And so good-bye to the war. I know not how it may have been,  ...  to others -- to me the main interest was in the rank and file of the armies,  ...  and even the dead on the
field.  ...  the points illustrating the latent personal character of the American young were of more significance  ...  than the political interests
involved.  ... 

Future years will never know the seething hell  ...  of countless minor scenes and interiors, (not the
official surface courteousness of the Generals, not the few great
battles) of the Secession war; and it is best they should not1. The
real war will never get in the books.  ... 

 ...  perhaps must not and should not
be.

The whole land, North and South, was one vast hospital, greater (like life's) than the few distortions ever told. Think
how much, and of importance, will be --  ... 
has already been -- buried in the grave ... .