It blowed fearfully and those outside the bar last night must have had a severely rolling time last night. The little Picket, used by Burnside as his ship, is owned by her Captain, named Ives, who is a wealthy man, and offered his services and boat to the Government without pay and received a captain's commission. The [Steamship at?] New York is fast on the bar. The surf is so bad that the tugs can't get near it. And the captain won't allow a boat to go ashore. The officer's mess is out of provisions. We have no meat & came down to the last scrapings this morning. There is a little fellow, nominally a servant of Capt. Blair, as peculiar as Blair too, goes by the name of Bucktail. He is about 15 years old, with small, turned up features, wears a belt with a bayonet & scabbard, large blouse and large pants. He is from Tyrone. Father & Mother dead, all from Tyrone - got into camp at Harrisburg, in the employ of some of the serjts - & one night about ten o'clock came up to Blair's tent, saying that they had turned him out. He started with ten cents - [?] newspapers &c - Blair [?] him five dollars at Camp Union: because with his little capital he had to go to town so often to replenish - He has paid that back - & has now some ten or fifteen dollars. The other day he got [?] sea sick and someone told him to take a dose of salts. He came in and wanted Blair to get him a dose, & could hardly be persuaded to the contrary. I think his name of Bucktail came from his having some kind of an animals tail inned on to his hat. The wind has blown stormily all day. A little gun boat dragged her anchor and has come against us twice. We have just heard this evening that the scout with other sailing vessels have come in. The steamship City of New York is still aground - they cut away her mast, and her smokepipe came down this afternoon. Of all desolate looking places this beach is the most desolate. Those that hold her must have a very disagreeable time. We are getting down to the originals in our officers' mess. We have no soft bread. At noon we had pea soup and hard bread, and the adjutant fished up a little bunch of butter out of his [have?] sack and gave us a knife full. This evening we had hard bread, cooked rice and tea.
Tuesday January 14. Hatteras InletI remember of hearing Mother often remark that rice was such a tasteless thing when cooked without milk. This was evidently cooked with water. We had no butter. The hard bread is good - the tea is good, the rice seasoned with salt, and sugar to make it gritty was good. I don't know what we are to have tomorrow. I see Commisary Shorkley in anxious consultation with the Quartermaster. We have seen the ships lying outside all day - but I hear that most of them have got in. We conjecture that the first attack will be on Roanoke Island. The surf ran so high that the Captain would not allow his boats to go ashore, so that we have not had any communication with anyone.