A Lieutenant at Eighteen

by Oliver Optic

OLIVER OPTIC

AUTHOR OF "THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES" "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD, FIRST
AND SECOND SERIES" "THE BOAT-CLUB STORIES" "THE GREAT WESTERN
SERIES" "THE WOODVILLE STORIES" "THE ONWARD AND UPWARD
SERIES" "THE LAKE SHORE SERIES" "THE YACHT-CLUB SERIES"
"THE RIVERDALE STORIES" "THE BOAT-BUILDER SERIES"
"THE BLUE AND THE GRAY—AFLOAT" "A MISSING
MILLION" "A MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN" "A YOUNG
KNIGHT-ERRANT" "STRANGE SIGHTS ABROAD"
"THE YOUNG NAVIGATORS" "UP AND DOWN
THE NILE" "ASIATIC BREEZES" "ACROSS
INDIA" "HALF ROUND THE WORLD"
ETC., ETC., ETC., ETC., ETC.

BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1895, by Lee and Shepard

All rights reserved

Lieutenant at Eighteen

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TO

MY PATRIOTIC FRIEND

MRS. SARA WHITE LEE

The Massachusetts Regent

of the

Daughters of the Revolution

This Volume

IS RESPECTFULLY AND CORDIALLY

DEDICATED

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PREFACE

"A Lieutenant at Eighteen" is the third of the series of "The Blue and the Gray—on Land." The stirring events of thirty-four years ago, when the first gun of the Great Rebellion awoke the nation from its slumber of thirteen years of peace, transformed the older boys of the day into men. Thousands of them who lacked three or four years of their majority, and some of them even six or seven years of it, flocked to the standard of the imperilled Union. While the volunteers were in considerable numbers over the military age, those who were not yet out of their teens were earnest in their desire to be enrolled in the ranks of the loyal army, and in one way or another surmounted the obstacle of their tender age.

The youth of the hero of this volume is not contrary to the facts set forth in the official records of the States; neither does his appearance in a squadron of cavalry constitute an improbability, nor his promotion from the rank of second lieutenant to that of first lieutenant, nor even his appointment on the staff of a brigadier-general. In the rosters of three regiments of cavalry, preserved in the archives of a certain State, the name of a young man of seventeen is given as a first lieutenant; two of eighteen as captains; one of the same age as first lieutenant; and three more of that age as second lieutenants. Deck Lyon's rank, therefore, is not exceptional.

Since the close of the war many high schools in the larger cities, and many other educational institutions, have taught military drill and evolutions in their regular courses; and the students have been organized as companies, battalions, and regiments, and are thus trained in actual practice as officers, from a corporal to a colonel, and as privates, for service in the field if we should again unfortunately be involved in a war with a foreign or domestic enemy.

The important battle of Mill Springs, or Logan's Cross Roads as it is indifferently called in the official reports of the government, is introduced in the story, though not in its minute details. The Riverlawn Cavalry are present, and take part in the action, and the command of the principal character renders important service on the outskirts of the battle-field; and the squadron, either as a whole or in detachments, was busily employed. The State was overrun by lawless hordes of ruffians, of which Shaler, the latest historian of the State, writes as follows:—

"Deserters from both armies formed bands of outlaws called guerillas. These wretches, without commanders from either army, sheltered in the great forests that abound in nearly all parts of the State, were often strong enough to overcome the domestic forces, and were guilty of many outrages. They brought back to Kentucky the evils of its struggle with the Indians. Men again tilled their fields with their muskets by their sides, and slept in expectation of combat. During this and the following year these parties were hunted down, and, when captured, hanged without mercy. Still their numbers, their daring, and their swift movements, made the struggle as difficult and as bloody as in any year during the last century."

The Riverlawn Cavalry was largely employed in operations against these irregular bodies of marauders; and there were so many of them that the force was kept constantly occupied. The cavalry had plenty of exciting experience; and the hero, in command of his platoon on detached service, proved himself to be not only a brave officer, but a skilful strategist.

Compared with the States farther north, Kentucky had a terrible experience in the earlier years of the war, in her desperate struggle with Confederate and domestic enemies; and she is certainly entitled as a Union State to greater honor and respect for her loyalty and fidelity to the Union, and for sending so large a number of troops as she did "to the front," than any other loyal State.

William T. Adams.

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CONTENTS

	PAGE
CHAPTER I.
Grace Morgan and Her Treasure-Chest	[15]
CHAPTER II.
Preparations for Decisive Action	[28]
CHAPTER III.
The Lieutenant bags His Game	[41]
CHAPTER IV.
A Refractory Guerilla Chief	[54]
CHAPTER V.
Lieutenant Lyon encounters Another Enemy	[67]
CHAPTER VI.
A Smart Skirmish in the Road	[80]
CHAPTER VII.
The Battle at the Breedings Fort	[92]
CHAPTER VIII.
Before the Battle of Mill Springs	[105]
CHAPTER IX.
Preparing for Another Battle in the Road	[118]
CHAPTER X.
The Sharpshooters of Millersville	[131]
CHAPTER XI.
The Approach of Another Cavalry Force	[144]
CHAPTER XII.
A New Company of Mounted Riflemen	[156]
CHAPTER XIII.
A Night in a Jail at Jamestown	[169]
CHAPTER XIV.
The Aide-de-Camp of the General	[182]
CHAPTER XV.
The Attempted Escape of a Wagon-Train	[195]
CHAPTER XVI.
An Imaginary and a Real Battle	[208]
CHAPTER XVII.
The Overwhelming Defeat of the Enemy	[221]
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Flag of Truce on the Meadow	[234]
CHAPTER XIX.
The Riverlawn Cavalry on the Flank	[247]
CHAPTER XX.
The Flowing Tide of the Enemy's Retreat	[260]
CHAPTER XXI.
Deck Finds Himself in a Tight Place	[273]
CHAPTER XXII.
A Lieutenant among the "Missing"	[286]
CHAPTER XXIII.
Within the Confederate Lines	[299]
CHAPTER XXIV.
A Night Adventure on the Cumberland	[311]
CHAPTER XXV.
A Boat Voyage down the Great River	[324]
CHAPTER XXVI.
Four Fugitives from the Battle-Field	[337]
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Owner of the Mansion on the Hill	[349]
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Fight begins at Grove-Hill Mansion	[362]
CHAPTER XXIX.
A New Method of Operations	[375]
CHAPTER XXX.
The Surrender of Captain Grundy	[387]
CHAPTER XXXI.
An Unexpected Re-enforcement	[399]
CHAPTER XXXII.
Deck Lyon's Plan of Battle	[411]
CHAPTER XXXIII.
The Defeat and Surrender of the Guerillas	[424]
CHAPTER XXXIV.
The Gathering of a New Command	[437]
CHAPTER XXXV.
A First Lieutenant at Eighteen	[450]
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Scouting in the Enemy's Country.	[463]

ILLUSTRATIONS

"Sergeant Fronklyn dragged the form of Lieutenant Lyon out of the mêlée"	[ Frontispiece]
Illustrated Title
"Come down, or you are a dead man"	[ Page 64]
"They laid him on the grass just as the recall was sounded"	[ 141]
"He soon discovered his lieutenant riding at the head of his platoon"	[ 210]
"The sharpshooters rushed down the declivity"	[ 262]
"The ball struck him in the head"	[ 388]
"The unwelcome visitors pointed their weapons"	[ 461]

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