In my young days this Anniversary used to be an occasion of exhilaration and amusement. Now it bring with it perhaps a shade of sadness. Especially in my solitude, with my thoughts turned toward my children at home, and the perpetual anxiety associated with each, I confess to a little depression of spirits. This was not mended by the receipt of a letter from Louisa to her mother written from a bed of sickness, in a rather suffering vein. She has been ill for weeks and is now only gradually mending. This life is so full of vicissitude that it becomes no one to be confident. My share of happiness has been disproportionate, which makes it still more my duty to be cheerful. I wrote my private letters homes. A visit of compliment from Mr Edge—and of enquiry from Mr Ritchie. He had called to see Mr Russell and failed to find him. He came to enquire mainly about means to pay for the cannon, should he take them. I pointed out an easy method of arrangement. In the evening a walk. Fine, though so cold as for the first time to make hard ice. Henry returned from Walton and dined with me. The American newspapers came in and I was busy reading them until late. The American newspapers came in and I was busy reading them until late. They indicate one difficulty which I regret to see. A tendency to differences among the Officers in the Army occasioned by the structures of General Halleck on their conduct.