A Picture of the Desolated States

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XLIII.-ZEEK'S FAMILY.

A Tennessee Farm-House. The Farmer. The Kitchen. Too well Ventilated

by Half. The Farmyard. Mule-Pen and Out-Buildings..

Concerning Doors. Talk by the Firelight.

....306

CHAPTER XLIV.- A NIGHT IN A TENNESSEE FARM-HOUSE.

Depredations of the Two Armies.

Reminiscences of the

Hunting Conscripts. - Origin of the Name "Owl Creek.”
Battle. Smart Son-in-law.. Zeek Retires. The Bridal Chamber..

..312

CHAPTER XLV. THE FIELD OF SHILOH.

Departure. Bridal Home. Before and After the Battle. - Hildebrand's Picket
Line. Graves in the Woods. Shiloh Church. Skeletons Rooted up by
Swine. Romance of the Widow Ray House. Romance of a Bale of Hay.
Members of One Family. - Sheep Pasture. The "Long Avenue."

of the Dead. - Pittsburg Landing. General Prentiss's Disaster.

CHAPTER XLVI-WAITING FOR THE TRAIN AT MIDNIGHT.

Mrs. M on Slavery. Hunting for the Railroad. - Negro Encampment.

CHAPTER XLVII.-FROM CORINTH TO MEMPHIS.

Trenches

.321

West Tennessee. Two Sides to the Picture. Commerce of Memphis.........332

CHAPTER XLVIII.-FREEDMEN'S SCHOOLS AND THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU.

Freedmen in Memphis. Colored Benevolent Societies. Schools. Officers of the

Bureau. Old Wrongs Righted. - Summary Justice. Milly Wilson's Story.-

Cases from Mississippi. - Business of the Bureau. - Suppressed Wills.....

CHAPTER XLIX.-DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI.

.336

A Mississippi Steamboat. Passengers. Supper. - Evening Amusements. - Steam-

boat Race. River and Shores. Landings. Captain and Colored Gentleman.

An Awful Thought. Helena. A Colored Soldier's Return. - Condition of the

347

Levees. Freshets. - Best Protected Plantations. - Negro Insurrections....

CHAPTER L.-IN AND ABOUT VICKSBURG.

Hills of Vicksburg.

Sight of the Town. - Yankee Canal.
Caves. An Under-

Ground Residence. Bombardment. Famine. Ride to the Fortifications.

Grant and Pemberton Monument. - Sherman's Unsuccessful Assault. Chickasaw

Fortifications below Vicksburg.

Bayou. Indian Mounds.

"Will the Freed-

men Work?”

CHAPTER LI.-FREE LABOR IN MISSISSIPPI.

.356

Laborers defrauded of their Hire. "Honesty" of a Planter. - Northern and South-

ern Master. Freedmen and Planters. Furnishing Supplies. Slave Labor on

Mr. P's Plantation. - Overseers and Negroes. - Change at Christmas....362

CHAPTER LII.-A RECONSTRUCTED STATE.

Ignorance of the Free-Labor System. - Serf Code. - Freedmen in Civil Courts.

Convention and Legislature. State Militia. White and Black Offenders.

Persecution of Union Men. - A Pardoned Rebel. - Freedmen's Schools........369

CHAPTER LIII. - A FEW WORDS ABOUT COTTON.

Best Cotton Lands. -Anxiety of the Planter.-Fascination of the Culture. - North-

ern Planters. Estimate of Cost and Profits. - Prospect of Crop......

CHAPTER LIV. - DAVIS'S BEND. - GRAND GULF.-NATCHEZ.

.379

Situation of Natchez.- Cargoes of Cotton.

Other Farms on the Peninsula.

Village of Grand Gulf. The "Gulf."

Talk with an Overseer.

.383

Suc-

cess of the Freedmen.

CHAPTER LV. - THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI.

Used-up Deck Hands. - Toilsome Work and Brutal Treatment. - French Custom.

Steamboat Acquaintances. - Pay for Slaves. -Jim B and his Niggers.

"A Mountain Spout of a Woman." Talk with an Arkansas Planter. Louisiana

Planters. Deck Passengers. Black Woman's Story. French Inhabitants.

Creoles and Slaves. - Villages and Plantations. - Levees. The River flowing on

a Ridge. Unavailable Swamps.- River Water. River runs Up Hill.......388

CHAPTER LVI. THE CRESCENT CITY.

Midwinter at New Orleans. - French Quarter. Anomalous Third Class.- Style

of Building. Levee. Where the Cotton goes. Shipment of Cotton during the

War and since. Freight of a Liverpool Steamer. St. Charles Rotunda.

One

of the Crowd. - His Scheme for making a Fortune. His Opinion of the Plant-

ers. Northern Men in Louisiana. - Planters and Niggers. Hard Overseers.

General Phil. Sheridan. - Military Division of the Gulf.-Troops in Texas.

The Mexican Question. The South to be Northernized. Sheridan's Personal

Appearance. Governor Wells. Deeds and Professions. Mayor Kennedy. -

On the Future of New Orleans and the South. Street Railroads. - Property owned

by People of Color. A Black and White Strike.....

..397

CHAPTER LVII. POLITICS, FREE LABOR, AND SUGAR.

Radical Union Men. On the President's Policy. On General Banks. Gentle-

man who had no Vote. - Newspapers. General T. W. Sherman. Rebel Militia.

Colored "Cavalry" Drilling. Capital and Labor. Louisiana Serf Code.

Planters and the Bureau. - Dependence of the Negroes. Defrauded by Whites.

Independent Homes for the Freedmen. Colored Schools. - Northern Men.

Sugar Plantation. Abandoned Parishes. Sugar and Cotton. Cane Planting.

- Field of Cane in June. - A Sugar-Mill. Sugar Crop. - White Laborer....406

CHAPTER LVIII.-THE BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY.

Lake Ponchartrain.

tering Mobile Bay.

Capture of the "Waterwitch."- Morning in the Gulf. - En-

Scene of Farragut's Fight. - A Poet in the Battle.......415

CHAPTER LIX.-MOBILE.

Harbors on the Gulf. Spanish Fort.

Up Spanish River. The City.

The Great Explosion. Busi-

.420

CHAPTER LX.-ALABAMA PLANTERS.

Character of Alabamians. One of the Despairing Class. — Mr.

Mr. G's Opinions. Mr. H- of Lowndes County. -

One of the Hopeful Class.- Agricultural Associations..

J's Experience.

Planters' Justice.

CHAPTER LXI. WILSON'S RAID.

.423

Shores of the Alabama.- Plantation Ploughs. - Author's Ignorance Enlightened.

Selma. Ruins of the Town. -Chain-Gang. - Battle of Selma. -A Freedman's

Story. Loyalty and Fidelity. - Negro Boy Arthur. - Raiders in Lowndes Coun-

ty. Planter's Wife and the Wine.-Track of Wilson's Cavalry.......

CHAPTER LXII.-NOTES ON ALABAMA.

.433

Men

Montgomery. The Capitol. Where the Confederate Egg was Hatched.

of the Back Country. Small Farmers in the Legislature. - Original Secessionists

and Union Men. -Young Man of Chambers County. - A Prisoner at Harrisburg.

Life among the Yankees. Return Home.- Disloyalty of the People. -News-

papers and Churches. Northern and Southern Alabama. Union Men of Ran-

dolph County. Great Destitution. - Service of the Freedmen's Bureau. - Negro

in Civil Courts. Freedmen's Schools. Cotton Stealing. Prospect of Cotton

Crop. How to Hire the Freedmen. - All Sorts of Contracts. -Northern Men in

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Climate. Common Schools.

Alabama. - Topography.- Tree Moss.-Best Cotton Lands. - Disadvantages.

Artesian Wells. Region of Small Farms.

Cotton Crop.- Indian War. - Railroads.

CHAPTER LXIII.—IN AND ABOUT ATLANTA.

First

441

Closing Battles of the War. The Yankees at West Point. Foggy Night at At-

lanta. City by Daylight. Colored Soldier's Widow. Property Destroyed.

Religion a Nuisance. Rebuilding. - Rents. White and Black Refugees. - Ac-

counts by Citizens. - Negro's Horse. Jesse Wade, the Poor White; on Sher-

man's Strategy; on Schools; on Reconstruction. Nigger versus White Man.

Out-door Convention of Freed People. - Georgia Railroads and Banks....

CHAPTER LXIV. - DoWN IN MIDDLE GEORGIA.

.......452

Last View of Atlanta. -Negro Emigration. Indigent Negroes. - Niggers' best

Friends. Railroad to Macon. The Country. - City of Refuge. Colored Popu-

lation. Murders and Shootings. Need of Cavalry. Georgia and the War.

Freedmen's Bureau and the People. Negro of Middle Georgia. - Infraction of

Contracts. Control of Bureau Funds. Macon Freedmen's Schools. - Union

Men in Georgia. An Old Settler's Story. "No Party" Cry.

Yankees...

ance.

CHAPTER LXV. - ANDERSONVILLE.

Confederates and

..460

Yankee Prison at Macon. "Death's Acre."-Trial of Captain Wirz. - His Per-

sonal Appearance. Scene of his Crimes. Name of the Town. - Present Appear-

Prisoners' Caves.

The Stockade. - Double Walls.-The Dead Line.

Huts and Barrack Sheds. -Out-Buildings. Cemetery. Death Record. In-

scriptions. — Rebel Owner's Claim. - Testimony of Georgians....
.468

CHAPTER LXVI. - SHERMAN IN MIDDle Georgia.

Tradition regarding General Sherman's Gloves. Confederate General's Testimony.

Criticisms and Anecdotes. "The Great Robber" in Jones County. Confed-

erate Stockings. - Yankee Soldiers and Rebel Dogs. Sherman's Field Orders.

Pillagers.Shooting Horses and Stock. Army and its Stragglers. Negro and

the Trunk. Persuasion of a Rope. The "Great Robber" in Putnam County.-

Not a Raid. Movement of the Army. Panic of the People. - Flight from Mil-

ledgeville.

Masters and Slaves..

CHAPTER LXVII. — PLANTATION GLIMPSES.

.475

Worn-out Plantations. Houses on Props. A Northern Man's Experience. - Men

and Women Ploughing. Home Manufactures. A Planter's House.

ter and Young Master. A Georgia Woman and the Yankees...

CHAPTER LXVIII. -POLITICS AND FREE LABOR IN GEORGIA.

Milledgeville. State Legislature. Repudiation. Complaints of Confederate Des-

potism. Value of Slave Property; to be Paid for by the Government. Common-

School System. - Freedmen's Schools. Negro with the Small-Pox. - Georgia

Planter and Niggers. Kinder than the Yankees. Poor Whites in New York

and Massachusetts. Abuse of the Yankees; of Freedmen's Bureau. Mr. C-

of Oglethorpe County; why he damned the Yankees. Tax on Color. South-

ern Methods. - State Commissioner of the Bureau. Planters' Profits. Mean-

ness of the Georgians. - Sending Negroes_out of the State. -Ignorance of the

Freed People.Tendency to Idleness. Bribes Offered. Cruelties to Freed-

men. - Public Sentiment on the Subject. Cotton Crop.....

488

CHAPTER LXIX. SHERMAN IN EASTERN GEORGIA.

Sherman and the Railroads. Condition of the Tracks.
man's "Hair Pins." Machinery for Destroying Track.
Iron.Railroad Buildings. One Glove off. The
County. People Stripped of Everything. Sherman and the Old Woman.
Buried Gold and Silver.- Shrewdness of Planter's Wife. A "Sorry" Watch.
Experience of a Northern Man.- Running off Goods and Stock. - Hiding Place in

the Bushes. Coming of the Soldiers. -Stopped by Yankee Cavalry. Why the

Women screamed. Pursuit of a Horse. Luck of a Poor Planter. — Reduced

to Corn-Meal Bran. - By Stage to Scarborough. By Rail to Savannah.. Com-

ments of the Passengers. By the Ogeechee River. Importation of Hay...501

CHAPTER LXX.-A GLANCE AT SAVANNAH.

Sherman at Savannah.. Conference with Secretary Stanton. - Issuing of General

Orders No. 15. - Aspect of the City,Situation. Inhabitants. Trade. Col-

ored Schools. Bonaventure Cemetery.

CHAPTER LXXI.-CHARLESTON AND THE WAR.

..508

Charleston and Savannah Railroad. Steamboats. Morning in Charleston Harbor.
Objects in the Mist. Historic Water. Charleston and the Old Flag. - Early

Walk in the City. - Turkey Buzzards. — People and Houses.

Great Fire of 1861.

Its Origin. Picturesque Ruins. Damage done by Shells. - Spite against
Firemen. Panic and Flight of the Inhabitants. A Northern Man's Experience.
Nineteen Months' Bombardment. Not a Joyful Anniversary. Evacuation by

the Rebels. Fire and Explosion. The City isolated..

.511

Harbor Obstructions. - Destructive Water Worm. Palmetto Wharves. Fort Sum-

ter from without. A Mass of Ruins.- Effect of Bombardment. Section of the

Old Wall. Landing at the Fort. - Inside View. The Old Flag again. Situa-

tion of the Fort. Old Iron under the Walls. Cost of United States Forts.-

Garrison. — Beauregard's Bombardment. -Major Anderson's Fame. - Fame not

so cheap since. - Military Duty and Common Sense. Policy of the Government.

The Fort from Morris Island.

...517

CHAPTER LXXIII.- -A PRISON AND A PRISONER.

General S- 's Visits to Charleston. Taken Prisoner. - Jumping from the Cars.
Circular Perambulation. -- The Man with the Bag of Corn. - Pine-leaves and
Tobacco.-Chased by Blood-hounds. — What he lived on. Visit to a lone Widow.
-Night in a Canebrake. A Man on Horseback. Proffer of a Canteen. - A
Friend in Need. Night in a Gin-House. - Parting in the Morning. Entan-
gled among Streams. Taken for a Spy. Recognized. How he got his Clothes
again. Sent to Macon. Tunnelling the Ground under the Stockade. - Betrayed.
Sent to Charleston. The Work-house. Jail and Hospitals. Entrance to
the Work-house, Rooms, and Cells. Prisoners' Bunks. Visited by a Shell.-
Watching the Shells by Night. A Taste of the pure Air. -Negro Whippings.
- Tower of Observation. Mountain of Offal. "Kindness" to Prisoners.
Plans of Escape. - Exploring the Cistern. - Tunnelling the Walls. Betrayed
again. — Grand Scheme to Capture and Fire the City. - Exchanged..

CHAPTER LXXIV. — THE SEA-ISLANDS.

.521

Negro of Cotton States and Border States. Causes of Difference. Slaves and
Slavery in South Carolina. - Labor Disorganized. - Negro Instincts. — Emigra-
tion to the Coast. Settlements under Sherman's Order. No more Allotments.
General Howard's Visit. President's Theory. Conflict of Authority.
Claims. Nothing Settled. Freedmen's Crops. Gun and Fishing-Rod.
couragement. - Difficult Question ..

CHAPTER LXXV.—A VISIT TO JAMES ISLAND.

Misery.

Dis-

.532

Stroll along the Wharves. Negroes under Coal-Sheds.
Boats to
James Island. Planters and their Freedmen. - Taciturn Boatman. Previous
Visits. Captured by Negroes. Third Visit. Our Reception. Number of
Freedmen. House of Three Orphans. - Conversation with their Guardian.
An Unreasonable Complaint.-A Northern Man's Fortunes. — Negro from St.
John. "Faithful Old Family Servant." - Colored Guard. ·Women" Listing."
Our Guard takes Notes. Negroes Farming. - Attachment to their Homes.
Children going to School. - Shade-Trees used for Fences. Extent of the Island.
-Freedmen their own Driver...

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER LXXVI. SHERMAN IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

xiii

Destruction by the Army. - A South Side View. In Orangeburg District.

Lady's Account. Discipline of the Army. - Fidelity of an Old Cook. Warned

by a Dream. Behavior of the Negroes. Firing Houses. - Foragers. Yankee

Officers. Soldiers' Fun and Mischief. Behavior. Destructiveness. Three

Nights in the Chimney Corner. White Lie by a Black Boy. - White Officers

and Black Girls. Robbed of everything. The Negroes afterwards.

White Men left in the Country. Cut off from Charleston..

CHAPTER LXXVII.

THE BURNING OF COLUMBIA.

Few

546

The Fall of Pride. Infatuation of the People. Scenes of Panic. Citizen Plun-

derers. General Sherman's Promise. Origin of the Fires. Accounts by Re-

sponsible Citizens. Rocket Signals. Fire-Balls thrown into Houses. Stories

of Federal Guards. Skill at finding Treasures. Divining Rods." The Fire

in the Distance.-- Dismay and Terror. - Thirty Millions of Property Destroyed.

Sacking of the Churches; of Masonic and Odd-Fellow Lodges.- Drunkenness.

Discipline. Robberies. Many Guards faithful. Curious Incidents. Funeral

of a Lapdog.- Popular Jokes in the Army. - Mrs. Minegault's Bracelet. - Des-

titution. Doing as we would have been done by. War and Institutions of

Learning. Horrors left behind. Ruins.

.553

Rice

CHAPTER LXXVIII. - NOTES ON SOUTH CAROLINA.

Free Labor in the Eastern District.-West of the Wateree. Planters and the Crop
they depended on. Cotton and Corn.-Crops during the Confederacy.
Culture. Railroads. Finances. United States Taxes. Prevalence of Crime.
Dishonest Treasury Agents; their Modes of Operating. - Animosity against the
Government. Progressive Class. - Governor Orr on Negro Suffrage.
a Negro Carpenter. - Freedmen's Schools

CHAPTER LXXIX. — THE RIDE TO WINNsboro'.

WINNSBORO'.

Story of

.565

By Stage from Columbia. - Destruction of the Railroad Track. The Yankees Dis-

sected. A Skeleton at the Banquet. -Stage-Coach Conversation. - Negro Suf-

frage and Free Labor. Spirit of the People. Outrages on Negroes. A Candid

Confession. Sherman's "Bummers" at Winnsboro'.

.571

CHAPTER LXXX. - A GLIMPSE OF THE OLD NORTH STATE.

Change of Scene. - North Carolina Legislature. - Business at Raleigh. Impov-

erishment of the State. Effects of Repudiation. - Stay Laws. Rice Culture.