December 14th.–Cloudy, and thawing rapidly. All quiet below. The bill to employ 40,000 negroes, as recommended by the President, for army purposes, though not avowedly to fight, has passed one House of Congress. So the President is master yet. There ought to be 100,000 now in the field. An effort will be made by the [...]
14th. Went twice to mustering officer without success. Finished “Dante” and “Dream Life” by Ike Marvel. Beautiful pictures of life, beautiful because so real. Good lessons. Had good visits with Easton and McBride. Clear.
Thursday, 16th.—Sick to-day. Yankees would not exchange papers to-day. Notes: This entry in the book is in sequence between the 12th and the 15th, so it was likely an entry for the 14th. After the fifteenth, there is another entry for the 16th. the picture is of an unidentified Confederate soldier.
Dec.14th 1864 (Washington) The City seems to be overflowing with people, rents are constantly rising and prices of everything raise in proportion. A person cannot find common Board now (meals only) for less than $25 pr month, and from that to $50 and $60. The Hotels here are now charging from $4.00 to $5.00 pr [...]
December 14th.–And now the young ones are in bed and I am wide awake. It is an odd thing; in all my life how many persons have I seen in love? Not a half-dozen. And I am a tolerably close observer, a faithful watcher have I been from my youth upward of men and manners. [...]
Wednesday, 14th–The capture of Fort McAllister gives us our first communication with the North since the telegraph wires were cut at Marietta, Georgia, on the 12th of November. We have no rations yet, but will have crackers as soon as our men can remove the torpedoes from the Ogeechee river, which is thickly laid with [...]