August 8th.—There is nothing new from any of the armies, except that my old friend, Gen. Rains, sent to Mississippi, stopped and stampeded Grant’s army, after Johnston retreated from Jackson, with his “subterra batteries.” It appears that hundreds of the enemy and their horses were killed and wounded by the shells planted by him beneath the surface of the earth, and which ignited under the pressure of their weight. They knew not where to go to avoid them, and so they retreated to Vicksburg. This invention may become a terror to all invading.
A letter received some days ago from a Mr. Bible, in Georgia, proposing to contribute one-quarter of his slaves as teamsters, cooks, etc. for the army, came back from the President, to-day, approved, with directions to quartermasters to employ in such capacities all that could be procured.
Col. Myers, the Quartermaster-General, who is charged with saying “Let them suffer,” when the soldiers wanted blankets last winter, is to go out of office at last—to be succeeded by Brig.-Gen. Lawton.
Oak-wood is selling to-day for $35 per cord; coal, $25 per cart-load; and flour, $45 per barrel. Mr. Warwick, however, sells any family one barrel for $34. I got one from him, and the promise of another for $33—from Commissary Warner; and I hope to get two loads of coal, under the navy contract, at $20 each. There is much excitement against the speculators in food and fuel—and some harsh proceeding may ensue.
The Tribune (New York) now says no terms will be listened to so long as we are in arms. We will not yield our arms but with life—and this insures independence.
August 9th.—No news from the armies.
Mrs. ex-President Tyler, who has already been permitted to visit her native State, New York, once or twice during the war—and indeed her plantation has been within the enemy’s lines—has applied for passage in a government steamer (the Lee) to Nassau, and to take with her “a few bales of cotton.” I suppose it will be “allowed.”
We have fine hot August weather now, and I hope my tomatoes will mature, and thus save me two dollars per day. My potatoes have, so far, failed; but as they are still green, perhaps they may produce a crop later in the season. The lima beans, trailed on the fence, promise an abundant crop; and the cabbages and peppers look well. Every inch of the ground is in cultivation—even the ash-heap, covered all over with tomato-vines.
August 10th.—No army news of immediate importance.
South Carolina has set an example in the prices of supplies for the army, under the Impressment Act, fixed by the Commissioners. By this schedule (for August, and it will be less in succeeding months) bacon is to be from 65 to 75 cents per pound; beef, 25 cents; corn, $2 per bushel; flour $20; pork, 35 cents; hay, $1.50 per 100 pounds; oats, $2 per bushel; potatoes, $3; rice, 10 cents; sugar, 80 cents; soap, 40 cents; and wheat, $3.50 per bushel.