EULOGY.
Comrades, I cannot close this imperfect recital, without saying a few words to you all. I am aware of my inability to do justice to the subject. I have omitted many incidents that happened while in service together. I can see you all as you used to appear on the march, in battle, and in the quiet camp. Your pranks and repartee are fresh in my memory. 45 of the numbers that made up the roster of Company B, were from our sister state, Indiana, and all comrades were true as steel. You all need to be proud of your record, and the part the glorious old 4th took in suppressing treason. A quarter of a century from now will close the roster for nearly all of us; a much shorter time for myself. Comrades, overlook what you may have seen amiss in me. We are all finite, none perfect. You were a splendid class of men, and none braver. Your record will be handed down to your posterity, and they will point back to your probation here with pride. “My forefathers helped to throttle treason.”
Good-By Comrades.
Transcriber's Note
Page [20] contains "It was amusing to." This may be missing 'me' from the end of the sentence, or 'to' should have been 'too'. As it is impossible to be certain, it is preserved as printed.
Page [21] contains reference to a sea of mud, followed by "The army slashed around...." Slashed may be a typographic error for splashed, or the author may have intentionally used slashed to indicate hard-going on swampy ground. As it is impossible to be certain, it is preserved as printed.
Variable spelling is preserved as printed when there is a single instance of the word, e.g. Gainsville, canister and cannister, fatigueing, Mannassas, barbacue, underbush and underbrush. Variation in spelling of proper nouns where there is more than one instance has been made consistent, as follows:
Page [10]—Miner’s amended to Minor’s—"With the advance of the army from Minor’s Hill, ..."
Page [19]—Chancellorville amended to Chancellorsville—"... it marched out to and beyond Chancellorsville, ..."
Page [21]—Kelley’s amended to Kelly’s—"... the 4th, was ordered to Kelly’s Ford, ..."
Page [21]—Johnney amended to Johnny—"... Johnny Reb., why don’t you wear ..."
Page [25]—Beverley amended to Beverly—"... it encamped near Beverly Ford, ..."
Page [25]—Rappanhannock amended to Rappahannock—"On the 12th the Regiment recrossed the Rappahannock, ..."
Seconds and thirds may be written as 2d or 2nd, and 3d or 3rd respectively.
Minor punctuation errors have been repaired.
Hyphenation and capitalisation has been made consistent.
The following typographic errors have been fixed:
Page [6]—unusal amended to unusual—"About the same time, I felt an unusual sensation ..."
Page [7]—civillians amended to civilians—"The rush of soldiers, congressmen, and other civilians, ..."
Page [12]—come amended to came—"... when zip, pinge, came the warning to get out."
Page [14]—Lousiana amended to Louisiana—"The 4th Michigan about used up the Louisiana Tigers."
Page [15]—Masschusetts amended to Massachusetts—"The 9th Massachusetts, one of our brigade, ..."
Page [15]—Rebesl amended to Rebels—"... that the Rebels attacked with great fury."
Page [15]—mischievious amended to mischievous—"Some mischievous fellow in the rear ..."
Page [16]—splended amended to splendid—"... after Mac., who was a splendid rider ..."
Page [19]—manouvered amended to maneuvered—"We maneuvered around, for a while."
Page [19]—come amended to came—"The Johnnies came out of the woods in our front ..."
Page [21]—beautifull amended to beautiful—"... a beautiful moon-light night."
Page [23]—srife amended to strife—"... when mutterings of the awful strife, ..."
Page [24]—aid-de-camp amended to aide-de-camp—"... news was brought by an aide-de-camp ..."
Page [26]—Irvland amended to Loveland (name confirmed against official records)—"In the same engagement, Capt. W. H. Loveland, ..."
Page [35]—choloric amended to choleric—"... that did not please the choleric Captain."
Page [37]—rout amended to route—"At the end of our patrol route, lived an old Rebel cuss."
Page [39]—desirious amended to desirous—"... the men were desirous of sending their surplus money home."
Page [40]—arrivied amended to arrived—"We arrived there after daylight, ..."
Page [41]—CAVALARY amended to CAVALRY—"A LITTLE “BLACK HORSE” CAVALRY, ..."
Page [43]—stired amended to stirred—"The racket stirred up a nest of Rebels, ..."
Illustrations have been moved where necessary so they are not in the middle of a paragraph.