In adding this account of the finding of the "Lost Dispatch" to the war literature of our country, I do so without further preamble or preface than to say that all persons connected with this narrative appear on the following pages under strictly fictitious names.

For purely personal reasons, reasons that seem to me right and proper, I still desire to remain unknown. There are not more than twenty-five persons now living, who, on reading this account, will be able to recognize the writer. These I place on their honor not to reveal their knowledge.

The Author.