Went this afternoon by invitation of General Barnard to
visit Fort Foote, just completed, some eight miles below the city. A pleasant
party, — Chase, Generals Barnard, Augur, Barry, Admiral Davis, etc., with
ladies. It is a strong position and a vast amount of labor has been expended, —
uselessly expended. In going over the works a melancholy feeling came over me,
that there should have been so much waste, for the fort is not wanted, will
never fire a hostile gun. No hostile fleet will ever ascend the Potomac.
SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30,
1864, p. 473-4
