Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft.

Wednesday April 27^th 1864, Washington

Since my last date I have been home to L Island and staid 15 days. Julia and myself started the 1^st ins^t. We staid two days in N York City. I returned here on the morning of the 19^th. I had a very pleasant time of it at home altho the weather was not so pleasant as the N.E. Wind was blowing nearly all the time. No very great events have occured in reference to the war this month. Both sides are getting ready and preparing for the contest this spring and it is expected that the struggle will be a fearful one. The Army of the Potomac is larger than ever before now under Gen^l Grant. It is supposed to be from two hundred and fifty to three hundred thousand men. The Rebel Lee^s army is probably a hundred thousand less. Grant evidently intends to make a sure thing of it. Gen^l Burnside passed through the City on Monday last with his Army to join Grant. Burnside has been at Annapolis for the past two months organizing a new army. It numbers about 50,000 men, including about 10,000 Negro troops. Only about one half passed this way of the entire Army, the rest were sent round by water to land at Alexandria V.A. Grants Army is still on the “Rapidan” some sixty miles from Washington. There has been some pretty severe Battles the present month, the first at Fort Pillow, Tenn, where the rebels captured the Fort with the advantage of having greatly superior numbers and mas[sa]cred most of the Garrison after they surrendered. The next fight, or rather important Battle as it was, took place in Louisiana on Red River and lasted two days. The Rebels were defeated the second day. The first day we had the worst of it. This was the Army of Gen^l Banks and it is thought that very good Generalship was not displayed on the first day. Gen^l A. J Smith retrieved the loss on the second day by driving the rebels with great slaughter. (Gold 185 today). Yesterday we had news of the surrender of Plymouth in N.C. to a greatly superior force of Rebels after four days severe fighting. We lost some 2500 men in that affair. It is reported that many of the prisoners were shot after the surrender. On the whole the spring operations have not been very favorable to us. All is quiet at Charleston S.C. and at Chattanooga and Knoxville. All eyes are turned to Virginia to Grants and Lee^s armies and active operations are expected to take place every day. Momentuous consequences depend upon the result. If we should be defeated the war will be greatly prolonged, probably for years to come.