Book Description

Excerpt from History of the Rebellion in Bradley County, East Tennessee The following work, like many other books is forced into existence by circumstances. Regardless of the previous plans, previous and present wishes or present fears of the author, it arbitrarily assumes its present form. A believer in special Providence, he is compelled to accept it as one of the Providential tasks, if not one of the Providential afflictions of his life. Having prepared to publish the history of the 9th Indiana, under the present high rates of printing, it was found that upwards of $4,000 were necessary to issue 2,000 copies - a book to be properly illustrated and finished, and to contain 600 pages. Only $1,900 had been contributed for this purpose. The scheme must therefore be abandoned, or some method invented to save it from an entire failure. If the sale of the present work does not obviate the difficulty, the enterprise will be relinquished and the subscriptions refunded to all who desire them. The long and heart-rending delay of this work, more heart-rending to the writer than to all others concerned, is as unavoidable on his part as it is afflicting, and the only present consolation is the hope that the sequel may yet be to some extent an atonement for past disappointment. In regard to the present work, many things suggest themselves that might be said; but in any case, it is bad taste, bad economy, and in principle very suspicious to re-write a book in its preface. The principles entertained and views expressed in the following pages, morally, politically and socially, as general laws, are principles and views for which our only regret is that circumstances have militated against their being expressed more pungently and more at length. No person is fit to write upon the subject of our great rebellion who does not feel that it was at war with every principle of justice, every principle sacred to God and humanity, and that his pen is a two-edged sword put into his hand to wield in defense of his own life and of the life of posterity, as the sword and the musket were wielded at Shiloh and other battle-fields of the war - wielded to the death - by the friends of God and of human rights. 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.