Excerpt from Regiments and Armories of Massachusetts, Vol. 1 of 2: An Historical Narration of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, With Portraits and Biographies of Officers Past and Present The causes which have so long delayed the issuance of this work, have been many and irritating to all concerned. Not the least of these was the war with Spain, which, during 1898 and 1899. Made imperfect a great deal of finished material, and necessitated revisals and enlargements of the whole work. It is certain, however, that, in the end, the subscriber will receive a volume of increased value, interest and beauty. Something of this history I essay to write, as a necessary and fitting introduction to the records of the Massachusetts militia of to-day; their organization. Equipment, and interests. At the best, my story must be brief, and until the end of time the records which I seek to preserve and array in fitting words, will be the theme of generations of orators, poets and historians, who can never exhaust its rich mines of heroic deeds and noble purposes. I bring to a herculean task only faithful research, an honest desire to present the truth of all matters presented, and a firm and uncompromis ing belief that no true American or impartial student of the history of the United States of America can fail to recognize the fact. That the citizen soldiers of the republic have built, enlarged, and preserved it. And can never safely relinquish the sword into the hands of a professional soldiery. 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.