After a lapse of half a century, I will try to relate in a commonplace way, the circumstances which came under my observation during the dark days of 1860-1865. Having engaged in 54 battles, some of them the hardest fought ones too, and coming through without being wounded at all, while many of my comrades fell by my side or were maimed for life, I feel that a guardian angel accompanied me and that I have much for which to be thankful.

One might think that at my age, which in a few months will be 74 years, that I only remember the occurrences of the war in a vague way, but to my mind’s eye, it is as vivid as if it had only taken place quite recently. I was only 23 years old when I went into actual warfare, so I was in a way, free from care. But many of the saddest memories of my life hover over the dark days of ’60-65 and the doleful period that followed.