Evening star., 1915-03-21
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN THE STAR

In lHE OlAk
Although there were no military
operations Of magnitude at this time.
fifty years ago, conf
Conditions in dence ran high in the
R;ohro,a north that the days of
' the Confederacy were
short and that peace would soon be re-
stored. Various indications pointed to
the early collapse Of the rebellion. For
example, in The Star of March II. 1865,
Is a paragraph, comprising a dispatch
from Gen. Grants headquarters, to the
erect that the Daily Dispatch was the
only paper issued that day In Rich
mond. that paper announcing:
The Dispatch is published this morn
Ing on half a sheet only. because OF
the fact that all our emp1oyes-print-
ers. reporters and clerks-are members
OF military organizations and were
called out yesterday morning by the
governor to perform special service s
for a short time. But for the kindness
Of a few friends, who are exempt from
service. and who volunteered their aid,
sity have been withheld. In a few days
at furthest our forces will return to
their posts. when we hope to resume
and continue uninterruptedly our full
sized sheet"
The Star suggested that this sudden
depletion of the working forces of the
newspapers of Richmond indicated
either that Sheridan's movements were
sufficiently threatening in that vicinity
to call out everybody to defend the
city. or that Lee was sending troops to
confront Sherman and the citizens of
Richmond were thus thrown on their
own resources for the defense of the
Confederate capital. Lee" said The
Star. "is on the sharp horns of two
dilemmas. Sherman and Sheridan clos
ing in on his communications and
Grant holding him fast before Rich
mond."
The next day. March 18, 1865, The Star
contained the following summary of
the message of Jeff Davis
JEFF Davis to the Confederate con-
p.,, gress, which had been re-
1AeeSo5e' ceived through the Rich
mond papers:
Troops must be raised. he says, by a
more vigorous conscription and every
means applied for increasing their
army. With meal at $50 per bushel
and flour at s7o0 per barrel, they
were flooding the country with cur
rency that they could never redeem
and destroying the confidence of the
people. and he insists that congress
must without delay secure two millions
of dollars in gold. He also states in
reference to the late peace conference
at Fortress Monroe that upon ascer-
tanning that the United States govern
ment would not confer with the Con-
federate government or any of the Con-
federate states upon the subject of
peace 1t was proposed by the Rich
mond commissioners to hold a confer
ence of the military commanders of
both armies, and that after the return
of Messrs. Stephens, Hunter and Camp
bell Gen. Ord sent communication by
flag of truce to Gen. Longstreet, in
timating that such a conference might
be held. This communication was re-
ferred to Gen. Lee, who addressed a
letter to Gen. Grant. informing him
that he was authorized to treat for
peace, receiving in reply communi-
cation stating that he Gen. Grant, had
no authority to confer with the Con-
federate officers on any subject ex-
cept military matters. This. Davis
says destroys the last hope of a set
tlement of the difficulty by means of
peace conferences, and he urges that
congress should take some vigorous ac-
pending calamity. The question Of arm
ing the negroes is briefly referred to,
the message simply stating that the
efficacy Of the measure had been greatly
Davis urges the suspension of the writ of
habeas corpus, and asks to be invested
with absolute power. claiming 1t to be an
unavoidable necessity in order to con-
duct the affairs of the Confederacy: in
fact. virtually demanding to be made
dictator"
The Richmond papers were evidently
source of interesting information on
the eve of the evacua-
Rebel Congress tfon and were eagerly
p: scanned in Washing
Al d 1dAAo' ton. In The Star of
March 20, 1865, is the following:
Richmond papers of Saturday have
been received, but contain no news of
special importance. The most impor-
tant fact Is that the Confederate con-
gress adjourned at noon of Saturday
without having passed any of the
measures of relief asked for by Jeff
Davis. and which he alleged to be i'm
peratively necessary to enable the Con-
federacy to maintain the struggle.
Most of the members have left in a panic
lest they should be cut off from return
to their homes by Sherman's advance,
and there was no quorum remaining to
do business. Insinuations are made in
Richmond papers that Vice President
Stephens has neither staid by JEFF
Davis nor raised his voice in Georgia
to fire the Confederate heart. as ex-
pected after the failure of the peace
mission. So Jeff Davis is left alone in
his glory to deal as best he can with
the difficulties thickening around him.
From the expostulatory tone of tha
various calls for negroes to be put in'
the rebel army in the Richmond papers
it would seem that the owners of slaves
do not respond very heartily prompt
ly to the enactment for arming negroes.
Another letter from Gen. Lee is pub
lished, urging the carrying out of
this measure. Also the correspondence
between Gems. Ord and Longstreet and
Gen. Lee and Gen. Grant, in relation to
military convention to negotiate
terms of peace. appears in the Rich
mond papers. The correspondence shows
nothing additional beyond what has
already been stated further than a