Headquarters Army Of The Potomac, February 29, 1864.
Yesterday Mr. Dorr, from Christ Church, preached for us, and
afterwards dined and spent the evening with me. During the evening one of the escaped
prisoners from Libby prison, who had made his way from Richmond right through
the main body of Lee's army and into our lines, came to see me, and Mr. Dorr
seemed very much interested in the narrative of his adventures. He returned
home this morning, delighted with his visit to the army and all he had seen. He
has a son who is a captain in Chapman Biddle's regiment, the One Hundred and
Twenty-first Pennsylvania Volunteers.
My cavalry expedition for Richmond got off last night, and
at 2 A. M., the last I heard from them, they were getting on famously, not
having met any one or being, as far as they could tell, discovered by the
enemy. I trust they will be successful; it will be the greatest feat of the
war, if they do succeed, and will immortalize them all. Young Dahlgren,1
with his one leg, went along with them. The weather from having been most
favorable, now that the expedition has gone, begins to look suspicious, and
to-night we have a little rain.
I see Congress has passed the Lieutenant General bill. This
will make Grant Commander-in-Chief; what will become of Halleck I can't tell,
and possibly when Grant is responsible for all military operations, he may want
some one else whom he knows better in command of this army.
_______________
1 Ulric Dahlgren, killed March 4, 1864.
SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George
Gordon Meade, Vol. 2, p. 168
