In looking over the sheets as they came from the press, several errors relative to the organization and formation of troops in battle have been detected, which, however, will appear in but a few copies. Undoubtedly there are others, and the writer will esteem it a favor to be put right wherever he is in the wrong. Few official reports of regimental and brigade officers have been published, while the reports of division and corps commanders are only general in their statements. The true history of battles cannot be given till the history of regiments is written. My stand-point as an observer is that of one whose instincts from early childhood have been on the side of Freedom. I have ever believed that Civil Liberty is the birthright of all men, and from the firing upon Sumter to the close of the contest had full faith that the people, under God, would subdue the Rebellion, and give freedom to the slave. The four years have been worth a century of ordinary life; for in the mighty contest Right has triumphed over Wrong, and the human race, with a clearer perception of Truth and Justice as the sure foundation of government, is moving on to a higher civilization. C. C. C. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. BEGINNING OF THE CONFLICT. Page Ideas and Principles. -- Battles witnessed. -- The Leaders. -- State of Affairs. -- Baltimore. -- Dulness in the Streets. -- Baltimore Women. -- Raw Troops. -- Visit to Fort McHenry. -- Washington. -- Material of the Army. -- Generals in Command. -- General Scott. -- His Position. -- Newspaper Reports. -- Troops organized. -- The Gathering of the Rebels. 1 CHAPTER I. AROUND WASHINGTON. Alexandria. -- The Massachusetts Fifth. -- A Song for Bunker Hill -- The Review. -- The Distant Gun. -- The Affair at Vienna. -- A Dinner in the Field. -- Vallandigham and the Ohio Boys. -- Patriotism of the Soldiers. -- The Rogues' March. -- Mutiny of the Garibaldi Guard. -- An Adventure. -- Broken English. -- Unpleasant Position. -- General Mansfield's Wrath. -- The Lager-Beer Business. -- A Faded Aristocracy. -- Living on a Name. -- The Sirens of Virginia. -- A South Carolina Chattel. -- His Search for Chickens. -- How he found Freedom 8 CHAPTER II. BULL RUN.