Headquarters Twelfth Army Corps,
April 12, 1863.
This last has been
a week of excitement to all of us in the army. I wrote about the great cavalry
review on Monday; the following Wednesday we went over to the grand review of
the Second, Third, Fifth and Sixth Corps. You have undoubtedly read in the
papers better accounts of it than I can write, so I won't go into detail. It
was a magnificent sight, I can tell you; there was the same brilliant cavalcade
as I described at the cavalry review, — if anything, larger. The troops looked
finely, better than I ever expected to see in our army. You can get some idea
of the number of troops reviewed when I tell you that, for nearly two hours,
they were passing steadily in solid column. From where we stood, we could see
this moving mass for at least half a mile; it was a thrilling sight and one never
to be forgotten. I felt proud of our Massachusetts regiments, for, as a rule,
they were the best that passed, and most every one had a record that no one
need be ashamed of.
Friday, the
President, General Hooker, and train, came over to Stafford and reviewed our
Corps and the Eleventh; this was another brilliant pageant. I believe we fully
kept up the credit of the army. The old Second shone out, of course, “Excelsior,”
and was noticed and spoken of by a great many. After the show, Mr. and Mrs.
Lincoln, General Hooker, and several other generals and officers with their
staffs, came to our headquarters and we gave them a very good entertainment,
cold meats, etc., etc.
After such an
opportunity of seeing our army as I've had this last week, I cannot help comparing
its present condition with that of the first army we saw, Patterson's; the last
named a miserable mob of undisciplined, dirty men, but the Army of the Potomac
a collection of as fine troops, I firmly believe, as there are in the world. I
believe the day will come when it will be a proud thing for any one to say he
belonged to it.
SOURCE: Charles
Fessenden Morse, Letters Written During the Civil War, 1861-1865,
p. 125-6
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