Some portions of the journey were performed under the most trying circumstances.

The men were crowded, like sheep, into unsuitable cars, so that not only were they subjected to many needless discomforts, but their very lives were endangered.

On the way, two men were crowded out of a car, and, for a time, were supposed to have been killed.
On the 2d of July, they arrived at Washington, and Tom had an opportunity to see the "city of magnificent distances," of which he had heard so much.
The regiment marched from the station, through Pennsylvania Avenue, to their camp ground in the rear of the White House.

They were received with enthusiasm by the people, but the miserable uniforms with which they had been supplied, now faded and dilapidated, with the finishing touch of destruction given to them by the perilous journey they had made, gave the politicians their first lesson on the worthlessness of "shoddy." The regiment entered the grounds of the White House, and as it passed up the avenue, President Lincoln appeared in front of his mansion.

The boys greeted him with a volley of stunning cheers, which the President acknowledged by a series of bows, which were not half so ungraceful as one might have expected after reading the descriptions of him contained in the newspapers.
To Tom Somers the President was a great institution, and he could scarcely believe that he was looking upon the chief magistrate of this great nation.