September 17th. This is the anniversary of the battle of Antietam; another year of constant campaigning has gone, and still the war lasts. Will it ever end? This is our third year of fighting, and much of the romance of early days has faded away.
Our comrades continually drop by the wayside, causing many changes, some of which are not so agreeable, but we are still firm of purpose and sanguine of our ability to conquer in the end. General Meade, who has been in command of the army since just before Gettysburg, is a very careful officer, not thought to possess any great merit as a general, and has none of the dash and brilliancy which is necessary to popularity. It seems likely we shall be led in a plodding, ordinary sort of way, neither giving nor receiving any serious blows, a great pity. At 9 A. M. the division crossed Cedar and Slaughter mountains, a distance of about seven miles, and then bivouacked for the night.
