Monday, August 5.—Weather clear and fine. At 11 a.m. I was visited by Captain Hillyar, of the Cadmus, who brought me a New York Express of the 12th July, and made himself very agreeable. The war appeared a very extraordinary affair to him, and he could not suppose that it would continue long. He rather [...]

August 5th.–A heavy, heavy heart. Another missive from Jordan, querulous and fault-finding; things are all wrong–Beauregard’s Jordan had been crossed, not the stream “in Canaan’s fair and happy land, where our possessions lie.” They seem to feel that the war is over here, except the President and Mr. Barnwell; above all that foreboding friend of [...]

MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 1861. Weather continues extremely hot. M. at 92 in the middle of the day. Surgeon Barnes took breakfast with us. He is attending the Lowry boy who fell (our neighbor). The boy is doing extremely well. I was at the Pat office awhile today, saw and talked with the Comr. He thinks [...]

AUGUST 5th.—Col. Bledsoe has a job directly from the President: which is to adapt the volume of U. S. Army Regulations to the service of the Confederate States. It is only to strike out U. S. and insert C. S., and yet the colonel groans over it.

St Louis Mo. August 5. 1861 My dear wife I arrived here some time last night, and had a very comfortable rest on a good large bed in the Ladies Cabin till 6 ½ Oclock. On opening the mornings papers, I found General Fremont1 had returned to this city yesterday: so I was fortunate in [...]

Aug. 5th, 1861. My dear Mother: Living now quietly without excitement, the events of two weeks ago have become like a dream. Our camp is beautifully situated on Meridian Hill in the suburbs of Washington, and overlooks an enchanting prospect of the city, and the green banks of the Potomac. The air is fresh and [...]

August 5th. – The roads from the station are crowded with troops, coming from the North as fast as the railway can carry them. It is evident, as the war fever spreads, that such politicians as Mr. Crittenden, who resist the extreme violence of the Republican party, will be stricken down. The Confiscation Bill, for [...]

London, August 5, 1861 We received yesterday the news of our defeat at Bull’s Run, and today your letter and John’s with some papers have arrived. Though I do not see that this check necessarily involves all the serious consequences that you draw from it, I am still sufficiently impressed by it to decide me [...]

Washington, August –. Hurrah for you, to be offered the Colonelcy of the regiment! I am glad, however, that you have no wish to take it. I shrink from any such responsibility for you. Dr. Bacon came in last evening and we had a nice pleasant chat. His regiment, the 2nd Connecticut, goes home to-day [...]

August 5.–At Washington, the representatives of the newspaper press held a consultation with Gen McClellan by his special invitation, when it was unanimously decided that the following suggestions from him be transmitted to the editors of all the newspapers in all the loyal States and in the District of Columbia: 1st. That all such editors [...]

August 5, 1861 In order to help pay for the war effort, the United States government levies the first income tax as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US$800; rescinded in 1872). The United States Army abolishes flogging. Abraham Lincoln approves a wide variety of bills passed during a [...]

AUGUST 4th.—To-day Mr. Walker inquired where my son Custis was. I told him he was with his mother at Newbern, N. C. He authorized me to telegraph him to return, and he should be appointed to a clerkship.

August 4. Sunday.–Visited the hospital. It is airy and comfortable–the court-house of the county, a large good building. The judge’s bench was full of invalids, convalescent, busily writing letters to friends at home. Within the bar and on the benches provided for the public were laid straw bedticks in some confusion, but comfortable. A side [...]

Sunday, August 4.—Morning calm and clear. The chimes of the church bells from the shore fall pleasantly and suggestively on the ear. A U.S. schooner came in from some point up the bay. At 10:30 gave the order to get up steam, but the paymaster reporting some of his vouchers not in form, the order [...]

SUNDAY 4 The heat has been greater than ever today. Went to Church with wife and the boys. Lieut Swan & Lieut Gould took breakfast with with [sic] us & Chaplin Buck took dinner with us. He preached at the Capitol this morning. It was too hot for any of us to go out to [...]

Daily Times [Leavenworth, Ks], August 4, 1861 The Louisville Journal publishes a complete exposition of the objects and rites of the Knights of the Golden Circle, taken from their secret documents. Of these documents, the Journal says: “That they are authentic, we give our solemn assurance as an editor and as a man.” It appears [...]

Daily Chronicle & Sentinel [Augusta, GA], August 4, 1861 Capt. Fremaux and Wm. S. Read, of the 8th Louisiana Regiment, arrived on Wednesday evening, with the first female prisoner, a Mrs. Curtis, who was captured at Fall’s Church on Sunday last, dressed in military clothes. She belongs, it appears, to the 2d N. Y. Regiment. [...]

August 4th.–I had no idea that the sun could be powerful in Washington; even in India the heat is not much more oppressive than it was here to-day. There is this extenuating circumstance, however, that after some hours of such very high temperature, thunder-storms and tornadoes cool the air. I received a message from General [...]

August 4.–About five o’clock, this morning, the Second Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers, passed through Philadelphia, Pa., on their way home. The regiment is under Colonel A. H. Terry, and participated in the engagement at Bull Run. In the fight they lost sixteen men killed and wounded. The officers of this regiment deny that it was [...]

August 4, 1861 A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 Skirmish at Point of Rocks, Va. Rebels routed at Athens, Mo. A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863

AUGUST 3d.—Conversed with some Yankees to-day who are to be released to-morrow. It appears that when young Lamar lost his horse on the plains of Manassas, the 4th Alabama Regiment had to fall back a few hundred yards, and it was impossible to bear Col. Jones, wounded, from the field, as he was large and [...]

August 3, 1861.–Called on James T. Jackson, a Secessionist, for a map of Virginia–one of the Board of Public Works maps. He said he once had one but his brother had sold it to a captain in [the] Seventh Regiment. Called then on William E. Arnold, a lawyer and Union man. He offered every facility [...]

Saturday, August 3.—Not so much rain to-day. Finished coaling, although I am not full, to avoid being further cheated in the measure by the scoundrel who is putting it in. Got off and got up the new main yard. Am again ready for sea.

SATURDAY 3 Hot still. Went over to the Navy Yard with Julia and Miss Hartly. Went round the shops and on board the Steamer Pensacola which will be completed in a few days. Nothing but cannon, and shot and shells, fill the workshops. Everything there looks warlike. No troops are quartered in the Yard now, [...]