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[Illustration: THE OLD MAJOR.]
The Works of E.P. Roe
1883
The following story has been taking form in my mind for several years,and at last I have been able to write it out. With a regret akin tosadness, I take my leave, this August day, of people who have becomevery real to me, whose joys and sorrows I have made my own. Although aNorthern man, I think my Southern readers will feel that I have soughtto do justice to their motives. At this distance from the late CivilWar, it is time that passion and prejudice sank below the horizon, andamong the surviving soldiers who were arrayed against each other Ithink they have practically disappeared. Stern and prolonged conflicttaught mutual respect. The men of the Northern armies were convinced,beyond the shadow of a doubt, that they had fought men andAmericans—men whose patriotism and devotion to a cause sacred to themwas as pure and lofty as their own. It is time that sane men and womenshould be large-minded enough to recognize that, whatever may have beenthe original motives of political leaders, the people on both sideswere sincere and honest; that around the camp-fires at their hearthsand in their places of worship they looked for God's blessing on theirefforts with equal freedom from hypocrisy.
I have endeavored to portray the battle of Bull Run as it could appearto a civilian spectator: to give a suggestive picture and not a generaldescription. The following war-scenes are imaginary, and colored bypersonal reminiscence. I was in the service nearly four years, two ofwhich were spent with the cavalry. Nevertheless, justly distrustful ofmy knowledge of military affairs, I have submitted my proofs to myfriend Colonel H. C. Hasbrouck, Commandant of Cadets at West Point, andtherefore have confidence that as mere sketches of battles andskirmishes they are not technically defective.
The title of the story will naturally lead the reader to expect thatdeep shadows rest upon many of its pages. I know it is scarcely thefashion of the present time to portray men and women who feel verydeeply about anything, but there certainly was deep feeling at the timeof which I write, as, in truth, there is to-day. The heart of humanityis like the ocean. There are depths to be stirred when the causes areadequate. E. P. R.
CORNWALL-ON-THE-HUDSON, August 21, 1883.