Major-General John A. Dix to Governor Horatio Seymour, August 18, 1863

Head-quarters, Department of the East, New York City,

August 18, 1803.

His Excellency Horatio Seymour, Governor of the State of New York:

Sir,—I did not receive until last evening your letter of the 15th instant.

Immediately on my arrival in this city on the 18th ultimo I called on you with General Canby; and in a subsequent interview with you at my head-quarters I expressed the wish that the draft in this State should be executed without the employment of troops in the service of the United States. In a letter addressed to you on the 30th ultimo I renewed, more formally, the expression of this wish, and stated that if the military power of the State could be relied on to enforce the draft, in case of forcible resistance to it, I need not call on the Secretary of War for troops for that purpose. In the same spirit, when some of the Marshals in the interior applied to me for aid against threatened violence, I referred them to you, in order that they might be protected by your authority. It was my earnest wish that the Federal arm should neither be seen nor felt in the execution of the law for enrolling and calling out the national forces, but that it might be carried out under the ӕgis of the State, which has so often been interposed between the general Government and its enemies.

Not having received an answer from you, I applied to the Secretary of War on the 14th instant for a force adequate to the object. The call was promptly responded to, and I shall be ready to meet all opposition to the draft. I trust, however, that your determination, of which your letter advises me, to call into requisition the military power, if need be, to put down violations of good order, riotous proceedings, and disturbances of the public peace, as infractions of the laws of this State, will render it unnecessary to use the troops under my command for the purpose, and that their only service here may be to protect the public property and the officers of the United States in the discharge of their duties, and to give to those who intend to uphold the Government, as well as those who are seeking to subvert it, the assurance that its authority will always be firmly and effectually maintained.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

John A. Dix, Major-general.*

_______________

* See Appendix, No. VII.

SOURCE: Morgan Dix, Memoirs of John Adams Dix, Volume 2, p. 83

Diary of William Howard Russell: May 23, 1861

As the mail communication has been suspended between North and South, and the Express Companies are ordered not to carry letters, I sent off my packet of despatches to-day, by Mr. Ewell, of the house of Dennistoun & Co.; and resumed my excursions through New Orleans.

The young artist, who is stopping at the St. Charles Hotel, came to me in great agitation to say his life was in danger, in consequence of his former connection with an abolition paper of New York, and that he had been threatened with death by a man with whom he had had a quarrel in Washington. Mr. Mure, to calm his apprehensions, offered to take him to the authorities of the town, who would, no doubt, protect him, as he was merely engaged in making sketches for an English periodical, but the young man declared he was in danger of assassination. He entreated Mr. Mure to give him despatches which would serve to protect him, on his way northward; and the Consul, moved by his mental distress, promised that if he had any letters of an official character for Washington he would send them by him, in default of other opportunities.

I dined with Major Ranney, the president of one of the railways, with whom Mr. Ward was stopping. Among the company were Mr. Eustis, son-in-law of Mr. Slidell; Mr. Morse, the Attorney-General of the State; Mr. Moise, a Jew, supposed to have considerable influence with the Governor, and a vehement politician; Messrs. Hunt, and others. The table was excellent, and the wines were worthy of the reputation which our host enjoys, in a city where Sallusts and Luculli are said to abound. One of the slave servants who waited at table, an intelligent yellow “boy,” was pointed out to me as a son of General Andrew Jackson.

We had a full account of the attack of the British troops on the city, and their repulse. Mr. Morse denied emphatically that there was any cotton bag fortification in front of the lines, where our troops were defeated; he asserted that there were only a few bales, I think seventy-five, used in the construction of one battery, and that they and some sugar hogsheads, constituted the sole defences of the American trench. Only one citizen applied to the State for compensation, on account of the cotton used by Jackson's troops, and he owned the whole of the bales so appropriated.

None of the Southern gentlemen have the smallest apprehension of a servile insurrection. They use the univeral formula “our negroes are the happiest, most contented, and most comfortable people on the face of the earth.” I admit I have been struck by well-clad and good-humored negroes in the streets, but they are in the minority; many look morose, ill-clad, and discontented. The patrols I know have been strengthened, and I heard a young lady the other night, say, “I shall not be a bit afraid to go back to the plantation, though mamma says the negroes are after mischief.”

SOURCE: William Howard Russell, My Diary North and South, p. 232-3

Diary of Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle: Monday, June 8, 1863

I arrived at Charleston at 5 A.M., and drove at once in an omnibus to the Charleston hotel. At nine o'clock I called at General Beauregard's office, but, to my disappointment, I found that he was absent on a tour of inspection in Florida. He is, however, expected to return in two or three days.

I then called on General Ripley, who commands the garrison and forts of Charleston. He is a jovial character, very fond of the good things of this life; but it is said that he never allows this propensity to interfere with his military duties, in the performance of which he displays both zeal and talent. He has the reputation of being an excellent artillery officer, and although by birth a Northerner, he is a red-hot and indefatigable rebel. I believe he wrote a book about the Mexican war, and after leaving the old army, he was a good deal in England, connected with the small-arms factory at Enfield, and other enterprises of the same sort. Nearly all the credit of the efficiency of the Charleston fortifications is due to him. And notwithstanding his Northern birth and occasional rollicking habits, he is generally popular.

I then called on Mr Robertson, a merchant, for whom I had brought a letter of introduction from England. This old gentleman took me a drive in his buggy at 6 P.M. It appears that at this time of year the country outside the city is quite pestilential, for when we reached the open, Mr Robertson pointed to a detached house and said, “Now, I am as fond of money as any Jew, yet I wouldn't sleep in that house for one night if you gave it to me for doing so.”

I had intended to have visited Mr Blake, an English gentleman for whom I had a letter, on his Combahee plantation, but Mr Robertson implored me to abandon this idea. Mr Robertson was full of the disasters which had resulted from a recent Yankee raid of the Combahee river. It appears that a vast amount of property had been destroyed and slaves carried off. This morning I saw a poor old planter in Mr Robertson's office, who had been suddenly and totally ruined by this raid. The raiders consisted principally of Northern armed negroes, and as they met with no Southern whites to resist them, they were able to effect their depredations with total impunity. It seems that a good deal of the land about Charleston belongs either to Blakes or Heywards. Mr Blake lost thirty negroes in the last raid, but he has lost since the beginning of the war about 150.

Mr Robertson afterwards took me to see Mrs –––, who is Mr Walter Blake's daughter. To me, who had roughed it for ten weeks to such an extent, Charleston appeared most comfortable and luxurious. But its inhabitants must, to say the least, be suffering great inconvenience. The lighting and paving of the city had gone to the bad completely. Most of the shops were shut up. Those that were open contained but very few goods, and those were at famine prices. I tried to buy a black scarf, but I couldn't find such an article in all Charleston.

An immense amount of speculation in blockade-running was going on, and a great deal of business is evidently done in buying and selling negroes, for the papers are full of advertisements of slave auctions. That portion of the city destroyed by the great fire presents the appearance of a vast wilderness in the very centre of the town, no attempt having been made towards rebuilding it; this desert space looks like the Pompeian ruins, and extends, Mr Robertson says, for a mile in length by half a mile in width. Nearly all the distance between the Mills House hotel and Charleston hotel is in this desolate state. The fire began quite by accident, but the violent wind which suddenly arose rendered all attempts to stop the flames abortive. The deserted state of the wharves is melancholy — the huge placards announcing lines of steamers to New York, New Orleans, and to different parts of the world, still remain, and give one an idea of what a busy scene they used to be. The people, however, all seem happy, contented, and determined. Both the great hotels are crowded; and well dressed, handsome ladies are plentiful; the fare is good, and the charge at the Charleston hotel is eight dollars a day.

SOURCE: Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle, Three Months in the Southern States: April-June, 1863, p. 179-82

Diary of Lieutenant-Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes, April 18, 1862

A. M. Finished letter to Lucy. Must get ready to move. Put all the regiment into tents today, by one o'clock. A shower fell just after the tents were up.

Colonels Scammon and Ewing [arrived]; Lieutenant Kennedy, A. A. A. G. to Colonel Scammon, and Lieutenant Muenscher, aide, with an escort of horsemen came with them. The Thirtieth began to arrive at 2:30 P. M. They came in the rain. Major Hildt came to my quarters. I joined the regiment out in camp — the camp in front of General Beckley's residence one mile from Raleigh. Rainy all night. Our right rest on the road leading southwardly towards Princeton, the left on the graveyard of Floyd's men. The graves are neatly marked; Twentieth Mississippi, Phillips' Legion, Georgia, Fourth Louisiana, furnished the occupants. Four from one company died in one day! (November 2, 1861.)

Slept in Sibley tent. Received orders to proceed with Twenty-third, thirty [of] Captain Gilmore's Cavalry, and a section of McMullen's Battery to Princeton tomorrow at 7 A. M.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 230-1

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Fessenden Morse: September 6, 1864

Atlanta, Ga., September 6, 1864.

I take my first opportunity to write you a few words. Our corps came in here on the 2d and took possession. Colonel Coggswell was put in command of the post by General Slocum, with two regiments besides his own for guard. I was appointed Provost Marshal of the city, and have been overrun with business ever since. I have an office in the City Hall and quarters in an elegant house near by. Our corps and the Fourteenth are to occupy the defences of the city, General Slocum commanding. You can imagine my hands are full of work, being “Mayor” and answerer of all questions to the citizens of a good-sized city, besides having to look after cotton, tobacco, and other valuable stores, and arrest all marauders. However, I have got the thing in running order now, and, with my two assistants and their clerks, shall get along very well.

We shall be here a month or two, probably. Sherman and Thomas will make their headquarters here in a few days.

SOURCE: Charles Fessenden Morse, Letters Written During the Civil War, 1861-1865, p. 187-8

Major Wilder Dwight: Monday, March 24, 1862

winchester, Virginia (again), March 24, Monday.

I've only a minute in which to send you greeting. Again are we hurried by a forced march, over rough roads, to see the dregs and debris of a battle, — heaps of wounded, dying, and dead. Well, again fortune is against us. We left here on Saturday morning for Centreville. The bridge across the Shenandoah broke, and luckily delayed us. Back we were ordered at midnight of last night. An angry, bitter, well-fought fight followed, yesterday afternoon, upon an artillery duel which had occupied nearly all day. So little did any one know it was coming, that General Banks went up to Harper's Ferry at three, P. M., and the sharp fight commenced at four! The battle-ground was that on which my pickets had been posted until we left town. It seems to have been an exhibition of dogged courage by unruled and undisciplined soldiers.

So we go The lees and flatness of the sparkling goblet of victory are all that we taste. Jackson and Ashby are clever men. We are slow-w-w!

SOURCE: Elizabeth Amelia Dwight, Editor, Life and Letters of Wilder Dwight: Lieut.-Col. Second Mass. Inf. Vols., p. 215-6

Colonel William F. Bartlett, May 3, 1864

Rappahannock Station, Va., May 3, 1864.

We move to-morrow morning with the grand army of the Potomac. I have been here three days, and not found time to go over to the Twentieth, only five miles distant. My regiment is in no condition to take into action, but I must do the best I can. It will be a long and hard fight. God, I hope, will give us the victory. The chances I think are even. Grant, I fear, does not appreciate Lee's ability, nor the qualities of his army. Let us hope for the best . . . .  I am very well Give me twenty days and I could make a splendid regiment of this, but man proposes and Grant disposes. Good-by.

Ever faithfully yours.

Frank.

SOURCE: Francis Winthrop Palfrey, Memoir of William Francis Bartlett, p. 99

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: October 29, 1862

There was a rumor yesterday that the enemy were marching on Weldon; but we have no confirmation of it to-day.

Loring, after all, did not send his cavalry into Pennsylvania, I presume, since nothing has been heard of it.

The Charleston Mercury has some strictures on the President for not having Breckinridge in Kentucky, and Price in Missouri, this fall. They would doubtless have done good service to the cause. The President is much absorbed in the matter of appointments.

Gen. Wise was again ordered down the Peninsula last Saturday; and again ordered back when he got under way. They will not let him fight.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 177

Diary of Sergeant George G. Smith: August 30, 1862

Generals Butler and Dudley reviewed the brigade. After the review General Butler had the First Louisiana drawn up in close column by divisions. After complimenting them for their soldierly appearance he gave them a lecture on military discipline, closing his remarks with this sentence, “The lightnings of heaven do not fall more swiftly than will justice overtake the evil doer.” We found Camp Williams not the healthiest place in the world. Lake Ponchartrain opening out to sea, was of course affected by the tides. When the tides were in the marshes would be full of water, but when they were out the contrary would be the result, and the portions exposed covered with ooze and silt would fester and ferment in the burning sun: while on the other side was the swamp, furnishing prolific breeding grounds for the festive mosquito: It is not strange that the result should prove to be what it was. In less than a week fully one half the regiment was at the surgeons tent on sick call in the morning; there were from two to four funerals in a day. Most all the time officers were sick so that the non commissioner officers were in command of companies. The writer of this was put in command of Company A. When it left the recruiting camp, a little over four weeks before it numbered 112 enlisted men. One night, a few days before we left, but four men turned out for dress parade and other companies were in a similar condition. The First Louisiana 12th and 13th C. V., the 75 N. Y., a company of Louisiana cavalry and two batteries were brigaded, General Weitzel commanding.

SOURCE: George G. Smith, Leaves from a Soldier's Diary, p. 27-9

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Friday, April 15, 1864

Weather fine this forenoon but began to cloud up towards night. Major Harper has paid off the regiment to-day. The sutler is also selling off his stock of goods, as to-morrow is the time appointed for all sutlers to leave the army; looks like a move in a few days; am detailed for picket to-morrow; no letter from home to-night, am sorry to say.

SOURCE: Lemuel Abijah Abbott, Personal Recollections and Civil War Diary, 1864, p. 36

Diary of Corporal Charles H. Lynch: November 11, 1864

Had a very pleasant short visit at home. The regiment assembled this forenoon, soon in line, on the march through New Haven, to the railroad station. We received a great send off by the citizens of New Haven, cheering and wishing us good luck. Soon on board train bound for New York. Made good time. Marched through the city. All quiet. No toughs in sight. Mr. Lincoln's election made things quiet. Crossed the Cortlandt Street ferry to Jersey City. Soon on board train, bound for Martinsburg, which we were anxious to reach.

SOURCE: Charles H. Lynch, The Civil War Diary, 1862-1865, of Charles H. Lynch 18th Conn. Vol's, p. 134

Diary of Luman Harris Tenney: August 8, 1862

Commenced "Woman in White" again. Fairly begun when I was ordered off with Capt. Smith to find a camp. Selected one up on the hill west of town. Somewhat fortified. Moved camp in the forenoon. All tired after moving. Had one meal. Continued the story. Our new site for camp overlooks a large tract of country. The horses are picketed away from the immediate vicinity of the camp so that we will be free from the dust, and be nearer water for horses.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 24

Diary of 4th Sergeant John S. Morgan: Friday May 1, 1863

At 12 M. saw the 5th Kansas cav start out. 12.30 orders to fall in line in 15 minutes with 60 ronds carts, went out 10 miles within 4 miles of where 3 comps. 3d Iowa were repulsed. met cav. scouts. No enemy near returned 2½ mile camped of the 3d Iowa. 150 were out, 3 killed 9 wounded 29 missing

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, 33rd Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 13, No. 7, January 1923, p. 488

Diary of 4th Sergeant John S. Morgan: Saturday May 2, 1863

Started for Helena at 7. A. M. arrived at Helena at 11 A. M. tired but no one hurt.

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, 33rd Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 13, No. 7, January 1923, p. 488

Diary of 4th Sergeant John S. Morgan: Sunday May 3, 1863

Company inspection at 10. A. M. Preaching in the grove at the river side, day quiet.

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, 33rd Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 13, No. 7, January 1923, p. 488

Diary of Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle: Sunday, June 7, 1863

Augusta is a city of 20,000 inhabitants; but its streets being extremely wide, and its houses low, it covers a vast space. No place that I have seen in the Southern States shows so little traces of the war, and it formed a delightful contrast to the war-worn, poverty-stricken, dried-up towns I had lately visited. I went to the Episcopal church, and might almost have fancied myself in England: the ceremonies were exactly the same, and the church was full of well-dressed people.

At 2 P.M. I dined at the house of Mr Carmichael, son-in-law to Bishop Elliott, who told me there were 2000 volunteers in Augusta, regularly drilled and prepared to resist raids. These men were exempted from the conscription, either on account of their age, nationality, or other cause — or had purchased substitutes. At 3 P.M. Mr Carmichael sent me in his buggy to call on Colonel Rains, the superintendent of the Government works here. My principal object in stopping at Augusta was to visit the powder manufactory and arsenal; but, to my disappointment, I discovered that the present wants of the State did not render it necessary to keep these establishments open on Sundays.

I had a long and most interesting conversation with Colonel Rains, who is a very clever, highly-educated, and agreeable officer. He was brought up at West Point, and after a short service in the United States army, he became Professor of Chemistry at the Military College. He was afterwards much engaged in the manufacture of machinery in the Northern States. At the commencement of this war, with his usual perspicacity, President Davis selected Colonel Rains as the most competent person to build and to work the Government factories at Augusta, giving him carte blanche to act as he thought best; and the result has proved the wisdom of the President's choice. Colonel Rains told me that at the beginning of the troubles, scarcely a grain of gunpowder was manufactured in the whole of the Southern States. The Augusta powder-mills and arsenal were then commenced, and no less than 7000 lb. of powder are now made every day in the powder manufactory. The cost to the Government of making the powder is only four cents a pound. The saltpetre (nine-tenths of which runs the blockade from England) cost formerly seventy-five cents, but has latterly been more expensive. In the construction of the powder-mills, Colonel Rains told me he had been much indebted to a pamphlet by Major Bradley of Waltham Abbey.

At the cannon foundry, one Napoleon 12-pounder is turned out every two days; but it is hoped very soon that one of these guns may be finished daily. The guns are made of a metal recently invented by the Austrians, and recommended to the Confederate Government by Mr Mason. They are tested by a charge of ten pounds of powder, and by loading them to the muzzle with bolts. Two hundred excellent mechanics are exempted from the conscription, to be employed at the mills. The wonderful speed with which these works have been constructed, their great success, and their immense national value, are convincing proofs of the determined energy of the Southern character, now that it has been roused; and also of the zeal and skill of Colonel Rains. He told me that Augusta had been selected as a site for these works on account of its remoteness from the probable seats of war, of its central position, and of its great facilities of transport; for this city can boast of a navigable river and a canal, besides being situated on a central railroad. Colonel Rains said, that although the Southerners had certainly been hard up for gunpowder at the early part of the war, they were still harder up for percussion caps. An immense number (I forget how many) of these are now made daily in the Government factory at Atlanta.

I left Augusta at 7 P.M. by train for Charleston. My car was much crowded with Yankee prisoners.

SOURCE: Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle, Three Months in the Southern States: April-June, 1863, p. 176-8

Lieutenant-Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Lucy Webb Hayes, April 17, 1862

Raleigh, Virginia, April 17, 1862.

Dearest: — I was made happy by your letter and the fine picture of you it contained. You seem undecided which you intended should have it, Uncle Joe or your husband. But I shall keep it. You will have to send another to Joe.

Very glad the money and everything turned out all right. I get the Commercial quite often — often enough to pay for taking it. And you paid Mr. Trenchard! Why, you are getting to be a business woman. I shall have to let the law out to you when I come home again. I do not know that I shall have an opportunity to do much for Will De Charmes, but I shall bear him in mind. If Fremont ever comes along here I may succeed.

We are still hunting bushwhackers, succoring persecuted Union men, and the like. Our intended advance was stopped by a four-days rain which, like the old four-days meeting, I began to think never would end. We are now getting ready to go on — in fact we are ready, but waiting for others. A great battle at Pittsburg [Landing] and probably not a very great victory. It will all come right, however. We are told that Captain Richardson of the Fifty-fourth was killed. You will perhaps remember him as a gigantic lieutenant of Company D, whose wife was at Camp Chase when you were there.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 229-30

Lieutenant-Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Lucy Webb Hayes, April 18, 1862

18th, A. M. — We shall make a short march today. Letters, etc., may be directed as heretofore. Very glad to hear your talk about the boys. It is always most entertaining to me. You will be a good instructor for them. Let me hear from you as often as you can. You need not feel bound to write long letters — short ones will do. I always like your letters to be long, but I don't want you to put off writing because your time will not allow you to write long ones.

It begins to look like spring at last. We are on very elevated ground. The season is weeks later than in the valley of the Kanawha.

Kiss all the boys. Love to Grandma. I wish so much to be with you all. I think of you constantly and with much happiness and love. Good-bye.

Affectionately, your

R.

P. S. — 18th, P. M. I am ordered to advance to Princeton tomorrow morning, in command of [the] Twenty-third, a section of McMullen's Battery, and a squadron of cavalry. We are all delighted with this plan.

Mrs. Hayes.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 230

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Fessenden Morse: August 30, 1864

Near Railroad Bridge, C HattAhoochIe,

August 30, 1864.

We have changed our base, as you may perceive. On the night of the 25th, we learned that our corps was to go back to the river and hold a strong “tête du pont” covering the bridges and ferries, while the remainder of the army made a grand movement towards the right to get position on the Macon Railroad. Our move was executed very well, all the caissons and wagons going to the rear on the night of the 25th, the troops remaining in position during the next day and moving back at night.

Our division holds a very strong line, covering the railroad bridge and two important wooden ones for wagons. We have made ourselves very strong here, with good earthworks and timber slashed into an impenetrable abattis for five hundred yards in our front, and are now ready for any part of the rebel army that sees fit to attack us. Hood will probably have all he wants on his hands, to look after Sherman and his communications. The 27th was a bright day in our calendar. On that day, General Slocum returned and took command; he rode along our position, and was received with the greatest enthusiasm by the whole line. I had a chance to shake hands with him and say a few words. He is looking finely. I set him down now as one of the very best generals in the whole army, and I think time will prove him so. He is, in every way, a good soldier, and what is better, a true man, devoid of humbug and “rich in saving common sense.” Professional bummers and loafers must make themselves scarce now, and men who do their duty will be recognized once more.

SOURCE: Charles Fessenden Morse, Letters Written During the Civil War, 1861-1865, p. 186-7

Major Wilder Dwight: March 21, 1862

camp Near Winchester, Virginia, March 21, 1862.

If you had looked upon our camp at sunrise reveillé, this morning, you would have seen a dreary, wintry picture. The mules gathered closely about their wagons in the scourging snow-storm with sullen endurance, their tails drawn tightly down, and standing in a vicious attitude of expectant kicking. The horses crossly laying back their ears with half-closed eyes and hanging necks. The soldiers standing up to their roll-call in the attitude of the traveller in the spelling-book, against whom the wind is striving to gain the victory of the fable. The ground whiter than the morning's early light, but only serving to darken the tents into a cheerless and gloomy hue. The air itself thick with snow and sleet. The camp-fires just beginning to smoke, and men hopelessly endeavoring to allure a blaze from black coals and dripping wood. The camp-kettles and mess-pans crusted with ice, suggestive of anything else than a warm breakfast. Would you not expect every mind of the thousand men, remembering also their two thousand wet feet, to be in harmony with the scene? Yet, I know not how it is, from some inherent perverseness perhaps, I was in excellent spirits.

The order has now come to march. Our destination is Centreville, en route, perchance, for the enemy. At any rate, I have grown philosophical again.

I buried hope yesterday, had a glorious wake, and resolved to sink every other wish in the absorbing one of the progress of the war without or with the Massachusetts Second, as it may happen.

We cross the Shenandoah at Snicker's Gap. The march is one of about sixty miles, and will occupy at least four days.

General Banks, who has just returned from Washington, seems in good spirits. He gives, however, a depressing account of the Congressional and political folly which continues to assail McClellan. If McClellan were all they charge him to be, their lips should be sealed.

Every good man will now seek to strengthen the hand and animate the purpose of the General under whose guidance the decisive campaign begins

The weather is breaking away, and promises no very severe penance for our march, though it is not fun that is before us next week. No news yet of Howard, I suppose. It is clear that he has been in one of the hottest battles of the war. You will not hear from me again till Centreville probably.

SOURCE: Elizabeth Amelia Dwight, Editor, Life and Letters of Wilder Dwight: Lieut.-Col. Second Mass. Inf. Vols., p. 214-5