October 16th.– Day follows day and resembles its predecessor. McClellan is still reviewing, and the North are still waiting for victories and paying money, and the orators are still wrangling over the best way of cooking the hares which they have not yet caught. I visited General McDowell to-day at his tent in Arlington, and found him in a state of divine calm with his wife and parvus Iulus. A public man in the United States is very much like a great firework–he commences with some small scintillations which attract the eye of the public, and then he blazes up and flares out in blue, purple, and orange fires, to the intense admiration of the multitude, and dying out suddenly is thought of no more, his place being taken by a fresh roman candle or Catherine wheel which is thought to be far finer than those which have just dazzled the eyes of the fickle spectators. Human nature is thus severely taxed. The Cabinet of State is like the museum of some cruel naturalist, who seizes his specimens whilst they are alive, bottles them up, forbids them to make as much as a contortion, labelling them “My last President,” “My latest Commander-in-chief,” or “My defeated General,” regarding the smallest signs of life very much as did the French petit maître who rebuked the contortions and screams of the poor wretch who was broken on the wheel, as contrary to bienséance. I am glad that Sir James Ferguson and Mr. Bourke did not leave without making a tour of inspection through the Federal camp, which they did to-day.

October 17th.–Dies non.

October 16.—We had a pleasant evening. While N. read the papers we were knitting for the soldiers. An account is given of some small successes. Our men, near Pensacola, have broken up the camp of “Billy Wilson’s Zouaves,” of which we have heard so much; and Captain Hollins of the navy has broken the blockade at New Orleans, sunk the “Vincennes,” and captured a sloop, without the least damage to himself and men. Rosecranz has retreated before our men at Big Sewell Mountain. For these things we desire to be truly grateful, without rejoicing in the misfortunes of our enemies, except as they tend to the welfare of our invaded and abused country.

October 16.–At Annapolis, Md., a presentation of standards to the regiments of Brigadier-General Viele’s command, took place. The standards were the united gift of Mrs. Brigadier-General Viele and the Union Defence Committee, of New York. They were of the regulation size, made of the heaviest Canton silk, and fringed with heavy gold bullion. Each standard had an appropriate inscription thereon. Prior to the presentation ceremonies the entire brigade was drawn up on the College Green of the city, comprising several acres.

The first standard was presented by Governor Hicks, of Maryland. The presenter, attended by Brigadier-General Viele and his full staff, appeared in the front and centre of the regiment, and in a most telling speech, alluding to the present crisis, enjoined upon every soldier the necessity of carrying the National colors into theheart of the enemy’s country. The presentation to Colonel Rosa’s regiment, the Forty-seventh, of New York, was made by General Viele in person. The reply by the colonel was brief, but exceedingly apropos. The presentation to the Forty-seventh New York, the Washington Greys, was made by Brig.-Gen. Abram Duryea. The presentation speech was highly patriotic, alluding to the past history of the country and the cause of the present crisis. The presentation to the Forty-eighth regiment, Colonel Perry, was made by Governor Hicks. As each color was received the cheers of the troops and spectators were most enthusiastic, while the bands of the several regiments discoursed choice music. To Gen. Viele, whom the troops of his brigade style the “Big Little General,” and his lady were given the greatest lumber of cheers. The affair was one that will be long remembered in Annapolis, both from the importance of the occasion and the historical reminiscences of the city.–Baltimore American, October 19.

–Col. John W. Geary, of the Pennsylvania Twenty-eighth regiment, with detachments from his own, the Thirteenth Mass., and Third Wisconsin regiments, in all four hundred men, crossed the Potomac at Harper’s Ferry, and captured twenty-one thousand bushels of wheat stored in a mill near that place. While upon his return and on the Charleston road, near Bolivar Heights, midway between the Potomac and the Shenandoah. rivers, he was attacked by a large Confederate force with infantry, artillery, and cavalry. Rebel batteries upon Loudon and Bolívar Heights participated in the action, as did also a National battery upon the Maryland side. After several hours of intermittent fighting, the rebels were driven off, supposed with considerable loss. National loss four killed and eight wounded. Col. Geary took from the rebels one thirty-two pounder.–(Doc. 90.)

–Indiana disputes the statement that New Hampshire is the first State that has her full quota of volunteers in actual service. Indiana, whose quota is thirty-four thousand, has thirty-two regiments of infantry, of one thousand and forty-eight men each; one regiment of cavalry, being fourteen companies, of one thousand one hundred and fifty-three men; three batteries of one hundred and fifty-six men each, and one of one hundred men, making an aggregate of thirty-five thousand three hundred and fifty-seven men in actual service. In addition to this, there are six regiments now ready for the field as soon as arms can be procured, and sixteen more organized and rapidly filling up.–Dubuque Times, Oct. 18.

–The Twentieth regiment of Ohio Volunteers, under the command of Colonel Charles Whittlesey, left Camp Chase, at Columbus, for the seat of war.–Ohio Statesman, Oct. 17.

–A skirmish took place about five miles from Warsaw, Mo., between forty National troops and thirty-five rebels, in which the latter lost three killed and three prisoners. The Nationals escaped unharmed.–Cincinnati Gazette, Oct. 23.

–The Committee of the City Council, of Philadelphia, Pa., presented a sword of honor, on behalf of the city, to General Robert Anderson.

–In compliance with orders issued by the War Department at Richmond, Virginia. Colonel Adler, a Polish officer, recently attached to the Wise Legion, in Western Virginia, as an engineer, with the commission of colonel, was arrested by the Government detectives and conveyed to the Columbian Hotel, where, in consequence of his weak condition caused by a self-inflicted wound, he was permitted to remain upon parole until yesterday forenoon, when he was taken to the prison hospital as a prisoner. The charges preferred against him are that of the spy, and of holding communication with the enemy. Colonel Adler went to Richmond highly recommended as an officer of ability, who had served with distinction in the Hungarian war, and in the Italian struggle under Garibaldi, and upon these representations obtained a commission in the army. His unaccountable conduct in Western Virginia, exciting the suspicion of Governor Wise, he was, at the command of the latter, arrested as a spy. Upon hearing of his arrest, he attempted to commit suicide through mortification, it is said, inflicting a serious gash upon his throat, from the effects of which he is now suffering.–Richmond Enquirer, Oct. 19.

–One hundred and fifty men of the First Missouri Scouts, under Major Wright, surprised the rebel garrison, at Lexington, Missouri, and recaptured the place and all the sick and wounded, together with a quantity of guns, pistols, and other articles which the rebels threw away in their flight. Two pieces of cannon, which were in the fort, were also captured. The rebel garrison numbered three hundred. The condition of Lexington was deplorable. Portions of the town had been stripped of every thing, and many of the inhabitants were actually suffering for the necessaries of life.–(Doc. 91.)

–An immense audience assembled at Baltimore, Md., to-night, to hear the Hon. Henry Winter Davis on the rebellion. L. W. Gosnell, Esq., a Breckinridge Democrat, presided. Mr. Davis was received with the most unbounded enthusiasm. He endorsed the war policy of the Government to the fullest extent..

–Lord Lyons issued a circular to all the British Consuls in Southern ports that they shall take for their guidance the law of blockade as announced by the State Department, which does not permit vessels to take in a cargo in blockaded ports after the announcement of the blockade.–(Doc. 92.)

October 16, 1861

A Chronological History of the Civil War in America¹

• Recapture of Lexington, Mo., by a small Union force under Major White, the main body of the rebels having previously evacuated the city.
• Rebels routed at Bolivar, near Harper’s Ferry
• Sharp skirmish at Ironton, Mo.
• Battle at Pilot Knob, Mo.; rebels routed.

1. A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863

15th. Called to see Fannie in the morning. Saw her to Oberlin cars in the afternoon.

TUESDAY 15

I have been quite ill today, had a slight chill, pulse up to 100 all the after part of the day. Must take some medicine tonight. I went to the Prests this evening (fever and all), saw Maj Watt. Think matters are in pretty good train for a post in Sec’y Smiths Dept. The weather is most delightful now and the nights beautiful with a full moon. No war news stirring.

______

The three diary manuscript volumes, Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865, are available online at The Library of   Congress.

Tuesday, October 15. — Parade drill of the battery, in presence of Gov. Sprague, and Col. Tomp kins, the drill proving very satisfactory. Capt. Vaughan visited us the same evening, and addressed us as follows: “Boys, I deserve to be kicked for ever leaving this battery, because, by right, it is my battery, and I should be with you. (Vociferous cheering, and cries, “ Give us our old officers, and we will show you that we can drill. “) Capt. Vaughan, mounting his horse, appeared very much affected. Turning round once more, he said, “ I am hanging around; it is hard for me to leave you.” Answer of the men: “ We know it. You are a man every inch of you.” Nine cheers for Capt. Vaughan, our old First Lieutenant, vibrated through the air.

OCTOBER 15th.—I have been requested by Gen. Winder to-day to refuse a passport to Col. M____r to leave the city in any direction. So the colonel is within bounds! I learn that he differed with Gen. Winder (both from Maryland) in politics. But if he was a Whig, so was Mr. Benjamin. Again, I hear that Col. M. had some difficulty with Col. Northrop, Commissary-General, and challenged him. This is a horse of another color. Col. N. is one of the special favorites of the President.

We did a few errands, went to see the Indiana boys at the Patent Office again, and to the Columbian College Hospital, and also to call on Will Winthrop, now Lieutenant of the Berdan Sharp Shooters. He entertained us in his tent, a nice neat one, full of contrivances–painted table, book shelves and a wash-stand. Captain Hastings[1] of his company received us too; and when we left, Will begged us to walk down the color-line with them as “it would increase their importance to be seen with two rather good-looking women. And if one of the field officers would only come by and ask who we were!”

On Sunday (the 13th) we went to St. John’s Church and shook hands with General Scott and asked him in fun for leave of absence. He “thought we couldn’t be spared!”

[1] He died insane, at the close of the war.

Camp Hudson, October 15th. We moved at seven o’clock this morning. For the first four miles the road ran through woods intersected by small streams. The ground was as rough as it could well be, and the teams which had started before us were struggling through the mire and over the rocks. We dashed past them at a fast trot, and in half an hour came upon a high prairie. The prairies of Southern Missouri are not large and flat, like the monotonous levels of Central Illinois, but they are rolling, usually small, and broken by frequent narrow belts of timber. In the woods there are hills, rocky soil, and always one, often two streams, clear and rapid as a mountain-brook in New England.

The scenery to-day was particularly attractive, a constant succession of prairies surrounded by wooded hills. As we go south, the color of the forest becomes richer, and the atmosphere more mellow and hazy.

During the first two hours we passed several regiments of foot. The men were nearly all Germans, and I scanned the ranks carefully, longing to see an American countenance. I found none, but caught sight of one arch-devil-may-care Irish face. I doubt whether there is a company in the army without an Irishman in it, though the proportion of Irishmen in our ranks is not so great as at the East.

Early in the afternoon we rode up to a farm-house, at the gate of which a middle-aged woman was standing, crying bitterly. The General stopped, and the woman at once assailed him vehemently. She told him the soldiers had that day taken her husband and his team away with them. She said that there was no one left to take care of her old blind mother, –at which allusion, the blind mother tottered down the walk and took a position in the rear of the attacking party, – that they had two orphan girls, the children of a deceased sister, and the orphans had lost their second father. The assailants were here reinforced by the two orphan girls. She protested that her husband was loyal, –“Truly, Sir, he was a Union man and voted for the Union, and always told his neighbors Disunion would do nothing except bring trouble upon innocent people, as indeed it has,” said she, with a fresh flood of tears. The General was moved by her distress, and ordered Colonel E. to have the man, whose name is Rutherford, sent back at once.

A few rods farther on we came to another house, in front of which was another weeping woman afflicted in the same way. Several little flaxen-haired children surrounded her, and a white-bearded man, trembling with age, stood behind, leaning upon a staff. Her earnestness far surpassed that of Mrs. Rutherford. She wrung her hands, and could hardly speak for her tears. She seized the General’s hand and entreated him to return her husband, with an expression of distress which the hardest heart could not resist. The General comforted the poor woman with a few kind words, and promised to grant what she asked.

It is very difficult to refuse such requests, and yet, in point of fact, no great hardship or sacrifice is required of these men. They profess to he Union men, but they are not in arms for the Union, and a Federal general now asks of them that they shall help the army for a day with their teams. To those who come here from all parts of the nation to defend these homes this does not appear to be a harsh demand.

We arrived at camp about five o’clock. Our day’s march was twenty-two miles, and the wagons were far behind. A neighboring farm-house afforded the General and a few of his officers a dinner, but it was late in the evening before the tents were pitched.

Fremont’s Hundred Days in Missouri was published in three installments in The Atlantic Monthly. The anonymous author appears to have been a member of Fremont’s staff with a disdainful bias towards Missourians, even those who were pro-Union.

Camp Tompkins, Gauley Bridge, October 15, 1861.

Dear Mother : – You will be pleased to hear that I am here practicing law. The enemy having vanished in one direction and our army having retired to this stronghold in the other, I, yesterday, left my regiment about seven miles up the river and am here at General Rosecrans’ headquarters, looking after offenders. It is safe enough in all this region. Our soldiers occupy all the leading roads and strong places. We hear of nobody being fired on, even by murderous bushwhackers. . . .

We are in the midst of glorious mountain scenery. Hawk’s Nest and Lover’s Leap are two of the most romantic spots I have ever seen. A precipitous cliff over seven hundred feet high, with high mountains back of it, overlooks a wild rushing river that roars and dashes against the rocks, Niagara fashion. The weather too has been, and is, lovely October weather. Love to all.

Affectionately, your son,

Rutherford.

Mrs. Sophia Hayes.

Tuesday, October 15.—Captain John Eldridge came on board this morning. He was a welcome visitor for two reasons. First, he brought me several letters from home; and secondly, the sight of such a jolly old gentleman was enough to drive away any blue devils which a fellow might have. He is my idea of Falstaff, and a most perfect one, too. I hope to enjoy his company on the voyage, and shall not be disappointed. He said Father was in New York, and would come to see me. He did come about ten o’clock, and reported all well at home. When he left the ship he would not bid me good-by, but departed in a hurry.

Captain Comstock came on board about 11 o’clock, and we started about 12 m. We left our pilot at Sandy Hook, and waited there for our ship, the Ocean Express, which we are to tow. The sail down the harbor was quite pleasant, and I looked with feelings of pleasure and satisfaction on Fort Lafayette in particular, and also at Forts Hamilton, Richmond, etc., which are situated at the Narrows. The sea was calm, the weather pleasant, and everything foretold a pleasant voyage. It was good at last to feel we were really off, bound the Lord knows where, for I am sure no one on the ship knew. [continue reading…]

Near Gauley Bridge, October 15, 1861.

Dear Uncle: – I am practicing law on the circuit, going from camp to camp. Great fun I find it. I am now in General Rosecrans’ headquarters, eight miles from my regiment. This is the spot for grand mountain scenery. New River and Gauley unite here to form the Kanawha. Nothing on the Connecticut anywhere equals the views here.

Glad Ohio is sound on the goose. Sandusky County for once is right. We shall beat the Rebels if the people will only be patient. We are learning war. The teaching is expensive and the progress slow, but I see the advance. Our army here is safe and holds the key to all that is worth having in western Virginia. . . .

Sincerely,

R. B. Hayes.

P. S. – Send letters, etc., care of General Rosecrans as heretofore. How about Treasury notes? Patriotism requires us to take and circulate them, but is there not a chance of their sharing, sooner or later, in a limited degree, the fate of the Continental money of Revolutionary times?

S. Birchard.

Tuesday, 15th–We moved into our new barracks today, and the boys are all pleased with the new quarters. We had some visitors. Our camp is becoming quite a place for visitors–parents and friends of the boys coming in to bid them the last goodbye.

Captain Lyon to the Racine Advocate.

“Camp of Instruction, Benton Barracks,
St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 15, 1861.

“Messrs. Editors: On Saturday evening last our regiment struck tents at Camp Randall and started for the seat of war. We reached Chicago at 4 o’clock p. m.; left there at about 8 o’clock p. m.; arrived at Illinois Town, opposite St. Louis, at 8 o’clock Sunday evening, and the next morning crossed the river; marched some four or five miles through the city in a northwest direction, and arrived at this camp a little before noon.

“Our journey here was a very pleasant one. The weather was fine, and we were greeted by people along the whole route, and especially for the last one hundred miles of it and in this city, with much enthusiasm. We had what the newspapers call ‘a brilliant reception,’ in Chicago. It consisted mainly in being stared at by a large number of people, some few of whom cheered us as we marched through the city.

“Sunday was a balmy, beautiful day–very beautiful–and we traversed all day long a magnificent country, and as we gazed upon it and remembered that Illinois has sent, and is sending forth, 50,000 of her sons to do battle in the sacred cause of Liberty and Good Government, we felt that we were in a glorious state–in a state which, when the history of these times is written, will figure conspicuously and honorably upon its pages.

“This camp is pleasantly located on high, level ground, embracing several hundred acres, including the grounds of the Missouri State Agricultural Society, in the west part of the city, and, I am told, also including within its limits the celebrated Camp Jackson, where Lyon and Blair captured Claib. Jackson’s rebel state troops last spring.

“Yesterday was a very warm day, as warm, I think, as the last 4th of July in Racine, and the men suffered much on the march to camp, burdened as they were with their overcoats, canteens, haversacks, knapsacks and guns; but they stood it very well, and last evening many of them were dancing in their quarters so briskly that a bystander would scarcely believe that they had on the same day performed a fatiguing march of several miles through the heated, dusty streets of a city, and that, too, at the end of a journey of 400 miles. The members of our company are all well, or nearly so. At least we have none in the hospital, and no case of serious illness.

“11 a. m.–We have just received orders to take five days’ rations and 20 ball cartridges, and to leave here at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning. The right wing of the regiment goes at 4 o’clock this afternoon. Where our destination is, and what we have to do when we get there, we know nothing about; but you will hear from us again. The men are delighted with the prospect of immediate service, which they testify by loud shouts and cheers. Busy preparations for departure are going on throughout the regiment, and I must bring this hastily written communication to a close.

Wm. P. Lyon.”

October 15th.–Sir James Ferguson and Mr. R. Bourke, who have been travelling in the South and have seen something of the Confederate government and armies, visited us this evening after dinner. They do not seem at all desirous of testing by comparison the relative efficiency of the two armies, which Sir James, at all events, is competent to do. They are impressed by the energy and animosity of the South, which no doubt will have their effect on England also; but it will be difficult to popularize a Slave Republic as a new allied power in England. Two of General McClellan’s aides dropped in, and the meeting abstained from general politics.

London, October 15, 1861

In your last letters I am not a little sorry to see that you are falling into the way that to us at this distance seems to be only the mark of weak men, of complaining and fault-finding over the course of events. In mere newspaper correspondents who are not expected to have commonsense or judgment, this may be all natural, but you ought to know better, for you have the means for hitting the truth nearer. For my own part I tell you fairly that all the gossip and senseless stories that the generation can invent, shall not, if I can help it, shake for one single instant the firm confidence which I feel in those who are guiding our affairs. You are allowing your own better judgment and knowledge to be overruled by the combined talk of a swarm of people who have neither knowledge nor judgment at all; and what is to be the consequence, I would like to know, if you and men like you, who ought to lead and strengthen public opinion in the right path, now instead of exercising your rights and asserting your power for good, give way to a mere vulgar discouragement merely because the current runs for the moment in that direction. Call you that backing of your friends? A plague upon such backing. Every repetition that is given to these querulous ideas tends to demoralize us worse than a defeat would, and certainly here abroad is sure to counteract every attempt to restore confidence either in our nation or her institutions.

Even if I believed in the truth of the sort of talk you quote, I would suspend the moral habeas-corpus for a time and deny it. But I don’t believe it; and more than that, in all the instances which you quote about which I know anything at all, I know it to be false. You, like a set of people with whom you now for the first time agree, seem to have fallen foul of the President and Cabinet and in fact every one in authority as the scapegoats for all the fault-finding of the day, simply because their positions prevent them from showing you the truth. Now so far as military and naval affairs go, I know nothing at all, but one fact I have noticed and this is that our worst misfortunes have come from popular interference with them. Croaking is just as likely to bring another defeat, as that ridiculous bravado which sent our army to Bull Run. But your troubles don’t end with the army and navy; if they did, I might perhaps think that your informants really knew something about a matter on which you and I know nothing. You go on to find fault with [continue reading…]

October 15.–The United States steamer Roanoke took possession of the ship Thomas Watson, which, in the attempt to run the blockade at Charleston, had got on Stone reef and was abandoned by the captain and crew. She was laden with an assorted cargo, which, with the ship, was thought to be worth about a hundred thousand dollars. She was burned.–N. Y. Herald, Oct. 24.

–The Confederates burned the house of the widow Childs, situated about half way between Falls Church and Lewinville, Va., to the right of the Leesburg turnpike. A party of ten of the New York Fourteenth regiment went thither to ascertain the cause of the conflagration, when they were surrounded by a largely superior force of Confederates, but by the prompt use of their rifles, killing two of the enemy, they escaped.–The naval fleet which left New York on Monday arrived in Hampton Roads this day, and created a great excitement among the troops, owing to the extensive character of the expedition. A flag of truce came up from Norfolk, but Gen. Wool refused to receive it.–The armed steamer Pawnee left the Navy Yard, at Washington, for Fortress Monroe, with a battalion of marines. As the Pawnee got abreast of the secession batteries above Acquia Creek, about fifty shell and shot were fired at the steamer, but having been ordered not to return any fire unless she were struck, and no shot taking effect on her, she went on her way down the river unharmed.–National Intelligencer, October 17.

–The Second Minnesota regiment, under the command of Colonel Henry P. Van Cleve, passed through Chicago, Ill., on the way to the seat of war on the Potomac.–Chicago Tribune, October 16.

–The Connecticut Senate, by a vote of twelve to six, this morning passed the following: “Resolved, That the messenger of the Senate be, and is hereby requested and directed to remove from the Senate Chamber the portraits of Isaac Toucey and Thomas H. Seymour, and that whenever the comptroller shall be satisfied of their loyalty he is instructed to return their portraits to their present place on the wall.”

–Six Hundred rebels, under Jeff. Thompson, attacked forty U. S. soldiers, posted to guard the Big River Bridge, near Potosi, in Missouri. Though the Union troops fought bravely for a while, they were surrounded and compelled to surrender. Their loss was one killed and six wounded; the rebel loss was five killed and four wounded. Immediately after the surrender, the Federal prisoners were sworn by Jeff. Thompson not to bear arms against the Southern Confederacy, and released. The rebels then burned the bridge and retreated. All the troops along the road, when this became known, were ordered to Ironton, by Colonel Carlin, commandant of that post, in anticipation of an attack.–(Doc. 88.)

–About two o’clock A. M. a skirmish took place near Green River, Ky., between three hundred Confederate cavalry, and about forty United States cavalry, under the command of Capt. Vandyke. As many as forty or fifty shots were fired by the Confederates without effect. Only four or five were fired by the Union men. The latter kept their position, and sent for reinforcements, but before these arrived the rebels disappeared.–N. Y. Times, October 20.

–The steamers Pocahontas and Seminole, while going down the Potomac, were fired upon very briskly from the batteries at Shipping Point. Captain Craven, who was five miles further up the river, on beard the Yankee, upon hearing the firing, steamed down, bnt found that the Pocahontas and Seminole had succeeded in passing the batteries.–(Doc. 89.)

October 15, 1861

A Chronological History of the Civil War in America¹

• Jeff. Thompson captured 50 Union troops at Potosi, Mo.
• Three steamers dispatched from New York after the “Nashville.”
• Defeat of the rebels at Frederick, Mo.

1. A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863

OCTOBER 14th.—Kissing goes by favor! Col. M____r, of Maryland, whose published letter of objuration of the United States Government attracted much attention some time since, is under the ban. He came hither and tendered his services to this government, but failed to get the employment applied for, though his application was urged by Mr. Hunter, the Secretary of State, who is his relative. After remaining here for a long time, vainly hoping our army would cross the Potomac and deliver his native State, and finding his finances diminishing, he sought permission of the Secretary to return temporarily to his family in Maryland, expecting to get them away and to save some portion of his effects. His fidelity was vouched for in strong language by Mr. Hunter, and yet the application has been refused! I infer from this that Mr. Benjamin is omnipotent in the cabinet, and that Mr. Hunter cannot remain long in it.

MONDAY 14

I have done but little today but attend to my cold, altho I have been round the City some. It is understood that there has been a general advance today of our troops over the River. Saw the Qr Mastr of the 27th Regt on the Ave. He said that Genl Slocums Brigade was moveing forward a few miles. I was at the Prests this morning a short time. Had an offer of a post in the Qr Master department at $1,200 salary.

______

The three diary manuscript volumes, Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865, are available online at The Library of   Congress.

Oct. 14.

Moritz got back from Annapolis all right. Found Dr. Bacon and delivered the basket. There was no prospect of their going before next week. All the 15,000 had not yet arrived and only one transport was ready. The railroad was blocked all the way by immense trains of stores, ammunition, etc., and Moritz was from half-past two till eleven o’clock getting there.

Oct. 14—Tiresome ride to Shepardstown to see wounded men, Hathaway, Brown, Dement and Lieutenant Crews. A minie ball passed through his chest at Sharpsburg. (I had no idea he could live; but in 1870 and 1871 I was his pastor at Oxford. ) Spend night at Hon. Alex. Boteler’s. Go to see Captain Osborn at Shepardstown. Among the brave men left at Shepardstown, too badly wounded at Sharpsburg to be taken any distance, was Col. W. L. DeRossett, of Wilmington, North Carolina. I there first met him and his venerable father, Dr. A. J. DeRossett. (The Colonel lived a cripple for life, was largely useful, and raised an interesting family. The father lived to extreme old age and died in 1897. ) Get Lieutenant Harrell’s sword. George K. Harrell was wounded at Sharpsburg, but returned to duty and carried that sword till he was killed, May 12, 1864. See Colonel McGill at house of Dr. Lucas, two and a half miles out. His wife is with him.

Camp Zagonyi, October 14th. We were in the saddle this morning at nine o’clock. A short march of eleven miles, in a south-westerly direction, and through a prairie country, brought us to our camp. As we came upon the summit of a hill which lies to the west of our present position, our attention was directed to a group standing in front of a house about a mile distant. We had hardly caught sight of them when half a dozen men and three women mounted their horses and started at full speed towards the northeast, each man leading a horse. The General ordered some of the body-guard to pursue and try to stop the fugitives. We eagerly watched the chase. A narrow valley separated us from the elevation upon which the farm-house stood, and a small stream with low banks ran through the bottom of the valley. The pursuit was active, the guardsmen ran their horses down the slope, leaped the pool, and rushed up the opposite hill but the runaways were on fresh horses, and had no rough ground to pass, and so they escaped. One of them lost the horse he was leading, and it was caught by a guardsman. This was the first exhibition we have seen of a desire on the part of the inhabitants to avoid us.

The General established headquarters alongside the house where we first discovered the Rebel party. Our position is the most beautiful one we have yet found. To the west stretches an undulating prairie, separated from us by a valley, into which our camping-ground subsides with a mild declivity; to the north is a range of low hills, their round sides unbroken by shrub or tree while to the south stretches an extensive tract of low land, densely covered with timber, and resplendent with the colors of autumn.              

Before dark the whole of Asboth’s division came up and encamped on the slopes to the west and north: not less than seven thousand men are here. This evening the scene is beautiful. I sit in the door of my lodge, and as far as the eye can reach the prairie is dotted with tents, the dark forms of men and horses, the huge white-topped wagons,–and a thousand fires gleam through the faint moonlight. Our band is playing near the General’s quarters, its strains are echoed by a score of regimental bands, and their music is mingled with the numberless noises of camp, the hum of voices, the laughter from the groups around the fires, the clatter of hoofs as some rider hurries to the General, the distant challenges of the sentries, the neighing of horses, the hoarse bellowing of the mules, and the clinking of the cavalry anvils. This, at last, is the romance of war. How soon will our ears be saluted by sterner music?

Fremont’s Hundred Days in Missouri was published in three installments in The Atlantic Monthly. The anonymous author appears to have been a member of Fremont’s staff with a disdainful bias towards Missourians, even those who were pro-Union.