Great-Great Grandfather James and his Service Buddies in the 72nd OVI were preparing to move out from their bivouac in front of Corinth. The Confederate decision to withdraw from the city, and leave the critical rail junction to the Federals had changed the calculus of the War in the West.
General Halleck was returned to Washington where “Old Brains” could shuffle paper in the burgeoning bureaucracy, and There was the matter of taking Vicksburg, and the sundering of the South into two pieces, with the Union controlling the Mississippi River from its headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico.
But in the meantime, there was territory that required occupation. Memphis had surrendered, but the imposition of Law and Order on hotbed of secession would require troops. The 72nd was directed to set out for the city on the first of June, via La-Grange, Grand Junction, and Holly Springs, TN.
Here is the situation they would find when they got there:
Memphis, Friday, June 13.
The city remains unusually quiet and orderly, and business is slowly reviving. Thus far, the amount of rebel property seized amounts to only $50,000.
Capt. Dill, of the Provost Guards, estimates the amount of cotton, sugar, &c., concealed for shipping, to be $150,000. This is rapidly finding its way to the
levee.
The number of absentees has been over-estimated. Many have returned, while those who go on upward boats are mostly members of sundered families.
The Mayor and City Council are of Union proclivities, as a general thing, and exercise their functions in harmony with military rule. Their continued good conduct is a renewed assurance of this.
There are only two or three places in the city where either Confederate scrip or Post-office stamps are worth anything. The most prominent rebel citizens will
not take the scrip.
Mr. Markland, agent of the Post-office Department, opened the City Post Office today, and an agent of the Treasury Department is on his way to open the Federal Custom-house.
There have been about thirty applications for the office of Postmaster, by prominent citizens of Memphis. There is, as yet, but one National flag flying from a private residence, and that is from the house of Mr. Gage.
There is but little activity in shipping, although a few dray loads of cotton have been hauled down to the levee this morning. Some 5,000 bales are concealed in warehouses.
The Avalanche, in an article on the belligerents, admits that the South has defended the use of privateer and guerrillas, and charges the North with the commission of crimes at which human nature, in its wildest paroxysms of passion, feels itself horrified. It claims that the legitimate belligerents should settle the questions of war, leaving peaceful civilians to the enjoyment of their rights, and observes that these views are acknowledged by the Federals here, and thinks that this course will win gradually upon the Southern people.
The Argus indulges in a series of rabid and vindictive articles, and should be suppressed at once.
The Avalanche says about 75 rebel officers and soldiers have thus far surrendered to Col. Fitch, the Provost Marshall.
The United States Navy Yard and buildings have been taken possession of by Flag-officer Davis in the name of the Government, and will be occupied as the headquarters of his fleet. The buildings are in good preservation.
The Memphis-Grenada Appeal, of the 10th, says that misapprehension prevails in regard to the Partisan Rangers. They are called into service by the Confederate Congress, and are designed to act beyond the lines of an army as independent fighters, to be provided like ordinary soldiers, and to have all they capture, yet the Appeal insists they are not guerrillas, and hopes the young men will not fear to enlist.
It says, “if the Federals treat them as pirates, President Davis will interfere to protect them”
The Appeal states the facts of the occupation tolerably fairly, admitting that
Col. Fitch is pursuing a system of liberal public policy, yet it indulges in vindictive comments.
Memphis, June 14.
Col. Slack issued orders this morning prohibiting dealing in and using the currency of the Confederate States, and that the use thereof as a circulating medium would be regarded as an insult to the Government of the United States. Persons offending are to be arrested and summarily dealt with.
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It looked like the presence of Grandfather and the Boys from Fremont, Ohio, were just what the city needed to help everyone stay calm, and collected in the occupied Volunteer State.
Copyright 2015 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303