The Iron Furnace, or Slavery and Secession Part 11

Remember me kindly to Mrs. Jackman and family. Hoping to hear from you soon, I beg leave to subscribe myself,

Yours fraternally, JOHN H. AUGHEY.

To Mr. William Jackman, Amsterdam, Jefferson Co., Ohio.

CHAPTER VIII.

NOTORIOUS REBELS.--UNION OFFICERS.

Colonel Jefferson Davis--His Speech at Holly Springs, Mississippi--His Opposition to Yankee Teachers and Ministers--A bid for the Presidency--His Ambition--Burr, Arnold, Davis--General Beauregard--Headquarters at Rienzi--Colonel Elliott's Raid--Beauregard's Consternation--Personal description--His illness--Popularity waning--Rev. Dr. Palmer of New Orleans--His influence--The Cincinnati Letter--His Personal Appearance--His Denunciations of General Butler--His Radicalism--Rev. Dr. Waddell of La Grange, Tennessee--His Prejudices against the North--President of Memphis Synodical College--His Talents prost.i.tuted--Union Officers--General Nelson--General Sherman.

COLONEL JEFFERSON DAVIS.

In 1856 I heard Colonel Jefferson Davis deliver an address at Holly Springs, Mississippi. The Colonel is about a medium height, of slender frame, his nose aquiline, his hair dark, his manners polite. He is no orator. His speech was princ.i.p.ally a tirade of abuse against the North, bitterly inveighing against the emigrant aid societies which had well-nigh put Kansas upon the list of free States. He advised the people to employ no more Yankee teachers. He had been educated in the North, and he regarded it as the greatest misfortune of his life. Soon after Colonel Davis visited New England, where he eulogized that section in an extravagant manner. He was pleased with everything he saw; even "Noah Webster's Yankee spelling-book" received a share of the Colonel's fulsome flattery. On his return to the South, "a change came o'er the spirit of his dream," and his bile and bitterness against Yankee-land returned in all its pristine vigour. The Colonel was making a bid for the Presidency; but New England was not so easily gulled; his flimsy professions of friendship were too transparent to hide the hate which lay beneath, and his aspirations were doomed to disappointment.

Though Colonel Davis is often called Mississippi's pet, yet he is not regarded as a truthful man, and his reports and messages are received with considerable abatement by "the chivalry." His ambition knows no bounds. He would rather "reign in h.e.l.l than serve in heaven."

Had Jefferson Davis been elected President of the United States, he would have been among the last instead of the first to favour secession. Had he been slain on the b.l.o.o.d.y fields of Mexico, his memory would have been cherished. History will a.s.sign him a place among the infamous. Burr, Arnold, and Davis will be names for ever execrated by true patriots. The two former died a natural death, though the united voice of their countrymen would have approved of their execution on the gallows. The fate of the latter lies still in the womb of futurity, though his loyal countrymen, without a dissenting voice, declare that he deserves a felon's doom. An announcement of his death would suffuse no patriot's eye with tears. What loyalist would weep while he read the news-item--the arch traitor Jeff. Davis is dead.

GENERAL G. T. BEAUREGARD.

I met General Beauregard under very peculiar circ.u.mstances. I had gone to Rienzi for the purpose of escaping to the Federal lines for protection from the rigorous and sweeping conscript law. When I arrived, I found the rebels evacuating Corinth, and their sick and wounded pa.s.sing down the Mobile and Ohio railroad to the hospitals below. General Beauregard had just arrived in Rienzi, and had his headquarters at the house of Mr.

Sutherland. A rumour had spread through Rienzi that General Beauregard had ordered the women and children to leave the town. Many of them, believing that the order had been issued, were hastening into the country. In order to confirm or refute the statement, I called upon General Beauregard, and asked him whether he had issued such an order. He replied, "I have issued no such order, sir." Just at that moment a courier arrived with the information that the Yankees had attacked the advance of their retreating army at Boonville, that they had destroyed the depot, and taken many prisoners. The General told the courier that he must be mistaken; that it was impossible for the Yankees to pa.s.s around his army. While he was yet speaking a citizen arrived from Boonville, confirming the statement of the courier. Beauregard was still incredulous, replying that they must have mistaken the Confederates for the Yankees. In a few minutes the explosion of sh.e.l.ls shook the building. The General then thought that it might be true that the Yankees had pa.s.sed around the army; but on hearing the sh.e.l.ls, he stated that General Green (of Missouri) was driving them away with his cannon. The truth was soon ascertained by the arrival of several couriers. Col. Elliott, of the Federal army, had made a raid upon Boonville, had fired the depot, and destroyed a large train of cars filled with ammunition. The explosions of the sh.e.l.ls which we heard was occasioned by the fire reaching the ears in which these sh.e.l.ls were stored. The Colonel also destroyed the railroad to such an extent that it required several days to repair the track.

General Beauregard is below the medium height, and has a decidedly French expression of countenance. His hair is quite gray, though a glance at his face will convince the observer that it is prematurely so. The General is regarded as taciturn. His countenance is careworn and haggard. During the winter of 1861-2, he was attacked with bronchitis and typhoid pneumonia, and came near dying; and had not, at my interview, by any means recovered his pristine health and vigour. His prestige as an able commander is rapidly waning. For some time his military talents were considered of the first order; now a third-rate position is a.s.signed him. He is still regarded as a first-cla.s.s engineer. When General Sterling Price arrived at Corinth, General Beauregard conducted him around all the fortifications, explaining their nature and unfolding their strength; but no word of approval could he elicit from the Missouri General. At length he ventured to ask what he thought of their capacity for resisting an attack. General Price replied, "They may prove effective in resisting an attack. These are the second fortifications I ever saw; the first I captured." He had reference to Colonel Mulligan's, at Lexington, Missouri. Sumter and Mana.s.sas gave Beauregard fame. Since the latter battle his star has declined steadily; and if the Federal generals prove themselves competent, it will soon go out in total darkness, and the world's verdict will be, it was a misfortune that Beauregard lived.

REV. DR. B. M. PALMER.

Dr. Palmer has done more than any non-combatant in the South to promote the rebellion. He was accessory both before and after the fact. His sermons are nearly all abusive of the North. The mudsills of Yankeedom and the sc.u.m of Europe are phrases of frequent use in his public addresses, and they are meant to include all living north of what is more familiarly than elegantly termed in the South the "n.i.g.g.e.r line," although the North is the land of his parental nativity.

A few years ago, Dr. Palmer wrote to a friend in Cincinnati respecting a vacant church, in which he gave as one reason, among others, for desiring to come North, that he wished to remove his family from the baleful influences of slavery. That letter still exists, and ought to be published.

Dr. Palmer's personal appearance is by no means prepossessing. He is small of stature, of very dark complexion, dish-faced. His nose is said to have been broken when a child; at all events, it is a deformity. He is fluent in speech, has a vivid imagination, and has a great influence over a promiscuous congregation.

After the reduction of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and the capture of New Orleans, Dr. Palmer came to Corinth, where he preached to the rebel army. His text was invariably General Butler's "women-of-the-town order,"

which we fully believe he intentionally misconstrued. The conservation and extension of slavery is a matter which lies near the Doctor's heart. He urged secession for the purpose of extending and perpetuating for ever the peculiar inst.i.tution. His views, however, must have undergone a radical change since the writing of the Cincinnati letter, as he then regarded slavery with little favour. Love of public favour may have much to do with his recently expressed views, for no true Christian and patriot can wish to perpetuate and extend an inst.i.tution founded on the total subversion of the rights of man.

REV. DR. JOHN N. WADDELL.

Dr. Waddell is a man of considerable talent, but his prejudices are very strong against the North. He cordially hates a Yankee, and his poor distressed wife, who was a native of New England, was compelled to return to her home, where she mourns in virtual widowhood her unfortunate connection with a man who detests her land and people. Dr. Waddell's sermons are very abusive. The North is the theme of animadversion in all the published sermons and addresses I have seen from his prolific pen. He has prost.i.tuted his fine talents, and his writings are full of cursing and bitterness. As President of La Grange College, Tennessee, he might wield a great influence for good--an influence which would tend to calm the storm aroused by demagogues, rather than increase its power. His memory will rot, for the evil which he has done will live after him.

MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM NELSON.

I met General Nelson frequently at his head-quarters at Iuka Springs, Mississippi. Though the General was quite brusque in his manners, yet he always treated me with kindness and marked attention. Once while seated at the table with him, several guests being present, the following colloquy ensued.

"Parson Aughey, I suppose you are well versed in the Scriptures, and in order to test your knowledge, permit me to ask a question, which doubtless you are able to answer."

"Certainly, General, you have permission to ask the question you propose.

I am not so sure, however, about my ability to answer it."

"The question I desire to propose is this--How many preceded Noah in leaving the ark?"

"I am unable to answer, sir."

"That is strange, as the Bible so plainly and explicitly informs us. We are told that Noah went _forth_ out of the ark; therefore _three_ must have preceded him."

The General's wit "set the table in a roar." As soon as the mirth had subsided, I addressed the General:

"It is my turn to ask a question. Do you know, sir, where the witch of Endor lived?"

"I did know, but really I have forgotten."

"Well, sir, she lived at Endor."

The laugh was now against him, but he joined in it heartily himself.

Knowing that General Nelson had visited every quarter of the globe, I asked him whether he had ever seen any of the modern Greeks.

"I never saw any of the ancient Greeks," was his curt reply.

General Nelson was regarded as a brave and skilful officer. He has done good service in his country's cause. At Shiloh his promptness and efficiency contributed greatly to retrieve the disaster which befell General Grant on the first day of the battle. His rencontre with General Davis, which resulted in his own death, is greatly to be regretted, though his own ungovernable temper and inexcusable conduct caused his tragic end.

I once visited his headquarters late in the afternoon. On my arrival, he informed me that I would confer a great favour upon him by guiding a company of cavalry on an expedition to the south-eastern part of the county, to which I consented. I rode in front with the officer in command.

When we had reached a point beyond the pickets, my companion informed me that we would meet no more Federals; if we met any soldiers while outward bound, we might take it for granted that they were rebels. After riding about an hour longer, we encountered a company of cavalry, and were ordered to halt by the officer in command. My companion, stating that they must be rebels, rode up and gave the countersign. I felt somewhat uneasy at the head of that company at this time, not knowing the moment that bullets would be whistling around us. They proved however to be Federals, returning from an extended scouting expedition. I conducted our company to the house of a Union man, whom we aroused from his bed; and learning that we were Federals, he took my place, and I returned to General Nelson. The General now desired me to go as a spy, to obtain information as to the number of troops stationed at Norman's Bridge, which spanned Big Bear Creek. I replied that I had ridden sixty miles without sleep, but that I would send two Union men of my acquaintance in my stead. This was satisfactory, and my Union friends returned with accurate information as to the number of rebel troops stationed at the bridge, and the best points of attack. The attack was made on the next day after receiving the information, and the rebels were surprised and totally defeated; but few escaped death or capture.

GENERAL W. T. SHERMAN.

On the day that General Sherman reached Rienzi, I supped with him at the house of a friend. At table the following dialogue took place between us.

"Are you the person from whom Sherman's battery took its name?"

"I am, sir."

"Many gentlemen in this county," said I, "and among them my father-in-law, have pipes made of the fragments of the gun-carriages of Sherman's battery, which was captured at Mana.s.sas by the Confederates."

"Sherman's battery was not captured at Mana.s.sas," replied the General.

"The honour of capturing Sherman's battery is generally accorded to the second regiment of Mississippi volunteers, which went from this county and the adjoining county of Tippah, though several regiments claim it, and many of my friends declare that they have seen Sherman's battery since its capture."