Our horses have been
harnessed for twenty-four hours, and we are impatiently awaiting orders to
leave Suffolk. The troops from Norfolk have all passed through en route for
Petersburg, and the Federals have taken possession of the city.
Heavy cannonading
was heard about daybreak this morning in the direction of Norfolk. We have just
heard of the destruction of the Merrimac (Virginia)—what a terrible blow to our
cause.
Richmond now is in a
most precarious situation, for the Virginia was our only safeguard, and now she
is lost to us. However, our battery at Drewry's Bluff may hold out if not,
farewell to Richmond. Perhaps we were obliged to blow up the Virginia, as
she was built for deep water alone.
SOURCE: William S.
White, A Diary of the War; or What I Saw of It, p. 115
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