PREFACE.

To the Members of the Thirty-Fifth Virginia Cavalry¹:

The following pages have been prepared under many and great difficulties, and while they exhibit the history of the command we were so proud of in the dark days of the war for States Rights and the old Constitution, they are very far from presenting a full history of our Battalion².

Almost all the papers relating to the operations of the “Comanches,” whether belonging to the field and staff or to company officers, were lost at the surrender of the army, in consequence of which I have been compelled to draw nearly all that is recorded from my own memory, assisted materially by Col. White, in the account of the “battle of Brandy Station,” and of the raids in Fairfax and Loudoun in 1863.

To Mr. John O. Crown I am under obligations for the use of his MSS., giving an account of the operations in the autumn of 1862, and of the last winter of the war, and to Lieuts. J. R. Crown and E. J. Chiswell for much that is interesting in the history of Company B; to the former especially, for a report of his fight with Cole’s battalion in Maryland, and of his capture by the same command in 1863.

The lists of killed and wounded for Company B were prepared by Lieut. Chiswell; for Company C, by Capt. Dowdell; for Company E, Lieut. Strickler, and for Company A, by myself.

From Company F, I regret exceedingly that I have not been able to obtain any information whatever.

As for the manner of the work, while I am free to confess that the story is by no means well told, yet, the men of the Battalion who, by education and talent, were well qualified³ for the task of preparing it, would not, and it has thus fallen to my lot to write this history; and, such as it is, I submit it to your judgment⁴ for approval or not, as you may decide; but among its faults I claim that violations⁵ of the "historian’s religion"—truth—will not be 6laid to its charge; and the thoughts, feelings, and impressions, unbiassed by the warpings of after events, have been presented as far as possible.

It is a story altogether of the past, and, as soldiers of the “Lost Cause,” we have nothing to do with the efforts of politicians, North or South, to galvanize the Confederacy into spasmodic action, and then cry—
"There’s life in the old land yet."

There is no attempt either to conceal⁶ or parade the grief we, as Confederate soldiers, felt at the furling of the “conquered banner.”
“For though conquered, we adore it,
Love the cold, dead hands that bore it.”

But while we do love so dearly the battle-flag of “Dixie,” we regard it only as the emblem⁷ of the “storm-cradled nation that fell,” and as the winding-sheet of its dead and buried glory, over whose gloomy tomb the brave, true-hearted men of the southland have raised a monument of noble deeds, which will defy malice⁸, oppression, and time.

We know that the Southern Confederacy is dead, and all its mourning lovers ask is permission to bury their dead reverently⁹.
“Hushed is the roll of the Rebel drum,
The sabres are sheathed¹⁰, and the cannon¹¹ are dumb,
And fate with pitiless hand has furled,
The flag that once challenged the gaze of the world.”

But the fame of its soldiers deserves to live on the pages of history, and, if I have aided in rescuing from oblivion the story of the gallant¹² deeds performed by the men that followed Col. Elijah V. White through the bloody¹³ years of that desolating¹⁴ war, I am satisfied.

F. M. MYERS.

Loudoun County. Va., Nov. 27, 1870.

1 cavalry   

n.骑兵；轻装甲部队

参考例句：

• We were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry. 我们翼侧受到一队骑兵的袭击。
• The enemy cavalry rode our men down. 敌人的骑兵撞倒了我们的人。

2 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

3 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

4 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

5 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

6 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

7 emblem   

n.象征，标志；徽章

参考例句：

• Her shirt has the company emblem on it.她的衬衫印有公司的标记。
• The eagle was an emblem of strength and courage.鹰是力量和勇气的象征。

8 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。

9 reverently   

adv.虔诚地

参考例句：

• He gazed reverently at the handiwork. 他满怀敬意地凝视着这件手工艺品。
• Pork gazed at it reverently and slowly delight spread over his face. 波克怀着愉快的心情看着这只表，脸上慢慢显出十分崇敬的神色。

10 sheathed   

adj.雕塑像下半身包在鞘中的；覆盖的；铠装的；装鞘了的v.将（刀、剑等）插入鞘( sheathe的过去式和过去分词 )；包，覆盖

参考例句：

• Bulletproof cars sheathed in armour. 防弹车护有装甲。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The effect of his mediation was so great that both parties sheathed the sword at once. 他的调停非常有效，双方立刻停战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

12 gallant   

adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的

参考例句：

• Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
• These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

13 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

14 desolating   

毁坏( desolate的现在分词 )； 极大地破坏； 使沮丧； 使痛苦

参考例句：

• Most desolating were those evenings the belle-mere had envisaged for them. 最最凄凉的要数婆婆给她们设计的夜晚。