Headquarters Army Of Potomac
October 26, 1863
Ah! we are a doleful set of papas here. Said General Meade: “I
do wish the Administration would get mad with me, and relieve me; I am sure I
keep telling them, if they don't feel satisfied with me, to relieve me; then I
could go home and see my family in Philadelphia.” I believe there never was a
man so utterly without common ambition and, at the same time, so Spartan and
conscientious in everything he does. He is always stirring up somebody. This
morning it was the cavalry picket line, which extends for miles, and which he
declared was ridiculously placed. But, by worrying, and flaring out
unexpectedly on various officers, he does manage to have things pretty
ship-shape; so that an officer of Lee's Staff, when here the other day, said: “Meade's
move can't be beat.” Did I tell you that Lee passed through Warrenton and
passed a night. He was received with bouquets and great joy. . . . The last three nights have been cool,
almost cold, with some wind, so that they have been piling up the biggest kind
of camp-fires. You would laugh to see me in bed! First, I spread an
india-rubber blanket on the ground, on which is laid a cork mattress, which is
a sort of pad, about an inch thick, which you can roll up small for packing. On
this comes a big coat, and then I retire, in flannel shirt and drawers, and
cover myself, head and all, with three blankets, laying my pate on a greatcoat
folded, with a little india-rubber pillow on top; and so I sleep very well,
though the surface is rather hard and lumpy. I have not much to tell you of
yesterday, which was a quiet Sunday. Many officers went to hear the Rebs
preach, but I don't believe in the varmint. They ingeniously prayed for “all
established magistrates”; though, had we not been there, they would have roared
for the safety of Jeff Davis and Bob Lee! . . .
SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s
Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness
to Appomattox, p. 38-9
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