11th—In camp all day. Beautiful and clear but windy. Heavy firing towards night some twelve or twenty miles to the southwest.
McClellan relieved, and to-day Burnside succeeds. Surely,
“De kingdom’s comin’,
And de day ob jubelo.”
Some of the army depressed to-night in consequence of the change. Natural enough, but it will be all right in a few days, or I am no prophet.
To all the claims to greatness for Gen. McClellan, the question will obtrude: With the best army on the continent, of two hundred thousand men, what has he accomplished in the fifteen months during which he has been in command? “Whilst on the other hand, another question comes up: Why, if he has accomplished nothing, and is not a great man, is he the most popular man, with his army, in the United States? My own solution is this: There is a tendency in armies, to love and venerate their Commander. General McClellan has been at the head of the armies. In addition, his friends hold him up as a political aspirant. He, then, who shall accomplish most for McClellan’s popularity, stands first in the list of promotions! Every Major and Brigadier General feels it to be his own personal interest to eulogise McClellan, and the struggle amongst his followers, is not for who shall distinguish himself most in the service of his country, but who shall stand highest on the list of friends to him who is soon to wield both the civil and military power of the country. The soldiers know nothing against him, because they know nothing of him. He is rarely seen by them, and the encomiums of his sycophantic eulogists, such as Porter, Franklin, Hancock, ” et id omne genus conspiratorum,” is taken as true, whilst such men as Kearney, Reno, Couch and Burnside, must be sacrificed for being in the way of others, who substitute intrigue for genius.
10th.—Reconnoisance by our Brigade to-day. Marched over precisely the same road we came yesterday, to the same place, and returned to-night to the place whence we started the morning; distance going and returning, sixteen miles, over a tremendous mountain:
“The King of France, with forty thousand men,
Marched up the hill, and then marched down again!”
We have done that twice to-day. Why should we not figure in history as well as he? We discovered nothing. But there has been heavy firing again to-day, beyond the Ridge, in the direction of Waterloo.
Sunday, 9th.-—How little like Sunday the day has been; marching, whooping, hollering. Few even know it is Sunday. From present appearances, one would judge that—
“The sound of the church going bells,
These valleys and rocks never heard.”
March to-day with all teams in advance. What does it mean? Are we again retreating with our two hundred thousand of the best troops the world ever saw? I will not believe it yet, though McClellan’s friends claim that he is the best retreater known in modern warfare. We are encamped to-night near New Baltimore, a Virginia town, which once boasted a blacksmith shop and two houses.
8th.—More pleasant than yesterday. In camp all day. There is a rumor that the enemy have taken one hundred and fifty of our teams in the Shenandoah Valley, and that they are again at Harper’s Ferry. The report is not credited here,[1] but it is certain that they have cut the railroad four miles east of us, stopping our supplies from Washington. Hard times ahead.
[1] Proved to be false.
7th —Cold and blustery last night. Ice half an inch thick, with driving snow storm this morning; very uncomfortable. No move to-day.
6th.—Marched ten or twelve miles to-day. Crossed railroad below Manassas Gap, and encamped near the village of White Plains. There has been no firing in hearing yesterday or to-day.
5th.—Broke camp at 2 in the afternoon; moved four or five miles in a southerly direction, still keeping a few miles to the east of the Blue Ridge. No enemy encountered, and none found to-day by our advanced guard. Troops in fine health and spirits.
4th.—We have marched about ten miles, and are encamped at Union, a dirty little worn out village. It looks as if it was dying of dry gangrene, and was too weak to wash its face. Cannonading heard all day, and although we are marching from ten to fourteen miles a day; we do not seem to get nearer to it. We are now again over twenty miles into Virginia, and everything looks like a general movement which is “to be continued.”
3d.—Division left camp at 7 this A. M., crossed the Potomac at Berlin, on a pontoon bridge, and march in a southwestern direction through Lovettsville. The Blue Ridge loomed up all day, to our right, and separated us from the Shenandoah Valley. All day we hear heavy firing beyond the Ridge, at Snicker’s Gap, through which the enemy was driven yesterday. General Pleasanton is after them.
Sunday, 2d.—All quiet to-day, preparatory to moving. Spent most of the day in calling on and receiving calls from the officers and soldiers of the regiment. All seemed glad to welcome me back. I hope and believe they were sincere. Went to church in the afternoon, but heard no sermon.
