28th.—All the stirring news of yesterday did not uproot us. I begin to think that we are so deeply stuck in the mud that nothing can get us out, short of the sight of a rebel. That might galvanize us into a move.
This morning we received an order countermanding the last one to be ready, so that we are again unready. This is the last day of winter, and the coldest we have had. It snows and blows, and this is probably the reason of the countermand.
It seems to me a great shame that our soldiers have been kept here doing nothing all winter, and yet not one in fifty of them has been permitted to visit the National Capitol and learn something of the modus operandi of the Government for which he fights. Very few of them, I fear, will ever enjoy another opportunity to do so.
