The descriptions of the different fights, both by day and night, particularly the storming of Sebastopol, and the aspect of the interior of those blood-stained walls after the siege, will help to depict in their true colours the horrors of war.
“A Peep Behind the Scenes” will, I trust, also prove interesting to thousands.
The list of killed and wounded of the various regiments is authentic, as is likewise the number of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men who died of disease and hardships that neither pen nor tongue can describe.
The records of the Royal Fusiliers, the Connaught Rangers, and the Old Forty-Twa’s, or Black Watch, together with incidents of other regiments, I feel confident will interest many.
In the chapters on the Indian Mutiny I have narrated some of the most atrocious deeds that were perpetrated, and shown how vengeance was most surely meted out to the miscreants who were guilty of them.
The description of the Afghan campaign of 1863 will, I hope, clearly prove that we had some rough work before the sons of the Himalayas were subdued; while the manners and customs of the people of India, which I have briefly dwelt on, will, I feel certain, afford considerable amusement.
The list of the battles that have been fought by our army from 1704 to 1882, with the various regiments that took part in them, will further illustrate this country’s expenditure in blood during all those years. The losses of each regiment on the field of Waterloo may not be known to all; while the opinion of Napoleon I. as to where the strength of England lay deserves to be held in remembrance.
The Will of Peter the Great I have incidentally published, as it may astonish many, who will, from a perusal of it, obtain a clue to the policy pursued by Russian Statesmen to this day.
The chapter of Curiosities may be relied upon, as containing a record of facts, some of which will be found amusing and others heart-rending. The mysteries of Providence I have endeavoured to illustrate.