FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1861.
A bright morning, but rain all day after 12 o’clock. Troops continue to arrive, 30,000 here now. They are now mostly going into camp in the suburbs of the City. Reports of large bodies of troops in Virginia indicate work near here before long. I should not be much surprised to see them on Arlington heights any morning. I hope an army will not attempt to march to Richmond. Should one do so, I believe it would be destroyed if less than fifty thousand. Went down to “Camp Anderson” Franklin Square after dinner. There was no parade on account of the wet. Filled the Aquarium again tonight.
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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.
