The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-06-16

ncnlnond, even In these days Of Tefugee!ng
than my wife and two little girls, after the
burning OF all the cargo of that ill-omened
snip the Vesta. After having hoped to sup
ply the Confederacy their own share of the
| Contederacy) for three or four wears. they
were cast upon it's shore, and on the most
desolate shore In the world, ut midnight
and saw the vessel which contained theifi
stores, and even their trunks of clothing.
burnt to the waters edge. Three ccntlen,fn
on board, two OF them being Confederate
officers and one an Englishman. syere very
KIND andattentive to the unprotected ones
and stayed by them until at last, through
much discomfort and by swamp road.
| they brought them safe into Wilmington.
from whence the telegraph brought me the
first news of their arrival OH this side of the
Atlantic. They came on by railroad and
were hospitality received at first in friends
house until should be able to make more
permanent arrangements.
| In the mean time have undertaken the
task of writing the leading articles for Mr..
Danlefs Examiner. This Journal is not ia
yorable to the President and Administers
ton; and confess that since I have come
| to get full view OF the inside 1.-THE wrong
slde) OF the Contederacy my own enthusiasm
| for Mr.. Davis and his counsellors has scnsi-
bly, diminished. With just and noble
cause to inspire them, and brave and &C.
nerous people under their guidance, these
folks prove themselves sadly below their
nigh vocation. Mr. Davis is certainly above
al corruption, or connyance at corrup-
ton, yet there is grievous corruption in al
most every department Of Government.
The Presidents inveterate likings and dis
llkings also are creating more and more
jealousy and mischief in the army. In
truth, the late partial disasters, or at least
failure, OF our usual brilliant success-at
Gettysburg and at Ficksburg-makc every
one more apt to find fault. Our troops are
now but poorly clad, and the value of Con-
lcdcrate paper money has so much depre-
clated that they can scarcely be said to get
pay at all. So it has become more and more
difficult to keep them together, and the
country Is 1ull OF stra2 gler$--that is, desert
erS-wanderlng towards their homes.
Our railroads are wearing out fast, and
we cannot provide means Of renewing the
| one-quarter of them. In short, the re-
sources of the South are measurable
quantlty-and we can see to the end of
them, and the speedy end-while the re-
sources OF the enemy are truely immeasu-
rable. Worst of all, the enemy has learned
both to fight and to ride. There is now in
the northern armya really seryiceable, we'll
mounted and trained force of cavalry,
Whlle our horsc- cgiments have scarcely
improved since the Bull Run battle. There
lore tnere Is amongst our common soldiers
Il certain discouragemcnt which ut times
| amounts to Justification, especially when
they ind some favorte general (Johnston
OF Beauregard) kept down by the President
| ana incompetent men holding posts of the
greatest moment. But, as said, the great
| est weakness of our cause lies in that one
conslderatlon-that the great mass of the
people do not lind themselves so dccply in
| tcrestcd Ill the success of the Confcdcracy
as TO make them endure for an indefinitely
longer time, perhaps years to come, the
hardship and the hunger, and the marching
| IN BAD shoes or no shoes, and the picket
another indeed that they must not be
| beaten, that it will never do to give the
thing up; but they do not always mean it
| now when they say it.
| Still there is everywhere show of the
| highest confidence and it is real confidence,
| too of which the best proof is, that both
private persons and public companies in
vest their money in Confederate securities ::
| although the wisest, both Jews and Gcntiles,
| buy land, which, strange to say, many pro-
prictors are willing to sell for our rose
colored treasury bills. We are lodged in a
house upon Fifth street, and my wife is sur
prised to find that the people are by no
| means starving; that we can 60 to the mar
ket and purchase excellent meat, fish. vegc.
! tables, even game and oysters. if we only
have enough of that same rosy money.
Wine, indeed, il rare, though | know some
| Richmond citizens who still have their eel
| lars stored, and, iii fact, certain Of them do
still import wine from Europe, smuggling
out cotton through the blockade to pay its
| price; for wine undcundc must be had.
| Indeed, the Catholic clergy must have Il
little for their sacrament and my worthy
friend Father feeling uses the Scuppcr-
nong of North Carolina, Il pure wine, and
quite palatable. The same Father feeling
! having lately received two dozen of Soup
| pcrn0nS rs Il present, invited 4 few friends
to dine with him; and those friends drank
Ornamental wine. AS to the other usual and
ncedful supplies of Il household, there is no
| difficulty, no scarcity ut all. You can al
ways buy one egg for one dollar; and if you
have plenty of the rose-tnted dollars you
may have canvas-back ducks and cham
page. But these luXulirS, | must confess,
are enjoyed chiefly by The happy fraternity
| Of gamblers, who own or rent the finest
buildings on Main street, and give supper>
of the gods.
| March I've hear of the appointment
| VI vi ullG iS SOluillllluCl -lll-SlllCl. am
not sure that | know much about this
Grant; rather bad tanner. believe. Yet,
| perhaps, a better tanner than engineer: for
he has been trying to dictate course to the
| Mississippi by which the river might he
cut oil from Nicksburg, or NickSburg from
the river. / am not very sure whether this
| Grant, or some other fool, was the Original
tor of the Vick>buro canal.
! Grant, one Of the captors of Ficksburg,
has been made cOmnEndcr-in-chief Of the
northern forces. They say he is Il block
head but il he is only rcsOlutc enough to
sacrifice his men, without the least Scruplc
and without the least result, knowing he can
replace his losses, and that we can never
replace ours, blockhead us he is, he must
beat us in the long run.
| March.-Spring is opening; the days are
waxing longer; the ground is growing dry
CT. War weather is coming once More.
Roads invite the wheels of artillery and
commiSSary wagons; warbling birds on
every spray practice the notes Of the battle
| buglc, and all nature calls aloud to man.,
that if he has got anything particular to do
in the way of farming or lighting, now Is
his time. We in the Confcderacy are eX-
pecting nothing less than another grand adj
vance of the Yankee forces across the RAJ
| pidan and Rappahannock, con to Rich
| lllUIu, Uut COHlDlnCuJ lilo UNIV, Nlth ~
contemporaneous advance of the northern
| army Of the West by way of Chattanooga
and Atlanta. This investment of Richmond
is going to be Oh u gigantic scale indeed.
nag 15.-Our Ambulance Committee is
out and on duty and there is sore need OF
| all they can do. Here, at 4 place called
Ginney's station, upon the Richmond and
| Fredericksburg railroad, we have our tents,
our kitchen, and our doleful furniture of
stretchers and splints. Grant crossed the
Rapidan on one of the first days of hlay.
4, g., ,I,f IN FiISn