THE BOYS OF '61;
OR,
Four Years of Fighting.
PERSONAL OBSERVATION WITH THE ARMY AND NAVY,
FROM THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN TO THE FALL OF RICHMOND
BY
CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN,
AUTHOR OF "THE BOYS OF '76," "THE STORY OF LIBERTY," "WINNING HIS WAY." "MY DAYS AND NIGHTS ON THE BATTLEFIELD," "FOLLOWING THE FLAG," "OUR NEW WAY ROUND THE WORLD," ETC.
ILLUSTRATED.
BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY ESTES AND LAURIAT,
301-305 Washington Street.
1886.
Copyright, 1881 by
ESTES AND LAURIAT.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
Charge through an abattis.
(p. iii) PREFATORY NOTE.
This volume, though historic, is not a history of the Rebellion, but arecord of personal observations and experiences during the war, withan occasional look at affairs in general to give clearness to thenarrative. The time has not arrived for the writing of an impartialhistory of the conflict between Slavery and Freedom in the UnitedStates. Reports of military operations are incomplete; documents inthe archives at Washington are inaccessible; much material remains tobe gathered before the patient historian can sift the wheat from thechaff. More than this, the war of ideas is not yet ended. DefeatedRebels in some parts of the South are bent on exterminating theAfrican race. Few of those lately in rebellion plead guilty of havingcommitted a crime; taking up arms against the government they considerto have been a blunder only. We are, therefore, too near the greatevents to render proper judgment upon questions in which ourprinciples and sympathies have been enlisted.
The chapter concerning the Confederate Cotton Loan may seem to be outof place in a volume of which so large a portion is given tonarrative, but I trust that it will be acceptable to the generalreader, inasmuch as it reveals the efforts of the Rebels to array allEurope against the United States in the late struggle. Thecorrespondence in my possession was picked up in the streets ofRichmond, and will be of value to the future historian. The chapter inquestion is but an outline of the operations of the Confederatesabroad.
(p. iv) In looking over the sheets as they came from the press,several errors relative to the organization and formation of troops inbattle have been detected, which, however, will appear in but a fewcopies. Undoubtedly there are others, and the writer will esteem it afavor to be put right wherever he is in the wrong. Few officialreports of regimental and brigade officers have been published, whilethe reports of division and corps commanders are only general in theirstatements. The true history of battles cannot be given till thehistory of regiments is written.
My stand-point as an observer is that of one whose instincts fromearly childhood have been on the side of Freedom. I have ever believedthat Civil Liberty is the birthright of all men, and from the firingupon Sumter to the close of the contest had full faith that