Perry, Owen - Faded Coat of Blue

In Adam

Twas crowing dark when I reached the river again. From the bridge I could see the campfires on every side, far brighter to the eye than the gaslit streets ahead. The sky was contrary with rain, now it would start, but after a few drops it would stop again. The teamster who carried me was bound for the Navy Yard and set me down after we cleared the sentries at the bridgehead. I had a walk before me, and not a welcome one.

I turned toward the Mall, for there lay the shortest path to my destination. The mud was a burden to my leg, I will not lie to you, and crossing from the brick castle to the nearest canal bridge forced me through a swamp sloshed up by cavalry drill. The street was but a hint between puddles. Smoke rose from the army butchering sheds and the fresh smell of death roamed like fog. Cattle, oblivious to the massacre of their fellows, snugged down against the weather below the unfinished obelisk. I would as soon have joined them as pass through the next few blocks.

They called the quarter between the canal and Pennsylvania Avenue

The railroad entered the mountain gap where the Schuylkill had carved its way, and my heart beat like a lad

Although you would not have thought it of him, Mr. Cawber was a great one for books. He received me in his library, and it was a splendid room. Perhaps those books were only a display, as the newly rich are apt to make, but it seemed a grand thing to have in one

In writing
Faded Coat of Blue
, I struggled for accuracy of detail. I walked the Welsh valleys