Excerpt from History Twelfth Massachusetts Volunteers Massachusetts: Webster Regiment The map showing the marches of the regiment, appearing in the history, was drawn by a comrade who refuses to have his name used, from a map issued by the government war-office and it is believed to be substantially correct. He was much assisted, also, by a map showing the route of the wagon-trains, in the possession of Quartermaster George E. Muzzey. That the work is deficient in many respects I am fully aware, but I have the assurance of knowing that I have performed my duty as well as I could. The reasons for any deficiencies that may appear will be apparent to all upon reflection, and it is um necessary for me to enumerate them. I have endeavored to make the work impartial, and to abstain as much as possible from rendering praise in special cases. There is no need of praise from your historian. Your record as soldiers does not require it and no language, however emphatic, can give an adequate idea of your sacrifices, your unselfish devotion, and the suffering and hardship attending your service. My original plan was, to have prepared a full and correct roster of the regiment, showing who were killed and wounded, and other facts of interest: but company descriptive-books and muster-out rolls could not be obtained, and no persons were found who could supply such facts from memory; therefore the work had to be abandoned. A partial or an incorrect list would be worse than none. It may appear that some companies have received undue attention, being more frequently mentioned than others; but, if such is the case, it is because they have furnished me with more material. It certainly is not the result of preference. The men of Company H responded well to the call for data, five of them sending matter which has been of great assistance. The diary of Thaddeus Keith of Company F (killed at the battle of the Wilderness), forwarded to me by his brother, has been a greathelp. There were two responses to the circular from Company K, and one each from Companies A and I. The reader will please bear in mind that this little volume is not a history of the war, but the story of our campaigns. I have all the way through striven to avoid as much as possible irrelevant matters, believing that what was desired was a plain and true account of the movements and experiences of the Twelfth Regiment. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.