I HAVE been led to the preparation of this work by a desire to collect
in a useful and convenient form a history of the achievements of the great
soldier, recently at the head of the armies of the South; and as he is
endeared to his countrymen chiefly by his connection with them in the gal-
lant struggle which has just closed, I have devoted the greater part of these
pages to that portion of his life, passing over the preceding with as little
delay as possible.
I have brought to the execution of this task a sincere desire to lay aside
the feelings engendered by four years of war, and to investigate fully, and
discuss impartially and truthfully, the topics that are presented in this
volume. I have spared no pains to render my sources of information as
complete as possible. In May 1861, I commenced to collect such papers
and documents, both official and unofficial, relating to the war, as I could
procure. To this task, begun for a purpose not altogether different from
that to which I have now applied it, I devoted the entire period of the
war, and was aided in it by many members of the various branches of the
Confederate Government and of the army. In this way I secured an
extensive and valuable collection of materials for a history of the war, or
biographies of the individuals connected with it; a collection embracing
over fifteen thousand papers of all kinds, to which, through the kindness
of friends, I have been able to add many valuable maps and charts. Since
the close of the war I have greatly enlarged this list by the addition of the
reports and official papers of the United States Commanders and Govern-