THURSDAY 20
Hot day and everybody wondering what will happen next. Troops here under marching orders. The 12th expect to go tonight. Some 4000 new troops have arrived today. The Boys have been spending the day at the Prests with the Lincoln boys. Willie has been with me all [sic] the office all day. Was at the Dress Parade with wife and daughter, did not go on to the Ave, got “Herald” and read it, bed 10 1/2.
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The three diary manuscript volumes, Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865, are available online at The Library of Congress.