace.
We crossed the Colorado river, and reached Alleyton, our destination, at 7p.m.
This little wooden village has sprung into existence during the last three years, owing to its being the present terminus to the railroad. It was crammed full of travellers and cotton speculators; but, as an especial favour, the fat German and I were given a bedbetween us. I threw myself on the bed with my clothes on (bien entendu), and was fast asleep in five minutes. In the same room there were three other beds, each with two occupants.
The distance from San Antonio to Alleyton is 140 miles—time, forty-six hours.