CONCLUSION.

"You can have ten descriptions of a battle, or plans of a campaign, sooner than one glimpse at the unthought of details of a soldier's life."

The history of Co. F is finished, and is far from satisfactory to the writer. Originally undertaken for the purpose of supplying the Hon. G. G. Benedict, State Military Historian, with material for such a brief record as he could afford room for in his history of the Vermont troops in the war of the rebellion, it has grown far beyond what was intended at the outset, and far beyond what would be proper for him to publish in such a work as he is charged with. It should have been undertaken by some other person than myself; by some one more intimately and longer acquainted with the company in the field: by some one whose personal [Pg 204]recollection of the detail of its daily doings is more exact than mine can possibly be; for the history of so small a portion of a great army as a company is, should be a personal history of the men who composed it. The record of a company is mainly made up of the every day scenes and every day gossip about its company kitchen and its company street. With these matters the writer does not profess to be, or to have been, familiar.

The work has, therefore, become more of a description of campaigns and of battles, and more a history of the regiment to which it was attached, I fear, than of the company. Such as it is, however, its preparation has been a labor of love, and it is published with the earnest hope that it may serve at least to keep warm in the hearts of the survivors the memories of those who marched with them in 1861, and whose graves mark every battle field whereon the Army of the Potomac fought.

Wm. Y. W. R.





End Document Decoration




Transcriber's Note


Some inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document has been preserved.

All instances of Rapahannock changed to Rappahannock
All instances of Spottsylvania changed to Spotsylvania

Typographical errors corrected in the text:

Page      3  lands changed to land's
Page      4  taget changed to target
Page      9  augered changed to augured
Page  10  oganized changed to organized
Page  13  or changed to on
Page  15  blocade changed to blockade
Page  20  leggins changed to leggings
Page  21  complmentary changed to complimentary
Page    31  navagable changed to navigable
Page    33  suplemented changed to supplemented
Page    34  relieveing changed to relieving
Page    40  consumate changed to consummate
Page    45  intesely changed to intensely
Page    53  canonade changed to cannonade
Page    57  hesitatation changed to hesitation
Page    59  Seargent changed to Sergeant
Page    78  removed word "in" before "converted"
Page    81  at changed to an
Page  101  Hasting changed to Hastings
Page  106  Fredricksburgh changed to Fredericksburgh
Page  107  usul changed to usual
Page  107  occurence changed to ccurrence
Page  120  randon changed to random
Page  121  irresistable changed to irresistible
Page  142  SPOTTSYLVANIA changed to SPOTSYLVANIA
Page  144  amry changed to army
Page  148  Hayes changed to Hays
Page  149  necessarially changed to necessarily
Page  155  levie changed to levy
Page  162  veterns changed to veterans
Page  164  handfull changed to handful
Page  167  tweny changed to twenty
Page  171  Totopotomy changed to Totopotomy
Page  172  indispensible changed to indispensable
Page  174  Totopotamy changed to Totopotomy
Page  175  arogant changed to arrogant
Page  176  renpered changed to rendered
Page  182  SEIGE changed to SIEGE
Page  190  Jeausalem changed to Jerusalem
Page  202  Wooley changed to Woolly