SUNDAY 5
Went to ch this morning with whole family, some soldiers in the congregation in uniform. Cool day, wore my cloak. Chas was up to dine with us. Doct Eddy called in the afternoon with Mr Cramer. He is on a visit to the City, staid an hour or two. Went down to Willards, saw A B Williams, Mr Pomeroy, the new M.C. from our district, and other gentlemen at his room. On my return home, got challenged by the Sentinel at Franklin Square. I did not understand that he was talking to me as it was dark, until he cried Stand, and cocked his Musket. I was very near the point of his Bayonet then, but backed down and went another way home.
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.