Thursday, August 29, 2013

8/29/13 Tennessee Civil War Notes

29, Memphis prostitutes arrested for refusing to pay monthly municipal tax

Persons of Ill-Fame.—The police are arresting women, having received directions to do so, on the charge of being inhabitants of houses of ill-fame. Several women will be brought before the Recorder this morning on that charge. It is believed that there is a connection between these arrests and the refusal of this class of this population to pay a monthly tax of fifty dollars, each house, to the city, as they are required to do by an ordinance recently passed by the Council. That ordinance is entirely illegal, and is not worth the paper it is written upon, and no outside proceeding can make it binding, or give its provisions the force of law.

Memphis Daily Appeal, August 29, 1861

 

 

29, Federal military intelligence predicts guerrilla uprising in Trenton, Kenton, and Union City environs

HDQRS. CENTRAL DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, Trenton, Tenn., August 29, 1862.

Capt. M. ROCHESTER, Assistant Adjutant-Gen., Columbus, Ky.:

CAPT.: From all the information I can obtain there is some movement in contemplation in West Tennessee by the rebels. They are massing all their cavalry; have drawn in all their guerrilla bands, and everything is very quiet. Gen. Grant telegraphed me last night that they had massed 6,000 cavalry and intended to attack our lines at some point. I have ordered the building of stockades where my forces are weak and entrenchments at Humboldt and this place. There is no position here that is very defensible. I will make a strong abatis around our camp and near the water, which is on rather low ground. The Fourth Illinois Cavalry from Memphis is just coming in. They are weak in men, horses, &c. I do not believe that they have 400 men in all told for duty. I have mounted two companies of infantry at Humboldt, one at Trenton, Kenton, and Union City. The equipments shipped me I have never received and cannot find them.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

G. M. DODGE, Brig.-Gen.

OR, Ser. I, Vol. 17, pt. II, p. 192.

 

 

29, Philosophical musings from the editor of the Chattanooga Rebel

SITUATION OF AN EDITOR.

The Chattanooga Rebel Under Fire.

The Rebel is now printed on one side of a quarter sheet of paper, or, as we may say, in hand bill (or horse bill) form. In his issue of August 29th, the Apostle of the Chattanoogians[1] [sic] says:

The scenes transpiring in a town under bombardment are necessarily interesting, not less to the citizens themselves than to distant readers, and we shall make it our business to observe minutely and record faithfully these quant, fantastic, sometimes pathetic phases of war and human nature.

Many of our localisms, comparatively trifling at the moment, may be of consequence hereafter, and all the petty details of the time are material whence history must receive its facts or its coloring. 'Tis a pity such thing are esteemed too insignificant by most chroniclers for narration.

What would we not give for one or two paragraphs about the siege of Troy? A dog fight in Jerusalem, when the city fell, would not be wholly worthless to modern readers. And one single line written during the destruction of Pompeii would be worth a world.

Far be it from our meaning to stick up Chattanooga by the side of Troy, Jerusalem, or Pompeii; but in its own humble way, like Achilles, Abraham Lincoln, and others of note, it is also "making history," and must not be left out in the cold by its true and loyal epicureans.

We had thought seriously of extending our plan of minuteness so far as to interlard our columns with such expressions as fell during the composition of the matter appearing in them, after the manner if the reporters of public orations to great assemblies, which are enriched by the additional information that "Cheers" were given here,"great applause" there, "laughter" at this point, and "hisses" at that. Thus we must present some valuable private information, bearing upon the state of mind of writers, printers and the "people" generally. Perhaps we all do so still.

Again, we had thought of giving – and certainly would execute the idea had we a copper-plate engraver – facsimiles of our hand-writing during the intervals between the first, second, third and fourth shells which entered our edictal room. It ranges from a neat, clerk style to the appearance of the track of a spider which has accidentally dropped in the ink pot, and thence crawled out over the page.

These progressive ideas, however, we reserve for the present. Much provocation shall surely bring them forth. Our illustrated "Christmas edition"[2] is proof that we are bold in venture, and not to be appalled by novelty.

Meantime, there's a hand and glove to those good natured souls who remain in town of nights and are not to be driven hence by day; who still retain the color in their cheeks, the light in their eyes, a hearty appetite and good digestion, and who mean., like ourselves and our friend John Happy, to "vivimous" while we can and "vamous" when we must.

The papers from the "inside world" are all discussing the currency question. Confederate notes, in Richmond, are only quoted at 10 cents on the dollar, and the papers are endeavoring to improve their condition. There seems to be a desire on all sides to have Confederate paper rule at a higher rate, but the speculators seem to hold the balances of power.

Some of the papers offer remedies for desertion from the Confederate army. One of Gen. Bragg's officers speaking of the subject says: "the commanders have seemed thus far to distrust the men, and no system has ever been adopted. A wiser course, it seems to me, would be to put the men more upon their honor. They are, for the most part, volunteers in the cause in which their all is involved, and they are not disposed to desert. The difficulty of obtaining a furlough, I am satisfied, is a fruitful cause of the evil; while the certainty of getting a furlough once a year under a regular system, if only for ten days, will have a most beneficent effect upon our troops, and in my opinion will certainly check, if not entirely stop, desertion."

Natchez Courier (Natchez, MS), September 18, 1863.

OR, Ser. I, Vol. 38, pt. V, pp. 703-704.

 

 

 

29, Major-General William T. Sherman furnishes rules for trading with States and parts of States in insurrection

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 25. HDQRS. MIL. DIV. OF THE MISSISSIPPI, Nashville, Tenn., August 29, 1864.

In order to carry out the provisions of the act of Congress approved July 2, 1864, and the regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury relative to trade and intercourse with States and parts of States in insurrection, and to make the operations of trade just and fair, both as to the people and to the merchant, the following general rules will be observed in this military division, as near as the state of the country will permit:

I. All trade is prohibited near armies in the field or moving columns of troops, save that necessary to supply the wants of the troops themselves. Quartermasters and commissaries will take such supplies as are needed in the countries passed through, leaving receipts and taking the articles up on their returns. When cotton is found, and transportation to the rear is easy and does not interfere with the supplies to the army dependent on the route, the quartermaster will ship the cotton to the quartermaster at Nashville or Memphis, who will deliver it to the agent of the Treasury Department. It will be treated as captured property of an enemy, and invoiced accordingly. No claim of private interest in it will be entertained by the military authorities.

II. In department and military district embracing a country within our military control, the commanders of such departments and districts may permit a trade in articles not contraband of war or damaging to the operations of the army at the front, through the properly appointed agents and sub-agents of the Treasury Department, to an extent proportionate to the necessities of the peaceful and worthy inhabitants of the localities described; but as trade and the benefits of civil government are conditions not only of fidelity of the people, but also of an ability to maintain peace and order in their district, county, or locality, commanding officers will give notice that all trade will cease when guerrillas are tolerated or encouraged, and, moreover, that in such districts and localities, the army or detachments sent to maintain the peace must be maintained by the district or locality that tolerates or encourages such guerrillas.

III. All military offices will assist the agents of the Treasury Department in securing possession of all abandoned property and estates subject to confiscation under the law.

IV. The use of weapons for hunting purposes is too dangerous to be allowed at this time, and therefore the introduction of all arms and powder, percussion caps, bullets, shot, lead, or anything used in connection with firearms, is prohibited absolutely, save by the proper agents of the United States, and when the inhabitants require and can be trusted with such things for self-defense, or for aiding in maintaining the peace and safety of their families and property, commanding officers may issue the same out of the public stores in limited quantities.

V. Medicines and clothing as well as salt, meats, and provisions, being quasi-contraband of war, according to the condition of the district or locality when offered for sale, will be regulated by local commanders in connection with the agents of the Treasury Department.

VI. In articles non-contraband, such as the clothing needed for women and children, groceries and imported articles, the trade should be left to the Treasury agents as matters too unimportant to be noticed by military men.

VII. When military officers can indicate a preference to the class of men allowed to trade, they will always give preference to men who have served the Government as soldiers, and when wounded or incapacitated from further service by such wounds or sickness. Men who manifest loyalty by oaths and nothing more are entitled to live, but not to ask favor of a Government that demands acts and personal sacrifices.

By order of Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman:

OR, Ser. I, Vol. 39, pt. II, pp. 314-315.

 



[1] Francis M. Paul, Editor Rebel, Chattanooga, Tenn. See: OR, Ser. I, Vol. 23, pt. II, p. 885

[2] Not known to be extant.


James B. Jones, Jr.

Public Historian

Tennessee Historical Commission

2941 Lebanon Road

Nashville, TN  37214

(615)-532-1550  x115

(615)-532-1549  FAX

 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's what I was looking for, what a stuff!
present here at this weblog, thanks admin of this website.