VI
PREFACE.
duced copies of the official surveys made by the engineersof the army. For the originals the author is indebted tothe courtesy of General Poe, U. S. Engineers. In reducingthem it has not been possible to preserve all the details ofthe originals; but the effort has been to give accuratelywhat is most essential. The reader is presumed to makereference to an ordinary hand-atlas for the relations of thespecial theatre of operations to that of the whole war. Tohave illustrated the text by larger and more elaborate mapswould have thwarted the purpose of the publishers to putthe series within the reach of all.
To General Drum, Adjutant-General, and to Colonel Scott,of the War Records Office, the author is greatly indebtedfor access to unpublished archives, and for official informa-tion without which it would have been impossible to reachthe degree of accuracy which he hopes will be found tomark the more important parts of the narrative : it would bevain to expect to escape all error with our present means ofinvestigation. A still greater debt of obligation, if possible,is due to Major E. C. Dawes, late of the Fifty-third Ohio ,who has not only given the use of his valuable collection ofbooks and documents relating to the war, but has thoughtno personal trouble too great in assisting to verify facts andtrace events, and whose zeal in investigation has been a con-stant aid and stimulus.