Matthew Forney Steele
Published: 2015-07-11
Total Pages: 754
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Excerpt from American Campaigns, Vol. 1 of 2 The original edition of this work was first privately printed in 1909 under authority of the War Department. A number of copies were purchased for official use and the publisher given authority to sell such copies as he desired. The first edition was speedily exhausted and a reprint was made in 1913. Subsequently the expensive color plates from which the maps were printed were greatly damaged by fire and the type destroyed. In the preface to the first edition, the author very modestly apologized for the supposed shortcomings of his efforts, but in spite of his own fears as to lack of thoroughness in preparation the work has become standard in our service. With the large increase in personnel of the services in the last few years, the demand for copies of the book soon depleted the publisher's stock, and for several years now no copies have been for sale except an occasional second-hand copy. "American Campaigns" has been prescribed at the General Service Schools, the Infantry School and at practically all other service schools, but no means have been proposed for students to obtain copies. Realizing the situation and the impracticability of reprinting from the original type, the Infantry Association has decided to offer this new edition, but without change in text or form. Plates have been reproduced from the original drawings, which fortunately had been preserved in the Army War College, while the entire text is printed from new type. The cost of printing and publishing a book today is practically double what it was in 1909, so that the expense involved in this undertaking is very great. If, however, this contribution of the Infantry Association to the cause of military education in the United States serves a useful purpose, the Association will feel fully repaid for the time, money and effort necessary to see such an extensive work through the press. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
