Excerpt from Reminiscences of California and the Civil War For quite a number of years I have been requested by my friends, especially by my niece, to write an account of my experiences in California and the War. I have not done so until quite lately, however, since I have not been accustomed to writing. Most of the following pages have been written during the last few winters, when I have been compelled by the severity of the weather to remain in the house. The more I have written, the more I have become interested in the subject, and I have found the work a great deal of company, especially during the cold winter season, when I have had much leisure. My sufferings and sacrifices for my country must be my apology for intruding upon the kindness of my friends. Then, too, I have hoped that my travels and adventures, which are perhaps out of the ordinary run, might prove of interest to many. The idea of writing a book was partly suggested by a pamphlet I saw a few years ago, written in memory of a friend of mine, who lost an arm at Gettysburg, and died shortly after the War from the effects of the wound. At first my purpose was simply to commit to writing a few fads of my life, somewhat after the manner of this pamphlet; but one thought suggested another, until finally the following pages were written. 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.