February 18th. When my man met me yesterday with my gray, a horse I had always considered unequaled in appearance, both horse and man looked shabby, and as I looked them over, and the great number of muddy soldiers everywhere about, I am afraid I wished myself back again in New York. Why I should see through such jaundiced eyes, I scarcely know, for the army has been my home and delight for the past two years. I think I shall not apply for any more leaves of absence. I noticed yesterday what an immense accumulation of stores had been collected on the sheltered ground, where the trains stop. The spot is admirably adapted to the purpose, entirely out of sight, although so close to the river the abrupt hills afford the most complete protection. There are no visible roads now. The trains just cut across the country to the various camps the shortest way, resulting in the whole district becoming a quagmire. One must see this muddy country in winter to know how bad it really is.
Colonel Zook is going to leave us in the morning for a twenty days’ leave, and Frank is to remain in command of the brigade, keeping his own regimental quarters, however, and I am to run the brigade for him. I hope Colonel Zook will return on time. It makes so much difference when he is absent; we are always busy when he is in command.
La Valley of the Fifty-seventh, who for many months was acting brigade commissary, most unaccountably disappeared, and has been dropped from the muster rolls. This is a great surprise to us. A French Canadian, well educated, unusually bright, served in the regular army, and is a capital soldier and boon companion, we had always considered him the soul of honor, and would have trusted him with all we had. Lieutenant C. B. Curtiss, a scholar and man of attainments, has been promoted to be captain of his Company K, at one time the best company in the regiment, and perhaps so now. Captain L. L. Rose, A. C. Subsistence, has been assigned to the brigade permanently. He is a peculiar genius of first rate ability, and possessed of more than the usual amount of common sense, but has many weak points. He is about fifty years of age, a great gambler and I think an experienced one; is a lover of poetry, and can recite from memory from his favorite author, Burns, by the hour, and takes great pleasure in entertaining us. He keeps good horses, is a most accommodating and excellent commissary, and genial companion. Our quartermaster, Leffingwell, we see little of. He is a typical Yankee, unsociable and uninteresting, but a good quartermaster and seldom at headquarters, living almost wholly with his train. The assistant inspector general, Captain James D. Brady of the Sixty-third, is a brave, accomplished, and very bright officer. He is an Irishman, American born, and hails from Portsmouth, Va. He has recently been assigned to us.
