FOREWORD

That the Naval Division is worthy of a history in enduring form is undeniable: that it is worthy of a historian of more philosophy and patience is also undeniable. But if the principle is correct that “any weather is better than none,” as Mark Twain, who once produced a treatise on navigation which he called “Following the Equator,” summarized his opinion of the elements, then it may be correct to allege that this history is better than no attempt. From newspaper files which have long lain in unhallowed dust, from scrap-books long undisturbed, from orders and records and literature which has received no generic name and from the lips of survivors of a glorious but ancient day the historian has drawn the facts which follow. The research work has been difficult and a task of no mean proportion, as well, and the work of arrangement and assimilation has not been inconsiderable, and there is reasonable excuse for any errors which may appear in the printed result. For these the historian begs indulgence. He desires to add that the task has been a pleasant one in spite of the difficulty and that his only regret is that a history-more adequate is not the result.

In any case the trail has been blazed, or, to use a more appropriate metaphor, the channel has been buoyed for him who is destined to produce a suitable volume when the Second Division shall have arrived at its twenty-fifth anniversary. That the command may continue to prosper and that it may ever be as efficient and successful as in its most honorable days is the earnest wish of its chronicler.

Thanks are expressed to Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Charles L. Hogan and Quartermaster Palmer (the division librarian) of the actives and to Victor F. Morgan, historian of the Veteran Association, for aid given in the collating of material for this little volume. Thanks are also given to Captain Louis F. Middlebrook and Mr. Fred E. Bosworth.

Hartford, Connecticut, June 28, 1911.

CAPTAIN LOUIS F. MIDDLEBROOKTHE FOUNDER OF THE DIVISION

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