Sometime after the Utah Battalion left San Francisco for the Philippines the author conceived the idea of writing a history of that organization after its return from the war. With this purpose in view he kept a diary during the entire campaign and also collected what other material that could be utilized for such a work. Immediately upon the arrival in Salt Lake City of the discharged volunteers he, with others, set to work to bring about a completion of this plan. This little volume represents the result of the labor expended at intervals between that date and the present time. The author claims no more for it than its title assumes—a brief history of the Utah batteries. It is no more. There may be some works in the future which will command, to a greater extent, the attention of the reading public. This is not written with the idea that it will become a standard work............