The Old Sixth Regiment

Its War Record, 1861-65

The object of this work is to give a true and impartial record of the old Sixth Regiment during the war. The author collected the facts from a private diary kept by himself while in the service. Less has been known of the Sixth by our citizens than most of the other regiments; perhaps this is due partly to the fact that when we arrived.in Washington Colonel Chatfield instructed officers and men that it was unmilitary to write letters for the press; he desired that the War Record should know the record of the Sixth, and not the newspapers only. Its history is less full on this account; yet none can say that the record of the Sixth is sullied. In many trying places the regiment proved itself honor ably and gained confidence from its corps and department commanders. There may be errors in this work, and if any are inclined to censure, I trust they will remember that very few histories are without them; yet they are errors of the head and not of the heart. If what is here written meets the approval of the old members and the intelligent readers in general, I shall feel that my labors have been amply rewarded.