Affairs in the South and West.
The army correspondent of the Savannah
Republican, in a letter dated
Memphis,March 10th, says:
The
Southwest is now one vast camp, and the tread of armed legions may be heard throughout the length and breadth of the great Valley of the Mississippi.
Every town and hamlet is responding to the call of the victorious
Beauregard, and if arms and ammunition were to be had in the same abundance as volunteers, the advance of the invader would be stayed.
We hope to be able to arrest his footsteps any way, and to teach him that his further progress can only be accomplished at a cost of rivers of blood.--Never were a people more aroused and resolute than those who live in this magnificent valley.
They are not only turning out nearly their whole fighting population, but their private arms also.
The writer gives the following unpleasant picture of things in
Memphis.
Memphis, just now, is overrun by gamblers, garroters and murderers — the foul birds of prey who follow in the wake of an army.
An old man, a cigar dealer, doing business in one of the most public streets of the city, was strangled last night, during a thunder storm, and robbed of about $15,000 in specie, the hard earnings of a life of labor and economy.
His dead body was not discovered until this morning.
Not a day or night passes that some one is not dirked, knocked down, or fobbed.
In a single street, it is reported there are no less than fourteen gambling hells.
The
Atlanta Confederacy, of the 17th, says:
Reliable information was received at this place last evening, that the
Federal from
Kentucky had come into and occupied
Jacksboro, Campbell county,
East Tennessee--within forty miles of
Knoxville, This is supposed to be only a feint, as it is not believed they have sufficient forces at their back to penetrate the country any further, or even to hold the place if attacked.
Their main point of attack is near upon
Corinth or New Madrid, and this occupation of
Jacksboro is most likely intended to divert our attention.
We learn that the most deplorable state of affairs exists in the border counties of
East Tennessee adjoining
Kentucky.
The poor, ignorant Union men are made to believe that
Gov. Harris is going to force them into the Confederate army, and they are leaving home by scores and hundreds and going into
Kentucky--most of them joining the
Lincoln army.
Many of them are also committing the most outrageous depredations on the true Southern men in those border counties, who in turn are fleeing from their homes and property and coming further South.
By these two influences some sections are deserted and ravaged by the hands of despoilers.
The same paper expresses the belief that the
Federal are aiming an attack upon our lines at some point between
Tuscumbia, Ala, and
Corinth, Miss., for the purpose of securing the Memphis and Charleston railroad, and cutting off communication between
Memphis and
Atlanta.
The indications are that this attack will be made at
Corinth, by a Federal force from
Hamburg, on the
Tennessee river, or on the road near the
Alabama line, from
Eastport.
Rumored Disaffection.
The Savannah
Republican publishes the following extract from a private letter, dated
Warsaw, Ala., March 3d, but expresses doubts of its truth:
The
North Alabamians, as I learn, have turned traitors.
They are sending off our troops, and say they will have nothing to do with the war, and are selling their cotton to the
Yankees at 20 cents. The
Yankees tell them to send to New York for whatever they want.
This makes it very bad for the cotton planters of the
State who are loyal to the
Confederate States.
On the other hand, we find intelligence of a different sort in the Memphis
Appeal, which speaks well for the Tennesseeans:
The Federal, we are advised, found but little sympathy in
Clarksville upon their arrival at that point.
But little communication between the citizens and soldiery had taken place, and the latter were not backward in expressing their disappointment at the public sentiment there found existing.
Troops Hastening to the Scene of action.
A Chattanooga correspondent of the
Appeal writer, under date of March 12.
The country from here to the
Mississippi river, along the line of the Memphis and Charleston railroad, is thronged with troops, many of them veterans who have fought upon some of the bloodiest fields of the war.
The rumor of the
Federal gunboats landing at
Eastport, reported in
Memphis on Monday, seems to have been an error.
They were said, however, to have appeared on the
Tennessee, below
Savannah, in considerable force--one report enumerated thirty-three gunboats and transports together.
The people seemed to be free from panic or extraordinary excitement under the influence of this intelligence.
There is some talk about the probable effect of
Andrew Johnson's appointment as military Governor of the
State, or rather of
Nashville, by the
Washington Government.
As the traitor has long since been banished from all association with gentlemen, by reason of his infamous and dastardly treason, there is ground for the hope that he has lost cast even among many of his oldest and staunchest friends.
Such, at least, will be the case when
Buell's army, like that of
Curtis in
Missouri, is forced to strikes tents and take up its march for
Louisville.
At their old work.
The
Columbia South Carolinian says:
A few days since, about 500 Yankees from
Hilton Head landed on Coosa Island, and finding it deserted, burned the fine residence of
Robert Chisholm,
Esq. This is
Sherman's respect for private houses where he has been generously and hospitably entertained.
Miscellaneous.
The planters of the
Southwest are responding nobly to the call of
Gen. Beauregard for bells.
On many of the sugar and cotton plantations there are bells weighing from fifty to five hundred pounds, used for calling the people together.
These and all other sizes that can be spared are being rapidly sent forward.
The gun factory at
Holly Springs, Miss., is now turning out forty good muskets per day. It will soon be able to turn out 100 per day for the
Government.
Muskets are the best weapon for three- fourths of the army.
It shoots strong, jar and accurate, and seldom gets out of order.
Passengers from New Orleans and
Mobile report the citizens of the
Southwest as turning out with great enthusiasm, and arming themselves with pikes and all sorts of weapons.
The
Tuscumbia Constitution has been shown samples of lead are taken from
Lawrence county, nearly pure, and learn that any quantity has been found.
A recent dispatch contradicts the report that
Gen. Price was wounded in the
Arkansas battle.