the hams and shoulders. Also that pestiferous little animal, 

 though small in stature, was misfhty in deed and caused us on 

 first making its acquaintance, to throw away our underclothes 

 and make remarks that were not always of a religeous nature. 



The list of letters are both instructive and interesting, in 

 that they show that the boys fell out of the army life and took up 

 their places in the greater array of home builders. Instructive in 

 that it shows the true American spirit, that the soldiei's had not 

 lost in their four years of hard warfare. 



That there was fear of reverse conditions is not to be de- 

 nied. It was currently reported that one of our famous generals 

 feared to disband his regiments lest a spirit of outlawry would 

 show up, but he was mistaken in his estimate of the men under 

 him. All returned to their plows, their trades, their homes, 

 their loved ones and scarcely a complaint was heard all through 

 the land. I hope the comrades of old Company A, will enjoy 

 reading these letters, as I have enjoyed getting them and setting 

 them in type. Although it has taken a good deal of time and 

 work, it has been a pleasant employment. I am sorry that more 

 of the comrades did not write and tell of their life since the 

 war. It would have added to the interest of the book if the 

 comrades had related more incidents in which the company was 

 particularly concerned. 



There is one feature of the book which I think will be 

 useful. It furnishes in a condensed form, information no son of 

 a company A veteran should fail to possess. I have met sons of 

 veterans that, while they might be able to tell what state their 

 fathers went from, could not tell what regiment, or what particu- 

 lar part of the service they were in. 



