Patrick Source for Week 8

         Clara Solomon was a young woman living in New Orleans during the Civil War, and her diary provides us access to the thoughts and experiences of average people in a confederate city that was occupied by the Union only a few years into the war. This excerpt from her diary during the occupation, with the remarks in brackets being editors’ notes clarifying her abbreviations and references, shows her resistance to the Union occupation under General Butler, whom she refers to as “unprincipled” and a “Wretch.” In particular, she does not lose her faith in the ability of the Confederacy to prevail over the “d—m wretches,” expressing the fact that, in wartime, she identifies first and foremost as a Confederate woman, similarly to Phoebe Pember. 



Clara Solomon's Diary, May 17th 1862


6 ¾ A.M. I have been up for some time, & in obedience to A.'s [my elder sister Alice's] orders, the Paper was brought to her, & the general orders No.29 & 30 [issued by Union Major General Benjamin Butler] were so unexpected & startling that they completely unnerved me, & I was unable to continue my toilette. I was not quite right in saying that they were unexpected for do we place any reliance on the word of that unprincipled Butler? 

Order No.29, "On the 27th day of May, all circulation of or trade in Con. [Confederate] notes & bills will cease within this department, & all sales or transfers made on that day will be void, & the property confiscated to the U.S."!! Now, how terrible a blow is this. The greater part of the money now in circulation is the Con. notes, & the loss to many will be enormous. None, I presume, will now be received in payment & what substitute are we to have. The "Wretch" [Butler] said in his proclamation that he would allow them as a legal tender, & see how he has violated his word. I have no doubt but it will produce a great commotion in the city & why shouldn't it, when it will involve the ruin of thousands. 

General order No.30. The N.O. Delta [New Orleans Delta newspaper] having published in today's issue, an article discussing the cotton question in a manner which violates the terms of the Proclamation, from these headquarters, the office of that paper the office of that paper will be taken possession of & its business conducted under direction of the U.S. authorities…. The continuation of the order is, "The N.O. Bee, having published an elaborate though covert article in favor of the burning of the cotton & the mob, is hereby suppressed. No publication of any kind will issue from that paper until further orders"….

The taking of this city & the burning of our cotton will be the making of our Confederacy, for it will show the foreign nations that we are in earnest & willing to make any sacrifices, that we are a brave determined people imbued with the same spirit as were those 13 little colonies who triumphed over the greatest nation on earth. There were gloomier days than this during the Revolution, for says a London paper, "the capture of Charleston or N.O. itself would, if the Southerners intend to hold out, be but the commencement of the war. Let it be remembered that we took all these cities & Boston & N.Y besides during the war of Independence. We had nothing to conquer but the Atlantic coast & we found after a fair trial that it was impossible. It was not so much the volunteers as the country which beat us. We had a much more desperate battle & a much more glorious success at Bunker Hill, than the Fed. had at Fort Donelson but it had little value towards the conquest of Massachusetts". This seems as though they were decidedly in our favor…. 

.....

When I arrived in School [today], I noticed an unusual stir & commotion & when I inquired the cause, there was some astonishment expressed that I had not heard the news, the General order, No.28. I was informed of it & when Miss B. came she read it. "Be silent that you may hear. As the soldiers of the U.S. have been subject to insults offered to them by the women (calling themselves ladies) of N.O., I hereby order that should any female treat with contempt, or insult in word, gesture or movement any officer & private under my command, she shall be liable to be treated as a woman of the town, plying her avocation". 

…I cannot express to you the indignation this thing awakened, my feelings are akin to a lady, who speaking of the subject, said "I cannot tell you how I feel or what I think". I hear that the men were perfectly exasperated for you know the insult offered to us is also to them. The cowardly wretches! to notice the insults of ladies! But the news will get abroad & then we shall be praised for our actions. They will see the spirit of our women, aged, even children, but they dare not notice their insults. And how did they expect to be treated. Can a woman, a Southern woman, come in contact with one of them & allow her countenance to retain its wonted composure. Will not the scornful feelings in our hearts there find utterance. They may control our actions, but looks, they never can.