_Hamilton_ (_Ont._) _Times._

"Sword and Pen" is a work replete with stirring pen-pictures of events in the history of the United States during a critical period of its history. Its description of the princ.i.p.al incidents in the late war, and the suffering of the author and others in that detestable "Black Hole of Calcutta"--the Libby Prison--are most graphic. Willard Glazier's life was not confined to warfare, though he saw service in nearly all the great battles between the North and South. A few years ago he rode on horseback from ocean to ocean, and his observations on that extraordinary trip are also included in this handsome and interesting volume. He discovered the true source of the Mississippi in northern Minnesota, and afterwards performed the journey of 3,000 miles to the sea board in an open canoe, and a very interesting account of these journeyings is given in the concluding chapters of the work which is throughout beautifully ill.u.s.trated.

_Troy Daily Times._

The Works of Captain Willard Glazier, the soldier-author, are so well known and popular that a life of the writer cannot fail to be interesting to a large portion of the public. A very complete and excellent account of Glazier and his achievements has been prepared by John Algernon Owens, and published by P. W. Ziegler & Co., Philadelphia.

The book bears the t.i.tle of "Sword and Pen," and recounts the ventures and adventures of the subject of it in war and literature, comprising incidents and reminiscences of his childhood, his checkered 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 source of the Mississippi river, and his canoe voyage from thence to the Gulf of Mexico. The story is told in the simple, direct way that appeals at once to one's favorable attention. It is an exciting, in some portions a thrilling narrative, recounting some of the most dramatic and tragic scenes of the war, in which Glazier, as a youthful cavalry officer, bore a brave and manly part, being then but nineteen years old. The lad abandoned his studies and his school teaching and went from Troy to become a member of the Harris light cavalry, with which he served during many a b.l.o.o.d.y fray. He was captured by the rebels and shared the hard fate that fell to many a poor Union soldier in the prison pens of the South, and the recital of this part of his experience will recall the angry blood to the face of every old soldier who reads it, and arouse the sentient sympathies of every patriot who peruses the volume. The book contains an appreciative yet discriminating criticism of Glazier's literary achievements, and is in every sense worthy of the hero with whom it deals. It is profusely ill.u.s.trated with battle and other scenes, and is accompanied by a map giving an accurate presentation of the route pursued by Captain Glazier in his trip to the source of the Mississippi.

Altogether this is a book well worth reading.

_Scranton Republican._

"Sword and Pen" by John Algernon Owens, a story of endurance, patient toil, danger and daring, very entertaining, as well as instructive. In Mr. Owens Captain Glazier has found a biographer who has done him justice, and who has made a book that will be widely read.

_Oswego Times and Express._

We have before us a new book, ent.i.tled "Sword and Pen; or, Ventures and Adventures in War and Literature." It is a biography of the soldier-author, Willard Glazier, a type of the adventurous American of which we may justly be proud. It takes up the boyish life of Willard Glazier, takes him from the school-room as a pupil to the school-room as a teacher, until the war of the Rebellion called him to the army. It details his adventures as a member of the Ira Harris Cavalry until his capture by the rebels, and the life he led in the prisons of the South; and is detailed in a graphic manner. When the war was over the same spirit of adventure which sent him to the front in the army drove him into other adventures. The horseback ride from ocean to ocean is described in an interesting style, followed by the search for the true source of the Mississippi River and its successful termination, together with an account of his canoe voyage to the Gulf of Mexico. The book is full of action, and is interesting as giving a correct history of the life of this remarkable man. It is profusely ill.u.s.trated, and is accompanied by a map of the section covered by the source of the Mississippi.

_Boston Transcript._

The biography of Willard Glazier, under the t.i.tle of "Sword and Pen,"

has achieved a large sale in the Eastern, Western and Middle States.

The subject of the biography, who is still living, was a bright, wide-awake lad, whose childhood was not more eventful than that of hundreds of other boys of like condition. He was ambitious, energetic, and wholly free from any bad habit which would operate as a drawback upon his advancement in life. His parents were not able to do more for him in the way of an education than to send him to a common district school, but he thirsted for an education, and his mind was continually busy devising ways and means to secure it. The much-needed money to pay his expenses at the Albany Normal School was at last gained by trapping minks, whose skins were worth from two to four dollars. From the Normal he went to teach school, and was engaged in this profession when the civil war broke out. He was then nineteen years old. The first shot fired at Sumter changed his whole life plans, and the summer of 1861 found him in the field as sergeant in the Second New York Cavalry. He partic.i.p.ated in a good many exciting contests, and was finally wounded and captured at Brandy Station, in October, 1863. The story of his life in prison is vividly told. He made his escape after fourteen months'

imprisonment, and made his way through the enemy's lines into Sherman's army. After the war he wrote a volume made up of his war experiences, ent.i.tled "Capture, Prison Pen, and Escape," over 400,000 copies of which have been sold. In 1876, Captain Glazier started from the Revere House, in this city, to cross the Continent on horseback, a feat which he successfully performed, reaching San Francisco in two hundred days from the time of starting--a distance of 4,133 miles. In 1881, he made a canoe voyage down the Mississippi of 3,000 miles. Captain Glazier is the author of several books, and has won considerable reputation as a lecturer. The book before us will be read with deep interest, not only for what it is worth historically, but as showing what can be accomplished by pluck and brains without the backing of money.

_Buffalo News._

The readers of Captain Willard Glazier's works will be pleased with the biography of this remarkable man, published by P. W. Ziegler & Co., of Philadelphia. Captain Glazier's life is full of exciting interest, and the well-written biography holds the reader's attention to the last. The account of the discovery of the true source of the Mississippi is especially interesting from the fact that it gives the best account of that memorable event that has ever been published.

_Albany Sunday Press._

"Sword and Pen." This work is the biography of a man already well-known by the American public as a soldier and an author. The subject is an especially interesting one to the people of this section, as Captain Glazier was born in St. Lawrence county of this State, and spent some years of his life in this city. His works have been read with interest by thousands, and now those who have enjoyed them will have the opportunity to learn something of the author who has for so long delighted them. This biography gives a very full and interesting account of the princ.i.p.al events in Captain Glazier's life, among which we notice especially his remarkable journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean on horseback, his discovery of the true source of the Mississippi River, and his canoe voyage thence to the Gulf of Mexico. All these episodes are profusely and elegantly ill.u.s.trated.

_Newark Register._

"Sword and Pen" is the suggestive t.i.tle of a very readable and interesting biography of Captain Willard Glazier, the soldier-author, by John Algernon Owens. "Biography," the author tells us in his preface, "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 subject of this biography certainly fulfills these requirements, and a much bolder and less graceful narrative of his adventures and exploits would, without doubt, be interesting and instructive. Mr. Owens has, however, heightened the interest, and pointed the moral of his subject's remarkable career by his clear and correct style, and lively and picturesque narrative. Captain Glazier was born in northern New York, near the St. Lawrence, in 1841. His boyhood was pa.s.sed in the country, and filled with all a rustic lad's delights and exploits as well as disadvantages and privations. Fighting hard for an education, he became a teacher, continuing in this peaceful vocation until the outbreak of the rebellion summoned him to his country's defence. Pa.s.sing through a succession of the most remarkable adventures and escapes in the war, and rising from the ranks to a captain's post, Captain Glazier has, since the war, become widely known as the soldier-author, and the triumphs of his pen have been fully as great as, if not greater than, those of his sword. The work is well printed and handsomely bound, and will prove very popular.

_Boston Globe._

The adventures of Willard Glazier admirably narrated by John Algernon Owens, under the t.i.tle of "Sword and Pen," is a fascinating biography in which the author has woven many pleasing incidents, sometimes quite out of the line of his story, yet always to the point and always entertaining. The war adventures of Glazier, who is called the "Soldier-author," have already been largely read and appreciated, particularly by old soldiers. Willard Glazier has enjoyed quite a literary renown, the sale of his first book, "Capture, Prison-Pen, and Escape," having been over 400,000 volumes. Mr. Owens has now given us Captain Glazier's life in a neatly bound volume, from the press of P. W.

Ziegler & Co. of Philadelphia. The hero of this story had an eventful career which made it interesting. Born of parents of small means, but of the old Puritan stock, and excellent character, and bred and nurtured in the midst of the wildest and grandest scenery in the rugged county of St. Lawrence, with no opportunities for culture, except such as he made for himself, he rose by his ambition, and was the builder of his own fortune. There is a strong lesson pointed out by the graphic history of his career. It teaches to the young uncompromising duty in every relation of life--self-denial and pluck.

_Newark Daily Journal._

"Sword and Pen; or, the Ventures and Adventures of Willard Glazier."

Willard Glazier is an author who has risen into popularity almost unprecedented in this country. It is said that his first book, "Capture, Prison-Pen, and Escape," written from facts noted in his diary after a wonderful career on the battle-field, and in prisons of the South, reached the enormous sale of 400,000 volumes. "Sword and Pen" is the story of Captain Glazier's life. Born in obscurity, and toiling for an education with great perseverance and against obstacles that seemed almost unsurmountable, he became a teacher of the first rank when only eighteen years of age. Enlisting in the Second New York Cavalry, at the very beginning of the war, he served gallantly under General Kilpatrick in all the battles of Virginia up to October 19, when he was taken prisoner at New Baltimore, after having two horses shot under him. He partic.i.p.ated in digging the tunnel out of Libby Prison, through which one hundred and fifteen Union prisoners escaped. Glazier, however, was left behind. From Richmond he was sent to Danville and other prisons, frequently attempting to escape. He was sent to Charleston jail, where, with other prisoners, he was placed under fire of the Union guns on Morris Island. Next he was sent to Columbia, and then comes a thrilling recital of escapes and recaptures; wading through swamps and across rivers at night, and lying hidden in thickets or negro huts by day; tracked by blood-hounds, frequently shot at; enduring the pangs of starvation, thirst, cold and rain, the hero finally reached Sherman's lines after encountering a hundred deadly perils. The brave boy was a prisoner when the term of his enlistment expired, but he immediately applied for and obtained a new commission, and after a brief visit to his parents, he re-entered the army and served until the end of the war.

The story is thrillingly told, yet between the many tragic events depicted, there occur frequent humorous episodes, especially those delineating negro character. Young Glazier's brilliant career as the writer of "Soldiers of the Saddle," "Capture, Prison-Pen, and Escape,"

"Battles for the Union," "Heroes of Three Wars," "Peculiarities of American Cities," etc., is fully given, with copious extracts from each work, together with highly favorable notices from the _Boston Post_, _New York Tribune_, _Chicago Inter-Ocean_ and other leading newspapers.

The last part of the book is devoted to a voluminous and somewhat roseate description of Captain Glazier's highly successful lecture tour on horseback from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean; his discovery of the source of the Mississippi River, and his canoe voyage from thence to the Gulf of Mexico. Captain Glazier is unquestionably a hero, possessing genius of a high order, and as he is now only forty-two years of age, it would seem that there are still brilliant achievements before him.

Whatever may be said of the literary merits of his biography, the history is of absorbing interest. It is such that takes hold of the popular heart, and the hundreds of thousands of Grand Army men who read it will seem to "fight their battles o'er again."

_New York Herald._

"Sword and Pen; or, Ventures and Adventures of Willard Glazier," by John Algernon Owens, is a well-written book and altogether readable. It describes the humble origin of one who afterwards became one of the most dashing officers in the Federal cavalry service during the war for the Union. It tells of the vicissitudes of a life restless but resolute, and which bears the stamp of heroism and success. There are stories of school-days full of the activity and frivolity of youth, of failure and fortune, and a graphic sketch of the turning point in Glazier's career, which came with the rebellion. From the day he entered the ranks of the Harris Light Cavalry his course was steadily onward and upward, rising from corporal to be the captain of brave men nerved to the utmost endurance and inured to the dangers and hardships of war. The ensuing pages ring with the enthusiasm of martial achievements, of peril by day and night, of capture, of the dungeon, and the thrilling escape. The book closes with a vivid account of his famous ride on horseback from ocean to ocean, from Boston to San Francisco. This unparalleled ride was accomplished by Captain Glazier in 1876, the Centennial year, and serves as a fitting conclusion to a career marked by indomitable industry, true courage and unquestioned success, showing that

"Honor and shame from no condition rise; Act well your part, there all the honor lies."

The book is profusely ill.u.s.trated and will be an interesting addition to either a public or private library.

_Hartford Courant._

"Sword and Pen; or, Ventures and Adventures of Willard Glazier," the soldier-author, by John Algernon Owens. Captain Glazier has had a very lively career both during the war and since, in explorations on the upper Mississippi. He is the author of a long list of war books himself, which have been much commended by the press, for their thrilling narrative style, patriotic enthusiasm, and dash. He is evidently of the stuff of which American heroes are made. The book claims for him high rank as an explorer and discoverer in being the first to definitely locate the True Source of the Mississippi. It is a readable story of an adventurous life, and being fully ill.u.s.trated, commends itself to all cla.s.ses of readers.

_Cincinnati Commercial Gazette._

John Algernon Owens has compiled incidents and reminiscences in the life of Willard Glazier, the soldier-author, and the work should occupy a position on the shelf of every library. The writings of Captain Glazier are too well known to need any words of commendation from us, his "Capture, Prison-Pen, and Escape," issued soon after the close of the war, having been among the most extensively read annals of the war. The "Sword and Pen" gives a sketch of the early life and adventures of the soldier-author, his school-boy days, and the incidents of that halcyon period of youth, all of which reads like a romance. His academic life is then detailed, after which the stern realities of life are encountered.

His military life follows, and his capture by the Confederate troops.

Then follows a recital of the dreary and monotonous routine of prison life, together with a vivid account of the scenes enumerated, the escape, and the final entry into the Federal lines. His life after re-entering the cavalry is given, and finally his career as an author and travels across the Continent. The work is written in an attractive style with a recital of much that has never been told before, while the old is so garnished that it cannot fail to interest all cla.s.ses of readers.

_Wilmington Morning News._

"Sword and Pen" is the life of Willard Glazier, who was born in St.

Lawrence county, New York, in 1841, of parents of narrow means, who was a bright, mischievous boy, who educated himself by his own efforts, and became a country school-teacher; who enlisted in the Harris Light Cavalry (a New York regiment), at the beginning of the war; who was promoted from the ranks on account of soldierly qualities and personal bravery, to the office of first lieutenant; who was captured by the rebels and imprisoned in Libby Prison and other rebel pens; who finally escaped and made his way on foot under great privations to General Sherman's lines during that commander's "march to the sea;" who had made full notes of his varied army experience, and from these had written several very popular books about military life at that time, and who, hence, is designated, "The Soldier-Author," and appears to be enjoying all the quiet rewards of a patient, industrious, and resolute effort to improve himself and his fortunes in every legitimate and proper way. As an account of a boy of the people it is clear and instructive; as a picture of patriotic and courageous military service at a time of public peril, it is graphic and often thrilling; as a picture of a determined and honorable effort by a young man of generous instincts, to make his own way in the world, it is wholesome and useful. Its style will probably make its obvious lessons the more impressive to the ma.s.s of readers; and its general circulation among the young men of this country, nine-tenths of whom must make their own fortunes if they are to have any, will be a public benefit. It teaches honesty, self-help and patriotism; and we cannot have too many teachers at work upon these things.

_New York Tribune._

The history of a famous man can never fail to interest the reading public, especially when it records such adventures and dangers as those through which the hero of the "Sword and Pen" pa.s.sed. Willard Glazier's connection with the great civil war is a fact rendering unusually fascinating his biography, as perhaps no other fact could have done.

The battles in which he fought are those around which centre the deepest interest, and the vivid descriptions of his life in Libby Prison, his unsuccessful attempt at escape therefrom, and his later imprisonment at Camp Oglethorpe, are replete with interest to both old and young. The book is written in a bright, attractive style, and is well ill.u.s.trated with many cuts of true war life and its thrilling incidents. For the old, and especially the young, it is a book calculated to work much good, teaching lessons of patriotism, self-reliance, and perseverance.

His life was one of unusual events, and his indomitable ambition to advance was not the least of his many excellent qualities. Like many other well-known men, he began life in humble circ.u.mstances, and only to his own efforts was due the great success he achieved. The author, John Algernon Owens, brings out vividly the strong points of his hero's character, and throws around the whole narrative a halo of bright fancy, which renders the book as attractive as the most highly wrought romance.

_Baltimore American._

"Sword and Pen." Willard Glazier has made himself prominent both in war and literature. He cast his lot with the Federal cause, and served for a time as a private soldier in the Second Regiment, New York Cavalry. A little later he won laurels at the battles of Cedar Mountain, Mana.s.sas, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Brandy Station, and other historic spots, and rose rapidly in rank, until at the sharp skirmish near Buckland Mills he led his comrades as their captain, and was himself captured.