Admiral Porter has arrived from Cairo and proceeds to-morrow to Hampton
Roads to take command of the North Atlantic Squadron. It is with reluctance
that he comes into this transfer, but yet he breathes not an objection. I
should not have mentioned the circumstance but for the fact that many put a
false construction upon it. He will have a difficult task to perform and not
the thanks he will deserve, I fear, if successful, but curses if he fails.
SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the
Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866,
p. 172
