The basis of the following pages has been found in the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. The authentic narrative of the campaigns from the crossing of the Rapidan in the spring of 1864 to Appomattox is The Virginia Campaign of 1864 and 1865, by General Andrew A. Humphreys. Tested by that history, a comparison of which with the official records shows it to be almost ?aw less, all other accounts of the same events, whether in the form of biography, history, or memoirs, however enter taining these may be as narratives, or however great may be the military fame of the writers, must stand or fall.