This gentleman was the possessor of several negroes, though he lived in a house that he did not own.  Of course, it was a great injustice to deprive him of his only property, especially as the laws of his State sanctioned such ownership.  He declared he would not submit to any theft of that character.  I do not think I ever saw a person manifest more passion than was exhibited by this individual on hearings one afternoon, that one of his slaves had taken refuge in our camp, with the avowed intention of going North.

“I don’t care for the loss,” said he, “but what I do care for is, to be robbed by a nigger.  I can endure an injury from a white man; to have a nigger defy me is too much.”

Unfortunate and unhappy man!  I presume he is not entirely satisfied with the present status of the “Peculiar Institution.”

The cotton speculators at Holly Springs were guilty of some sharp transactions.  One day a gentleman residing in the vicinity came to town in order to effect a sale of fifty bales.  The cotton was in a warehouse a half-dozen miles away.

Remaining over night in Holly Springs, and walking to the railway station in the morning, he found his cotton piled by the track and ready for shipment.  Two men were engaged effacing the marks upon the bales.  By some means they had obtained a sufficient number of Government wagons to remove the entire lot during the night.  It was a case of downright theft.  The offenders were banished beyond the lines of the army.

In a public office at Holly Springs our soldiers found a great number of bills on the Northern Bank of Mississippi.  They were in sheets, just as they had come from the press.  None of them bore dates or signatures.

The soldiers supplied all needed chirography, and the bills obtained a wide circulation.  Chickens, pigs, and other small articles were purchased of the whites and negroes, and paid for with the most astonishing liberality.

Counterfeits of the Rebel currency were freely distributed, and could only be distinguished from the genuine by their superior execution.

Among the women in Holly Springs and its vicinity snuff was in great demand.  The article is used by them in much the same way that men chew tobacco.  The practice is known as “dipping,” and is disgusting in the extreme.  A stick the size of a common pencil is chewed or beaten at one end until the fibers are separated.  In this condition it forms a brush.

This brush is moistened with saliva, and plunged into the snuff.  The fine powder which adheres is then rubbed on the gums and among the teeth.  A species of partial intoxication is the result.

The effect of continued “dipping” becomes apparent.  The gums are inflamed, the teeth are discolored, the lips are shriveled, and the complexion is sallow.  The throat is dry and irritated, and there is a constant desire to expectorate.

I trust the habit will never become a Northern one.