Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-08-20
THE SIEGE OF vICKsBURG.
An Interesting Letter From a
Confederate officer, Called
Forth by n. Quad's Articles.

| WAS AhuAAAol WIN baAS bnC AAbGlty "
addressing yeu few lines in regard K
1.-THE Ticksburg article. / was johnny
Reb inside the fort, and your article
calls very wildly to my mind some o,
1.-THE scenes Of those days, and / find yor
are. very correct in most Of sour de.
scriptions. You say large guam
titles Of provisions were brought
There. Had you said sugar you
would have been correct. l often
heard planters say at headquarters that
they had large amounts of corn up the
siTef, aud wished that we would send
and get it as they knew the Federals
would take it, and they wished US to
have it, but the reply was that there
was no transportation, and at the same
time several boats were coming in al.
most daily loaded with sugar from Red
ani other rivers. Every street. alley
and vacant lot was covered with it. j
have frequently seen q group OF sol
diers take up a rock and knock the
head of q hogshead in, ill their
haveisacks, and walk of with no one
to modest OF claim the sugar. Twas q
brigade staff officer, and was frequent
ly about headquarters, and remember
hearing one planter say one day that
there we're 81 900 bushels of corn at
his landing, and asked that it be sent
for, and the reply was no transporta>
ton. That very day there came one
or two boats in loaded with sugar, and
they unloaded and left that night for
more.
We of the garrison felt confident
that we could hold out for months il
we had provisions. and we were not
at all demorslized at our long and
close confinement in such small
space. The tone of the garrison was
soOd up to the Sd of July, the day we
agreed to surrender, and that is the
day we "rebs" claim that we did sur
render, as the order to cease firing
was communicated to us about 3
o'clock that evening, aud from that
hour | had some friendly chats with
some officers across the breast works
Our rations for some time before We
surrendered consisted of q eomposis
ton Of one third rice, one-third peas,
one third wheat, all ground into -four,
and when baked up would be about
the size Of two ordinary biscuits, about
one square inch of pork, and as much
mule and horse meat as we wanted, OF
which we partook very freely. Rats
we're worth So each. For vegetables
we had mutton cane, hog pers.
ley and polk stalk leaves
On these we feasted like the gods
until we had devoured our ra-
tons, then we went hungry the re-
maiuder OF the day. But We had lots
of fun playing chess, cards and telling
ljokes and laughing at gou fellows on
| the outside wasting. your ammunition
and trying to get in, when we all"
wanted to get out. When the siege
commenced l weighed 165 pounds;
when it closed ! weighed l2O, and in
| forty days after weighed 100, so you
can see how near we we're starved out.
| we'll remember the dummy steam>
boat aud many OF the other incidents
you mention about the boats passing
down. You overlooked one thing,
and that was the night we took the
twenty>four reporters of the press of
Of the boat we fred by shell or hot
shot. In imagination | can hear the
poor fellows now yelling for mercy,
and see them hanging on to the sides
of the burning boat. They did not
want any press reports just then.
You are correct about the burning
buildings being over on the Louisiana
side Of the river, in what was called
DsSoto. We had no fires on our side.
| | will never forget the 18th day Of
May, as was the frst officer or SOL
der that was fred upon at Vicksburg,
and had your troops been twenty min
Htes earlier in approaching our works
| on tho Willis road l do not think
there would have been a dozen guns
fred at all, for | think VIC you'd have
been compelled to have eYaoHa-
ted BY the Warrenton road. My rea
sons are; | was ordered to take the
Twenty seventh and Twenty-eighth
Louisiana regiments out on the Willis
road and place them in line east Of
the cemetery, and while marching up
a hill was forty or fifty yards ahead
of the command and just as | reached
the top of the hill | heard a gun fred
aud ball came pretty close to my
ears. Thinking it was some of our
men l raised up in my stiTrlps and
hallooed to stop shooting in that di
rection. About that time whig came
two or three bullets too close to feel
comfortable. and you may believe that
| got out Of sight pretty quick. |
did not stand on the order Of going
but vent | Immediately ordered the
commander CT the regiment nearest
10 I1e to form his men in line o.
battls and to throw out Skin.
mishers, as | thought that the
enemy was 10 front Of US. HI
Immediately did so, and found your
, skirmisheFs within about one hun
dred yards Of as. | then Immediately
: galloped to General Pemberton'l
headquarters and informed him tha
! the enemy was on our line on Chi
Willis road. He said must be mis-
} taken, that bis scouts had just re-
ported that they weEs only crossing
Big Black. told him | knew VIA
| was saying. as | had been fred at
and if he would listen 0 moment b.
would hear their skirmisheFs and our
: firing, which he did, aud he then or
dered reinforcements sent out. Wher,
J we formed o line that evening ther,
Z was not a single spade Of dirt throw
I up to protect US, and had your troop
Z come right on then you would hsVI
been behind our belt works, and WI
: would have been compelled to 70 out
! as | said, by the Warrenton road