From a journal kept by General Pierce, and intended only for the perusal
of his family and friends, we present some extracts. They are mere hasty
jottings-down in camp, and at the intervals of weary marches, but will
doubtless bring the reader closer to the man than any narrative which we
could substitute. [In this reprint it has been thought expedient to omit
the passages from General Pierce's journal.]
* * * * * *
General Pierce's journal here terminates. In its clear and simple
narrative the reader cannot fail to see--although it was written with no
purpose of displaying them--the native qualities of a born soldier,
together with the sagacity of an experienced one. He had proved himself,
moreover, physically apt for war, by his easy endurance of the fatigues
of the march; every step of which (as was the case with few other
officers) was performed either on horseback or on foot. Nature, indeed,
has endowed him with a rare elasticity both of mind and body; he springs
up from pressure like a well-tempered sword. After the severest toil, a
single night's rest does as much for him, in the way of refreshment, as a
week could do for most other men.
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