March 14th.—Received orders early last night to hold ourselves ready to move at a moment’s notice. A few minutes after receiving the above notice, I was ordered to return immediately to Camp Griffin, to look after my sick there—to send such as could not be moved with the Brigade to General Hospital, and the rest to camp, and then to rejoin my Regiment. Our destination is still unknown to us, but we expect that we go either to Norfolk or to join Burnside in the Carolinas. We have been outwitted here, and the rebel army which should have been captured has escaped us.
I fear that my mission here is a failure. My friends expected me to be useful to the Regiment, and if I have had one predominant wish, it was that the expectation might not be disappointed. “The setting of a great hope is like the setting of the sun.” I am in its deep, dark shadows, and fear it will be a long night before I can emerge from the darkness which envelopes the hope. I shall go on and do the best I can in the face of the interference of the military department, but must not be held responsible for consequences, as I am but a subordinate.
