distributed among
them, his glory as a caterer would have been complete. With the New Year
came stormy weather; rain was the rule, sunshine the exception. The mud
became almost unfathomable and it was not uncommon to see the six mules
attached to an army wagon tugging and striving with all their power to
drag the empty wagon out of a mud hole. Boys who had plied the trade of
bootblack gave up their profession and with pail and sponge in hand
called to the passer by, "Wash your boots, sir?" During the lovely month
of December we had been impatient for action; but now the oft repeated
question, "Why don't the Army of the Potomac move?" became ludicrous to
our ears.

Thus passed another month in drills and camp duties. Some recruits came
to us, while many of the men who came out at first were found unfit for
field duty and were discharged.

Distrust arose among officers and enlisted men of our army about the
capital, in regard to the manner in which the army was managed. A
wilderness of men surrounded Washington, and yet we were blockaded by
the rebels on all sides except one.

Government was paying enormous prices for fuel consumed by the army,
because the Potomac was closed, and all wood had to be brought by rail
from the sparsely wooded districts of Maryland. Provisions sold at
fabulous prices, and Washington was in fact a beleaguered city. Some
rays of light from the west penetrated the thick darkness; but it cannot
be concealed that while the Grand Army stationed about the capital
panted for action and longed for the glory of the battle-field, a gloom
possessed the spirits of the men, and a feeling, that all this splendid
material was destined to a "masterly inactivity," prevailed. Our hopes
were newly kindled when the affairs of the War Department passed into
the hands of a live man, and when Mr. Stanton's practical energy began
to be manifested both in the department and in the field. We heard from
Burnside; first sad news, and then of success; and our hearts burned to
be with him. Fort Donelson followed Roanoke; and Price's army was routed
in Missouri. We envied the men who had been our nearest neighbors, but
who had followed Burnside to the South. Glorious fellows! What cared
they now for the fury of the waves or the hardships of short rations? We
were afraid of being left as idle spectators of great things in which we
should not be allowed to participate.

On the 15th of February came an order for us to move