This morning came a penitent and suppliant crowd of
conditional secessionists from Baltimore, who, having sowed the wind, seem to
have no particular desire to reap the whirlwind. They begged that no more
federal troops should be sent through Baltimore at present; that their mob was
thoroughly unmanageable, and that they would give the government all possible
assistance in transporting its troops, safely, across the State by any other
route. The President, always inclined to give all men credit for fairness and
sincerity, consented to this arrangement, contrary to the advice of some of his
most prominent counsellors; and afterwards said that this was the last time he
was going to interfere in matters of strictly military concernment; that he
would leave them hereafter wholly to military men.
I spoke of the intended resignation of Col. Magruder. The
Tycoon was astonished. Three days ago Magruder had been in his room making the
loudest protestations of undying devotion to the Union. This canker of secession has wonderfully demoralised the army. Capt.
Fry is the firmest and soundest man I meet. He seems to combine great honesty
of purpose with accurate and industrious business habits and a lively and patriotic
soldier's spirit that is better than anything else to-day.
This morning we mounted the battlements of the Executive
Mansion, and the Ancient took a long look down the bay. It was a “water-haul.”
Any amount of feverish rumors filled the evening. The despatch
from Mead Addison, in regard to 1,500 Massachusetts troops being seen off Annapolis,
seemed to please the President very much. Then there was a Fort Monroe rumor
and a 7th Regiment rumor, and a Rhode Island rumor; all which, to-morrow will
sift.
We passed the evening pleasantly at Eames', where were the
English Legation, and returned to find Vivaldi and his borderers guarding the imperial
palace, pacing in belted and revolvered dignity, up and down the wide portico,
to give style and tone to the defensive guard, looking, as he said, like
gentlemen in feature and dress. We went up and found a despatch stating that no
troops had arrived at the Navy Yard. Tant pis we said, and slept.
SOURCES: Clara B. Hay, Letters of John Hay and
Extracts from Diary, Volume 1, p. 16-8; Michael Burlingame, Inside Lincoln's White House: The Complete
Civil War Diary of John Hay, p. 5-6
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