221
Miss Louisiana Smith.
I had rallied her a little, previously. Said
she, I heard that if I had remained at
Madisonville, the other day, that I was to
have been arrested there, as a Yankee spy;
attributing the remark to a Mrs. Brant,
who was on board, and whom Hamilton
had met at Knapp s. I told her, gravely,
that I had heard doubts expressed as to the
sincerity of her Southern sentiment, because
she talked so much about them. Altogether
we got on quite pleasantly. In about an
hour s time Miss Louisiana, who said scarce-
ly anything, and couldn t sing, departed
under convoy of Harris, when his wife in-
formed me that the young lady was very
patriotic ; so much so, indeed, that my
hostess had expected that she would have
broken out on the subject for my edification.
That would have been terrible! Also
that Miss Smith would be quite rich, if things
were as they had been, from which I in-
ferred that her property lay in the curse
of Canaan. Furthermore I was favored
with Miss Louisiana s opinions with respect
to my personal appearance favorable as
regarded my eyes, not so towards my beard.
I had been questioned, pretty closely, both
by husband and wife, about persons and| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Twenty-One: page two hundred and thirty-nine |
| Description: | Describes a visit to Harris and his wife in New Orleans. |
| Date: | 1863-02-10 |
| Subject: | Brant, Mrs.; Civil War; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Hamilton; Harris, Lizzie; Harris, T. Decatur; Smith, Louisiana; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New Orleans, Louisiana]; Madisonville, [Louisiana] |
| Scan Date: | 2010-11-18 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Twenty-One |
| Description: | Includes Gunn's descriptions of his experiences as a war correspondent for ""The New York Tribune"" at New Orleans, Louisiana, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; boarding house living; a visit to the Rawlings family; a fight with Mr. Blankman at his boarding house; his journey on the North Star with the Banks expedition; the re-occupation of Baton Rouge by Union forces; a visit to a sugar plantation in Louisiana; and Fanny Fern's daughter Grace Thomson's death. |
| Subject: | African Americans; Boardinghouses; Bohemians; Civil War; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Journalism; Military; Publishers and publishing; Transportation; Travel; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; New Orleans, Louisiana; Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Note: | Thomas Butler Gunn was born February 15, 1826, in Banbury, England, and came to New York in 1849. During the Civil War he worked as a correspondent for the New York Tribune and the New York Evening Post. He returned to England in 1863, and died in Birmingham in April 1903. The collection includes twenty-one volumes of his diaries, including newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, sketches, and various other items inserted by Gunn. Diary entries date from July 7, 1849, to April 7, 1863, and include his experiences with the New York publishing and literary world, his descriptions of boarding houses, his travels throughout the United States, and his experiences traveling with the Federal army as a Civil War correspondent. |
| Publisher: | Missouri History Museum |
| Rights: | Copyright 2010 Missouri History Museum. |
| Source: | Page images, transcriptions, and metadata of the Thomas Butler Gunn diaries have been provided by the Missouri History Museum. |
