1862 February 4 [Lynchburg, Va.]

[From the diary of William Minor Blackford, Lynchburg, Va., with 5 sons in the Confederate Army]

The sun came out warm and the ground
became slush I wrote a long letter to Lewis about
his love escapade. What a pity it is he makes such
a fool of himself among the girls. I gave him ad-
vice which I hope he will take. Wrote also to
Mary enclosing James letter & Lewis and one
from Mary J. Strange I have never not yet heard
of her reaching Edgewood. Worked at the desk
until my wrist ached. the use of the pen becomes
more and more irksome, & I fear my hand will
become illegible. Got shelves put up over the
door and window of the Library to accommodate
my new accession of books. The job is neatly executed
and does not impair the looks of the room
This is the anniversary of the election for members
of the State Convention. I well remember the patriot-
ic exultation with which this night a year
ago, I heard the various returns by telegraph
showing that the state had gone for the Union
--I turn to the entries of that and the follow-
ing day and ask myself is it possible that
so radical a change of sentiment can have been
wrought. It makes me question the identity of
mind. I then had strong hopes the union might
be preserved & the cotton states brought back
in a year or two--I have long ceased to have
much confidence in what is called political
foresight. There is always some unforeseen, some
trivial, it may be,occurrence, to falsify
the calculation of the wisest. No one, twelve months
since, even if he thought a separation of the states
into two or more Confederacies, inevitable, and perhaps
desirable, could have conceived that the north
& the south would so soon be divided by a gulf
so deep--so impassable & so eternal--that feelings
of such fiendish hate, scorn, & contempt would be
shared by the two sections.

The news from England & France points to a
speedy raising of the blockade--It points [ending?]or [indeed?]
to something not so agreeable to us--an armed interven
tion in the interests of peace, humanity[?] & the welfare
of the other nations--The idea is that these two
great powers shall demand of both parties a cessation
of hostilities and offer mediation. It will never do
for us to let others settle our boundaries. I am made
uneasy by the rumors--but I think the action of
England & France will be confined to breaking the block
ade and a prevention of the destruction of harbors
by sending store[?] ships. We shall hear great news
before long.
Charles left with me a Sharps rifle, which
he requested me to clean & take care of. The machine
wwas in working order three or four nights ago. I under
took to clean it tonight Y found the sliding breech com-
pletely immovable. I had to use a mallet to break the
adherence of rust. This convinces me that all the
vauunted improvement of fire arms & especially of breech
loading arms, is [foolish?] [futile?]

[to be continued]