Sunday 6th
A delightful morning. Hearing that the “27th” were soon to move, I crossed the River to Alexandria and walked out to their Camp. But to my surprise found the Camp vacated. The Regt left on Friday. Lieut Gaul was left in charge of some Stores but he expects to leave tomorrow. The Regt went by RR to Warrenton junction and are on the Way to Richmond. God Speed them. A deserted camp is about the most desolate place imaginable. The tents were all standing but all was still and lonely where so lately all was life and motion. I got back to Washington about 5 o’clock. The Steam Boat was crowded both ways. The country over there looks desolate enough. “Poor Virginia” “put back half a century.”
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.