We marched up to the White House, showed ourselves to the President,
made our bow to him as our host, and then marched up to the Capitol, our
grand lodgings.
There we are now, quartered in the Representatives Chamber.
And here I must hastily end this first sketch of the Great Defence. May
it continue to be as firm and faithful as it is this day!
I have scribbled my story with a thousand men stirring about me. If any
of my sentences miss their aim, accuse my comrades and the bewilderment
of this martial crowd. For here are four or five thousand others on the
same business as ourselves, and drums are beating, guns are clanking,
companies are tramping, all the while. Our friends of the Eighth,
Massachusetts are quartered under the dome, and cheer us whenever we
pass.
Desks marked John Covode, John Cochran, and Anson Burlingame, have
allowed me to use them as I wrote.