I launch this little volume upon the great ocean of books, craving the indulgence of the kind reader for its shortcomings and imperfections, with the hope that it will not be viewed with a critic's eye, and that its imperfections may be charitably passed by. I have endeavored to relate my experiences in the great war of 1861-5 just as events occurred, as if I were detailing them to family or friends in private, or, as I have sometimes done in the past, at gatherings of veterans and friends during the past years.

The old huntsman delights to tell of his tracking game in the snow, the chase through the woods and fields of the fox, deer and bear; the old sailor spins his yarns of the adventures and perils of the deep; the old fisherman will sometimes tell a big fish tale, and the old soldier is wont to join in with the rest and tell of his life in camp and field. This last I have endeavored to do in the following pages after the lapse of many years. I might have spun out the story much longer, but believing that brevity is often the soul of writing, as well as of wit, I have endeavored to "be brief and to the point."