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THE BURNSIDE EXPEDITION.
point of embarkation, with bands playing, colors flying, and the men cheeringand singing from lightness of heart. As they passed through the quaint oldtown of Annapolis , the lines of troops, with their dark uniforms and glitter-ing bayonets, contrasted markedly with the snow-clad fields and trees. Themen were not cheered and encouraged by many friendly voices, such as theyhad heard whilst coming from their homes to the seat of war; but they were
not at all chilled by the reception,and cheerfully marched on to thework before them. Embarkationhad become more easy to each regi-ment than it was to the precedingone, owing to the greater facilitywith which the vessels were handled.The order to break camp had beenobeyed with joyful alacrity, andmore troops poured into the Acad-emy grounds during the day thancould be embarked, so that largenumbers remained there for thenight. This bivouac was one of themost enlivening and beautiful thatI saw during the war. There wasvery little sleep, but great joyous-ness. Wednesday morning everyregiment was on board except the6th New Hampshire , which arrivedlate on the night of the 7th, and wasembarked on the next morning. Thescene in the hai'bor was inspiringbeyond description. The vessels, asthey passed each other from time to time, saluted with their steam-whistles,while the bands played and the troops cheered, the decks being covered withblue-coats, some chattering, some sleeping, others writing their last letters totheir loved ones at home. The whole fleet seemed to be under a mixed influ-ence of excitement and contentment.
On the morning of the 9th, each vessel set sail, under orders to rendezvousat Fort Monroe, and there, by the night of the 10th, all had joined the Supplyand other vessels, making altogether a fleet of more than eighty. The harborprobably never presented a finer appearance than on that night. All the ves-sels were illuminated, and the air was filled with the strains of martial musicand the voices of brave men. Not a man in the fleet knew his destination,except myself, the brigade commanders, and two or three staff-officers, yetthere was no complaint or inquisitiveness, but all seemed ready for whateverduty was before them.
Sealed orders were given to the commanders of each vessel, to be opened atsea. Much discouragement was expressed by nautical men and by men high