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Transcriber's note:
Several minor typographical errors have been corrected in
transcribing this work: contineu, secresy, bubling,
reconnoissance, cotemporary, delived (should be delivered),
eat (ate), Alleghany, amendmet, lage (large). Otherwise the
text is original and retains some inconsistent or outdated
spellings.
The original contains two lengthy addenda supplied by the
publisher which were not named in the Table of Contents.
Entries for these have been added to the Contents for
the convenience of the reader.
Despite the many testimonials in this book, as of 2008, the
source of the Mississippi is considered to be Lake Itasca.
Following a five-month investigation in 1891 it was decided
that the stream from Elk Lake (the body that Glazier would
have called Lake Glazier) into Itasca is too insignificant
to be deemed the river's source. Both lakes can be seen,
looking much as they do in the maps in this book, by directing
any online mapping service to 47 deg.11'N, 95 deg.14'W.
SWORD AND PEN
* * * * *
POPULAR WORKS OF
Captain Willard Glazier.
THE SOLDIER-AUTHOR.
I. Soldiers of the Saddle.
II. Capture, Prison-Pen, and Escape.
III. Battles for the Union.
IV. Heroes of Three Wars.
V. Peculiarities of American Cities.
VI. Down the Great River.
Captain Glazier's works are growing more and more popular
every day. Their delineations of military life, constantly
varying scenes, and deeply interesting stories, combine to
place their writer in the front rank of American authors.
SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION.
PERSONS DESIRING AGENCIES FOR ANY OF CAPTAIN GLAZIER'S
BOOKS SHOULD ADDRESS
THE PUBLISHERS
* * * * *
[Illustration: (signed) Willard Glazier]
SWORD AND PEN;
or,
Ventures and Adventures
of
WILLARD GLAZIER,
(The Soldier-Author,)
In
War and Literature:
Comprising
Incidents and Reminiscences of His Childhood; His
Chequered Life As a Student and Teacher; and His
Remarkable Career As a Soldier and Author;
Embracing Also the Story of His Unprecedented
Journey from Ocean to Ocean
on Horseback; and an Account of
His Discovery of the True Source
of the Mississippi River, and
Canoe Voyage Thence to
the Gulf of Mexico.
by
JOHN ALGERNON OWENS.
Illustrated.
Philadelphia:
P. W. Ziegler &. Company, Publishers,
720 Chestnut Street.
1890.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by
John Algernon Owens,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D.C.
PREFACE.
No apology will be required from the author for presenting to the public
some episodes in the useful career of a self-made man; and while the
spirit of patriotism continues to animate the sturdy sons of America,
the story of one of them who has exemplified this national trait in a
conspicuous measure, will be deemed not unworthy of record. The lessons
it teaches, more especially to the young, are those of uncompromising
_duty_ in every relation of life--self-denial, perseverance and "pluck;"
while the successive stages of a course which led ultimately to a
brilliant success, may be studied with some advantage by those just
entering upon the business of life. As a soldier, Willard Glazier was
"without fear and without reproach." As an author, it is sufficient to
say, he is appreciated by his _contemporaries_--than which, on a
literary man, no higher encomium can be passed. The sale of nearly half
a million copies of one of his productions is no slight testimony to its
value.
Biography, to be interesting, must be a transcript of an eventful, as
well as a remarkable career; and to be instructive, its subject should
be exemplary in his aims, and in his mode of attaining them. The hero of
this story comes fully up to the standard thus indicated. His career has
been a romance. Born of parents of small means but of excellent
character and repute; and bred and nurtured in the midst of some of the
wildest and grandest scenery in the rugged county of St. Lawrence,
close by the "Thousand Isles," where New York best proves her right to
be called the Empire State through the stamp of royalty on her hills and
streams--under the shadow of such surroundings as these, my subject
attained maturity, with no opportunities for culture except those he
made for himself. Yet he became possessed of an education eminently
useful, essentially practical and calculated to establish just such
habits of self-reliance and decision as afterwards proved chiefly
instrumental in his success. Glazier had a fixed ambition to rise. He
felt that the task would be difficult of accomplishment--that he must be
not only the architect, but the builder of his own fortunes; and, as the
statue grows beneath the sculptor's hand to perfect contour from the
unshapely block of marble, so prosperity came to Captain Glazier only
after he had cut and chiseled away at the hard surface of inexorable
circumstance, and moulded therefrom the statue of his destiny.
J. A. O.
Philadelphia, _June 14th_, 1880.
* * * * *
TO
THE MEMORY OF
ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT,
WHOSE SWORD,
AND TO THAT OF
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW,
WHOSE PEN,
Have so Nobly Illustrated the Valor and Genius of their Country:
THE AUTHOR,
In a Spirit of Profound Admiration for
THE RENOWNED SOLDIER,
And of Measureless Gratitude to
THE IMMORTAL WRITER,
Dedicates This Book.
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN OF THE GLAZIER FAMILY.
Lineage of Willard Glazier.--A good stock.--Oliver Glazier at the
Battle of Bunker Hill.--The home of honest industry.--The Coronet of
Pembroke.--The "Homestead Farm."--Mehitable Bolton.--Her New England
home.--Her marriage to Ward Glazier.--The wild "North Woods."--The
mother of the soldier-author 21
CHAPTER II.
BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF WILLARD GLAZIER.
The infant stranger.--A mother's prayers.--"Be just before you are
generous."--Careful training.--Willard Glazier's first battle.--A
narrow escape.--Facing the foe.--The "happy days of childhood."--
"The boy is father to the man" 27
CHAPTER III.
EARLY LIFE AND HABITS.
Scotch-Irish Presbyterianism of twenty-five years ago.--The "little
deacon."--First days at school.--Choosing a wife.--A youthful
gallant.--A close scholar but a wild lad.--A mother's influence.--
Ward Glazier a Grahamite.--Young Willard's practical jokes.--
Anecdote of Crystal Spring.--"That is something like water" 34
CHAPTER IV.
WILLARD GLAZIER AT SCHOOL.
School-days continued.--Boys will be boys.--Cornelius Carter, the
teacher.--Young Willard's rebellion against injustice.--
Gum-chewing.--Laughable race through the snow.--The tumble into a
snow-bank, and what came of it.--The runaway caught.--Explanation
and reconciliation.--The new master, James Nichols.--"Spare the rod
and spoil the child."--The age of chivalry not gone.--Magnanimity
of a school-boy.--Friendship between Willard and Henry
Abbott.--Good-bye to the "little deacon" 42
CHAPTER V.
ECCENTRICITIES OF HENRY GLAZIER.
Henry Glazier.--A singular character.--"Kaw-shaw-gan-ce" and
"Quaw-taw-pee-ab."--Tom Lolar and Henry Glazier.--Attractive
show-bills.--Billy Muldoon and his trombone.--Behind the
scenes.--"Sound your G!"--The mysterious musician.--What happened to
Billy.--"May the divil fly away wid ye!" 50
CHAPTER VI.
VISIONS OF THE FUTURE.
The big uncle and the little nephew.--Exchange of ideas between the
eccentric Henry Glazier and young Willard.--Inseparable
companions.---Willard's early reading.--Favorite authors.--
Hero-worship of the first Napoleon and Charles XII. of Sweden.--
The genius of good and of evil.--Allen Wight.--A born teacher.--
Reverses of fortune.--The shadow on the home.--Willard's resolve
to seek his fortune and what came of it.--The sleep under the
trees.--The prodigal's return.--"All's well that ends well" 58
CHAPTER VII.
WILLARD GLAZIER AT HOME.
Out of boyhood.--Days of adolescence.--True family pride.--Schemes
for the future.--Willard as a temperance advocate.--Watering his
grandfather's whiskey.--The pump behind the hill.--The sleigh-ride
by night.--The "shakedown" at Edward's.--Intoxicated by tobacco
fumes.--The return ride.--Landed in a snow-bank.--Good-bye horses
and sleigh!--Plodding through the snow 68
CHAPTER VIII.
ADVENTURES--EQUINE AND BOVINE.
Ward Glazier moves to the Davis Place.--"Far in the lane a lonely
house he found."--Who was Davis?--Description of the place.--A wild
spot for a home.--Willard at work.--Adventure with an ox-team.--The
road, the bridge and the stream.--"As an ox thirsteth for the
water."--Dashed from a precipice!--Willard as a horse-tamer.--
"Chestnut Bess," the blooded mare.--The start for home.--"Bess" on
the rampage.--A lightning dash.--The stooping arch.--Bruised and
unconscious 75
CHAPTER IX.
THE YOUNG TRAPPER OF THE OSWEGATCHIE.
A plan of life.--Determination to procure an education.--A
substitute at the plow.--His father acquiesces in his determination
to become a trapper.--Life in the wild woods along the
Oswegatchie.--The six "dead falls."--First success.--A fallacious
calculation.--The goal attained.--Seventy-five dollars in hard
cash!--Four terms of academic life.--The youthful rivals.--Lessons
in elocution.--A fight with hair-brushes and chairs!--"The walking
ghost of a kitchen fire."--Renewed friendship.--Teaching to obtain
means for an education 87
CHAPTER X.
THE SOLDIER SCHOOL-MASTER.
From boy to man.--The Lyceum debate.--Willard speaks for the
slave.--Entrance to the State Normal School.--Reverses.--Fighting
the world again.--Assistance from fair hands.--Willard meets Allen
Barringer.--John Brown, and what Willard thought of him.--Principles
above bribe.--Examination.--A sleepless night.--Haunted by the
"ghost of possible defeat."--"Here is your certificate."--The school
at Schodack Centre.--At the "Normal" again.--The Edwards
School.--Thirty pupils at two dollars each.--The "soldier
school-master."--Teachers at East Schodack.--The runaway
ride.--Good-by mittens, robes and whip!--Close of school at East
Schodack 102
CHAPTER XI.
INTRODUCTION TO MILITARY LIFE.
The mutterings of war.--Enlistment.--At Camp Howe.--First experience
as a soldier.--"One step to the front!"--Beyond Washington.--On
guard.--Promotion.--Recruiting service.--The deserted home on
Arlington Heights.--"How shall I behave in the coming battle?"--The
brave Bayard.--On the march.--The stratagem at Falmouth Heights.--A
brilliant charge.--After the battle 118
CHAPTER XII.
FIRST BATTLE OF BRANDY STATION.
The sentinel's lonely round.--General Pope in command of the
army.--Is gunboat service effective?--First cavalry battle of Brandy
Station.--Under a rain of bullets.--Flipper's orchard.--"Bring on
the brigade, boys!"--Capture of Confederate prisoners.--Story of a
revolver.--Cedar Mountain.--Burial of the dead rebel.--Retreat from
the Rapidan.--The riderless horse.--Death of Captain Walters 128
CHAPTER XIII.
MANASSAS AND FREDERICKSBURG.
Manassas.--The flying troops.--The unknown hero.--Desperate
attempt to stop the retreat.--Recruiting the decimated
ranks.--Fredericksburg.--Bravery of Meagher's brigade.--The
impregnable heights.--The cost of battles.--Death of
Bayard.--Outline of his life 135
CHAPTER XIV.
UNWRITTEN HISTORY.
"What boots a weapon in a withered hand?"--A thunderbolt
wasted.--War upon hen-roosts.--A bit of unpublished history.--A
fierce fight with Hampton's cavalry.--In one red burial blent.--From
camp to home.--Troubles never come singly.--The combat.--The
capture.--A superfluity of Confederate politeness.--Lights and
shadows 144
CHAPTER XV.
THE CAPTURE.
A situation to try the stoutest hearts.--Hail Columbia!--Every man a
hero.--Kilpatrick's ingenuity.--A pen-picture from "Soldiers of the
Saddle."--Glazier thanked by his general.--Cessation of
hostilities.--A black day.--Fitzhugh Lee proposes to crush
Kilpatrick.--Kil's audacity.--Capture of Lieutenant Glazier.--Petty
tyranny.--"Here, Yank, hand me that thar hat, and overcoat, and
boots" 155
CHAPTER XVI.
LIBBY PRISON.
"All ye who enter here abandon hope."--Auld lang syne.--Major
Turner.--Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.--Stoicism.--Glazier
enters the prison-hospital--A charnel-house.--Rebel surgeons.--
Prison correspondence.--Specimen of a regulation letter.--The
tailor's joke.--A Roland for an Oliver.--News of death.--Schemes
for escape.--The freemasonry of misfortune.--Plot and
counter-plot.--The pursuit of pleasure under difficulties 166
CHAPTER XVII.
PRISON LIFE.
Mournful news.--How a brave man dies.--New Year's day.--Jolly under
unfavorable circumstances.--Major Turner pays his respects.--
Punishment for singing "villainous Yankee songs."--Confederate
General John Morgan.--Plans for escape.--Digging their way to
freedom.--"Poet No. 1, All's well."--Yankee ingenuity.--The tunnel
ready.--Muscle the trump card.--No respect to rank.--_Sauve qui
peut!_--A strategic movement.--"Guards! guards!"--Absentees from
muster.--Disappointed hopes.--Savage treatment of prisoners.--Was
the prison mined? 179
CHAPTER XVIII.
DANVILLE.--MACON.--SAVANNAH.
Belle Boyd, the Confederate spy.--National characteristics.--Colonel
Mosby.--Richmond to Danville.--Sleeping spoon-fashion.--Glazier's
"corrective point" suffers.--Saltatory entrance to a railroad
car.--Colonel Joselyn.--Sympathy of North Carolinians.--Ingenious
efforts to escape.--Augusta.--Macon.--Turner again!--"Carelessness"
with firearms.--Tunneling.--Religious revival.--Order from
Confederate War Department.--Murder!--Fourth of July.--Macon to
Savannah.--Camp Davidson.--More tunneling 194
CHAPTER XIX.
UNDER FIRE AT CHARLESTON.
Under siege.--Charleston Jail.--The Stars and Stripes.--Federal
compliments.--Under the guns.--Roper Hospital.--Yellow
Jack.--Sisters of Charity.--Rebel Christianity.--A Byronic
stanza.--Charleston to Columbia.--"Camp Sorghum."--Nemesis.--Another
dash for liberty.--Murder of Lieutenants Young and Parker.--Studying
topography.--A vaticination.--Back to reality 206
CHAPTER XX.
THE ESCAPE FROM COLUMBIA.
Mysterious voices.--"I reckon dey's Yankees."---"Who comes
there?"--The Lady of the Manor.--A weird spectacle.--The struggle
through the swamp.--A reflection on Southern swamps in
general.--"Tired nature's sweet restorer" 221
CHAPTER XXI.
LOYALTY OF THE NEGROES.
Startled by hounds.--An unpleasant predicament.--A Christian
gentlewoman.--Appeal to Mrs. Colonel Taylor.--"She did all she
could."--A meal fit for the gods.--Aunt Katy.--"Lor' bress ye,
marsters!"--Uncle Zeb's prayer.--Hoe-cake and pinders.--Woodcraft
_versus_ astronomy.--Canine foes.--Characteristics of the slave.--
Meeting escaped prisoners.--Danger.--Retreat and concealment 228
CHAPTER XXII.
PROGRESS OF THE FUGITIVES.
Parting company.--Thirst and no water.--Hoping for the end.--The boy
and the chicken.--Conversation of ladies overheard.--The fugitives
pursued.--The sleeping village.--Captain Bryant.--The _alba
sus_.--Justifiable murder, and a delicious meal.--Darkies and their
prayers.--Man proposes; God disposes.--An adventure.--A _ruse de
guerre_.--Across the Savannah 238
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE PERILS OF AN ESCAPE.
Alligators.--A detachment of Southern chivalry.--A scare.--Repairs
neatly executed.--Misery and despair.--Virtue its own
reward.--Hunger and desperation.--Audacity.--A Confederate
officer.--"A good Union man."--"Two sights and a jambye."--A narrow
escape 249
CHAPTER XXIV.
RECAPTURED BY A CONFEDERATE OUTPOST.
Fugitive slaves.--A rebel planter.--The big Ebenezer.--A sound of
oars.--A _ruse de guerre_.--Burial of a dead soldier.--A free
ride.--Groping in the dark.--"Who goes there!"--Recaptured.--_Nil
desperandum_.--James Brooks.--Contraband of war.--Confederate
murders.--In the saddle again.--A dash for freedom.--Again
captured.--Tried as a spy 261
CHAPTER XXV.
FINAL ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY.
In jail.--White trash.--Yankees.--Off to Waynesboro.--No
rations.--Calling the roll.--Sylvania.--Plan for escape.--Lieutenant
John W. Wright.--A desperate project.--Escaped!--Giving chase.--The
pursuers baffled.--Old Richard.--"Pooty hard case, massa."--Rebel
deserters.--The sound of cannon.--Personating a rebel officer.--Mrs.
Keyton.--Renewed hope.--A Confederate outpost.--Bloodhounds.--Uncle
Philip.--March Dasher.--Suspicion disarmed.--"Now I'ze ready,
gemmen."--Stars and stripes.--Glorious freedom.--Home 274
CHAPTER XXVI
GLAZIER RE-ENTERS THE SERVICE.
Glazier's determination to re-enter the army.--Letter to Colonel
Harhaus.--Testimonial from Colonel Clarence Buel.--Letter from Hon.
Martin I. Townsend to governor of New York.--Letter from General
Davies.--Letter from General Kilpatrick.--Application for new
commission successful.--Home.--The mother fails to recognize her
son.--Supposed to be dead.--Recognized by his sister
Marjorie.--Filial and fraternal love.--Reports himself to his
commanding officer for duty.--Close of the war and of Glazier's
military career.--Seeks a new object in life.--An idea occurs to
him.--Becomes an author, and finds a publisher 295
CHAPTER XXVII.
CAREER AS AN AUTHOR.
Glazier in search of a publisher for "Capture, Prison-Pen and
Escape."--Spends his last dollar.--Lieutenant Richardson a friend
in need.--Joel Munsell, of Albany, consents to publish.--The author
solicits subscriptions for his work before publication.--
Succeeds.--Captain Hampton.--R. H. Ferguson.--Captain F. C.
Lord.--Publication and sale of first edition.--Great success.--Pays
his publisher in full.--Still greater successes.--Finally attains
an enormous sale.--Style of the work.--Extracts.--Opinions of the
press 304
CHAPTER XXVIII.
"THREE YEARS IN THE FEDERAL CAVALRY."
Another work by Captain Glazier.--"Three Years in the Federal
Cavalry."--Daring deeds of the Light Dragoons.--Extracts from the
work.--Night attack on Falmouth Heights.--Kilpatrick's
stratagem.--Flight of the enemy.--Capture of Falmouth.--Burial of
Lieutenant Decker.--Incidents at "Brandy Station."--"Harris Light"
and "Tenth New York."--"Men of Maine, you must save the
day!"--Position won.--Some press reviews of the work 313
CHAPTER XXIX.
"BATTLES FOR THE UNION."
"Battles for the Union."--Extracts.--Bull Run.--Brandy
Station.--Manassas.--Gettysburg.--Pittsburg Landing.--Surrender of
General Lee.--Opinions of the press.--Philadelphia "North
American."--Pittsburg "Commercial."--Chicago "Inter-Ocean."--
Scranton "Republican."--Wilkes-Barre "Record of the
Times."--Reading "Eagle."--Albany "Evening Journal" 322
CHAPTER XXX.
"HEROES OF THREE WARS."
Literary zeal.--"Heroes of Three Wars."--Extract from preface.--Sale
of the work.--Extracts: Washington.--Winfield Scott.--Zachary
Taylor.--Grant.--Sheridan.--Kilpatrick.--Press reviews, a few out
of many: Boston "Transcript."--Chicago "Inter-Ocean."--Baltimore
"Sun."--Philadelphia "Times."--Cincinnati "Enquirer."--Worcester
"Spy."--Pittsburg "Gazette" 341
CHAPTER XXXI.
OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK.
From Boston to San Francisco.--An unparalleled ride.--Object of the
journey.--Novel lecture tour.--Captain Frank M. Clark.--"Echoes from
the Revolution."--Lecture at Tremont Temple.--Captain Theodore L.
Kelly.--A success.--Proceeds of lecture.--Edward F.
Rollins.--Extracts from first lecture.--Press notices 364
CHAPTER XXXII.
BOSTON TO CHICAGO.
In the saddle.--Bunker Hill.--Arrives in Albany.--Reminiscences.--
The Soldiers' Home.--Contributions for erecting Soldiers'
Home.--Reception at Rochester.--Buffalo.--Dunkirk.--Swanville.--
Cleveland.--Massacre of General Custer.--Monroe.--Lectures for
Custer Monument.--Father of General Custer.--Detroit.--
Kalamazoo.--An adventure.--Gives "Paul Revere" a rest.--Decatur.--
Niles.--Michigan City.--Chicago 376
CHAPTER XXXIII.
CHICAGO TO OMAHA.
Returns to Michigan City.--Joliet.--Thomas Babcock.--Herbert
Glazier.--Ottawa.--La Salle.--Colonel Stevens.--Press Notice.--Taken
for a highwayman.--Milan.--Davenport.--Press Notice.--Iowa
City.--Des Moines.--Press Notice.--Attacked by prairie
wolves.--Council Bluffs.--Omaha 401
CHAPTER XXXIV.
CAPTAIN GLAZIER CAPTURED BY INDIANS.
Captain Glazier as a horseman.--Cheyenne.--Two herders.--Captured
by Indians.--Torture and death of a herder.--Escape.--Ogden.--
Letter to Major Hessler.--Kelton.--Terrace.--Wells.--Halleck.--
Elko.--Palisade.--Argenta.--Battle Mountain.--Golconda.--Humboldt.--
"The majesty of the law."--Lovelock's.--White Plains.--Desert.--
Wadsworth.--Truckee.--Summit.--Sacramento.--Brighton.--
Stockton.--SAN FRANCISCO 410
CHAPTER XXXV.
RETURN FROM CALIFORNIA.
Returns to the East by the "Iron Horse."--Boston _Transcript_ on the
journey on horseback.--Resumes literary work.--"Peculiarities of
American Cities."--Preface to book.--A domestic incident.--A worthy
son.--Claims of parents.--Purchases the Old Homestead, and presents
it to his father and mother.--Letter to his parents.--The end 431
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
An interval of literary work.--Conception of another expedition.--
Reflections upon the Old Explorers.--Indian rumors.--Determined to
find the true source of the Great River.--Starting on the eventful
journey.--Joined by his brother George and Barrett Channing
Paine.--Collecting materials for the expedition.--Brainerd the
first point of departure.--Through the Chippewa country.--Seventy
miles of government road.--Curiosity its own reward.--Arrival at
Leech Lake 437
CHAPTER XXXVII
HOME OF THE CHIPPEWAS.
An aboriginal red man.--A primitive hotel.--A native of the
forest.--Leech Lake.--Major Ruffe's arrival.--White Cloud.--Paul
Beaulieu and his theory about the source of the
Mississippi.--Che-no-wa-ge-sic.--Studying Indian manners and
customs.--Dining with Indian royalty.--Chippewa hospitality.--How
the wife of an Indian Chief entertains.--Souvenir of Flat
Mouth.--Return of Che-no-wa-ge-sic.--A council held.--An Indian
speech.--"No White Man has yet seen the head of the Father of
Waters."--Voyage of exploration.--Launching the canoes 444
CHAPTER XXXVIII
EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY.
Launching the canoes.--Flat Mouth and White Cloud again.--An
inspiring scene.--Farewell to Leech Lake.--Up the Kabekanka
River.--Dinner at Lake Benedict.--Difficult navigation.--A peaceful
haven.--Supper and contentment.--Lake Garfield.--Preparations for
first portage.--Utter exhaustion.--Encampment for the night.--The
cavalry column.--Lake George and Lake Paine.--The Naiwa River.--Six
miles from Itasca.--Camping on the Mississippi watershed.--A
startling discovery.--Rations giving out.--Ammunition gone.--Arrival
at Lake Itasca 454
CHAPTER XXXIX.
DISCOVERY OF THE SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
Short rations.--Empty haversacks and depleted
cartridge-boxes.--Statement of Chenowagesic.--Captain Glazier's
diary.--Vivid description.--Coasting Itasca.--Chenowagesic
puzzled.--The barrier overcome.--Victory! the Infant
Mississippi.--Enthusiastic desire to see the source.--The goal
reached.--A beautiful lake.--The fountain-head.--An American the
first white man to stand by its side.--Schoolcraft.--How he came to
miss the lake.--Appropriate ceremonies.--Captain Glazier's
speech.--Naming the lake.--Chenowagesic.--Military honors.--"Three
cheers for the explorer" 465
CHAPTER XL.
DOWN THE GREAT RIVER.
Voyage from Source to Sea.--Three thousand miles in an open
canoe.--"Pioneers of the Mississippi."--A thrilling lecture.--The
long voyage begun.--Mosquitoes.--Hunger and exhaustion.--The Captain
kills an otter.--Lakes Bemidji and Winnibegoshish.--An Indian
missionary.--Wind-bound.--Chenowagesic bids farewell to the
Captain.--Pokegama Falls.--Grand Rapids.--Meeting the first
steamboat.--Aitkin.--Great enthusiasm.--The new canoes.--Leaving
Aitkin.--Arrival at Little Falls.--Escorted in triumph to the
town.--"Captain Glazier! A speech! A speech!"--Lake Pepin.--An
appalling storm.--St. Louis.--Southern hospitality.--New
Orleans.--Arrival at the Gulf of Mexico.--End of voyage 476
CHAPTER XLI.
RECEPTION BY THE NEW ORLEANS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
Captain Glazier returns to New Orleans.--A general ovation.--
Flattering opinions of the press.--Introduction to the Mayor.--
Freedom of the City tendered.--Special meeting of the New Orleans
Academy of Sciences.--Presentation of the "Alice" to the Academy.--
Captain Glazier's address.--The President's Response.--Resolutions
of thanks and appreciation passed.--Visit to the Arsenal of the
Washington Artillery.--Welcome by the Old Guard of the Louisiana
Tigers.--Pleasant memories of the "Crescent City" 490
CHAPTER XLII.
BEFORE THE MISSOURI HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Return to St. Louis.--Lecture at Mercantile Library
Hall.--Brilliant audience.--The Missouri Historical Society
present.--Eloquent introduction by Judge Todd.--"Pioneers of the
Mississippi."--Presentation of the "Itasca" to the Historical
Society.--Remarks of Captain Silas Bent on accepting the
canoe.--Congratulations of the audience.--Closing scene 496
CHAPTER XLIII.
GREETINGS OF THE VOYAGE.
An interesting souvenir.--Greeting at Lake Glazier.--Petition to
Geographical Societies.--Voice from Aitkin, Gate City of the Upper
Mississippi.--Tributes from Brainerd.--Mississippi Pyramid.--An old
friend at La Crosse.--Greetings at St. Louis.--Senator Lamar.--Royal
welcome at Bayou Tunica.--Sentiment of Port Eads.--Congratulations
of the officers of the "Margaret."--Greetings from New
Orleans.--"Fame's triple wreath."--Closing remarks 502
"SWORD AND PEN" COMMENDATIONS. 517
APPENDIX BY THE PUBLISHERS Appx. i
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Portrait of the Soldier-author _Frontispiece_
Birth-place of Willard Glazier 26
The First Battle 32
Race with the Schoolmaster 44
Tragic Experience with an Ox-Team 80
The Young Trapper of the Oswegatchie 90
Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary 102
Old State Normal School 110
A Cavalry Column on the March 118
Night Attack on Falmouth Heights 126
Federal Canteens for Confederate Tobacco 130
Burial of Captain Walters at Midnight, during Pope's retreat 134
Sergeant Glazier at Aldie 146
Lieutenant Glazier at Brandy Station 156
Cavalry Fight at New Baltimore--Lieutenant Glazier taken Prisoner 160
Libby Prison 166
The Hole in the Floor 192
Tunneling--the Narrow Path To Freedom 198
Charleston Jail--Charleston, South Carolina 206
The Escape From Columbia--Crossing the Dead-Line 216
The Escape--Fed by Negroes in a Swamp 220
The Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties 224
Uncle Zeb's Prayer 232
The Escape--Crossing the Savannah at Midnight 246
A Mutual Surprise 258
Recaptured by a Confederate Outpost 266
The Escape and Pursuit 270
The Escape From Sylvania, Georgia--Running the Guard 276
Interview With Joel Munsell 306
Cavalry Foraging-Party Returning To Camp 312
A Cavalry Bivouac 319
Battle of Gettysburg 332
Captain Glazier at Tremont Temple--Boston 364
Boston to Brighton--First Day of The Journey 376
A Night among Wolves 406
Captured by Indians, near Skull Rocks, Wyoming 412
Pursued by Arrapahoes 418
Riding into the Pacific, near the Cliff House--San Francisco 428
Map of the Headwaters of the Mississippi 437
Captain Glazier Embarking for the Headwaters of the Mississippi 454
Camp Among the Pines 458
Making a Portage 462
Map of Lake Glazier 464
Lake Glazier--Source of the Mississippi 468
Running Rapids on the Upper Mississippi 478
SWORD AND PEN.
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN OF THE GLAZIER FAMILY.
Lineage of Willard Glazier.--A good stock.--Oliver Glazier at the
Battle of Bunker Hill.--The home of honest industry.--The Coronet
of Pembroke.--The "Homestead Farm."--Mehitable Bolton.--Her New
England home.--Her marriage to Ward Glazier.--The wild "North
Woods."--The mother of the soldier-author.
Willard Glazier comes of the mixed blood of Saxon and of Celt. We first
hear of his ancestors upon this side of the Atlantic at that period of
our nation's history which intervened between the speck of war at
Lexington and the cloud of war at Bunker Hill.
Massachusetts and the town of Boston had become marked objects of the
displeasure of the British Parliament. Later, in 1775, Ethan Allen had
startled Captain Delaplace by presenting his lank figure at the
captain's bedside and demanding the surrender of Ticonderoga in the name
of the "Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." In the language of
Daniel Webster, "A spirit pervaded all ranks, not transient, not
boisterous, but deep, solemn, determined."
War on their own soil and at their own doors was indeed a strange work
to the yeomanry of New England; but their consciences were convinced of
its necessity, and when their country called them to her defense they
did not withhold themselves from the perilous responsibility.
The statement of Quincy seemed to pervade all hearts. Said that
distinguished son of genius and patriotism, "Blandishments will not
fascinate us, nor will threats of a halter intimidate; for, under God,
we are determined that, wheresoever, whensoever, and howsoever we shall
be called to make our exit, we will die free men."
At such a time, and among such men, we find enrolled in the ranks of the
patriot army Oliver Glazier, the great-grandfather of the subject of the
present biography.
Oliver's father was John Glazier, a Massachusetts Lancastrian, born in
1739. John Glazier was the son of William Glazier, born about the year
1700, his ancestry being respectively of English and of Scotch
extraction. Oliver himself, however, was born in the town of Lancaster,
in the province or colony of Massachusetts, May twenty-third, 1763.
Hence the blood of Norman, of Saxon and of Celt, that had forgotten the
animosities of race and mingled quietly in the veins of his ancestors,
had become purely American in Oliver, and though but little over
fourteen years of age, we find him doing yeoman service upon the
ramparts of Bunker Hill.
That he performed well his part in the struggle for liberty, is evident
from the fact that he appears upon the rolls as a pensioner, from the
close of that memorable contest until the time of his death.
Mr. Frank Renehan, in a sketch contributed by him to an elaborate work
which was published by the New York and Hartford Publishing Company in
1871, comments as follows upon the coincidence of Oliver Glazier in 1775
and Willard Glazier in 1861--both being at the time of entering service
comparatively boys in age, enlisting for the defense of their country:
"The former, though then but fourteen years of age, participated with
the patriots in the battle of Bunker Hill, and to the last contributed
his young enthusiasm and willing services to the cause he had espoused;
thus giving early testimony of his devotion to the land of his adoption
and of fealty to the principles of popular government involved in the
struggle for American independence. So remarkable an instance of
ancestral fidelity to the interests of civil liberty could not but
exercise a marked influence upon those of the same blood to whom the
tradition was handed down, and here we find our subject, a scion of the
third generation, assisting in 1861 on the battlefields of the South, in
maintenance of the liberty his progenitor had contributed to achieve in
1775 on the battlefields of the North! This is not mentioned as a
singular fact--history is replete with just such coincidences,--but
merely for the purpose of suggesting the moral that, in matters of
patriotism, the son is only consistent when he imitates the example and
emulates the virtues of his sires."
In this eloquent passage occurs an error of fact. Oliver Glazier while
in the patriot army was _not_ fighting for the "land of his adoption."
As we have seen, he was native here and "to the manor born." Indeed, in
the light of historic proof and with the example of men descended from
Washington and Light Horse Harry Lee before us, we are rather inclined
to admire the paragraph as a fine specimen of rhetorical composition
than to admit its accuracy as a deduction in philosophy.
Subsequent to his term of military service--an experience through which
he had safely passed--Oliver Glazier became a resident of West Boylston,
Massachusetts, where he married a Miss Hastings.
The name of Glazier, Lower tells us, is purely English, and is derived
from the title given to the trade. However that may be, those who have
borne it have always expressed a pride in having sprung from the great
mass--the people--and have held with the philosopher of Sunnyside, that
whether "hereditary rank be an illusion or not, hereditary virtue gives
a patent of nobility beyond all the blazonry of the herald's college."
The name of Hastings takes its rise from a nobler source; for Mrs.
Oliver Glazier brought into the family as blue blood as any in all
England. The great family which bears that name in Great Britain can
show quarterings of an earlier date than the battle which gave a kingdom
to William of Normandy. Macaulay says that one branch of their line, in
the fourteenth century, "wore the coronet of Pembroke; that from another
sprang the renowned Lord Chamberlain, the faithful adherent of the White
Rose, whose fate has furnished so striking a theme both to the poet and
historian," and while it is probable that this wife of an American
patriot was many degrees removed from the powerful leaders whose name
she bore, the same blood undoubtedly flowed in her veins that coursed
through theirs.
Oliver, during the many years of a happy married life which terminated
in his death at the ripe age of ninety-seven, became the father of
eight children. His son Jabez left Boylston at an early age, and after
considerable "prospecting" finally married a Miss Sarah Tucker and
settled in the township of Fowler, St. Lawrence County, New York. Out of
their union sprang three sons, George, Ward, and Henry, and four
daughters, Elvira, Martha, Caroline and Lydia. During a visit he made to
his "down East" relations, Ward married a young lady by the name of
Mehitable Bolton, of West Boylston, Massachusetts.
This young lady was a true representative of the New England woman, who
believes that work is the handmaid of religion. She entered a cotton
factory at Worcester when only seventeen years of age, and worked
perseveringly through long years of labor, often walking from her home
in West Boylston to the factory at Worcester, a distance of seven miles.
At the time of her marriage--which occurred when she was
twenty-five--she had accumulated the snug little sum of five hundred
dollars, besides possessing a handsome wardrobe, all of which was the
fruit of her own untiring industry.
If it be true that the mothers of men of mark are always women of strong
and noble characters, then we are not surprised to find in the mother of
Willard Glazier those sterling qualities which made her young life
successful.
The early married life of Ward Glazier was passed upon the farm first
cleared and cultivated by his father, and which has since become known
to the neighborhood as the "Old Glazier Homestead." This farm is
situated in the township of Fowler, midway between the small villages of
Little York and Fullersville.
The township is a tract of rugged land, containing only the little
village of Hailesborough, besides those already named. Along its borders
rushes and tumbles a turbulent stream which still retains its original
Indian appellation--the Oswegatchie; a name no doubt conveying to the
ear of its aboriginal sponsors some poetical conceit, just as another
stream in far off Virginia is named the Shenandoah, or "Daughter of the
Stars."
Those who are at all familiar with the scenery that prevails in what in
other sections of the country are called the great North Woods, and in
their own neighborhood the great South Woods, can readily imagine what
were the geological and scenic peculiarities of Fowler township. Bare,
sterile, famished-looking, as far as horticultural and herbaceous crops
are concerned, yet rich in pasture and abounding in herds--with vast
rocks crested and plumed with rich growths of black balsam, maple, and
spruce timber, and with huge boulders scattered carelessly over its
surface and margining its streams, St. Lawrence County presents to-day
features of savage grandeur as wild and imposing as it did ere the foot
of a trapper had profaned its primeval forests.
Yet its farms and its dwellings are numerous, its villages and towns
possess all the accompaniments of modern civilization, the spires of its
churches indicate that the gentle influences of religion are not
forgotten, and there, as elsewhere, the indomitable will of man has won
from the wilderness a living and a home.
[Illustration: Birth-place Of Willard Glazier.]