In this year of 1915, when the sounds of battle and strife come wafted
to us across the sea from Europe, the younger generation are asking
questions of the Veterans of the Civil War about their experiences in
battle. Formerly I lived in Galena, Ill., and having been personally
acquainted with, and a neighbor of General U.S. Grant, and one of the
Boys in Blue who followed him in the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh
and Vicksburg, I deem it my privilege to add my mite to the history that
clusters round the greatest military genius of modern times. To please
many friends who have heard my lectures on the Civil War, and at the
request of my children, the following pages have been written, from data
made at the time and since, and from a vivid memory of the stirring days
of 1862 and 1863.