John Harrison Wilson, The life of Charles Henry Dana

[222] During the whole of this time Dana acted as aide-de-camp, and took part in most of the decisive movements. It was my good-fortune to carry Grant's orders to McClernand and McPherson, who were operating in different quarters, to supervise the destruction of the Confederate bridges and the construction of our own, and Dana was my inseparable companion. We were riding or working night and day, and although the distances to be covered were generally from thirty to forty miles per day, we enjoyed every minute of the time. On the day the battle of Raymond was fought we covered the distance between Auburn and Raymond twice each way, and did not get back to headquarters till nearly midnight.

At Jackson we passed one night in comfortable beds and had a fair supply of Southern food. On asking for our bill the next day, to include General Grant and the entire staff, the manager answered that it would be sixty-five dollars, whereupon I handed him a brand new Confederate treasury note for one hundred dollars. At this, after some hesitation, he said, “Oh, if I take that I shall be compelled to charge you ninety-five dollars.” To which I replied, much to the amusement of Grant and Dana, who were looking on, “That's all right-and you needn't mind the change.”

This turned out to be a most unfortunate transaction, for an over-ardent Southerner who had witnessed what had taken place promptly reported it to the first Confederates who occupied the city after we withdrew, and they made haste to burn the hotel, because its manager had dared to discriminate in favor of Yankee money as against that of the Confederacy.

Dana often recurred to the incident as the first sure indication he had observed that the Southern people were losing confidence in their cause, and were beginning to fear that the Confederacy itself was doomed to failure.