The following
extract from a letter which I have just written to a friend, is the sum and
substance of my thoughts, journalized for to-day. "Major will not write
his mother whether an attack on Washington is expected. I will tell you what I
think: From the dome of the Capitol we can see the rebels throwing up works
just beyond Arlington. Every day or two we have picket skirmishing.
On Wednesday night
we had, within a short distance of Washington, seven men set as picket guards.
The next day I saw one of the seven wounded in the side by a musket ball. The
other six were killed. Almost everybody here is looking for an attack, but I do
not believe we shall have one. I have no doubt that Beauregard would like to
draw us out to attack him; that he would then retreat, with the hope of drawing
us into his nets as he did at Bull Run. But
he will not attack us here.
SOURCE: Alfred L.
Castleman, The Army of the Potomac. Behind the Scenes. A Diary of
Unwritten History; From the Organization of the Army, by General George B.
McClellan, to the close of the Campaign in Virginia about the First Day
January, 1863, p. 20-1
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