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by T. B. Thorpe (Author)
The events treated of in this work, are of too recent occurrence, and of an interest too absorbing, to require a preface. The author was among those who were deeply excited by the stirring incidents connected with our little army on the Rio Grande, in the months of April and May, 1846, and he was on the battle fields, and among the heroes, almost immediately after the occurrences that have rendered them immortal in the history of the country. The idea of writing the following little volume, was suggested by the accumulation of materials, collected for the transient purpose of varying the columns of a daily paper, and urged on by the honorable wish to record some of the noble deeds of our soldiers, that might otherwise be forgotten. The author is indebted to several officers of high standing in the army for facilities of obtaining information, among whom he would mention, in the most respectful terms, Major Gen. Gaines and Gen. Worth. The illustrations of the work are from nature, save the one representing the death of Major Ringgold; that is an attempt to embody the scene from descriptions of eye witnesses. At the time the author visited Major Ringgold's grave, at Point Isabel, there was nothing, except the freshness of the sod, to distinguish it particularly from the three or four about it. Some time afterwards, his brother officers protected it by a significant railing, which the author is happy to learn will be sent to Baltimore with the hero's remains. T.B. Thorpe Louisiana, August, 1846.
