A letter from Maryland.
Yankee Persecutions — Firmness of the Southern men — confidence in the Eventual success of the Southern boundary — recruiting for the Lincoln army at a stand-still.
The subjoined letter from a gentleman in Princes Anne, Somerset county Md., written to a friend now in the Confederate States service, will serve to convince our readers that all that is necessary for Maryland to rise in revolt against the nefarious Washington Government, and declare for the C. S. A., is the presence of a sufficient force to aid them in a successful stand against their hated and tyrannical foe. The gentleman to whom the letter was addressed, and who kindly sent it to us for publication, in his letter enclosing it uses the following patriotic language:--‘"I am a Marylander; was a volunteer to help South Carolina in December last; returned to Maryland, made an early escape, and joined this regiment (Kentucky) on the 23d of April, and so help me God, I will never quit the field until the last Yankee has been silenced."’
Princess Anne, Somerset Co., Md., October 17th, 1861.
Dear N.
****The condition of affairs in our State is growing daily worse.
The Yankee sympathizers are emboldened by the idea that no relief will be afforded Maryland.
When they believed that Gen. Johnston was about crossing the Potomac, they were exceedingly cautious in the expression of their lateful views, not knowing into whose hands they would fall, they kept very dark, and even intimated that they were favorable to the Southern cause, but did not wish to embroil Maryland in the contest.
We, of course, unders cod all this, and gave them a wide berth, well knowing that any sympathy on their part for the South was induced by fear, and that they would prove as faithless as they were cowardly.
Since the arrest of the members of the Legislature, however, things have been growing steadily worse all the time.
Feeling secure in their position, they "glory in their shame. L. L.--g, Jr., has received authority to raise a company here, to be stationed in the lower part of the county, I presume for the purpose of intercepting all communication with the Eastern Shore counties of Virginia.
Hence L — n is his first, and Billy P — r his second lieutenant.
But I have yet to hear of any privates who have enlisted under his banner.
He says he has forty-five, out gives no names, and of course I mark the assertion doubtful, if not false and suppose everybody will be disarmed, provided they can find the arms, who are not loyal to the Yankee Government.
Do not understand me to mean that any company raised by the above-named gentleman will attempt any such thing.
Their Captain would as soon think of poking his head in the fire; but the impression is that a considerable force will be scattered all over this shore, whose duty it will be to disarm rebels, and to repress all manifestation of disloyal feeling.
Salisbury will probably be the headquarters for this county.
It is a black hole.
Dear N.
In Worcester G. W. P. S — h is raising a company of cavalry. But Worcester is all right. All the men of influence are on our side.
It is uncertain as yet whether we will attempt to run any ticket this fall. If we succeed in electing our candidates, they will be arrested. Besides, a conquered people have no business going through the sham normality of exercising the rights and privileges of freemen. It would save expense and trouble if the King would appoint such officers as he desires to rule over us. Gen. Dix, who is in command of Baltimore, was asked if the Southern men would be allowed to have a ticket and to vote for it. His reply was, they could have a ticket, but if the candidates made speeches against the Administration they would be arrested. Very Napoleonic that. You can all vote and speak as you please, but he who speaks against his Majesty's Government will meet a traitor's doom. Thus you see our situation. Did ever a people labor under such tyranny before? I greatly prefer the Government of the Czar, and Queen Victoria's rule would be glorious in comparison to it.
I presume you heard that James U. D. was among those who were arrested. He did not remain long in the fort, however. So soon as they found that Johnston was not about crossing, and that the Legislature was destroyed, they released those members of that body who gave their parole not to fight against the Government. Major Brown, Teegle, Wallis, and others, however, are still in confinement Geo. Landing, of Worcester, is among them. J. U. D. is still working hard for the cause, his arrest having made him more zealous, if possible. Henry May has been released, but on what conditions has not yet been made public. It I understand the sentiments of the Southern men here and throughout the State, they are willing to leave everything in the hands of the Confederate Generals. They desire and pray to be relieved, but they have the cause of Southern independence at heart, and they are not selfish enough to wish the Confederate army to undertake anything for their benefit which would imperil that cause. Maryland, they know, will be much harder to defend than Virginia is; hence they only wish the Southern army to cross when the Generals are sure it will be for the interest of the cause and not to its damage. An asylum will be open for them in the glorious galaxy of Southern Stars, even if their beloved State should still remain under the heel of Abolitionism.
The feeling is, if Gen. Beauregard (for he is the idol of Maryland) thinks it prudent to come, we will hail him with gratitude and joy, and will flock to his standard; but if he does not think it prudent, let him defend the South where he is; we will bide our time. We will be true to the South, even under the gloomy walls of Fort Lafayette. We all feel that our enslavement will not last always, and we feel that we can aid the cause of Southern Independence in many ways, even with the shackles of bondage upon us. We have faith in Southern arms. We know that the South has won every important battle that has yet been fought; and though our papers have been suppressed, yet we ascertain from the inconsistency of their own accounts, and the entanglement into which their own lies involve them, the true character and result of every engagement. Some of their statements are so silly and barefaced that they only serve to provoke our mirth.
Last night the news reached us of the sinking of the Yankee steamer Prebel, and that other steamers of the blockading squadron at the month of the Mississippi had been driven on the bar. I hope this is true. We know Captain Hollins by reputation, and put great faith in him. I suppose in a few days we will have the Yankee account of the affair. They do not publish any of their reverses, however, unless they are so apparent that to conceal them would make the disgrace to them worse. I was also rejoiced to learn that the Nashville had run the blockade at Charleston, taking Ministers Mason and Slidell to Europe. Everything seems bright for the South.
Whenever we get good intelligence, it does as good to see the desponding faces of the Lincolnites ere; their feathers droop in an instant. Not so with ‘"Dixie's"’ people. No matter what tidings may come through Yankee sources, of rebel defeats, we know they are lies and wait patiently for that mysterious individual who brings us Southern papers to set matters right. We are confident that you will be victorious in the end; and even if in small skirmishes where the numbers are unequal, you sometimes suffer a repulse, our faith wavers not, and we as confidently expect to hear of another race from Fairfax Court-House towards Washington as we did from Bull Run to that place.
The defeat of Billy Willson's Zouaves, on Santa Rosa Island, is another item which inspires us with confidence in the protection of the Southern coast. Every point where it is possible for them to effect a landing should be strongly guarded, no place should be lost sight of for they are preparing to send any quantity of ships along the coast, and already a large number have sailed. The manner in which the Fanny was captured, and the scampering of the Indiana regiment from Chickomicomico before our troops, all go to show us that the coast is not unprotected, and it fills our hearts with joy and the Yankee bosoms with awe to know it.
A few days ago, the Yankee papers contained a silly report that New Orleans had been captured. Those who knew anything about the river, saw at once the idleness of such a report — not a ship could possibly survive the attempt to ascend the river, if the Southern troops were faithful and true to their country. They denied the report themselves, after publishing it for several days. These reports are all manufactured for the purpose of expediting the recruiting business in the North.
Recruits are now coming in very slowly, and drafting is being resorted to. All the scum of society is now drawn off, and people who can get meat and bread in the North have no idea of risking their precious carcases before Southern artillery and musketry. They are heartily sick of the war, and it is only those who are making money out of the war who desire its continuance. They line their pockets with the dollars paid by others for carrying on the war, and of course they go in for it. The taxation, which will soon begin to press upon the people, will open their eyes, and another Bull Run defeat will settle the business, for their only hope is in McClellan. Fremont, you know, is doing us more good thin he is the Yankees, for his curse is dividing them, and every day the breach is growing wider and wider at the North between Democrats and Black Republicans.
The election recently held in Philadelphia, where the Democrats were successful, is pronounced by the Republican papers ‘"disastrous."’ It is my belief that, wherever the Democrats, in any Northern State, find that they have the majority, they will take steps to oppose the war. The Black Republicans know this, and hence they call the success of their opponents ‘"disastrous,"’ though professing to be war and Union men. We are expecting to hear of stirring events in Kentucky. Everywhere the Kentuckians are flocking to Buckner's standard. The Kentucky people have been deceived; they voted for neutrality, and in doing so elected Black Republicans to the Legislature. Thus I account for the monstrous proceedings of that body. Action, prompt and decisive, on the part of the Confederate Government is necessary in order to save Kentucky from the yoke of Yankeedom. She is essential to the Confederacy, in a military point of view. There are good and true men within her borders, and I only wish that Maryland had the same chance that she has to cast in her lot with her Southern sisters. Men in Maryland who are this day ‘"Union shriekers"’ would be found in the Confederate ranks if the army were to cross the Potomac. Such men I do not trust, of course; they are to be trusted nowhere; but it is a fact that any great victory on the Southern side makes men Southern who were the day before Yankees. Then when everything gets quiet again, they relapse into their old track. But our own men are firm all the time — in times of reverses as well as in times of victory.
There are rumors that you are engaged now in a terrible battle at Fairfax, and have been for several days, but there is nothing in the papers about it. If it is so, I am confident of your success.
Hoping that Gen. Beauregard will find it prudent to make Baltimore his winter quarters, I will prepare to bring my letter to a close. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to see you once more on Maryland soil, aiding her in asserting and maintaining her independence. It is my continual prayer that the right may prevail, and that a glorious Southern constellation may soon brighten the Western World in peace, happiness, and prosperity. Let us never despair, but fight till the last. That you may continue in good health, and be in every way successful, is the prayer of your friend,
