When at the
Department, Sunday morning, the 10th, examining my mail, one of the clerks came
in and stated that the Rebel pickets were on the outskirts of Georgetown,
within the District lines. There had been no information to warn us of this
near approach of the enemy, but my informant was so positive — and soon
confirmed by another — that I sent to the War Department to ascertain the
facts. They were ignorant — had heard street rumors, but they were unworthy of
notice —and ridiculed my inquiry.
Later I learned that
young King, son of my neighbor Z. P. K., was captured by the Rebel pickets
within the District lines and is a prisoner.
SOURCE: Gideon
Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and
Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 71
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