Volume VI.
STATESVILLE, N. C., THURSDAY., FEBRUARY 19, 1863.
Number 12.
8te gwM ®«1«»SS
STATESVILLE, N. C
YuBUsnEDYvEEKLY
E. B. DRAKE.
BY
W. P. DRAKE.
EUGENE B. BRAKE & SON
Editors and Proprietors.
TERMS OF THE PAPER,
$2 a Year, in Advance.
5^ Ao Subscription received under G months,
nasi' If not paid in advance $3.00. “^U
An Episode of the War.
The following verses are from an English
journal, depicting the suffering among the
operatives in that country for the want of
cotton :
Dead—Dead—Dead !
Far better it should be so ;
To lie in a pauper’s coffin there,
Than Siii’stein ptalion to know
For 0, my girl was bonny and fair,
But beauty’s a curse, you see,
When hunger and want, disease and care,
Such merciless fiends can be.
It was for her sake, that day by day,
From my life’s dark, sunless shore.
Ilead—Dead—Dead !
She was starved to death, 1 say :
Because of the fierce and cruel strife
’Mid our kinsmen far away.
Man, look on her face so worn and pale,
On her hands so white and thin ;
Here was a spirit that would not quail
From striving her bread to win 1
But yonder, closed is the factory gate,
The engine is red with rust;
And what could we do but starve and wait
Till peace should bring us a crust?
Dead—dead—dead !
With her brother lying ill,
And tier father shivering on the step
That leads to the silent mill !
Alone I kneel in my blinding tears—
Alone in my black despair—
My heart o'er burdened with gloomy fear,
Yet far too bitter for prayer !
Why do you prate bow the world still grows ;
More kind and more wise each day ?
War’s bloody flame still glitters and glows
The olives of peace decay.
Dead—dead—dead !
Oh God I that my curse should fall
On the beads of those whose selfish aims
Have worked such woe for us all !
Men, blame me not for my burning words
Nor bid me these thoughts disclaim ;
For death has riven the silvery chords
That swelled through my anguished frame.
True. I’m only q woman, whose heart
Lies struck by a mortal blow ;
But God, how keen is the bleeding smart
A mother alone may know !
Correspondence of the Iredell Express.
From the Saltillo Boys.
In a Had Humor, and the. Reasons Jor it.
faction of something good to eat, another was
going to put on a clean shirt if one could be
found, (1 tremble for him) all childish whims.
One fellow I saw fixing his lips as though he
intended to return something sweet, borrow
ed on the eve of his departure from home,
and kept undefiled all this time.
ing thick and fast. It continued until Thurs
day morning, when the clouds broke and
cleared quickly away, leaving the earth cov
ered with snow ten inches deep on an aver
age. The sun arose in unclouded splendor,
and as his rays fell on the piney woods
I am in- , around us,
they glittered like a fairy palace.
clined to the belief that he was the most sen
sible one in the crowd. At any rate he is
determined to be punctual in returning what
is borrowed,—think I shall join his squad.
In letters before this I have said that I hardly
expected to have the -pleasure of spending a
week or two at home until we all return for
good, and it appears now that my presenti
ments will be verified. Still we will not “be
discouraged at trifles,” and when another
opportunity for sending up our applications
presents itself, we will be first on docket.—
When that time will come, or if ever, we
cannot tell. We have no reason, however,
to complain ;—our fare and circumstances
are as good as could be expected in the army.
Indeed, better than a great many who are
equally deserving as we. But a desire to
better our condition, though it be but slight
ly or for a short period, is excusable in us all.
The deep snow, too, which has barely disap
peared, made us think often of home and
long to be there. The reason has not been,
and probably could not have been, so richly
case of Ous. Snodgrass. He s
“ We krammed into a non
All for to go a slayin ;
riile
the greatest of pleasures, a sleigh ride. But
we have enjoyed oursel ves hugely at the more
masculine sports of snow-balling, fighting
mimic battles, immersing each other, Ac.,—
anything for amusement and pastime.. This
evening heavy games of “leap frog” and
“ base” are up We really take things easy.
Since drilling is obsolete we have nothing to
do but cook and eat, and provide fuel ; the
last, by the way, is decidedly the hardest
Besides the annoyance already mentioned,
pletely upset my usual equanimity. To give
my readers an idea of the kind of composi
tion I get occasionally, I will give the letter
verbatim ct spellatim, with my “ irrepressi
ble” comments when I first read it, in the
parentheses. For conscience sake I will sup-
Here it is
Jan. 24th, 18;
The snow would have been much deeper had
the ground been dry or frozen, but being so
wet from late rains a great deal that fell at
first melted.
and under-brush
around us were in good condition to retain
every particle that happened to hit them,
and I have seldom seen such a magnificent
sight as the surrounding forest presented.—
The unusually mild atmosphere though
caused the snow to dissolve rapidly, and now
scarce a vestige of it is to be seen; but the
roads, as may well be supposed, are in a hor
rible fix. I have heard of some brigades
suffering considerably for the lack of rations,
from the fact that their commissary wagons
are hopelessly mired. Military operations
tance from this point before the opening of
Signs at the North.
The condition of affairs in the Uni
ted States is daily assuming-a more
portentous aspect. Domestic feuds
are multiplying and extending. A
general spirit of dissatisfaction and
disaffection is rapidly diffusing itself
through the mass of society, and strife
and wranglings in Congress, Legisla
tures and public meetings, herald an
approaching convulsion which will hurl
that land of crime and sin into chaos.
The. mutterings of the coming storm
begin to be heard with appalling dis
tinctness, and although weeks and
months may elapse before it beats in
all its fury upon the heads of the
transgressors whose guilty atrocities
have provoked, it must come at last.
The longer it is ripening for its work
the more fearful will be its havoc when
it bursts forth. It is impossible for
Lincoln not to see and understand
“the signs of the times” which are
crowding upon his vision. Look in
whatever direction he may the pros-
! pect is one of clouds and tempest-
enough to alarm him in his wild and
devilish career, and make him shud
der at the. thought of the righteous
I retributions which are overhanging
him from above. Popular discontents
are a terrible plague to a government
whose wicked usurpations and heart-
few but strong words; was well nigh
throttled by the Sergeant-at-Arms and
forcibly prevented from the further
expression of his thoughts. The New
York Herald charged that the Speak
er was inebriated at the time. But
whether he was drunk or sober, never
did speaker utter the truth in a terser
or more appropriate manner than he
did. In vino viritas.
Look at the dissensions and squab
bles between the government and the
Generals of their army, at least a do
zen of whom (amongst the best they
have) have resigned or been recently’
dismissed the service or degraded from
their commands: McClellan, Buell,
Fitz John Porter, Franklin, Sumner,
all, but a few months since, high in
favor and position, are now in retire
ment owing to the interference of the
radical Abolitionists with the army.
Look at. the unsettled and menacing
state of the relations between the New
England and North Western States,
which indicate a growing strife and
coming separation between them.—
Look at the democratic meetings in
Indiana and Illinois—at the resolu
tions and speeches of prominent and
influential public men in that section,
such as Richardson, Olds, Vallandig-
ham, Merrick and others—look at the
tone of the press in various localities
I there. Do not all these things prefig-
! ure Revolution? Are they not strik-
I i n g signs of the advent of those civil
I tumults which in the order of Provi-
| dence are to shake, like the heavings
of an earthquake, the political and so
cial fabrics of a people steeped in de-
' pravity and crime?—Pet. Express.
, The Herald’s Account of the Florida.
I Bennet’s Havana correspondent, un-
- der date of January 23d,'sends the
: following:
The Rebel man-of-war, privateer or
i pirate Florida, has safely arrived in
; this port, although she was chased up
i to the very walls of the Moro Castle,
I by Mobile blockading squadron, nine
I in number. The chase was an excit-
! ing one, but unfortunately without the
' result so much to be desired.
i It appears that the pirate Maffit
I came out of Mobile with as much im
pudence as he entered it. The stea-
; mer seems to have been well punished
! with shot and shell from the Federal
I ships and it is reported that she lost
her first Lieutenant and sixteen men
( killed by one shell from one of our
men-of-war.
The career of the latter has been very
destructive to our commercial marine,
but he has never yet ventured upon a
fight.
The captain of the Oreto or Florida,
is a different sort of person, and evi
dently emulates the .fame of a Paul
Jones, rather than a Capt. Kyd.
The fact that his crew were Southern
ers, while the men on board the Ala
bama are Englishmen, may account
for the boldness of the one officer and
the caution of the other.
But there is no getting rid of the
fact that there are now two ■formida
ble war ships afloat, preying upon our
commerce. The trouble is that we
have not more than half a dozen steam
ships of war swift enough to overtake
them. The Florida is probably a
match in a fight for any save our lar
gest ships of war, and we must expect
to hear of a disaster every time Maffit
comes across.any of the small ‘con
verted” gunboats that swarm in out-
Navy. There are hopes, however,
that his very boldness will bring him
to grief before many weeks arc over.
What the Yankee Soldiers Say and
Think.
The Providence (R. I.) Post prints
extracts from several letters written
Night of Feb. 2nd, 1863. J
Don't be discouraged at trifles ; but when
one is so mortally vexed as I am now, it is
hard io keep balanced. Indeed, I fear I
shall hardly be able to write a civil letter.—
It is seldom that I am ruffled;—it is useless
to fret or get angry out here,—we might as
well beat the wind with our fists, but who
on earth can suppress his ire when a delicious
treat, just within his reach, is snatched away
and he is left holding the bag from which the
game has fled? I feel like a school mate of
mine, who once went to “ look his partridge
traps.” One morning he started out early :
it was about his first trip in the business.—
A heavy frost lay on the ground, and my
juvenile friend went jumping and prancing
along to keep himself warm. Presently lie
came in eight of one of his traps and lo, there
were some half dozen partridges in it 1 If a
hard dollar had been presented to him he
could not have leaped with more ecstatic joy.
Me ran up to the trap clapping his hands
and shouting, and making such a racket
generally that the poor birds, frightened al
most to death, set up a tremendous fluttering.
This highly pleased the little fellow, and he
yelled still louder, upon which the birds
made a .combined attack oji Xhejr pr-isp.it witli
their tiny wings, when shocking to say, it
gave way ;—the sticks were scattered a rod
around the spot,—every bird mounted in the
air witli a whirring noise, and the next in
stant was out of sight! There stood Dick,
the forefinger of Lis right hand clenched be
tween his teeth, and his left hand thrust
about a foot deep into his breeches where his
pocket should have been ; altogether the
best picture of abject despair, chagrin and
misery I ever witnessed. That, was all his
own doing—this, is not all mine, though 1
imagine that I feel about as he did. What
in the world is the matter? says some one;
—matter enough I say. Here we are, a
- ole batch of us, this morning on the point
o. starting home on furlough, consequently
as gay as June bugs in a lettuce patch ; this
evening in the dumps heels over head because
pur furloughs were knocked into something
Worse than cocked hats. We were so sure
of going that we bad announced (among our
selves) what we intended to do first, upon
our arrival at home. Some were going to
swig a bowl of punch, others an egg-nog, one
fellow was going to drink half gallon of but-
termilk, another was going to have a s.atis-
I set miself (couldn’t expect
you to lie down) with pin in hand (didn’t
take it in your toes then) to inform yen that
year letters in the Iredell Express is ful of
less oppression have produced them.!
If unappcasel by the power which ;
have roused them, they pass on rapid- ■
ly through the different stages of ag
gravation, until they eventuate in Bev- ;
olution, the last resort for an insulted ,
One of her pursuers lost her forc-
! mast by a shot from the Florida, and
: consequently had to give up the chase.
1 The Florida is a fine propeller of 1100
fl will, eh ! You can't do nW fioant take the
paper nor i wopdent for pay, but mi nabor
T takes it an i borer it sumtimes. T
likes to reed yeur letters, an his darters reed
and reed em (I’m glad somebody likes to
read them) an are goin almost crazy about
yen (Thunder they are,--1 must see about
that and prescribe for them. By Jove, it
will be dangerous for me to go among the
women if my letters produce “ fits”) but thay
haint none of them got no sence, but thay
think thay ar big bugs, (big bugs,—well, I
wouldn't be surprised if they were—but the
old man's “darters,”—-God bless ’em—I’ll
keep ’em from going crazy, that I will,—but
let me read on.) Ther is a beep uv mity
smart fokes these days (that’s a fact) but
thay haint got me inter this war yit nor thay
aint goin to (that’s another fact) so no more
nt present (nor the future either) but hopin
for pece sune, and hopin that yeu will se the
eror of yeur wais, as parsen G sals, an
quit writeir for the papers.
Ime yourn Ac.
'll. W. W ”
“See the error of my ways” ;—yes, well,
I've done some things in days past that I
should not have done, (who has not ?) but if
I never do anything more sinful than “ writ
ing for the papers,” why I consider myself
pretty safe. Now it is immaterial with me
wliether I ever hear from Mr. W again
or not, nor shall I hesitate to “come up his
way” if I ever get a chance though a licking
should be the consequence, for Mr, T --’s
daughters hold forth near his cabin. Not so
near I hope as to lie in danger of partaking
of Mr. W ’s ignorance and incivilities.
Now, my readers, you know why I am in
a bad humor this evening; I hope you will
consider my reasons sufficient; if not, show
me “the error of my ways” and I will en
deavor to reform. At this time everything
is quiet on the Rappahannock, though but a
week ago a battle was hourly expected. We
were under marching orders day and niglit,
and twice at the dead hours of midnight we
were waked up and told to prepare our ra
tions for a march. Desultory cannonading
was kept up on the river, several days and
mgbts, and once or twice it is said thg epemy
attempted to cross above Fredericksburg,
probably feints to draw the attention of
commanders, while their real purpose
cross in heavy force at some other p
Let their designs be what they may, w
kept in a very unpleasant state of excite
until Wednesday last, when snow bega^ill
and outraged people to rid themselves
of a Tyrant. It would be well for the
latter in all cases to heed 'the first
i tons burthen; is bark rigged having
raking masts, a low sharp hull, and
two smoke pipes issuing out of her
deck. Her hull, formerly black, has
murmurings of dissatisfaction, howev-■
er faint, that go up to bis ears from
the sufferers whom he has made so by j
his lawless acts. Timely and proper
repentance and abandonment of his
atrocious course might check the prog
ress of disorders in the State, preg
nant only withcalamity and ruin to
himself. But tyrants are not often
sensible of shame or given to contrition.
The more enormous their vices and
misdeeds, the more callous are they to
the warnings and appeals of wisdom
and reason. Their obduracy grows
with the crimes on which it feeds.—•
Lincoln will not prove an exception
from the general ru]e which governs
the case of despots. Ile will adhere
with execrable pertinacity to the ruth
less and reckless dogmas which histo-
rv records in its sketches of the mon
sters who have figured in past ages as
the scourges of their people. He is
a far more flagitious criminal than
many of the cut throat scoundrels who
before him have warred against liber-
been painted white. She is armed
with two sixty-four pounders, two piv
ot guns, two eleven inch guns, and two
thirty-two pounders rifled. It is also
said she has a gun that can throw a
fifteen inch shell. She is very fast
and can easily make sixteen knots an
hour.
From reliable information I am en
abled to state, or rather, I am con
vinced that this vessel will sail for the
East Indies in a few days. Our Gov
ernment had better look out for her
by soldiers now in the army of the
Potomac, which are very significant.
One writer, who has been connected
with the army almost from its organi
zation, and who has never uttered a
word of complaint until now, writes:
DEAR C : I am sick of this war
—so sick that I do not care upon what
terms it is settled. I have seen thou
sands of men lying mangled on fifteen
or sixteen different battle fields—all
for nothing. Wives, sisters, mothers,
and children losing their husbands,
brothers, sons, and fathers—all for
nothing. For here we have been
fighting for over a year and a half
and we have not gained one point.—
We have lived, and are now living, on
nine or ten crackers, a piece of raw
pork, and some miserable coperas wa
ter, called coffee, per day, all to fill
the pockets of a lot of thieves, who
are trying to make all they can out
of the people and the Government.
The soldiers are all discouraged, and
will not fight as they would once on
the Peninsula. All we hear. from
Washington is the nigger, the nigger,
the black, filthy nigger. One
nigger is thought more of than twenty
white men who have left home and all
that is worth living for, to come and
lay down their lives, if need be, to
save their country, while the leaders
are doing their utmost to ruin it. It
is not because we can’t beat the rebels,
that the war is not over by this time;
for we can beat them. But it is be
cause the Government is too busy
thinking of the nigger to see that the
men are where they ought to be when
Bounty Land for Soldiers.
Mr. Conrad of La., introduced the
following in the Confederate Congress:
Pesohed, That the President be re
quested to ascertain, as soon as prac
ticable, on what terms and conditions
such of the Confederate States as may
be in possession of public domain, will
agree to grant to each commissioned
and non commissioned officer of the
army of the Confederate States,. who
has served during the war, who is not
in possession of a homestead in his
own right, shall be furnished with a
homestead of one quarter section o
land.
Mr. Conrad said he thought it was
unquestionably time that some such
measure should be adopted, and that
the States should look forward to mak
ing grants of land for the purpose in
dicated. And the State of Texas
should be particularly willing to fill up
her vast public and unsettled domain
with emigration from the Southern
States.
Mr. Chilton, of Ala., moved to refer
to a committee of one from each State.
Which was agreed to, and
Mr. Chilton moved a preamble to
gether with certain resolutions on the
same subject, which he moved to refer
to the same committee.
Mr. II. W. Bruce, of Ky., moved to
amend by adding the following:
“That the committee also inquire
into the propriety of providing artifi
cial limbs for such soldiers as have
lost limbs in the military service.”
Mr. Chilton said that would proper
ly belong to the committee on the
Medical Department and was a sepa
rate and distinct proposition.
The amendment was, however, ac
ceded to, and the whole matter refer
red to a committee of one from each
State.
Prepared for Eternity.
For the last thirty years a family
by the name of Smith remarkable
both for their laziness and ignorance,
have lived in Arkansas. Old Smith
died. An acquaintance "Ao lived
some four or five miles off, happening
by old S.’s the day after his death,
and having heard of his illness, called
and found no one at home except a
daughter-in-law, who informed our
friend that “the rest of the family had
gone to see their daddy buried.” Our
friend was a religious man, and in
quired of the daughter-in-law as to the
old gentleman’s religious views at his
death.
“Did the old gentleman make any
preparation for eternity?” asked our
friend.
“No,” drawled out the woman, “no
thin’ more than to give the two boys
a boss a piece.”
Our friend was satisfied. Ile asked
no questions.
they are wanted.
You must not set
mo down as a growle
I have good
reason for my growling. Almost
every man in the army thinks as I do.
If Job had served in the army of the
Potomac, he would have sinned, and
most fearfully too.”
The following extract is from a let
ter written near Falmouth, by a mem
ber of one of the regiments raised in
1862. The writer has been known
ty. ....
But troubles are brewing for him in
bis own dominions, and Heaven knows
there are formidable ones outside of
them. The South sits heavy upon his
soul, as the shades of his murdered
victims did upon the soul of Richard
on Bosworth field. But let this pass
for the present. We have no words
to-day for the relations between the
great Washington Villain and the
South. We will consider him in con
nection with his own subjects, the oth
er side of the Potomac. And what do
we see in this connection? Nothing
but confusion, perplexity and disorder.
Congress, which used to be a respec
table body, is a bear garden in which
radicals and conservatives (so called)
are almost daily pummelling one an
other in ring fashion. It was but a
few days since that a scene occurred
in the Senate in which a Senator for
speaking the truth about Lincoln in
advent in those waters. Capt. Maffit
is no ordinary character. Ile is vig
orous, energetic, bold, quick and dash
ing. and the sooner he is caught and
hung the better will it be for the in
terests of our commercial community.
Ho is decidedly popular here, and you
can scarcely imagine the anxiety evin
ced to get a glance at him. He was
at the Dominico this morning in citi
zen’s clothes, and was the observed of
every one. Nobody, unless informed,
would have imagined the small, black-
eyed, poetic looking gentleman, with
his romantic.appearance, to be a sec
ond Semmes, probably in time to bo a
more celebrated and more dangerous
pirate.
Ile was alone taking a cup of coffee,
seemingly unconscious of having any
more serious occupation on hand. As
soon as he perceived that his presence
attracted attention, he blushed like a
girl, paid his bill, and decamped.
AN EDITORIAL OPINION OF THE FLORIDA.
The New York World says:
The exploits of the Confederate
steamer Florida, off the coast of Cuba,
created profound excitement in ship
ping circles, in this city, yesterday.
And well they might. As swift as the
Alabama, stronger and with heavier
guns, the Florida is, moreover, com-
manded by an officer that believes in
fighting. Ills dash at the Hatteras,
right under the guns of a whole fleet
of Union vessels, shows Capt. Maffit is
a very different person from Renames.
for several years in the village of
Woonsocket, Massachusetts, as an ac
tive republican politician, and was a
vote distributor at the polls at the last
town-meeting which he attended :
“Ilad I known as much of the
management of things six months ago
as I know now, fifty yoke of oxen
could not have drawn me out here.—
It is all a d—d political humbug, and
got up to make offices for lazy office
seekers. I wish the leaders were as
far the other side of purgatory as they
are this side. It has turned out to
be an abolition war, and ninety-nine
soldiers out of a hundred say that if
the abolitionists are going to carry on
the war, they will have to get a new
army. They say they came out here
to fight for the Union, and not for a
pack of d-d niggers. These niggers
are lazy and dirty; they will lie and
steal ; and they are saucy where they
dare to be. If a soldier touches an
officer’s nigger, he will get court-mar
tialed and lose a month’s pay. A nig
ger is thought more of by the govern
ment than the soldiers are. They get
as much, or more to eat, get as much
pay, and don’t have to fight any. A
curse on such things! I hope some
thing will turn up before to-morrow
night that will settle this war. We
got whipped at Fredericksburg, and
Privateering-.
The bill introduced at the last ses
sion of the Confederate Congress, and
which passed both Houses of Congress,
failed of becoming a law by not re
ceiving the President’s signature, has
been commented upon at great length
by the London Index, approving all
its alterations of the old law, and es
pecially that feature which allows let
ters of marque and reprisal to be is
sued to an officer without the previous
registering of the vessel. The diffi
culties which beset the registering of
the vessel on account of the blockade,
have deterred many from engaging in
the exciting and profitable business of
privateering. These obstacles once
removed, and a new impetus will be
given to privateering which will drive
Yankee commerce into the Northern
States, there to remain until peace
permits it once again to spread its can
vas in security.—Itich. Enquirer.
The Republican Party Breaking Up.
A Washington telegram of the 16th,
in the New York Herald, says:
There is much caucussing and con
sultation by the Republicans in Com
mittee of the Whole on the state of the
party, upon the best means of preserv
ing their political organization from
destruction. They talk of reorganiz-
we shall get win
fight in Virginia
North is right,
South,”
ing the party, but in what manner
does not yet appear. Greeley has
been extremely busy. He is not 01-
ganizing black brigades, « s
supposed, but reorganizing Vie e P“
lican party Some
teals who, J j their heads om-
Inm last ^hat this is the
inously, and country has yet seen,
darkest day Ke p U blf C ans acknowledge
th^W^^ their N old
peWevery time we 1tea ;/ a lI except some New Eng-
I don’t think the land States. Some of them predict
r^ more than 1 ^ cacc as early as next June,