Preface to the French edition.
much was said in France about the
American civil war while it lasted.
But the documents necessary to a full understanding of it as a whole, and to follow it in its details, were then wanting.
Since that time public attention has been diverted by the events which have occurred in Europe.
Nevertheless, this war in the New World may be useful to study, even after those of which our continent was the theatre in 1866 and 1870.
At a time when labor and contemplation are the duty of all, no page of contemporaneous military history should be neglected.
Having been kindly received in the armies of the republic, which remembers the support given by France to the first defenders of its independence, and has not failed to place the name of Bourbon among those who are to perpetuate its memory on its soil, it has been the wish of the author to present his grateful testimony to his late companions in arms.
In writing his personal recollections, lie has been led to describe a war some incidents of which lave cone within his own personal observation.
Notwithstanding his legitimate preferences for the cause he served, he has endeavored to preserve, throughout his narrative, the strictest impartiality.
He has examined, with equal care, the documents that have emanated from both parties; and if his work be a reflex of the vicissitudes in the midst of which it was prosecuted, he believes that it possesses, at least, the merit of precision and sincerity.
Paris, September, 1875.
gentlemen: The necessities of an early publication of the translation of my History of the
Civil War in America having prevented me from revising that translation before the present issue, I must leave upon
Mr. Tasistro the responsibility of his work; but his ability is a sufficient guarantee that this work has been accomplished with care and accuracy.
It has therefore been agreed between my publishers,
Messrs. Levy, and myself to grant to the translation, since it is to be published by yourselves, the exclusive copyright in England, according to the forms prescribed by international treaties, and, in America, the right of giving out your edition as the only one authorized by myself:
My History has been written rather for the instruction of the European public than for Transatlantic readers, to whom every incident of the war is already familiar.
I trust that my account of these great events will, at least, not provoke a too bitter controversy; for if I have been obliged to judge and to censure, I have done so without any personal or partial fueling against any one, with a sincere respect for truth and a keen sense of the responsibility which I assumed.
I hope, moreover, that your readers will acknowledge that I have tried to make Europe understand the magnitude of the strife which divided the New World, the extent of the sacrifices borne by the American people, and the heroism displayed by both sides on the bloody fields of battle.
I should be proud to have my share in raising the monument which is to perpetuate the memory of that heroism and the glory of the American soldier, without distinction between the blue and the gray coats.
Believe me, gentlemen,
Yours truly,
