which I subsequently engaged; and I consequently had no cause for regret at having followed the line of action I did. At the time of which I am writing, however, I could not know what the future would bring forth; and although, without being aware of it, I was about to enter upon a series of enterprises of great moment, all my plans seemed to have gone amiss, and I certainly was not in the most pleasant state of mind imaginable.
In writing this narrative, it has seemed to me that the only proper method is to represent events as they actually occurred, and to record the impressions they made upon me at the time of occurrence, and not as they were colored by subsequent developments. My ideas and feelings under particular circumstances are as much a part of my story as the narrative of actual events, for my proceedings were guided and influenced by them; and this would scarcely be a fair record of my career while in the Confederate service did I not make some mention of them.
