had left besides the negro quarter. That was too much; all
my pride, and the resolutions that I had made (and until now kept up) to
treat them with cool contempt, and never, let the worst come, humble
myself to the thievish cutthroats, forsook me at the awful thought of my
home in ruins; I must do something, and that quickly;--hardened,
thieving villains, as I knew them to be, I would make one effort for the
sake of my home. I looked over the crowd, as they huddled together to
give orders about the burning, for one face that showed a trace of
feeling, or an eye that beamed with a spark of humanity, but, finding
none, I approached the nearest group, and pointing to the children (my
sister's), I said, 'You will not burn the house, will you? you drove
those little ones from one home and took possession of it, and this is
the only sheltering place they have.' 'You may thank your God, madam,'
said one of the ruffians, 'that we have left you and your d----d brats
with heads to be sheltered.' Just then an officer galloped up--pretended
to be very much astonished and terribly beset about the conduct of his
men--cursed a good deal, and told a batch of falsehoods about not having
given orders to burn anything but corn--made divers threats that were
forgotten in utterance, and ordered his 'Angels' to fall into
line,--thereby winding up the troubles of the darkest day I have ever
seen. MRS RICKS.

"Losses before this last raid: six mules, five horses, one waggon
(four-horse), fifty-two negroes."

[39] This afterwards turned out to be untrue.

* * * * *

_30th May_ (Saturday).--It rained hard all last night, but General
Polk's tent proved itself a good one. We have prayers both morning and
evening, by Dr Quintard, together with singing, in which General Polk
joins with much zeal. Colonel Gale, who is son-in-law and volunteer
aide-de-camp to General Polk, has placed his negro Aaron and a mare at
my disposal during my stay.

General Polk explained to me, from a plan, the battle of
Murfreesborough. He claimed that the Confederates had only 30,000
troops, including Breckenridge's division, which was not engaged on the
first day. He put the Confederate loss at 10,000 men, and that of the
Yankees at 19,000. With regard to the battle of Shiloh,[40] he said that
Beauregard's order to retire was most unfortunate, as the gunboats were
doing no real harm, and if they (the Confederates) had held on, nothing