It has been a delightful day; expect to be relieved this
afternoon. Two deserters came into our lines this morning; they report Lee's
army in a miserable condition — no rations or clothing, and the citizens nearly
starving. They say that “Secession is playing out.” The Thirty-eighth
Pennsylvania Infantry relieved us about noon; arrived in camp about 5 p. m. The
roads are in splendid condition, as good as I ever saw them in Virginia at this
time of year. If the weather was fine all the time picket guard would be more
desirable than so much camp duty.
SOURCE: Lemuel Abijah Abbott, Personal Recollections
and Civil War Diary, 1864, p. 12
