March 23, 1862

Sunday March 24th 1862. This is mis-dated. March 24th was a Monday in 1862. It appears that Linn miscalculated and that this should have been Sunday March 23rd. This morning Tom Grier and Chas. Kline came down from New Berne in a boat. They were with two officers who went down to visit the battle ground. But as they didn't come back at 1/2 past twelve we took the boat and went to New Berne. It is about a mile and a half or 2 miles by water. We landed by the Alice Price, and went to a three strong ware-house, washed yellow, looked like Tom's house at home. The rebels had used it for an ordinance room "No smoking" was painted on the door "Yankee devils" inside They did not suppose that we would see it. The room back used as an office was carpeted with cane, and nicely furnished - had a grate. Upstairs above, they had fitted up a nice room - carpet, bedsteads, mohair rocking chair, tables and chairs - fire place, with wood fire qute a library - which they had gathered from various houses in town. Even this gas fixture they had taken from some other house. This table had a fine tea set & everything a house keeper wanted furnished from the same source. I spent the afternoon & evening with them and it was too luxurious. I walked with Yerkes to the Cemetery. There is a wall and arched gateway around it, built of a singular sort of [shelly?] conglomeration - would be very handsome if finished. But it all bears the air of neglect. Founded many years ago 1801 I think, by Christ Church transferred to the City of New Berne 1834 - it had many old graves in it - We noticed that of the Gaston - Wm & Margaret. They had a singular way of putting a figure 1 before their figures, so that one tombstone which told of us of a sea Capt. that died on his passage from London to New Berne, in a certain lattitude and longi- tude, was aged 134 years. Another was 156. - We begn to think they had made voyages enough and it were time he would cease going to down to the sea, when we discovered that it must be either a _fashion_ they had or the oldest people lived here since the days of the flood. We were pointed to a vault, which bore the marks of being pried open, from which it was said Gen. Burnside recovered $45.000. One iron doored vault was open & the coffins lay there exposed in a way that seemed awful to me. Sunday March 24. Continued.

We returned to the Gaston House & then went back to Tom's quarters. Tom & I started out to walk. Gen. Burnsides Headquarters were in an elegant marble house, with a large well kept yard in front. The comical white guard tent pitched on the dark green grass, the two well dressed sentinels pacing up & down, the roses blooming in the yard, all made a striking picture. Near by was the lonely stacks of the chimnies of a whole half square burned down. Near by the Neuse river are several houses, and evidently stores burned. It looked odd to see a sign of "variety store" flaunting before a scene of desolation - It was curious to notice the vagaries that the fire caused in kegs of nails and other irons. The chimney stacks stood up, & one could not help picturing the bright cheerful parlors where those fire places and grates were, and beneath in the cellar lay the remains of the fire screen. We went up to the Car house & railroad depot. Cannon balls & shell lay all around & in the Passenger Depot were cartrige boxes [belts?], & [accountants?] of all kinds, shell of a new kind with a new kind with a brass [cork?], canister - a tin-case like a tomato can, filled with 54 canister balls. They had evidently just dropped everything and run. From the letters we have picked up, they never dreamed of having to leave, & yet the Richmond papers say New Berne is of no account. It is to us if not to them, though they must have esteemed it of some importance, from the amount of labour they have bestowed upon its defence. I concluded to stay all night and passed the evening cheerily by the bright fire place