they took by-ways and cross country, roads, avoiding as much as
possible the track of the late army. The troops of Kershaw's Brigade,
on reaching the borders of their State, each sought for himself the
easiest and nearest path home. The Western Army made their way,
the most of them at least, to Washington, Ga., where there was yet
railroad communication a part of the way through Georgia.

And now, gentle reader, my task is done--my pen laid aside, after days
and days of earnest toil to give a faithful and correct account of
your daring, your endurance, your patriotism, and your fidelity to
the cause you had espoused. Your aims have been of the highest, your
performances ideal, and while you were unsuccessful, still your deeds
of daring will live in history as long as civilization lasts. While
your cherished hopes ended in a dream, still your aspirations have
been of the loftiest, and your acts will be copied by generations yet
unborn, as a fitting pattern for all brave men. You have fought in all
the great battles of the East, from the trenches of Petersburg to
the rugged heights of Round Top. Your blood mingled with that of your
comrades of the West, from Chickamauga to the storming of Fort London.
You combatted the march of Sherman from the Saltkahatchie to the
close, and stacked your arms more as conquering heroes than beaten
foes. You have nothing to regret but the results--no hope but the
continued prosperity of a reunited people. This heritage of valor left
to posterity as a memorial of Southern manhood to the Southern cause
will be cherished by your descendants for all time, and when new
generations come on and read the histories of the great Civil War, and
recall to their minds the fortitude, the chivalry, and the glories of
the troops engaged, Kershaw's Brigade will have a bright page in the
book of their remembrance.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XLIV

Retrospect.

It would be supposed that the writer, who had fought by the side of
nearly all, and who had visited battlefields where troops from every
State had fallen, could form an idea of "Which were the best troops
from the South?" The South has furnished a type of the true soldier
that will last as a copy for all time. She had few regulars, and her
volunteer troops were brought into service without preparation or
without the knowledge of tactical drill, but in stoicism, heroism, and
martyrdom they excelled the world.

I give