The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-05-10

came despair TO so many set in. So terrible
was the disappointment that men did not
! care &c speak about il, but paced the floor
IN silence and with ciOuded brows. About
noon cart drawn by a mule passed the
/ prison. In Il there was a body partly COW
cred with a blanket, and, in reply to ques-
ton, one Of the guards said with grin:
ITS the yankee, Dahlgren, that was
/ killed last night
! So ended in disaster a raid that promised
much. 1 have no word Of censure for the
leader Of the raid, for his courage was I'M
! doubted and his patriotism above reproach.
! ct, for tie want of united action on the
/ part Of his command, and it may be a feel
ing OF uncertainty rs to his ability to over
come the difficulties when he was brought
/ face TO face with them. there was lost the
| finest opportunity offered to any COM
/ mander on either side In ths course Of the
| whole war. Richmond could have been
| taken then and by the force under Kill
| patrick, and he would have found an army
| of gallant men ready to crown his success
| by forcing Lee to withdraw from Northern
| Virginia, and so avoided Grants bloody
| campaign from the Wilderness to the
| James
Soon after this disappointment our spirits
| began to rise, for Col. CesnolI, Gen. Neal
Dow and about sixty other officers were
| specially exchanged, and we began to hope
| once more that general exchange would
| follow. Those who could not get away
were always glad to see their friends called
on: aud sent down to Commissioner Guilds
nag of-truce boat. l have forgotten her
name, but our beat, the New York, carry
| ing Gen. Gresham, was the vessel that
always met her. Apart from friendship we
had selfish interest in seeing others go, for
1t meant more blankets, more ragged over
| coats, and some of the little essential be-
longlngs which men will gather about them
even In place like Libby prison.
On April 81 never can forget the occa-
sion nor the date-we received a ration of
| meat. It was served out as beef :" and per-
haps it was l know it was very lean. and
not much of it; but, excepting in the hospi-
| tai, 1t was the first that had been issued for
months, and the prisoners were as happy
over the event as children at Christmas
| time
The special exchange gave us more room,
which was very desirable, for we had suf-
| fered all winter from overcrowding. but
the possession Of this privilege was only
temporary. About the middle of the month
the Richmond papers came to us with
| tremendous headlines and huge exclama-
ton points announcing the grand victoryn
Gen. Hoke had achieved over Gen. Vessels
at Plymouth. N. c. We had learned to dis
count the news in the confederate papers,
| which, like our own, bad a tendency to
| minimize defeat and to exaggerate success /:
but on this occasion their assertion that they
| had filled the yankees with "Hoke-Ache"
| proved to be correct
Gen. Vessels and the officers of his com
| mand we're brought to Libby, and as fresh
| fish" they were initiated with more than the
usual honors. | had grown so accustomed
to the rags and pinched, white faces of my
companions from our every day associations
that the advent of "a hundred and more
sturdy, bronzed men, with whole coats on
their backs, good shoes on their feet and
trousers on their legs that did not need
patching impressed me strangely, and
locked at them with much the same feeling
with which starving pauper must regard
the luxurious surroundings of millionaire
| zen w essels and his mon crowded us terri
oily, but, like a poor man with an ever
increasing family, we were always ready to
make room and share our privileges with
the last-comer. These gentlemen brought
us the encouraging news that Gen, Sherman
had magnificent army at Chattanooga,
with which he wCuld soon march into
Georgia, aud that Gen. Grant was massing
his legions before Lee and would move on
Richmond within few weeks
The ice had left the canal and the James.
The ground in front of the prison showed
green patches with few dandelions in their
midst, and these things, with the milder air
and hum of preparation and the march
| ing of troops in the streets, told us that
| spring had come, and that the resting
| armies were about to resume the work Of
| carnage