April 3, 1864
---On
this date, as Gen. Frederick Steele’s Army of Arkansas (U.S.) marches southeast
towards Shreveport, Rebels from the command of Gen. John Marmaduke march west
from Camden and strike at several places along Steele’s column, in a series of
confused skirmishing that accomplishes little and leaves both commanders with
little idea of the enemy’s locations.
---John
Beauchamp Jones of Richmond records his thoughts in his journal:
April 3d.—The snow has disappeared; but it is
cloudy, with a cold northwest wind. The James River is very high, and all the
streams are so much swollen that no military operations in the field are looked
for immediately. It is generally believed that Grant, the Federal
lieutenant-general, will concentrate an immense army for the capture of
Richmond, and our authorities are invoked to make the necessary dispositions to
resist the attempt. . . .
So no diminution of prices is yet experienced. It is
now a famine, although I believe we are starving in the midst of plenty, if it
were only equally distributed. But the government will not, it seems, require
the railroads to bring provisions to the exclusion of freight for the
speculators. Certain non-combating officers of the government have abundance
brought them by the Southern Express Co., and the merchants have abundance of
goods brought hither by the same company for the purposes of speculation. Well,
we shall see the result! One is almost ready to believe that the government
declines to fill the depots here, harboring the purpose of abandoning the city.
That would be abandonment of the cause. Nearly all who own no slaves would
remain citizens of the United States, if permitted, without further molestation
on the part of the Federal authorities, and many Virginians in the field might
abandon the Confederate States army. The State would be lost, and North
Carolina and Tennessee would have an inevitable avalanche of invasion
precipitated upon them. The only hope would be civil war in the North, a not
improbable event. What could they do with four millions of negroes arrogating
equality with the whites?
No comments:
Post a Comment