August 29, 1863---“A Young Lady's Soliloquy”

AUGUST 29, 1863:  

            

“A Young Lady's Soliloquy” appears in Harper's Weekly. This anonymous, unpolished little poem summarizes the changing view women had of themselves in the Civil War years: 

        Useless, aimlessly drifting through life,

        What was I born for? "For Somebody's wife,"

        I am told by my mother. Well, that being true,

        "Somebody" keeps himself strangely from view,

        And if naught but marriage will settle my fate,

        I believe I shall die in an unsettled state.

        For, though I'm not ugly, -- pray, what woman is? --

        You might easily find a more beautiful phiz;

        And then, as for temper and manners, 'tis plain

        He who seeks for perfection will seek here in vain.

        Nay, in spite of these drawbacks, my heart is perverse,

        And I should not feel grateful, "for better or worse,"

        To take the first Booby that graciously came

        And offered those treasures, his home and his name.

        But why should I think of such chances at all?

        My brothers are, all of them, younger than I,

        Yet they thrive in the world, and why not let me try?

        I know that in business I'm not an adept,

        Because from such matters most strictly I'm kept.

        But--this is the question that puzzles my mind--

        Why am I not trained up to work of some kind?

        Uselessly, aimlessly drifting through life,

        Why should I wait to be "Somebody's wife?"

August 28, 1863---"I do reckon I've as little sympathy for a deserter as anybody in the world! ..."

AUGUST 28, 1863:               

Eli Pinson Landers, a Georgia soldier, writes in a letter to his mother:   

“There is one of the 10th Ga Regiment to be shot to death with musketry tomorrow for deserting his colors in time of battle. It is bad enough to be shot without the name of deserting. Bud Nash has deserted. He has been gone about 1 month. He run out of fights just as long as he could without being courtmartialed so I reckon he thought he would leave for good. But he might a been gone long since for all the good he has ever done. I do reckon I've as little sympathy for a deserter as anybody in the world! ..."

August 27, 1863---The Battle of Bayou Meto

AUGUST 27, 1863:               

The Battle of Bayou Meto, Arkansas (The Battle of Reed’s Bridge). A force of Confederate troops and irregulars hold the area around Bayou Meto against a Union Expeditionary Force designated to take Little Rock. Union casualties number around 50. No Confederate casualties are reported. 

August 26, 1863---"Fight you, then, exclusively to save the Union . . .”

AUGUST 26, 1863:   

                   

President Abraham Lincoln writes a “Public Letter” to his friend, James Conkling, in which he answers his anti-abolitionist critics. The letter reads in part:

“. . . But, to be plain, you are dissatisfied with me about the negro. Quite likely there is a difference of opinion between you and myself upon that subject. I certainly wish that all men could be free, while I suppose you do not. Yet I have neither adopted, nor proposed any measure, which is not consistent with even your view, provided you are for the Union. I suggested compensated emancipation; to which you replied you wished not . . . You dislike the emancipation proclamation; and, perhaps, would have it retracted. You say it is unconstitutional—I think differently. I think the constitution invests its commander-in-chief, with the law of war, in time of war. The most that can be said, if so much, is, that slaves are property. Is there—has there ever been—any question that by the law of war, property, both of enemies and friends, may be taken when needed? And is it not needed whenever taking it, helps us, or hurts the enemy? . . . But the proclamation, as law, either is valid, or is not valid. If it is not valid, it needs no retraction. If it is valid, it can not be retracted, any more than the dead can be brought to life. Some of you profess to think its retraction would operate favorably for the Union. Why better after the retraction, than before the issue? There was more than a year and a half of trial to suppress the rebellion before the proclamation issued, the last one hundred days of which passed under an explicit notice that it was coming, unless averted by those in revolt, returning to their allegiance. The war has certainly progressed as favorably for us, since the issue of the proclamation as before . . . You say you will not fight to free negroes. Some of them seem willing to fight for you; but, no matter. Fight you, then, exclusively to save the Union . . .”

August 25, 1863---"The Burned District"

AUGUST 25, 1863:                     

The terrible aftermath of the raid on Lawrence, Kansas. Pro-Union Jayhawkers raided five counties in Missouri, now known collectively as “The Burned District,” leaving only fireplaces and chimneys (named “Jennison Monuments” after the chief of the Jayhawkers) standing to mark where there had been homes. 

Under orders of General Thomas Ewing U.S.A. (the expulsion Order was named “General Order Number 11” just like Grant’s earlier order to expel the Jews from Union areas), the Union military exiled every presumed pro-Confederate resident of these areas, leaving the area a No-Man’s Land for the remainder of the war. Most of the 20,000 Missouri exiles struggled to resettle elsewhere. They were often unwelcome wherever they settled. Southerners saw them as an extra burden in a time of want, while Northerners mistrusted them as Rebels. 

Although pro-Union families were allowed to remain in the Burned District, none did. The area became a free-fire zone of Jayhawkers hunting down Bushwhackers and Bushwhackers hunting down Jayhawkers. The violence continued even after the war ended, as old scores remained to be settled.