5th I received orders from McClellan's
headquarters to march from my position on Upton's Hill through
Washington toward Leesboro, [Footnote: Leesboro, a village of
Maryland eight or ten miles north of Washington, must be
distinguished from Leesburg in Virginia.] as soon as my pickets
could be relieved by troops of McDowell's corps. [Footnote: Official
Records, vol. xix. pt. ii. p. 183; vol. li. pt. i. p. 789.] My route
was designated as by the road which was a continuation northward of
Seventh Street, and I was directed to report to General Ambrose E.
Burnside, commanding right wing, whose headquarters were in the
suburbs of the city on that road. This was in accordance with my
wish, expressed to McClellan that I might have active field work.
For two or three days we were not attached to a corps, but as the
organization of the army became settled we were temporarily assigned
to the Ninth, which had been Burnside's, and had been with him in
North Carolina. During this campaign it was commanded by
Major-General Jesse L. Reno, who had long had a division in it, and
had led the corps in the recent battle. We marched from Upton's Hill
at daybreak of the 6th, taking the road to Georgetown by Ball's
Cross-Roads. In Georgetown we turned eastward through Washington to
Seventh Street, and thence northward to the Leesboro road. As we
passed General Burnside's quarters, I sent a staff officer to report
our progress. It was about ten o'clock, and Burnside had gone to the
White House to meet the President and cabinet by invitation. His
chief of staff, General J. G. Parke, sent a polite note, saying we
had not been expected so soon, and directed us to halt and bivouac
for the present in some fields by the roadside, near where the
Howard University now is. In the afternoon I met Burnside for the
first time, and was warmly attracted by him, as everybody was. He
was pre-eminently a manly man, as I expressed it in writing home.
His large, fine eyes, his winning smile and cordial manners, bespoke
a frank, sincere, and honorable character, and these indications
were never belied by more intimate acquaintance. The friendship then
begun lasted as long as he lived. I learned to understand the
limitations of his powers and the points in which he fell short of
being a great commander; but as I knew him better I estimated more
and more highly his sincerity and truthfulness, his unselfish
generosity, and his devoted patriotism. In everything which