1st Artillery Regiment (Light)
Battery L
George Breck columns
Chapter III: Editor’s note

This project would not have been possible without the outstanding resources available at the Rochester Public Library. Breck’s columns were photocopied from microfilm at the library’s downtown location; most of the explanatory information in the chapter headings, text and footnotes were drawn from the many volumes of Civil War history at the library. Of equal importance were the extraordinary number of Civil War drawings and photographs available online from the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration. They were invaluable in illustrating Breck’s narrative. The editor is deeply indebted to all three institutions.

The photocopied columns were retyped in Microsoft Word. In rare instances, a fold or tear in the microfilmed version of the original newspaper left small gaps in the narrative. These gaps are indicated with […]. The editor has corrected obvious misspellings. Breck, or his Union and Advertiser editors, were inordinately fond of commas, sometimes using them to excess. The editor has deleted ones that unnecessarily impeded the flow of sentences, and added others where it was thought helpful to clarify the apparent meaning of sentences or improve their readability. Otherwise, the columns are presented intact, as they appeared.

Additional, parenthetical entries, in italic, are interjected to provide short explanatory material or to indicate apparent missing words. Otherwise footnotes are used.

Maps are essential to following Breck’s narrative, because he is so conscientious in tracing virtually all of Battery L’s movements. The editor relied heavily on the Official Military Atlas of the Civil War in preparing rudimentary maps to illustrate where Battery L was located at various points during the war. The OMA is arranged by plates, each plate containing more than one numbered map, and citations are made accordingly.

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