Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-10-09

Dear Herald;
Having met with several paragraphs
Of comment on George W. CABLE
"Silent South" contained in the "Cen
tury," for September, l have expected
or rather hoped some one would say
something Of his article in same vol
ume entitled, "a Woman's Diary Of
the Seige Of Vicksburg."
Is the silence the result of indiffer
ence towards the subject, or is it oc
casioned by a kind of considerable
source feeling?
We certainly had all sorts of priva'
lions, dangers and miseries, but 1t is
annoying to read diaries that are
(must beg written from memories
and dates guessed at, and the whole
spiced with exaggerations. Perhaps
Mr.. Q. copies carelessly and occasion
ally draws on his own imagination,
According to his version the lady
says:
march Goth, the slow Smelling of
Of Vicksburg goes on all the time and
we havs grown Indifferent"
don't think any Of us were troubled
with Smelling quite as soon.
Some caves were dug in March, but
many more in April and May. She
makes it a March business.
What she says April 28th
about utilizing almost every
thing is true and was learned by
most Of US long before that date.
There were very few of US that did
not learn to make shoes as she de-
scribeS and WE also learned to get shoe
makers to make soles for us when our
old ones gave out.
Under the same date, April 28th,
she says For many nights we have
had but little sleep because the Fed
erai gunboats have been running past
the batteries This happened Two
nights. She even says 80 herself,
mentioning the number passing each
night, and the burning of houses on
the opposite shore.
To one who knew the men,
bers of that brave little "mos-
quito feet" that crossed the river
and watched and waited for the coming
boats and lighted those fires, doing and
daring all that was possible for brave
men in a cause they loved and be
lieved in, the sentences, 1.-THE Confed-
crates had set fire to a house near the
bank" and "two burning houses made
the river clear as day." sound like the
rafting of bones in a charnel house.
She did not fancy the sound Of our
''Whistling Dick" We loved our
Whistling Dick, and deny its screech-
ing; there was music, cheer and en-
enlargement in its tones.
The Federals themselves the men,
even more anxious to get possession of
it than any gun we had. Its location
was on what is known to old Vicks-
burgers as the Devils Backbone in
front of the present residence of "Bob"
MCGEE.
Under same date she says, "yester-
day, the Cincinnati attempted to pass
in daylight, but was disabled and
sunk" June 18th she measures the
Daily Citizens and says cit contains a
long letter from a Federal officer P. P.
Hill, who was on the gunboat Cincin-
natl when it sunk on May o."
Now is it did not sink until May
9th, and l am sure it did not.
how could she get it in her diary on
April 28th, if it was a record kept
during the siege, as represented
May LIST, her husband managed to
get a "bogshead of sugar, one barrel
of syrup, ten pounds of bacon and
peas, four pounds of wheat flour, a
small sack of corn-meal, a little vine
gar, and, actually, some SPICE"
"The Wheat.aour he purchased for
ten dollars, as a special favor, from
the sole remaining barrel for SALE"
In reply, l would state that l bought
two barrels on May 18th, at the store
since used as the Freedman's Bank,
from an old gentleman called Major
Greene, l paid $3.50 per barrel for it.
| was offered a number of barrels at
$500 per barrel, during the latter part
of June. After parleying with the
would-be salesman until | found out
where it was stored, l went to Gen.
PemBerton's headquarters and report
ed it.
l believed it my duty. l had offer.
ed $500 per barrel for it, and told him
1 wanted it to feed to hungry soldiers;
that l saw them staggering for want
of food daily, but he was memorable.
l always hoped Gen. P. took it away
from him.
l think he did from a note l re-
during the afternoon which 1
still have) from W. H. McCardle, A.
A. G., dated July 1st, 1868.
But 1 have left my lady's diary,
May 18th, II send five dollars to
market each morning and it buys a
small piece of mule meat"
Is there any n else that will assert
that mule meat was aver exposed in
the market for sale at all? Who sold
meat in market after the seige was
regularly begun?
Will anybody else assert that there
was any mules killed for meat before
The 18th of June?
Almost daily 1 saw cooked rations
being carried to men In the trenches.
What l saw, when food was growing
was pea "soup' made without