fully wielded by the same hand; more seldom has it occurred that the soldier has become the worthy historian of his own achievements. The Anabasis of Xenophon, in Grecian, the Commentaries of Cæsar, in Roman, and Napier's History of the Peninsular War, in English literature, are perhaps the only illustrious exceptions to this remark. But these celebrated histories were written during a period of repose, when ample opportunity was afforded for elaborate composition. The present narrative is the only military history that has come forth all rounded and finished with the graces of elegant scholarship from the very midst of the iron storm and the carnage of the battle-field. It is one of the significant illustrations of the spirit of the age.
Should the life of the gallant author be spared amid the manifold perils of his situation, the sequel of this stirring drama will be given to the world in due season.