That utter absence of _esprit du corps_ and soldierly
self-respect, has cost the Federal treasury many millions; nor will the
drain ever cease till "re-mounts" shall be no more needed.
The foregoing remarks apply exclusively to the _tenue_ of the privates
and non-commissioned officers; those of superior rank that I met were
tolerably correct, both in dress and equipment; several, indeed, were
mounted on really powerful chargers, and rode them not amiss, though
with a seat as unprofessional as can be conceived.
The military loungers certainly monopolize all the leisure of
Washington--by day at least; for, if all tales are true, the
legislators, in the evening and small hours, are wont to unbend somewhat
freely from their labors; and the Senate acts wisely, in not risking
through a night session the little dignity it has left to lose. But,
with few exceptions, every civic face meets you with the same anxious,
worried look of unsatisfied craving; there is hunger in all the
restless, eager eyes, and the thin, impatient lips work nervously, as if
scarcely able to repress the cry which the children of the horse-leech
have uttered since the beginning of time. It is easy to understand this,
when you remember that, at such a season, there gathers here, besides
the legion of politicians and partisans, and the mighty army of
contractors, a vaster host of persons interested in the private bills
submitted to Congress, and of candidates for the numerous places of
preferment which are being vacated and created daily.
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