te so well. Battle-accounts were
frequently published that would be no mean comparison to the studied
pen-pictures of the famous writers of this or any other age. They
were extensively copied by the press of England and the Continent, and
received high praise for their vivid portrayal of the battle-field
and its scenes. Apart from the graphic accounts of great battles, they
furnished materials from which the historians will write the enduring
records of the war. With files of the New York dailies at his side, an
industrious writer could compile a history of the Rebellion, complete
in all its details.

It was a general complaint of the correspondents that their profession
was never officially recognized so as to give them an established
position in the army. They received passes from head-quarters, and
could generally go where they willed, but there were many officers who
chose to throw petty but annoying restrictions around them. As they
were generally situated throughout the army, they were, to some
extent, dependent upon official courtesies. Of course, this dependence
was injurious to free narration or criticism when any officer had
conducted improperly.

If there is ever another occasion for the services of the war
correspondent on our soil, it is to be hoped Congress will pass a law
establishing a position for the journalists, fixing their status
in the field, surrounding them with all necessary restrictions, and
authorizing them to purchase supplies and forage from the proper
departments. During the Crimean war, the correspondents of the French
and English papers had a recognized position, where they were subject
to the same rules, and entitled to the same privileges, as the
officers they accompanied. When Sir George Brown, at Eupatoria,
forbade any officer appearing in public with unshaven chin, he made no
distinction in favor of the members of the Press.

Notwithstanding their fierce competition in serving the journals they
represented, the correspondents with our army were generally on the
most friendly terms with each other. Perhaps this was less the case
in the East than in the West, where the rivalry was not so intense
and continuous. In the armies in the Mississippi Valley, the
representatives of competing journals frequently slept, ate, traveled,
and smoked together, and not unfrequently drank from the same flask
with equal relish. In the early days, "Room 45," in the St. Charles
Hotel at Cairo, was the