e note quoted at the beginning of this paper, that the
men of the South were forced into the Confederate ranks against their
will, while those of the North were volunteers. Does Mr. Lossing
purposely forget the United States drafts made to fill up the depleted
regiments in the field, and especially the draft of May, 1863, two
months before the battle of Gettysburg, and the riots that occurred in
New York city as the result of that draft? Does he purposely forget that
the United States established recruiting offices in Europe to procure
men for her armies?

It may be questioned whether as a historian Mr. Lossing is deserving
even the notice of a novice in history; for, while he is known to be a
voluminous writer of American history, he is also known to be a writer
of many and great inaccuracies. A writer who has allowed himself to be
so easily imposed upon as in his ready acceptance as true history of the
Morgan Jones Welsh Indian fraud (American Historical Record, I, 250);
who makes such glaring historical mistakes as his statement that General
Braddock was defeated and killed at the "battle of the Great Meadows"
(History of the Revolutionary War), and that Captain John Smith, the
Virginia explorer, had explored the Susquehanna river as far north as
the Wyoming Valley (Harper's Magazine, November, 1860), and who draws so
largely on his imagination, and is so much controlled by his prejudices
in his "History of the Civil War," cannot be considered an entirely
trustworthy historian. But because Mr. Lossing's histories have flooded
the North, and are largely accepted as authentic narrations of events,
it is due to the Confederates and the cause for which they so long and
nobly battled, against such fearful odds, that the truth be made known
and Mr. Lossing's misstatements exposed.

It is earnestly to be hoped that the facts presented in this paper will
forever set at rest the malicious slander so often repeated against the
Confederates, by many who are so willing to believe anything against
them, of having authorized the use in military warfare of such atrocious
and barbarous missiles as "_explosive and poisoned_" musket or rifle
balls.

H. E. H.

BROWNSVILLE, PA., September 1, 1879.

Transcriber's Note:

Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note, however
'axical' (p. 12), being within a quotation, remains as printed.