and the infringement upon personal prerogative were
charged upon the National Government as the causes of the war. Some
of the women displayed considerable skill in arguing the question of
secession, but their arguments were generally mingled with invective.
The majority were unable to make any discussion whatever.

"What's you-uns come down here to fight we-uns for?" said one of the
women whose husband was in the Rebel army. "We-uns never did you-uns
no hurt." (This addition of a syllable to the personal pronouns of the
second and third persons is common in some parts of the South, while
in others it will not be heard.)

"Well," said General Stanley, "we came down here because we were
obliged to come. Your people commenced a war, and we are trying to
help you end it."

"We-uns didn't want to fight, no-how. You-uns went and made the war so
as to steal our niggers."

The woman acknowledged that neither her husband nor herself ever
owned negroes, or ever expected to do so. She knew nothing about Fort
Sumter, and only knew that the North elected one President and
the South another, on the same occasion. The South only wanted its
president to rule its own region, but the North wanted to extend its
control over the whole country, so as to steal the negroes. Hence
arose the war.

Some of the poorer whites manifested a loyal feeling, which sprang
from a belief that the establishment of the Confederacy would
not better their condition. This number was not large, but it has
doubtless increased with the termination of the war. The wealthier
portion of the people were invariably in sympathy with the Rebel
cause.

After we reached Grand Junction, and made our camp a short distance
south of that point, we were joined by the column from Bolivar. In the
two columns General Grant had more than forty thousand men, exclusive
of a force under General Sherman, about to move from Memphis. The
Rebel army was at Holly Springs and Abbeville, and was estimated at
fifty thousand strong. Every day found a few deserters coming in
from the Rebels, but their number was not large. The few that came
represented their army to be well supplied with shoes, clothing, and
ammunition, and also well fed. They were nearly recovered from the
effects of their repulse at Corinth, a month before.

Our soldiers foraged at will on the plantations near our camp. The
quantities of supplies that were brought in did not argue that the
country had been previou