Frances Woolfolk Wallace -- 22 april 1864

• De Amerikaanse Frances Woolfolk Wallace (1835-?) hield van maart-augustus 1864 een reisdagboek bij van haar reis van het zuiden van de VS naar Canada, dat bekend is onder de titel A Trip to Dixie.

April 22, 1864.
Another pleasant day. We asked for our bill, and it was $25. all included, very reasonable. We have traveled very slowly today, the mules very jaded, stopped at a house and rested. I saw a lady who was quite ingenious, making very pretty hats out of palmetto and very prettily ornamented with the same. A pedestrian caught up with us and asked permission to ride in the wagon. We found him a cousin of Mr. Ratcliff's of Paducah, and his name was Isaiah Ratcliff. He seemed quite a nice person. The mules are so weary we shall not be able to reach Enterprise tonight, we walked some distance this evening. We met a gang of negroes with napsacks, and they sent up a rousing cheer for Jeff Davis. We are now at a cabin, and some cavalry are camping near this place. The family seem pleasant people though they dress very plainly in homespun, the girls are pretty. I would so much enjoy this trip if I only could know how my dear Mother is. I feel strong and well and have a great appetite.

April 23, 1864.
We spent a very comfortable night and met a New Yorker in the service very earnest in the Southern cause, has been living in the South only six years. We crossed the Chickasawha about 12 o'clock and came to Enterprise and found it difficult to find a house to stay even until the cars leave. After some persuasion they consented to take us in but could give us nothing to eat. While consulting as to the best course to pursue, we heard Cousin Ed Woolfolk had come to this place to meet us. It was joyful news, for we were beginning to feel quite helpless, fearing we would find difficulty in taking care of our baggage. Indeed, we were not certain that we would find our friends in Mobile. But now that Cousin Ed has come we will know what to do. We have not seen him, unfortunately, he has gone to meet us and taken a different road, so we missed him. Mally is quite impatient but I think bears it very patiently. I feel quite impatient to see him myself. Oh! where is my husband? It seems so difficult to learn where our husbands are. We have succeeded in getting a house for a short time with the promise of something to eat. Just after dinner Cousin Ed and Henry Jones came. They rushed to meet us, and there was of course, great rejoicing. Henry Jones was delighted to receive his letter I brought and the photographs; tears of gratitude and pleasure came into his eyes. I never felt so glad that I had a letter. Cousin Ed brought me a letter from Phil, and I am delighted to hear he is in Mobile. We leave tonight at 8 o'clock in the cars. It is pouring down rain and very dark, and Henry Jones carried Georgie to the depot, while Cousin Ed goes with Mally and I. It is dreadful walking, the water over shoe-tops, so dark we can't see where to go, and I fell into two ditches and am wet and muddy to my waist--a very disagreeable time.