26th.—Another quiet day in camp. I applied to-day for a furlough, which I doubt not will be granted. I have worked hard and constantly for sixteen months, and as I am now for a time disabled, I can conceive of no reason why I may not be relieved for a few weeks. No attempted solution yet of the question “Why did not McClellan crush or capture the rebel army after the battle of Antietam?” This question is made peculiarly pertinent by the fact, now ascertained, that we had on the ground the morning after the battle, a force of men (not one of whom had been in the battle of the day before) nearly if not quite equal to Lee’s entire army.
Journal of Surgeon Alfred L. Castleman.
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