Doubtless the writers of these letters, and
many who wrote no letters, will be surprised and grieved at the
announcement of another series by the author on war topics. The writer
had little inclination to undertake this task; for he has believed for
twenty years that the war is over, and he has not been disposed to keep
alive old issues which had better remain buried. He has spent some time
in the South, and has always found himself among friends there. He
became personally acquainted with those who fought on the Confederate
side, from generals to privates, and he still values their friendship.
He certainly is not disposed to write any thing that would cause him to
forfeit his title to the kind feeling that was extended to him.
It is not, therefore, with the desire or intention to rekindle the fires
of sectional animosity, now happily subdued, that the writer begins
another series relating to the war. The call upon him to use the topics
of the war has been so urgent, and its ample field of stirring events
has been so inviting, that he could not resist; but, while his own
opinions in regard to the great question of five-and-twenty years ago
remain unchanged, he hopes to do more ample justice than perhaps was
done before to those "who fought on the other side."
The present volume introduces those which are to follow it, and presents
many of the characters that are to figure in them. Though written from
the Union standpoint, the author hopes that it will not be found unfair
or unjust to those who looked from the opposite point of view.
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