ould bring to mind many who went to the
Peninsula, full of hope, who had sunk as victims of the malarial
poisons, and now rested in humble graves at Yorktown or along the
Chickahominy; and many others who had nobly fallen upon the field of
strife; and yet others who now were wearing out tedious days of sickness
in hospitals or at home.

The little band that remained could hardly be recognized as the same men
who left the defenses of Washington but a few months since; their faces
were now bronzed from constant exposure to the scorching rays of the
sun, and their clothing was worn and soiled. Hats and caps of every
description: hats of straw and of palm leaf, of brown wool, black wool,
and what had been white wool. Caps military and caps not military, all
alike in only one respect, that all were much the worse for wear. It
would have puzzled a stranger to have determined from this diversity of
apparel, what was the regular uniform of our troops.

We came up the river with feelings far less exultant and confident than
those experienced in our downward trip. Indeed a gloom hung over the
minds of all. The army was satisfied that General McClellan would be
removed from command, and it was said that General Pope or General
Burnside would be his successor. Though they remembered the brilliant
successes of the one in the west and of the other in the south, many
expressed fears that the command of a large army might be as fatal to
either of these as it had been to General McClellan.

At sunset of the 23d, the transports bearing the two divisions of the
Sixth corps, were anchored just off Alexandria; but none of the men were
allowed to go ashore. Spending another night in the crowded vessels,
where the foul air prevailing between decks rendered breathing anything
but a luxury, the men hailed the appearance of daylight as the time for
their liberation from this close and unpleasant confinement.

The process of disembarking progressed rapidly, and the divisions were
marched through the city to a field about a mile beyond its limits,
where we encamped near Fort Ellsworth.

Although this was on Sunday morning, and it was known that Pope's army
was fighting the enemy even before we left the Peninsula, and was in
need of reinforcements; yet no signs of marching occurred until
Thursday.

Let us now turn back for a moment and hastily glance at the movements of
General Pope and his army, which had now for several days been actively