thousand infantry, and Washington is done!

_June 28._--Admiral Foote dead. Irreparable loss. Foote was of the
stamp of Lyon, of the stamp of patriot-heroes. He died of
exhaustion, that is, of devotion to the country. Foote was an honor
to the navy and to the American people.

_June 28._--Yesterday, Friday, the candidate for presidency,
splendid Chase, stood up mightily for Hooker. Oh, Mr. Chase! you may
be a great or a doubtful financier, but keep rather mute on military
matters. You know as much about them as this d---- mosquito that is
just now biting my nose.

_June 28._--At last, Hooker relieved. I pity Meade to receive a
command at such a critical moment. But now or never, to show his
mettle, his capacity! The army thinks very highly of Meade. Will
Halleck soon be sent to California? Then the country's cause will be
safe.

_June 29._--Yesterday a rebel cavalry raid captured an immense
train of provisions, cattle, etc., worth about five hundred thousand
dollars, and within eight or twelve miles of Washington! Of course,
it is nobody's fault. In other armies and countries, such a large
train would have a very strong convoy--here it had scarcely a small
squadron of cavalry. The original fault is, first, with Hooker's
chief-of-staff, who is responsible for providing the army, and for
the security of the provision trains. So at least it is in European
armies. Second, with the head-quarters at Washington, who ought to
have known that the enemy, ant-like, spreads in the rear of Hooker.
The head-quarters ought to have informed the quartermaster thereof,
and provided a strong convoy. This train affair is the younger
brother of the Fredericksburg pontoons.

Third, the head-quarters of the army and the quartermasters ought to
have inquired at the head-quarters of the defenses of Washington, if
the roads are safe. But of course it was not done, as the _big men_
here possess all the prescience, and need no valuable information.
All of them appear to me as ostriches, who hide their heads and
eyes, not to see the danger.

_June 29._--General Heintzelman is as thorough a soldier as any
to-day in Washington--a soldier superior to head-quarters of the
army. Heintzelman commands the military district which south, west
and north touches on the theatre of the present campaign. In similar
conditions and circumstances, any other government, sovereign,
commander-in-chief, etc., would consult with the commander of the
defences of