A Victorious Union

A Victorious Union

The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Victorious Union, by Oliver Optic This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: A Victorious Union SERIES: The Blue and the Gray--Afloat
Author: Oliver Optic
Release Date: June 25, 2006 [EBook #18678]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE BLUE AND THE GRAY--AFLOAT
Two colors cloth Emblematic Dies Illustrated Price per volume $1.50
TAKEN BY THE ENEMY WITHIN THE ENEMY'S LINES ON THE BLOCKADE STAND BY THE UNION FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT A VICTORIOUS UNION
THE BLUE AND THE GRAY--ON LAND
Two colors cloth Emblematic Dies Illustrated Price per volume $1.50
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER IN THE SADDLE (In Press) A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN (In Press) (Other volumes in preparation)
Any Volume Sold Separately. Lee and Shepard Publishers Boston

[Illustration: "Christy leaped upon the rail." Page 181.]

The
BLUE AND THE GRAY
Series
[Illustration]
By Oliver Optic
A VICTORIOUS UNION

The Blue and the Gray Series
A VICTORIOUS UNION
by OLIVER OPTIC
Author of "The Army And Navy Series" "Young America Abroad, First And Second Series" "The Great Western Series" "The Woodville Stories" "The Starry Flag Series" "The Boat-Club Stories" "The Onward and Upward Series" "The Yacht-Club Series" "The Lake Shore Series" "The Riverdale Stories" "The Boat-Builder Series" "Taken by the Enemy" "Within the Enemy's Lines" "On the Blockade" "Stand By the Union" "Fighting for the Right" "A Missing Million" "A Millionaire at Sixteen" "A Young Knight-Errant" "Strange Sights Abroad" etc.
BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers 10 Milk Street
1894

Copyright, 1893, by Lee and Shepard All Rights Reserved
A Victorious Union
Type-Setting and Electrotyping by C. J. Peters & Son, Boston S. J. Parkhill & Co., Printers, Boston

To My Friend
FRANK L. HARRIS
Who came from the cold of the Arctic regions, where he was a member of the Hayes expedition, and went into the heat of the War of the Rebellion, serving as a Naval officer until the end of the strife,
To whom I am greatly indebted for much valuable information relating to his profession,
This Book
Is Gratefully Dedicated.

PREFACE
"A VICTORIOUS UNION" is the sixth and last of "The Blue and the Gray Series." While the volume is not intended to be a connected historical narrative of the particular period of the War of the Rebellion in which its scenes are laid, the incidents accurately conform to the facts, and especially to the spirit, of the eventful years in which they are placed, as recorded in the chronicles of the great struggle, and as they exist in the memory of the writer. It is more than thirty years since the war began, and thousands upon thousands of the active participants in the strife as soldiers and sailors, including nearly all the great commanders, have passed on to their eternal reward. Thousands upon thousands of men and women have been born and reached their maturity since the most tremendous war of modern times ended in A Victorious Union. The knowledge of the stirring events of those four years of conflict, and of the patriotic spirit which inspired and underlaid them, has come, or will come, to at least one-half the population of this vast nation of sixty-five millions from the printed page or through the listening ear. The other moiety, more or less, either as children or adults, lived in the period of action, saw the gathering battalions, and heard or read the daily reports from the ensanguined battle-fields.
In some of the States that remained loyal to the Union throughout the long struggle, a military parade had been regarded by many as something very much in the nature of a circus display, as "fuss and feathers," such as tickled the vanity of both officer and private. Military organizations, except in our small regular army, were disparaged and ridiculed. When the war came, the Northern people were unprepared for it to a very great degree. The change of public opinion was as sudden as the mighty event was precipitate. Then the soldier became the most prominent and honored member of the community, and existing military bodies became the nucleus of the armies that were to fight the battles of the Republic.
During the last thirty years the military spirit has been kept alive as a constituent element of patriotism itself. The love of country has been diligently fostered and nurtured in the young, and public opinion has been voiced and energized in the statutes of many States, and in the educational machinery of many municipalities. Over vast numbers of schoolhouses in our land floats the American flag, the symbol of the