Camp Fire and Cotton Field by Thomas W. Knox

T >> Thomas W. Knox >> Camp Fire and Cotton Field

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The commissioners in charge of the freedmen gave the negroes every
encouragement to plant on their own account. In 1864 there were thirty
colored lessees near Milliken's Bend, and about the same number at
Helena. Ten of these persons at Helena realized $31,000 for their
year's labor. Two of them planted forty acres in cotton; their
expenses were about $1,200; they sold their crop for $8,000. Another
leased twenty-four acres. His expenses were less than $2,000, and he
sold his crop for $6,000. Another leased seventeen acres. He earned
by the season's work enough to purchase a good house, and leave him
a cash balance of $300. Another leased thirteen and a half acres,
expended about $600 in its cultivation, and sold his crop for $4,000.

At Milliken's Bend the negroes were not as successful as at
Helena--much of the cotton crop being destroyed by the "army worm." It
is possible that the return of peace may cause a discontinuance of the
policy of leasing land to negroes.

The planters are bitterly opposed to the policy of dividing
plantations into small parcels, and allowing them to be cultivated
by freedmen. They believe in extensive tracts of land under a single
management, and endeavor to make the production of cotton a business
for the few rather than the many. It has always been the rule to
discourage small planters. No aristocratic proprietor, if he could
avoid it, would sell any portion of his estate to a man of limited
means. In the hilly portions of the South, the rich men were unable to
carry out their policy. Consequently, there were many who cultivated
cotton on a small scale. On the lower Mississippi this was not the
case.

When the Southern States are fairly "reconstructed," and the political
control is placed in the hands of the ruling race, every effort will
be made to maintain the old policy. Plantations of a thousand or of
three thousand acres will be kept intact, unless the hardest necessity
compels their division. If possible, the negroes will not be permitted
to possess or cultivate land on their own account. To allow them to
hold real estate will be partially admitting their claim to humanity.
No true scion of chivalry can permit such an innovation, so long as he
is able to make successful opposition.

I have heard Southern men declare that a statute law should, and
would, be made to prevent the negroes holding real estate. I have
no doubt of the disposition of the late Rebels in favor of such
enactment, and believe they would display the greatest energy in its
enforcement. It would be a labor of love on their part, as well as of
duty. Its success would be an obstacle in the way of the much-dreaded
"negro equality."

CHAPTER XXXI.

AMONG THE OFFICIALS.

Reasons for Trying an Experiment.--Activity among Lessees.--Opinions
of the Residents.--Rebel Hopes in 1863.--Removal of Negroes to West
Louisiana.--Visiting Natchez.--The City and its Business.--"The
Rejected Addresses."

In my visit to Vicksburg I was accompanied by my fellow-journalist,
Mr. Colburn, of _The World_. Mr. Colburn and myself had taken more
than an ordinary interest in the free-labor enterprise. We had watched
its inception eight months before, with many hopes for its success,
and with as many fears for the result. The experiment of 1863, under
all its disadvantages, gave us convincing proof that the production of
cotton and sugar by free labor was both possible and profitable. The
negro had proved the incorrectness of the slaveholders' assertion that
no black man would labor on a plantation except as a slave. So much we
had seen accomplished. It was the result of a single year's trial. We
desired to see a further and more extensive test.

While studying the new system in the hands of others, we were urged to
bring it under our personal observation. Various inducements were held
out. We were convinced of the general feasibility of the enterprise,
wherever it received proper attention. As a philanthropic undertaking,
it was commendable. As a financial experiment, it promised success. We
looked at the matter in all its aspects, and finally decided to gain
an intimate knowledge of plantation life in war-time. Whether we
succeeded or failed, we would learn more about the freedmen than we
had hitherto known, and would assist, in some degree, to solve
the great problem before the country. Success would be personally
profitable, while failure could not be disastrous.

We determined to lease a plantation, but had selected none. In her
directions for cooking a hare, Mrs. Glass says: "First, catch your
hare." Our animal was to be caught, and the labor of securing it
proved greater than we anticipated.

All the eligible locations around Vicksburg had been taken by the
lessees of the previous season, or by newly-arrived persons who
preceded us. There were several residents of the neighboring region
who desired persons from the North to join them in tilling their
plantations. They were confident of obtaining Rebel protection, though
by no means certain of securing perfect immunity. In each case they
demanded a cash advance of a few thousands, for the purpose of hiring
the guerrillas to keep the peace. As it was evident that the purchase
of one marauding band would require the purchase of others, until
the entire "Confederacy" had been bought up, we declined all these
proposals.

Some of these residents, who wished Northern men to join them, claimed
to have excellent plantations along the Yazoo, or near some of its
tributary bayous. These men were confident a fine cotton crop could be
made, "if there were some Northern man to manage the niggers." It was
the general complaint with the people who lived in that region that,
with few exceptions, no Southern man could induce the negroes to
continue at work. One of these plantation proprietors said his
location was such that no guerrilla could get near it without
endangering his life. An investigation showed that no other person
could reach the plantation without incurring a risk nearly as great.
Very few of these owners of remote plantations were able to induce
strangers to join them.

We procured a map of the Mississippi and the country bordering its
banks. Whenever we found a good location and made inquiry about it at
the office of the leasing agents, we were sure to ascertain that some
one had already filed an application. It was plain that Vicksburg was
not the proper field for our researches. We shook its dust from our
feet and went to Natchez, a hundred and twenty-five miles below, where
a better prospect was afforded.

In the spring of 1863, the Rebels felt confident of retaining
permanent possession of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, two hundred and
fifty miles apart. Whatever might be the result elsewhere, this
portion of the Mississippi should not be abandoned. In the belief that
the progress of the Yankees had been permanently stopped, the planters
in the locality mentioned endeavored to make as full crops as possible
of the great staple of the South. Accordingly, they plowed and
planted, and tended the growing cotton until midsummer came. On the
fourth of July, Vicksburg surrendered, and opened the river to Port
Hudson. General Herron's Division was sent to re-enforce General
Banks, who was besieging the latter place. In a few days, General
Gardner hauled down his flag and gave Port Hudson to the nation. "The
Father of Waters went unvexed to the Sea."

The rich region that the Rebels had thought to hold was, by the
fortune of war, in the possession of the National army. The planters
suspended their operations, through fear that the Yankees would
possess the land.

Some of them sent their negroes to the interior of Louisiana for
safety. Others removed to Texas, carrying all their human property
with them. On some plantations the cotton had been so well cared for
that it came to maturity in fine condition. On others it had been very
slightly cultivated, and was almost choked out of existence by weeds
and grass. Nearly every plantation could boast of more or less cotton
in the field--the quantity varying from twenty bales to five hundred.
On some plantations cotton had been neglected, and a large crop of
corn grown in its place. Everywhere the Rebel law had been obeyed
by the production of more corn than usual. There was enough for the
sustenance of our armies for many months.

Natchez was the center of this newly-opened region. Before the war it
was the home of wealthy slave-owners, who believed the formation of a
Southern Confederacy would be the formation of a terrestrial paradise.
On both banks of the Mississippi, above and below Natchez, were the
finest cotton plantations of the great valley. One family owned nine
plantations, from which eight thousand bales of cotton were annually
sent to market. Another family owned seven plantations, and others
were the owners of from three to six, respectively.

The plantations were in the care of overseers and agents, and rarely
visited by their owners. The profits were large, and money was poured
out in profusion. The books of one of the Natchez banks showed a daily
business, in the picking season, of two or three million dollars,
generally on the accounts of planters and their factors.

Prior to the Rebellion, cotton was usually shipped to New Orleans, and
sold in that market. There were some of the planters who sent their
cotton to Liverpool or Havre, without passing it through the hands of
New Orleans factors. A large balance of the proceeds of such shipments
remained to the credit of the shippers when the war broke out, and
saved them from financial ruin. The business of Natchez amounted,
according to the season, from a hundred thousand to three hundred
thousand bales. This included a great quantity that was sent to New
Orleans from plantations above and below the city, without touching at
all upon the levee at Natchez.

Natchez consists of Natchez-on-the-Hill and Natchez-under-the-Hill.
A bluff, nearly two hundred feet high, faces the Mississippi, where
there is an eastward bend of the stream. Toward the river this bluff
is almost perpendicular, and is climbed by three roads cut into its
face like inclined shelves. The French established a settlement at
this point a hundred and fifty years ago, and erected a fortification
for its defense. This work, known as Fort Rosalie, can still be traced
with distinctness, though it has fallen into extreme decay. It was
evidently a rectangular, bastioned work, and the location of the
bastions and magazine can be readily made out.

Natchez-under-the-Hill is a small, straggling village, having a few
commission houses and stores, and dwellings of a suspicious character.
It was once a resort of gamblers and other _chevaliers d'industrie_,
whose livelihood was derived from the travelers along the Mississippi.
At present it is somewhat shorn of its glory.

Natchez-on-the-Hill is a pleasant and well-built city, of about ten
thousand inhabitants. The buildings display wealth and good taste,
the streets are wide and finely shaded, and the abundance of churches
speaks in praise of the religious sentiment of the people. Near the
edge of the bluff there was formerly a fine park, commanding a view of
the river for several miles in either direction, and overlooking
the plantations and cypress forests on the opposite shore. This
pleasure-ground was reserved for the white people alone, no negro
being allowed to enter the inclosure under severe penalties. A
regiment of our soldiers encamped near this park, and used its fence
for fuel. The park is now free to persons of whatever color.

Natchez suffered less from the war than most other places of its size
along the Mississippi. The Rebels never erected fortifications in or
around Natchez, having relied upon Vicksburg and Port Hudson for their
protection. When Admiral Farragut ascended the river, in 1862, after
the fall of New Orleans, he promised that Natchez should not be
disturbed, so long as the people offered no molestation to our
gun-boats or army transports. This neutrality was carefully observed,
except on one occasion. A party which landed from the gun-boat _Essex_
was fired upon by a militia company that desired to distinguish
itself. Natchez was shelled for two hours, in retaliation for this
outrage. From that time until our troops occupied the city there was
no disturbance.

When we arrived at Natchez, we found several Northern men already
there, whose business was similar to our own. Some had secured
plantations, and were preparing to take possession. Others were
watching the situation and surveying the ground before making their
selections. We found that the best plantations in the vicinity had
been taken by the friends of Adjutant-General Thomas, and were gone
past our securing. At Vidalia, Louisiana, directly opposite Natchez,
were two fine plantations, "Arnuldia" and "Whitehall," which had been
thus appropriated. Others in their vicinity had been taken in one way
or another, and were out of our reach. Some of the lessees declared
they had been forced to promise a division with certain parties in
authority before obtaining possession, while others maintained a
discreet silence on the subject. Many plantations owned by widows and
semi-loyal persons, would not be placed in the market as "abandoned
property." There were many whose status had not been decided, so
that they were practically out of the market. In consequence of these
various drawbacks, the number of desirable locations that were open
for selection was not large.

One of the leasing agents gave us a letter to a young widow who
resided in the city, and owned a large plantation in Louisiana,
fifteen miles from Natchez. We lost no time in calling upon the lady.

Other parties had already seen her with a view to leasing her
plantation. Though she had promised the lease to one of these
visitors, she had no objections to treating with ourselves, provided
she could make a more advantageous contract.

In a few days we repeated our visit. Our rival had urged his reasons
for consideration, and was evidently in favor. He had claimed to be
a Secessionist, and assured her he could obtain a safeguard from the
Rebel authorities. The lady finally consented to close a contract with
him, and placed us in the position of discarded suitors. We thought of
issuing a new edition of "The Rejected Addresses."

CHAPTER XXXII.

A JOURNEY OUTSIDE THE LINES.

Passing the Pickets.--Cold Weather in the South.--Effect of Climate
upon the Constitution.--Surrounded and Captured.--Prevarication
and Explanation.--Among the Natives.--The Game for the
Confederacy.--Courtesy of the Planters.--Condition of the
Plantations.--The Return.

Mr. Colburn went to St. Louis, on business in which both were
interested, and left me to look out a plantation. I determined to make
a tour of exploration in Louisiana, in the region above Vidalia. With
two or three gentlemen, who were bound on similar business, I passed
our pickets one morning, and struck out into the region which was
dominated by neither army. The weather was intensely cold, the ground
frozen solid, and a light snow falling.

Cold weather in the South has one peculiarity: it can seem more
intense than the same temperature at the North. It is the effect of
the Southern climate to unfit the system for any thing but a warm
atmosphere. The chill penetrates the whole body with a severity I have
never known north of the Ohio River. In a cold day, the "Sunny South"
possesses very few attractions in the eyes of a stranger.

In that day's ride, and in the night which followed, I suffered more
than ever before from cold. I once passed a night in the open air in
the Rocky Mountains, with the thermometer ten degrees below zero.
I think it was more endurable than Louisiana, with the mercury ten
degrees above zero. On my plantation hunt I was thickly clad, but the
cold _would_ penetrate, in spite of every thing. An hour by a fire
might bring some warmth, but the first step into the open air would
drive it away. Fluid extract of corn failed to have its ordinary
effect. The people of the vicinity said the weather was unusually
severe on that occasion. For the sake of those who reside there
hereafter, I hope their statement was true.

Our party stopped for the night at a plantation near Waterproof, a
small village on the bank of the river, twenty-two miles from Natchez.
Just as we were comfortably seated by the fire in the overseer's
house, one of the negroes announced that a person at the door wished
to see us.

I stepped to the door, and found a half-dozen mounted men in blue
uniforms. Each man had a carbine or revolver drawn on me. One of my
companions followed me outside, and found that the strange party had
weapons enough to cover both of us. It had been rumored that several
guerrillas, wearing United States uniforms, were lurking in the
vicinity. Our conclusions concerning the character of our captors were
speedily made.

Resistance was useless, but there were considerations that led us to
parley as long as possible. Three officers, and as many soldiers,
from Natchez, had overtaken us in the afternoon, and borne us company
during the latter part of our ride. When we stopped for the night,
they concluded to go forward two or three miles, and return in the
morning. Supposing ourselves fairly taken, we wished to give
our friends opportunity to escape. With this object in view, we
endeavored, by much talking, to consume time.

I believe it does not make a man eloquent to compel him to peer into
the muzzles of a half-dozen cocked revolvers, that may be discharged
at any instant on the will of the holders. Prevarication is a
difficult task, when time, place, and circumstances are favorable. It
is no easy matter to convince your hearers of the truth of a story
you know to be false, even when those hearers are inclined to be
credulous. Surrounded by strangers, and with your life in peril, the
difficulties are greatly increased. I am satisfied that I made a sad
failure on that particular occasion.

My friend and myself answered, indiscriminately, the questions that
were propounded. Our responses did not always agree. Possibly we might
have done better if only one of us had spoken.

"Come out of that house," was the first request that was made.

We came out.

"Tell those soldiers to come out."

"There are no soldiers here," I responded.

"That's a d--d lie."

"There are none here."

"Yes, there are," said the spokesman of the party. "Some Yankee
soldiers came here a little while ago."

"We have been here only a few minutes."

"Where did you come from?"

This was what the lawyers call a leading question. We did not desire
to acknowledge we were from Natchez, as that would reveal us at once.
We did not wish to say we were from Shreveport, as it would soon be
proved we were not telling the truth. I replied that we had come from
a plantation a few miles below. Simultaneously my companion said we
had just crossed the river.

Here was a lack of corroborative testimony which our captors commented
upon, somewhat to our discredit. So the conversation went on, our
answers becoming more confused each time we spoke. At last the leader
of the group dismounted, and prepared to search the house. He turned
us over to the care of his companions, saying, as he did so:

"If I find any soldiers here, you may shoot these d--d fellows for
lying."

During all the colloquy we had been carefully covered by the weapons
of the group. We knew no soldiers could be found about the premises,
and felt no fear concerning the result of the search.

Just as the leader finished his search, a lieutenant and twenty men
rode up.

"Well," said our captor, "you are saved from shooting. I will turn you
over to the lieutenant."

I recognized in that individual an officer to whom I had received
introduction a day or two before. The recognition was mutual.

We had fallen into the hands of a scouting party of our own forces.
Each mistook the other for Rebels. The contemplated shooting was
indefinitely postponed. The lieutenant in command concluded to encamp
near us, and we passed the evening in becoming acquainted with each
other.

On the following day the scouting party returned to Natchez. With
my two companions I proceeded ten miles further up the river-bank,
calling, on the way, at several plantations. All the inhabitants
supposed we were Rebel officers, going to or from Kirby Smith's
department. At one house we found two old gentlemen indulging in a
game of chess. In response to a comment upon their mode of amusement,
one of them said:

"We play a very slow and cautious game, sir. Such a game as the
Confederacy ought to play at this time."

To this I assented.

"How did you cross the river, gentlemen?" was the first interrogatory.

"We crossed it at Natchez."

"At Natchez! We do not often see Confederates from Natchez. You must
have been very fortunate to get through."

Then we explained who and what we were. The explanation was followed
by a little period of silence on the part of our new acquaintances.
Very soon, however, the ice was broken, and our conversation became
free. We were assured that we might travel anywhere in that region
as officers of the Rebel army, without the slightest suspicion of our
real character. They treated us courteously, and prevailed upon us to
join them at dinner. Many apologies were given for the scantiness of
the repast. Corn-bread, bacon, and potatoes were the only articles
set before us. Our host said he was utterly unable to procure flour,
sugar, coffee, or any thing else not produced upon his plantation.
He thought the good times would return when the war ended, and was
particularly anxious for that moment to arrive. He pressed us to pass
the night at his house, but we were unable to do so. On the following
day we returned to Natchez.

Everywhere on the road from Vidalia to the farthest point of our
journey, we found the plantations running to waste. The negroes had
been sent to Texas or West Louisiana for safety, or were remaining
quietly in their quarters. Some had left their masters, and were
gone to the camps of the National army at Vicksburg and Natchez. The
planters had suspended work, partly because they deemed it useless
to do any thing in the prevailing uncertainty, and partly because the
negroes were unwilling to perform any labor. Squads of Rebel cavalry
had visited some of the plantations, and threatened punishment to
the negroes if they did any thing whatever toward the production of
cotton. Of course, the negroes would heed such advice if they heeded
no other.

On all the plantations we found cotton and corn, principally the
latter, standing in the field. Sometimes there were single inclosures
of several hundred acres. The owners were desirous of making any
arrangement that would secure the tilling of their soil, while it
did not involve them in any trouble with their neighbors or the Rebel
authorities.

They deplored the reverses which the Rebel cause had suffered, and
confessed that the times were out of joint. One of the men we visited
was a judge in the courts of Louisiana, and looked at the question
in a legal light. After lamenting the severity of the storm which was
passing over the South, and expressing his fear that the Rebellion
would be a failure, he referred to his own situation.

"I own a plantation," said he, "and have combined my planting interest
with the practice of law. The fortune of war has materially changed my
circumstances. My niggers used to do as I told them, but that time is
passed. Your Northern people have made soldiers of our servants, and
will, I presume, make voters of them. In five years, if I continue the
practice of law, I suppose I shall be addressing a dozen negroes as
gentlemen of the jury."

"If you had a negro on trial," said one of our party, "that would be
correct enough. Is it not acknowledged everywhere that a man shall be
tried by his peers?"

The lawyer admitted that he never thought of that point before.
He said he would insist upon having negroes admitted into court as
counsel for negroes that were to be tried by a jury of their race. He
did not believe they would ever be available as laborers in the field
if they were set free, and thought so many of them would engage in
theft that negro courts would be constantly busy.

Generally speaking, the planters that I saw were not violent
Secessionists, though none of them were unconditional Union men. All
said they had favored secession at the beginning of the movement,
because they thought it would strengthen and perpetuate slavery. Most
of them had lost faith in its ultimate success, but clung to it as
their only hope. The few Union men among them, or those who claimed
to be loyal, were friends of the nation with many conditions. They
desired slavery to be restored to its former status, the rights of the
States left intact, and a full pardon extended to all who had taken
part in the Rebellion. Under these conditions they would be willing to
see the Union restored. Otherwise, the war must go on.

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