Anna Moffett's Civil Wa r- 11

August 25

On the 19 August, the Alabama met the USS Kearsage off Cherbourg, France & after a spectacular battle watched by thousands on the French coast, the Alabama was sunk. Fortunately the steam yacht Deerhound (also built at Laird's) & owned by Englishman John Lancaster, saved a number of crew, including Captain Semmes & a number of officers, who were given a hero's welcome at Southampton.

LONDON, Saturday,
Aug. 27

The event of the week, as connected with American affairs, has been the capture of the late Confederate steamer Georgia, by the United States frigate Niagara. The Georgia, you will remember, was taken into Liverpool some time since & sold. She was purchased by a Mr. Bates, fitted up as a passenger vessel & chartered to run from Lisbon in some direction, but had not commenced operations, when she was seized by the Niagara. The British public are so stunned by this bold operation that they find nothing to say about it. Either it is all right, or so very wrong that they are not equal to the occasion. As the seizure has been deliberately planned, I presume the American Minister & Commodore know what they are about & are ready for any consequences that may arise.

I am not quite sure about the capture of the Georgia being the most important event of the week. Perhaps the marriage of the celebrated Belle Boyd, Confederate spy, to a young Federal officer, on Thursday morning, at St. James', Piccadilly, was the most notable event of the two. There are plenty of steamers like the Georgia. It may safely be presumed that Belle Boyds are a scarce article. The story in London is that when the Federal officer captured Mistress Belle, she captivated him, that he followed her to England & that she finally consented to marry him on condition that he transferred his allegiance to rebeldom & his sword to the army that defends what is left of it. The romance is not all squeezed out of the world, one is happy to know. Whatever may be the result of the war otherwise, it cannot fail to employ the pens of novelists for two or three generations. The end of this particular romance is that the wedding tour consists of an attempt to run the blockade' when the happy bridegroom, if he arrives in season, may take part in the defence of Richmond.

While on the subject of the heroines of rebeldom, I may mention a little story told here of Mrs. Greenhow, who has also, I believe, returned to Richmond. Her last adventure here was to secure the release of one of the Confederate officers taken prisoner on the Alabama, or rather in the waters of the British Channel after she had gone down. The fight or the ducking had such an effect upon the young gentleman's nerves that he was quite insane. He came over to London on parole & being
furnished with money for a new outfit, filled his portmanteau with toilet soap, so as to be well off for that article, but minus everything else. His condition was reported to Mr. Mason & Capt. Semmes, who were considering what could be done for him, when Mrs. Greenhow was announced.

"The very person we want," said the Confederate Commissioner. "She can get him off if anybody can. Good morning. Madame; we want somebody to do something."

"I'll do it - what is it?"

"We want you to go to Mr. Adams & get this poor fellow off his parole, so that he can be taken care of."

The lady did not hesitate a moment; went to the American Embassy, sent up her card as
"Mrs. Rose H Greenhow, of Richmond," & was at once admitted, &, of course, treated with all that courtliness which befits an American Minister so near the Court of St. James. The lady preferred her request. She represented that Capt. Semmes had set free scores of Federal officers without parole, & that in this case it would be an act of kindness & charity to give this young gentleman, who had lost his head, his liberty, in return. The request was granted. The officer embarked for Nassau with Mrs. Greenhow, to whom he will prove a true & devoted knight, it is to be hoped, for the future. This will be another incident for our romancers in the peaceful coming times.

I may have mentioned that the loss of the Alabama has made Capt. Semmes more than ever a
hero here. Since the fight, his "ugly mug" - for surely he is not a handsome man - is in all the shop windows. He is dined & feted in the usual fashion of London lions. Just before the close of the season, he had a dinner at one noble mansion & the same night a party at another, where some of the best singers were engaged to give, with proper effect, "God save the South," & "My Maryland." The latter has found its way to the barrel organs, with "Dixie," & the "Dark girl dressed in blue." The ladies, dear souls, are charmed with this modern corsair. They put on the cap in which he came so near being drowned - they get their feet into his slippers, & one enthusiastic & gushing creature was made supremely happy by the surreptitious loan of his night-cap, in which it may be supposed she
dreampt of deeds of daring on the wild, wild sea.

The blockade runners are liberal to the Southern cause, as they ought to be, for their profits have been enormous. They have as much interest in the continuance of the war as Northern contractors. But how will they relish the Southern prohibition of all imported luxuries, set down in a list before me alphabetically from absyneth, ale, & anchovies, to cigars, velvets, & wines of every description, including all that can be called luxuries & all high-priced necessaries of life. It has the look of a very earnest document, but it must be hard on the blockade runners & a good many others.
 

September 30

James has written that although his troops are very much involved in skirmishes at New Market Heights, Virginia, he himself has absented himself. He applied for a furlough from the medical
board on the 27th, which was granted. He is not well, although he provides us with no details.

CHARLESTON MERCURY,
September 12

Our Sick & Wounded Soldiers - The South Carolina Ladies.

During a recent visit to Columbia, S. C., the writer of this paragraph observed that the ladies of South Carolina were very attentive along the line of the railroad extending from Charlotte, N. C., to Columbia, in supplying the homeward bound sick & wounded soldiers with enticing edibles, consisting of nice biscuit, fried chicken, butter milk, fruit, pastry, etc. From the time of leaving Richmond until their arrival within the limits of South Carolina, the soldiers had to purchase
their own fare; if we may except an abundant supply of boiled potatoes, raw onions, & wheat bread, (poor diet for the sick,) furnished to them at the railroad depot in Charlotte.

We should have been gratified had we witnessed any demonstration of hospitality & consideration towards the returning invalids in this State; but, owing, probably, to the drain made upon our food resources by the commissary department & to the want of organized effort, we saw nothing of the kind in old Virginia. If the ladies living near the line of the Danville Railroad will "put their heads together" & determine that henceforward the gallant soldiers who fought & bled in Virginia & are passing their doors daily without a morsel to satisfy the cravings of appetite, shall be supplied with
"something to eat," we are sure that they will soon share with their South Carolina sisters these tributes of praise & heartfelt expression of thanks now so lavishly bestowed upon the latter by the grateful & delighted recipients of their hospitality.

At Smith's Station in South Carolina, we saw the first instance of the generosity of the noble women of that State. A number of young ladies & a matron, whose countenance was radiant with benevolence & good nature - surpassing in impressive loveliness, we may say, the youthful Hebes
who attended here - passed around & into the soldiers' car, bearing baskets & trays filled with substantials & "goodies" of the most tempting description. After supplying the soldiers, they kindly presented to the other passengers whatever of the surplus they desired. At Chester & Winnsboro, the same liberality was re-enacted on a larger scale, those places being towns of some magnitude.

We were told that beyond Columbia, the hospitality & kindness of the ladies exceeded, if possible, that which we had already witnessed, & in illustration of the assertion an anecdote was related to the effect that the ladies of Spartanburg prepared a grand collation, one day, in anticipation of the arrival of a large number of wounded soldiers. When the train arrived, it so happened that only one soldier was among the passengers. The ladies pressed him to the table, which was laden with choice viands & desert & invited him to partake.
The soldier exclaimed, "Ladies, since I have been in South Carolina, to-day, I have eaten seven dinners, & cannot possibly swallow anything more." The ladies nearest to him insisted that
he should eat something & the poor fellow, finding that excuses were made in vain, broke from the table, darted into the woods & has not been heard from since, at that place.

We are also informed that many of the ladies who are most active in providing these repasts are refugees from Charleston & the coast. - Whether this be so or not, it is certain that the South Carolina ladies are entitled to great credit for the interest they manifest in the welfare of our soldiers, & it is equally certain that their generous hospitality will ever be cherished as a pleasant
reminiscence by those who have enjoyed or witnessed their benefactions. - Richmond Whig.

We were part of that group of women in Spartenburg, and were so disappointed that our planned feast turned out to be a laughing stock for the newspapers.