John Harrison Wilson, The life of Charles Henry Dana

[343] has done much to revive the public mind, and the pertinacity with which Grant holds the Weldon road against Lee's frantic efforts to retake it is of equal, if not greater, value. I am also expecting from Sherman news of importance. It is three days since he took the mass of his army to the south and southeast of Atlanta, abandoning his base on the Chattahoochee, leaving an army corps to hold his intrenchments there, all for the purpose of definitively cutting the connection between Hood and Macon, and forcing him to surrender for want of supplies. It will take some time to complete the operation, especially as it must involve a pretty elaborate destruction of both the West Point and the Macon railroads, but the fact that the Richmond papers make no report of the movement is greatly in favor of our success.

McClellan will be nominated at Chicago to-day or tomorrow.

I was in New York for ten days week before last, and was at Westport for one day. The loveliness of the place seemed to me something beyond imagination.

... I had a letter from Baldy Smith on Saturday. I told him in reply that it was very much his own fault, and that if he had had no tongue, and had never known how to write, I had no doubt he would now be commanding one of the large armies.

Although every request had been granted, Sheridan's accession to the command of the Middle Military Division was not followed by an immediate restoration of confidence. Many thought he was too young and inexperienced for the great responsibilities which were imposed upon him. Six weeks of marching and countermarching ensued. It began to look as though Sheridan was more prudent than was necessary with the great preponderance of troops which he had with him in presence of the enemy. The financial world became more and more uneasy, and when the price of gold, which was the great barometer of