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Page 40
Here again we were burdened with kindness from the ladies. Wines,
jellies, strawberries, cakes, flowers, were always abundant, served
by beautiful women, with the most bewitching smiles. I had been so
long cut off from refined female society, that I appreciated most
profoundly their kind attentions. So intent were they upon
contributing to the comfort of the men who had been wounded in
protecting their homes, as they regarded it, that they brought a
piano into my ward, and the young ladies vied with each other in
delectating us with the Marseillaise, Dixie, and like patriotic
songs, interspersing occasionally something about moonlight walks in
Southern bowers, &c, which my modesty would not allow me to suppose
had any reference to the tall young surgeon.
Selma is a beautiful town of three or four thousand inhabitants,
situated on the right bank of the Alabama river, on a level plateau,
stretching off from the bank, which rises from forty to fifty feet
above the river by a steep ascent. A distinguishing feature of the
place is its Artesian wells, said to be equal to any in the world.
In the main street of the town, at the crossing of other streets,
are reservoirs, five in number, which receive the water thrown up
from a depth of many hundred feet, and in quantity far beyond the
demands of the inhabitants. The water is slightly impregnated with
mineral qualities, is pleasant to the taste, and regarded as
medicinal. The people of Selma are generally highly intelligent and
refined, and no more pleasant acquaintances did I form in the South
than here. Their zeal for the Rebel cause was up to fever heat, and
their benevolence for its soldiers without stint. The provisions for
the hospital were furnished gratuitously by a committee of the
Relief Association, and they appeared grieved that we made no more
demands upon them. That my hospital was a model of neatness and
perfection in its line, was attested by a report of Adjutant-general
Cooper, who visited incognito the hospitals through the South while
I was at Selma. He gave it the preference over all he had seen, in a
publication which appeared shortly after this time in the Southern
papers.
At the end of three weeks of attendance here, I obtained a furlough
for ten days, that I might go to Richmond to secure my pay. Securing
government transportation, I reached Richmond on the 15th of May,
exceedingly anxious to find the quartermaster in an amiable mood and
in funds; for upon my success here depended my hopes of a speedy
escape. Money will often accomplish what daring would not. But here
I was disappointed--at least partially. I secured but one-fifth of
my claim, which was admitted without question; but I was told that
the quartermaster of the Western division had funds, and I must get
the remainder there. My remonstrances availed nothing, and I left
the office in no amiable mood.
I now determined to avenge myself upon a faithless government, by
acquiring all possible information of the _status_ of the Rebel army
in and about Richmond, which might be of use to me and my country.
In this I also failed, from the exceeding, and, I must say, wise
vigilance of the authorities. My pass to enter the city allowed
nothing further--I must procure one to remain in the city, and this
was called for at almost every street corner; and then another to
leave the city, and only in one direction.
Although I appeared in the dress of an assistant-surgeon, with the
M.S. upon my cap, I could gain no access to the army outside of the
city, nor make any headway in my tour of observation; and as they
charged me five dollars per day at the Ballard House, I must soon
leave, or be swamped. I had not been so completely foiled in my
plans hitherto.
I left Richmond for Selma the 20th of May, reflecting bitterly upon
the character of a rebellion which, commenced in fraud, was
perpetuating itself by forcing its enemies to fight their own
friends, and then refused to pay them the stipulated price of their
enforced service. The longer I reflected, the more fully was I
convinced that I never would receive my pay. The conscription act,
which took effect the 16th of May, was being enforced with a
sweeping and searching universality. If I returned to Corinth to
seek the quartermaster there, the payment would be deferred, from
one excuse or another, until I should be forced into the service
again. The thought that the Rebel authorities were breaking their
pledges to pay me, that they might get their hated coils around me
once more, from which I had but partially extricated myself, almost
maddened me. I knew, moreover, that I could not long remain in
Selma, in my present situation. The men were all recovering, except
one poor fellow, who soon passed beyond the reach of earthly
mutilations, and no new shipments of wounded were coming on. And the
force of public opinion in Selma was such, that no man able to fight
could remain there. The unmarried ladies were so patriotic, that
every able-bodied young man was constrained to enlist. Some months
previous to this, a gentleman was known to be engaged for an early
marriage, and hence declined to volunteer. When his betrothed, a
charming girl and a devoted lover, heard of his refusal, she sent
him, by the hand of a slave, a package inclosing a note. The package
contained a lady's skirt and crinoline, and the note these terse
words: "Wear these, or volunteer." He volunteered.
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