Congress, General M'Clellan's Report, and other works to which the Author was able to obtain access; and, lastly, from the daily press, both English and American. There are, however, many obstacles attending the compilation of a standard history of the war, arising partly from the difficulty of procuring materials, as also from the violence of party spirit and a tendency to exaggeration in American writings which render the task of separating truth from falsehood especially difficult.
Whatever opinion may be formed of this book, the Author can honestly say, that he has endeavoured to write the truth, unbiassed by any leaning to either side. If his greater experience of the Federal Armies and his personal friendship for many of the officers might lead him to an undue sympathy for their cause, it would be counteracted by the admiration he feels for the indomitable spirit shown by the Confederates, evinced both by their gallantry in the field, and by the patience with which they have suffered the hardships and miseries of a war waged on their own soil and attended with peculiar trials.
Writing as he does on events which have occurred so recently, this narrative will be open to the criticism of many of the actors in those events, who are in possession of far more precise information than any that the Author could obtain. Should any inaccuracies or misstatements be noticed, the Author assures them that they are not the result of any party bias.
If in the course of the narrative, by any expression of