Captain Breck gave a receipt. Part of the cavalry escort, in charge of Sergeant Burnham, left during the night without leave or authority and against the wishes of Lieutenant Griggs, the commanding officer. About 2.15 we stopped at a house ten miles from Catlett's to wait for the wagons to come up. We waited about two hours and got a very nice dinner, such as it was. The infantry had a terrible time plodding along through the mud. It was said that they did not cross Cedar Run.

April 22.- After breakfast we loaded up and got an early start, about 7.15 a. m. It cleared off during the night. The roads were pretty heavy for the first two or three miles. The train arrived at Falmouth about 1.30 p. m., and on the camping ground at Mr. Lacy's farm, opposite Fredericksburg, about 4 p. m. About four miles from Falmouth we found the scene of Bayard's fight. The remains of the barricade were still standing and we counted eleven dead horses. We found that General McDowell had been at Falmouth and made some arrangements, and left this morning to go to Belle Plain to see if the old stage road was practicable for a line of communication. The railroad was destroyed and it will take some time to rebuild it. The bridges were all burned down except a few spans of the upper one, which our people managed to save. General McDowell took Bayard over to Aquite to see the President, and he, so it is said, nominated him and Captain Gibbon for brigadiers. This was on the 20th, Sunday.

April 23.-A beautiful day. General King arrived and established his headquarters on the hill where General Patrick was. Also Colonel Cutler's brigade arrived. Marvin went to Washington with the mail, via Aquia Creek. General McDowell did not come back to-day. Lieutenant Houston had the river measured to-day to see if it was fordable in the vicinity of the bridges. Sergeant Wirth and Hoagland sick.

April 24.-Had a sprinkling of rain and snow this morning, which soon turned to rain. General McDowell was at Belle Plain this evening and sent word to the staff to meet him at Aquia Creek. The staff, with the exception of General Va. Rensselaer, Major Brown, and Captain Willard, went, taking three wagons. The office, with the clerks and five orderlies, also quartermaster's clerks, commissary clerks, were left behind. The staff got started about 11 o'clock. The rain continued throughout the day. The staff camped at Hedgman's house, two miles and a half from Aquia Creek, on the railroad.

April 25.-It was still raining this morning, with a fair prospect of keeping at it all day, which it did by intervals. Two gun-boats, with two steam-boats and some other craft, arrived and anchored down the river near the railroad bridge. The orderly sent from Aquia Creek with dispatches lost his horse and equipments in trying to ford the Potomac Run, and came from there to these headquarters in his stocking feet. He said his horse got back to the shore on the other side of the run, and that there were some cavalrymen there who said they would take him home to the headquarters at Aquia Creek. General McD. sent for his horse in these dispatches by another route. He sent for Mr. Paine to meet him at Belle Plain as soon as possible, and for him to go from them to Aquia Creek. Also in these dispatches there was an order to have all officers not belonging to his staff leave the Lucy house and take their horses from the stables, if there were any occupying any rooms. About dark a guard from Colonel Wyndham's cavalry brought in the prisoners captured down the river, 5 on this side and 5 on the other side, whom they caught while sleeping at their posts. No