PUBLISHERS’ NOTE.
To the interest of a simple personal narrative, this volume adds the value of a faithful description of that part of a soldier’s duty in the camp and field, which is necessarily excluded from official accounts or general histories. It attracted in manuscript the attention of the publishers, as a work similar in spirit and purpose to Dana’s “Two Years before the Mast,” although necessarily less varied in incident, and less comprehensive in information than that very popular production.
The map of the field of Buena Vista by Lieutenant Green, of the 15th infantry, is presented as the most accurate yet published, having been approved by many distinguished officers as a true representation of the ground, and of the relative positions of the corps of the American and Mexican armies, on the day of the battle. A careful examination of the map and references, will afford a clearer idea of the movements of both, and of the progress of the action, than any of the descriptions which have yet appeared.