Of especial interest is the article on Bronson Howard in William Archer's English Dramatists of Today (1882), in which Mr. Archer, while pointing out Mr. Howard 's merits, accuses him of vulgarity for certain expressions in Saratoga, which are not included in the play, and which were therefore, most probably inserted by the English adaptor.
[FROM PREFACE TO SHENANDOAH]
In ACT I, just before the opening of the war, Haverhill is a Colonel in the Regular Army. Kerchival West and Robert Ellingham are Lieutenants in his regiment, having been classmates at West Point.
ACT I
Charleston Harbor in 1861. After the Ball
The citizens of Charleston knew almost the exact hour at which the attack on Fort Sumter would begin, and they gathered in the gray twilight of the morning to view the bombardment as a spectacle.—Nicolay, Campaigns of the Civil War, Vol. I.
"I shall open fire in one hour."—Beauregard's last message to Major Anderson. Sent at 3:20 A. M., April 12, 1861.
ACTS II AND III
The Union Army, under General Sheridan, and the Confederate Army, under General Early, were encamped facing each other about twenty miles south of Winchester, on Cedar Creek. * * * Gen. Sheridan was called to Washington. Soon after he left, a startling despatch was taken by our own Signal Officers from the Confederate Signal Station on Three Top Mountain.—Pond, Camp. Civ. War, Vol. XI.
On the morning of Oct. 19th, the Union Army was taken completely by surprise. Thoburn's position was swept in an instant. Gordon burst suddenly upon the left flank. The men who escaped capture streamed through the camps along the road to Winchester.—Pond, supra.
Far away in the rear was heard cheer after cheer.—Three years in the Sixth Corps.
ACT IV
Washington, 1865. Residence of General Buckthorn
I feel that we are on the eve of a new era, when there is to be great harmony between the Federal and Confederate.—Gen. Grant's Memoirs.
