1862 February 3 Wheeling, Va.

[From the diary of Charles Hay of the 23rd Ohio, returning from furlough]


                                       Wheeling, Va., Feb. 3d, 1862.
No boat today.  A slight sprinkle of snow
fell last night, rob[e]ing the earth in fleecy whiteness.
I havn’t a much better opinion of the city
than yesterday.  A little more activity today is
about the only perceptible difference.  I notice
considerable of ^ ‘the’ military fraternity on the streets, and
as sport shoulder straps, whether they deserve them
or not, and get all the glory, while the common
soldier who does the fighting, and endures the
hardships, is passed by, unheeded and unmentioned.
But for him, and where would the reputation & glory
of such self-conceited puppies be?  These remarks, be
it understood, apply only to those weak-headed
individuals whom a position will make a bigger
fool of than they were before.


  I don’t think that the principles of square measure
will apply to Wheeling.  It has length, but no
breadth.  It is stretched along the river bank
for two, three, or four miles, but extends back
but a short distance on account of abruptly steep
hills. ~ My furlough expiring today, I reported
myself at Gen: Rosecrans’ Head Quarters, and,
stating the cause of my delay, the matter was
made “all right.”

[transcription by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]

MSS 13925