THIS BOOK

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

BY HIS FRIEND

WILLIAM T. ADAMS.




PREFACE.


This volume is not altogether a military romance, though it contains the
adventures of one of those noble-hearted and patriotic young men who went
forth from homes of plenty and happiness to fight the battles of our
imperilled country. The incidents of the story may be stirring and
exciting; yet they are not only within the bounds of probability, but have
been more than paralleled in the experience of hundreds of the gallant
soldiers of the loyal army.

The work is not intended to approach the dignity of a history, though the
writer has carefully consulted the "authorities," both loyal and rebel,
and has taken down the living words of enthusiastic participants in the
stirring scenes described in this volume. He has not attempted to give a
full picture of any battle, or other army operation, but simply of those
movements in which the hero took a part. The book is a narrative of
personal adventure, delineating the birth and growth of a pure patriotism
in the soul of the hero, and describing the perils and privations, the