Captain Glazier

“ Captain Willard Glazier, the horseback traveller across the Continent, took in the Exposition on Saturday evening with intense gratification. He says he has seen no place on his route from Boston more promising than Des Moines. Among the calls he received at the Jones House was one from Captain Conrad, a prominent attorney from Missouri and now settled in his profession in this city, who was a fellow-captive with Captain Glazier in Libby Prison during the Rebellion. The Captain continued his journey westward yesterday with the best wishes of the friends he has made during his short stay here. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Captain Glazier has familiarized himself with all of the details of interest in the lives of a grand galaxy of heroes, and has put on paper, in a condensed and graphic form, a clear picture of what he has treasured up in his own mind. We know of no book that contains so faithful a presentation of our brave defenders in so condensed and satisfactory a form."
The Philadelphia Times observes:
"The soldier-author does his work in an artless, patriotic, beautiful style, and gives to his readers a real and not an imaginary idea of army life in all its lights and shades. ”

“ While in Cleveland the terrible news of the massacre of General Custer by the Indians reached Captain Glazier, who, as a cavalry officer, had seen service with him in the late war, and felt for him that respect and love which only a true soldier knows for a brave [390] leader. The stunning intelligence left a deep impression, and in due time he showed his respect for the dead general by substantial aid rendered in the erection of a monument to his memory. ”

“ Captain Glazier is well known to fame as a writer, having published several valuable works, among them a war-record entitled, 'Capture, Prison-Pen and Escape.'
"At the breaking out of the war, Willard Glazier, then a mere youth, entered the Harris Light Cavalry, under Colonel Judson Kilpatrick, and remained in the service until the close of the rebellion, his career being marked by many adventures and hair-breadth escapes. His feat of riding on horseback across the continent, unattended, to gather materials for a book, is certainly without a precedent, and shows a brave and intrepid spirit. ”

“ Coleman escorted Captain Glazier to the Washington Artillery Arsenal, and introduced him to Colonel J. B. Richardson, commanding the battalion, who accepted for the command the care of the canoe, and extended to Captain Glazier the hospitalities of the battalion during his stay in the city. Colonel Richardson and Mr. Coleman then took him around the arsenal and showed him its attractive features."
It will be readily seen from this letter that the members of the New Orleans Academy of Sciences were much impressed with the importance of the discovery Captain Glazier had made. ”

“ Passing 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. ”

“ On Friday our evening contemporary took occasion to treat Captain Willard Glazier, who lectured in Corinthian Hall the night previous, with a degree of contempt and misrepresentation suggestive of Confederate sympathies on the part of the writer. As to the methods of Captain Glazier's business we have nothing to do. As a man and a soldier, he is above reproach. ”

“ 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 passed 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ He performed his duty, was honorably discharged, and is a member in good standing of that noble organization of veterans, the 'Grand Army of the Republic.' We trust that when Captain Glazier comes again to Rochester, he will have better treatment and a still better audience. His trip across the continent will result in the public's having a record of observations which cannot fail to be valuable and entertaining. ”

“ He can supply you with game and [452] paddle your canoe. The Chippewas are your friends, and will give you shelter in their wigwams."
After he had finished, Flat Mouth presented Captain Glazier with a beautifully beaded pipe and tobacco pouch, the work of his favorite squaw, and expressed an earnest hope for the complete success of the expedition. Although Captain Glazier needed nothing to keep the memory of this novel dinner fresh in his mind, he will always treasure this souvenir of Flat Mouth among the many pleasant mementos of his visit to Leech Lake. ”

“ Such an expedition as Captain Glazier has recently concluded inevitably gives birth to many souvenirs and trophies of the undertaking which are always interesting, not only to their immediate recipient but also to the public generally; for a man of his calibre is in one sense public property, and as such everything associated with any important enterprise of his, is loudly demanded by men of all classes without regard to what would be considered its privacy under other circumstances. ”

“ To a returned soldier nothing is more welcome than conversation touching his experience 'in the field' with his companions, and next to this a good book written by one who has known 'how it is himself,' and who recounts vividly the scenes of strife through which he has passed. Such a work is 'Three Years in the Federal Cavalry.' Captain Glazier's experiences are portrayed in a manner at once interesting to the veteran, and instructive and entertaining to those who have but snuffed the battle from afar. ”

“ We are credibly informed that one of the chief objects of Captain Glazier's journey is to make observations and collect material for another book, which will no doubt be a very interesting one to read, and will add still greater honors to one who, though still a young man, has already acquired an enviable reputation as an author. ”

“ Paine were rowed back to Port Eads. Here they were very hospitably entertained until the arrival of the homeward-bound steamship "Margaret," which they boarded and on which they returned to New Orleans. There they met with the most cordial reception; people everywhere were curious to see Captain Glazier, and anxious to show their appreciation of his enterprising spirit and the success which had attended his last remarkable exploit. The press, not only of New Orleans, but all through the Mississippi Valley, gave glowing accounts of his voyage and of the reception tendered him at its conclusion. ”

“ But though beautiful it is treacherous, and the winds sweeping down between the high bluffs frequently make navigation on its waters perilous. In the morning when we reached its upper end we found to our dismay that the elements had possession, and the waves ran so high that a number of river steamers had been compelled to tie up and wait for the storm to subside. Captain Glazier, however, having a lecture appointment at Lake City, half way down the lake, determined to keep his appointment despite the weather, and ventured forth regardless of the warning of the river men. ”

“ They are convinced that he is thoroughly in earnest, and his proposition is a most liberal one. He offers to give the entire proceeds of his lectures to the association; and not only in this city but throughout the State, he generously offers to do the same thing. This is certainly deserving of the warm recognition of our own people at least, and we hope on Thursday evening to see the City Hall filled. Captain Glazier comes with the strongest endorsements from well-known gentlemen in the East, both as to his character as a gentleman and a soldier, and his ability as a speaker and writer. ”

“ No event occurred more exciting than the shooting of a buffalo that crossed his path—this being the third, beside sundry antelopes and several prairie wolves that had fallen to his revolver, in the course of his journey since leaving Omaha. On riding into Ogden, Captain Glazier was surprised to find it so important a city. It forms the western terminus of the Union Pacific, and the eastern terminus of the Central Pacific, railroads, and is the second city in size and population in the Territory of Utah. ”

“ The source of the Mississippi had ever been an unsettled question, unsatisfactory attempts at discovery having been made and various ill-founded claims put forward; but the subject for the last half century has been constantly agitated. It remained for Captain Glazier to finish the work begun by De Soto in 1541, and positively locate the true fountain-head.... That the lake from which the Great River starts, known by the Indians as Lake Pokegama, should be re-named Lake Glazier, seems an appropriate honor for the resolute explorer.... ”

“ He does not [l] claim to be the actual discoverer of the lake, as such, but only to have been the first to discover and establish the fact that it is the highest link in a chain in which Itasca is another; or, in other words, the true source of the river. The Indian name of the lake is Pokegama, and this, the author says, he would have retained, but was overruled by the other five, who insisted on calling it Lake Glazier. For the particulars of the interesting story the reader must be referred to the volume itself. Captain Glazier is an old traveler and a practised writer. ”

“ 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 ”

“ We have not often met with a more agreeable and pleasant gentleman than Captain Willard Glazier, who entertained a very respectable number of our citizens at Opera Hall on Saturday evening by delivering a lecture on 'Echoes from the Revolution.' The captain [393] has a fine voice and his manner of delivery is decidedly interesting, while his language is eloquent and fascinating. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ That he has devoted himself since the war to illustrate the war of the rebellion in books and upon the rostrum is to his credit, and certainly to the benefit of the people whose patriotism he keeps alive by his appeals with pen and tongue. Doubt was cast upon his services on account of his youth. But the fact stands that Willard Glazier was a captain of cavalry at the age of eighteen, certainly a higher record than that of a stay-at-home Copperhead. ”

“ Insinuating address and bold representations, produced impressions of his ability and influence, easily turned to his own advantage, and by holding out expectations of indulgence to those who should serve under his command, a company was raised, on the condition that he should be their captain. With these men he returned to the camp, where they were mustered. When the inspector was about to distribute them to different corps, Shays produced the enlistment papers ”