THURSDAY 5
It has rained nearly all day and there has not been much stir in the streets. Soldiers were moveing all last night, it is said that fifteen thousand passed over the River. Fresh troops are coming in all the time and going into camp. There does not appear to have been any “fight” yesterday, but the report of cannon on the other side is heard almost every hour of the day. I spent an hour or two at the Pat office but have been at home most of the day.
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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.