my old comrades
in that army, my admiration, and estimate of their high worth as
soldiers has grown ever greater, and I felt a very natural desire that
others should know them as I knew them--and put them in their rightful
rank as soldiers. The only way to do this is for those who know to tell
people about them; what manner of warriors they were.

Now mark how one glides into mischief unintentionally. Years ago, I was
beguiled into making, at various times, places, and occasions, certain,
what might be called, "Camp Fire Talks" descriptive of Soldier Life in
the Army of Northern Virginia. Weakly led on by the kindly expressed
opinions of those who heard these talks, and urged by old friends, and
comrades, and others, I ventured on a more connected narrative of our
observations and experiences, as soldiers in that army. I wrote a
sketch, in that vein, of the "Spottsylvania Campaign"--in 1864--fought
between General Lee and General Grant. It was a tremendous struggle of
the two armies for thirty days--almost without a break. It was a
thrilling period of the war, and brought out the high quality of both
the Commander and the fighting men of the Army of Northern Virginia.

It was the bloodiest struggle known to history, up to that time. As one
item, at Cold Harbor, General Grant, in fifteen minutes, by the watch,
lost 13,723 men, killed and wounded, irrespective of many
prisoners--more men in a quarter of an hour than the British Army lost
in the whole battle of Waterloo. That gives an idea of the terrible
intensity of that campaign--one incident of it the bloodiest quarter of
an hour in all the history of war.

I took as a title for my sketch "From the Rapidan to Richmond" or "The
Bloody War Path of 1864"--"The Scenes One Soldier Saw."

As a guarantee of its accuracy, I took that narrative to Richmond, and
in the presence of fifteen of my old comrades of the First Howitzers,
every man of whom had been along with me through all the incidents of
which I wrote, and therefore had personal knowledge of all the facts, I
read it, and we freely discussed it. What resulted has the approval, and
endorsement of all those personal witnesses, and may be counted on as
accurate--in every statement and impression made in this story, and may
be safely accepted by the reader as a true narration of facts.

I am urged to put the narrative in such form that its contents may be
more widely known, and I am glad to do it. I do want as many as