March 21, 1862

March 21, 1862: In Newbern, North Carolina, Gen. Burnside, in command of the Union occupying forces, sends a letter to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton on the problem of "contrabands" (escaping slaves) coming across Union lines in large numbers. He hints at his anxiety on dealing with this unforeseen problem:

They seemed to be wild with excitement and delight. They are now a source of very great anxiety to us. The city is being overrun with fugitives from the surrounding towns and plantations. Two have reported themselves who have been in the swamps for five years. It would be utterly impossible if we were so disposed to keep them outside of our lines, as they find their way to us through woods and swamps from every side. By my next dispatch I hope to report to you a definite policy in reference to this matter, and in the meantime shall be glad to receive any instructions upon the subject which you may be disposed to give.
I have the honor to be, sir, your very obedient servant,
A. E. BURNSIDE,
Brigadier- General, Commanding Department of North Carolina.

—In Richmond, George W. Randolph, grandson of Thomas Jefferson, is installed as the new Secretary of War for the Confederacy, to replace Judah P. Benjamin, who is now Secretary of State.

—In the Shenandoah Valley, Stonewall Jackson, upon hearing that Union troops at Winchester are shifting east to join McClellan, prepares his brigades to move north.

—David L. Day, of the 25^th Massachusetts Infantry, in Newbern, North Carolina—recently occupied by the Federals—writes in his journal of an experience when a local citizen called him to his veranda to quiz him on whether he thought the U.S. Government would, in fact, end up winning the war. The Southern gentleman avers that the South will endure longer, and that the North cannot win. Day asks him this:

     "You think then, that with all the odds against you, you will finally succeed?"
     "I certainly do; you see you Yankees are going to tire of this thing after a spell; you are not used to roughing it, and will soon weary of the hardships and privations of a soldier’s life. You Yankees had much rather be spinning cotton, making shoes, trading, speculating and trying to make money, than following the occupation of a soldier."
      "For a choice, there are probably very few of us who would select the occupation of a soldier, but you mistake the Yankee character entirely, if you think, having undertaken anything, they tire of it very easily. That was not the class of men they sprung from. They were an enterprising, untiring class of men; if they had not been, they would never have settled down among the rocks and hills of bleak New England and made of it the richest most intelligent and powerful little piece of territory the sun shines on. But, my friend, as all things earthly have an end, this will probably prove no exception, and in the end, your people will find that they have got the least value received for the money paid out of any speculation they ever engaged in, and will still find themselves a part and parcel of the United States, subject to all the rules and conditions of the government, in common with the rest of the states."