Battle Fields and Camp Fires: A Narrative of the Principle Military Operations of the Civil War From the Removal of McClellan to the Accession of Grant, (1862-1863)

Excerpt from Battle Fields and Camp Fires

In telling the story of this period I have confined myself to describing the chief battles, with but a brief survey of the strategy, maneuvers, and minor engagements leading up to them. It has been my aim to describe the salient features of the war, leaving out alto gether the details of petty skirmishes, raids, demonstrations, and inde cisive engagements which serve only to impede the course of the narra tive, and to confuse the youthful reader who wishes to learn how the people of the South fought to achieve independence, and how the men of the North strove successfully to maintain the Union.