Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-07-28
TUESDAY MORNING. JULY %, 1868.

| On Saturday morning a circular from thr
Lieut.-ucneruI commanding announced thG
surrender of the city. and the terms Vi capitu
lution, as follows: The entire force o! Coated
crute troops Were to surrender rs prisoners OF
war, to the United Staies army, under Cen
Grant; the whole army, including the Gcncr'
ais, were to be immediately parolcd and sen;
into our lines; all officers were to retain then
arms all mounted uiirers to have the prlvl'
lege of riding out; private property t. be re-
spectcd, and all parties, whether citizens or
not connected in any manner with the army.
were to be allowed the privilege Of leaving tho
Federal lines on parole. All ammunition,
stores, field artillery and siege guns were to he
surrendered to the United States army, rs we'll
as all small arms in our possession.
On Saturday morning at haf.rast eleven
o'clock, the men having stacked their arms,
marched from the brest%orks they had stood
behind with such heroic vainr for nearly two
months. Soon after, the lankec army COM
mered pouring into the town-in the space ct
! fifteen minutes the city was crammed with them,
and then began Il scene Of pilagng. Houses and
stores were broken oren and the contents ap
prnpriaied by the Yankees. In Justice 10 Gen.
| Graut, would say that rs secn as complaint
WIS made to him, il guard wns placed at al the
| buildings that had. boon broken open. Soon
after entering the city, the Stars and Stripe
| wc,n hauled upo The sp;rc Of ,llu" Courthouse
amid The exuiting Shuts of the Yankee soldiers.
and tho deepest feeling Of humiliation OH thG
| rhrt of tile Coufrdcra1es.
| The Confederate army remained in the city fur
OF" week, during which time repeated fights
took place OIL the streets between chr men AID
| the Yankees, many OF whom were very Insulting
aud full Of iailnting remarks Oh the downfall o!
on Gibraltar
On Saturday, the IItil Of July, at about l..
O'Clock Tic Confederate army having all bccp pa.
| rolled took upi:S inc ui march from .Ficksburg,
| AMI arrived al Biz Raci: that evening. 1t was
Il solemn and imposing departure. Tears were
| seen coursing tic cheeks al many OF troops,
and ever alIl anon the mcu would lurn bnci. 10
take !aS; look =: Ike city they had so well al
| Iuh!y ,i...Gct. On Tuesday morning the troop,
c"n:!"vnrcd aiIivnS at Brandon. where it is I'll.
| tici patvJ they will iclna!a for 4 few days.
THUS trii the city ni' Nicksbnrs a:tcran Ubsti>
| n..c amI sag" defence of ;orty,scvch days, fNr-
| ty-tTu oi which the Cnni2Grrata army hnl sub
sisted OIL cac-gaarf'r wij0nS. The ciryi is Mnw in
the hands OF the invaders, yet lis ia! adds not
one S!n,. iaTrelt0 their wreath OF victory. Star
va!!un succeeded in doing wha: the Yankee army
| cUu,d nCvcr have done, and though the result
w;S reverse To the Confederate arns.whcn future
historians shall speak of the siege Of Eicksburg
| the memory uf the gallant mem who barred their
bUsuhs with unilinching irnnrsS 10 the Storm Gi
| shot and shell poured upon them, will shine with
| u lGS.rc OF unsurpassed magn:iiccncr. Allhunor
| tr them! Nuhiy i;aye they sustained the South
| crn lame, and ill., their f;,.i robbie the enemy Of
| II single claim uf Victory.
| As few remarks oil certain facts may not ha
| deemed inappropriate. would like to state that
Oh tic Sunday evening that our army cntr:td
;ri. nov Ipt Aur. ii,,,t
in the town 70: five days the men got Full. "a
tious and the remaining turty.two days subsistcd
| on TEN DAYS GaliunS. Ihe question has been
asked. "curia not the CommssarEu Su bsistcnce
! get the corn IL purchase - He GOULD. Six
| months ago the planters offered the Government
corn from il:c;r plantations free Of charge Of the
authorities would only send and haul it; tho re-
ply to their offer that Ill it is hauled into town
We will PAY ior it but We salnot send for it,. The
| result WIS, that when the enemy occupied tho
country West Of the Big Black, lie found enough
corn and bacon to have supplied our army fur
| twelve months. TO substantiate my assertion.
would state tina! among the plantations who Of
fcred their corn free of charge, were Col Benson.
| Blake, DR.. J. G. Newman, COL Autcr, and Dr. 2
| II. Cook. All these are men Ot well known
| standing in their State.
It has been said that Lieut. Gen. Pemberton
stated that he always "beiicUed that u largcf,p-.
ply VI provisions d rsrrn, irr
Dcevel Section SIS sf the Army Regulations
is wordcd as follows: 49, He Gre.
frrring to the General Commanding studies the
works and the rrierior within the radius Of at
tack and investment, the strength OF the garrison.
the artillery the munitions Of war, subsistence and
supplies IF aH kinds, and takes immediate inca.
Surcs to procure rhaiceer is jcfchnt.' In what
manner lid the Lieut.. General Commanding the
Depart ucnt of Mississippi and last Louisiana
perform these duties laid down in the regula>
tions Why was it that nj! during :he fall of
-li2. when the river from Part Hudson to Eicks.
burg was in our possession and boats were trading
up and down, not oac single boat load Of provisions
ever arrived Did the. Confederate Government
get NIL the sugar and mola:scs brought up to
Nicksburg. Or Is the assertion that Certain
commissa:ics and quartcrnastcrs were specr-
latinS with Government money correct =
Let the gentlemen who had The provisioning of
Nicksburg come forward and account for the
cause Of only fifteen days provisions being in
the town. Until they bring forward ablinla;i;
proof tha; il WAS NO fault Of theirs the people Of
| the Confederate States must hold them from the
General Commanding to the Conniissary OF
Subsistence, tn strict accountability for their
shameful and culpabic neglect of duty. Before
the investment OF Nicksburg. mad the press called
attention TO the fact of there being no provisions
i'll the city, and the city hecn afterwards taken,
people world hayc said that the papers had in
rited the assault by their imprudcnc','in letting
the cneuny know of it; and by keeping silent
| those in authority were allowed to continue
their corrac without anything being said 20
them
Our torlii!caiiols were pronounced by the lan
kcc officers to be the most miserable they had
ever seen. and it was = matter Of great surprise
to them. that with fifteen months time VIC had
| not erected works that could have dchcd an
| army o. 200 U0u men Tic works we've so haG'y
! made that the damage done to them by the enc
my fire in the day, could scarcely be repaired by
n large iorce Of men working all night. Our en-.
gncers Un y existed in name: in fact there was
not one man among ti;cm that understood his duty.
The to:!iicatianS were SO poor that Gen. McPhar-
| SCH. alIcr riding over the line, is said to have
| exclaimed. Good Heavens arc these the bcas,cd
!"r'iiicatons Of ficksburg It was the rcbels
alone, ana not their works, that kept lis cut Of
| this tuwE.
| The amount of prisoners captured at Viclssburs
| YVES about $1,000 altogether; amang them were
three Major Generals and uinc Brigadcr Generals
Ab0utO pieces Of artillery captured of which
| several are unfit for sG: 10000 stand of arms
| and between :;5 md 40 stand of coors We're
taken by the enemy. The amount of amHp.
milton surrendered is immense. there being not
| less than six months supply stored away in the
| magazines. There was useless saving of am.
|
allowed to keep up q fire OIL the Yankee lines,
they could never have approached to within
thirty yards of our line, mlchlsss have crccte d
| forts that close TO us.
Taking Wow of the whole campaign, VIC can
only come to the conclusion that Genera! Penn
berton was out-gencraled i'll the most rlaring
manner by Gen. Grant The neglect to reinfnrc
Gen. Bowen at Grand Calf; the battle Mt Bakers
Creek, where our army slept the night previous
within forty yards ofthe enemy without knowing
they were there; and the day of tho battle, when
nearly the whole of our artillery was captured,
without firing a shell; the battle of Big Black,
and the retreat into Eicksburs. was sufficient
proof OF General Pembertons incompetency; 4
great deal has been said of his gallant defence" "
This is simply ridiculous. Had the soldiers beer
solely under the command of that General, the
city of Ficksburg would have been evacuated
the Sunday night that our forces fell back into
town. The men had not the slightest confidence
L.