In Georgetown we turned eastward through Washington to
Seventh Street, and thence northward to the Leesboro road. As we
passed General Burnside's quarters, I sent a staff officer to report
our progress. It was about ten o'clock, and Burnside had gone to the
White House to meet the President and cabinet by invitation. His
chief of staff, General J. G. Parke, sent a polite note, saying we
had not been expected so soon, and directed us to halt and bivouac
for the present in some fields by the roadside, near where the
Howard University now is. In the afternoon I met Burnside for the
first time, and was warmly attracted by him, as everybody was. He
was pre-eminently a manly man, as I expressed it in writing home.
His large, fine eyes, his winning smile and cordial manners, bespoke
a frank, sincere, and honorable character, and these indications
were never belied by more intimate acquaintance. The friendship then
begun lasted as long as he lived. I learned to understand the
limitations of his powers and the points in which he fell short of
being a great commander; but as I knew him better I estimated more
and more highly his sincerity and truthfulness, his unselfish
generosity, and his devoted patriotism.
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