568 



MEMPHIS. 



and suffering among the laboring class, and re- 

 questing him to leave the matter for sixty days 

 "to the judgment and discretion of the peo- 

 ple." Their request was not granted, Col. 

 Slack reminding them in his answer " that the 

 so-called Confederate States issued all their 

 notes in bills of the denomination of $50's and 

 $20's," and that consequently the laboring 

 class probably had very few of them in their 

 possession. " The ruinous effect to which you 

 allude," he continued, " will strike a different 

 class altogether. The calamity of having to 

 contend with a depreciated currency, and to 

 which you refer, will come upon the people 

 sooner or later, and I see no reason why it may 

 not as well come now as sixty days hence. 



" Those who have been the most active in 

 getting up this wicked rebellion, are the indi- 

 viduals whose pockets are lined with Confed- 

 erate notes, and if sixty days' time should be 

 given them, it is only giving that much time 

 for those who are responsible for its issue to 

 get rid of it without loss, and the worthless 

 trash will be found in the hands of the un- 

 suspecting and credulous, who have always 

 been the dupes of designing Shylocks, by in- 

 ducing them to accept of a circulating medium 

 which was issued to aid in the destruction of 

 the first and best Government ever known to 

 civilization." 



On the 17th Gen. Lewis Wallace arrived at 

 Memphis, and assumed the chief command by 

 virtue of his rank. His principal official act, 

 during the few days that he remained in Mem- 

 phis, was to take possession of the " Argus " 

 newspaper office, where he installed the cor- 

 respondents of the " New York Herald " and 

 " New York Tribune " as editors. The provost 

 marshal also issued orders to the guard to shoot 

 any one tearing down United States flags, and 

 imprison citizens carrying concealed weapons. 



On the 20th Col. Slack issued the following 

 "General Orders No. 8:" 



" Members of the Board of Aldermen, the Mayor, 

 City Recorder, and all other persons discharging any 

 official duty within the city of Memphis, and under the 

 charter thereof, are required to come before the Pro- 

 vost Marshal and take the oath of allegiance to the 

 Government of the United States within three days, 

 or, in default thereof, will be regarded as sympathising, 

 aiding, and abetting rebellion, and will be arrested 

 and treated as only traitors deserve." 



On the 25th a Union meeting was held in 

 Court House square, at which some 350 or 400 

 persons were present, about 200 of them being 

 citizens. After several speeches had been 

 made, a series of resolutions were passed pledg- 

 ing the support of the meeting to the Union 

 ticket at the municipal election to be held the 

 next day ; and the meeting then adjourned, to 

 reassemble in the evening for the purpose of 

 nominating candidates. The election on the 

 26th passed off quietly, not more than 700 

 votes being cast. John Park, the Union can- 

 didate, was reflected mayor without opposi- 

 tion. All persons offering to vote were requir- 

 ed to take the oath of allegiance. 



The city was now for some weeks the head- 

 quarters of Gen. Grant, and Col. J. D. Webster 

 was appointed commandant of the post. The 

 editors of " the Argus " were permitted to re- 

 sume the direction of their paper, with the 

 understanding that their immediate arrest and 

 the suppression of the paper would follow the 

 appearance of any disunion article in it. 



The Northern shipments from Memphis up 

 to the 27th of June were, according to the re- 

 port of the Trade Committee, 9,206 hhds. of 

 sugar, 8,117 hhds. of molasses, and 7,061 bales 

 of cotton. The number of persons who had 

 taken the oath of allegiance in the city at the 

 same date was estimated at 3,000. 



On the 1st of July the "Memphis Avalanche" 

 was suppressed, but its reissue being allowed 

 on condition of the retirement of the chief edi- 

 tor, it appeared the next day as a " Bulletin." 



On the 10th of July Gen. Grant published 

 the following order: 



" The families, now residing in the city of Memphis, 

 of the following persons, are required to move South 

 beyond our lines within five days from the date hereof: 



I. All persons holding commissions in the so-called 

 Confederate army, or who are voluntarily enlisted in 

 said army, or who accompany and are connected with 

 the same. 



II. All persons holding office under or in the employ 

 of the so-called Confederate Government. 



III. All persons holding State, county, or municipal 

 offices, who claim allegiance to the said so-called Con- 

 federate Government, and who have abandoned their 

 families and gone South." 



Gen. Grant went to Corinth on the llth, 

 and was succeeded at Memphis by Gen. A. P. 

 Hovey, who published an order on the 16th 

 requiring all male residents of the city, between 

 18 and 45 years of age, to take the oath of 

 allegiance within six days or go South. About 

 1,300 took the oath and 500 were sent South. 

 On the 17th it was discovered that a Confed- 

 erate telegraph operator had interrupted the 

 line between Memphis and Corinth, over which 

 passed Gen. Halleck's messages to Flag Officer 

 Davis, Gen. Curtis, and the Commandant at 

 Memphis, and with the aid of a pocket instru- 

 ment had read all the official despatches sent 

 over the wire for four days. 



Maj.-Gen. W. T. Sherman reached Memphis 

 with reinforcements on the 20th, and took 

 command of the post. -On the 24th he pub- 

 lished an order reopening trade and communi- 

 cation with the surrounding country under 

 certain restrictions. Travel into and out of 

 the city, over five specified roads, without 

 passes or any hindrance except the right of 

 search by the guard at the discretion of the 

 officer in command, was freely permitted to 

 farmers, planters, and business men with their 

 families and servants. This travel must in all 

 cases be by daylight, except in the case of mar- 

 ket and supply carts. Another order prohibit- 

 ed the payment of gold, silver, or treasury 

 notes for cotton, and ordered quartermasters 

 to seize all cotton purchased after that date and 

 send it North to be sold, the proceeds to be 



