Newark Register.
"Sword and Pen" is the suggestive title 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 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. 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.
Boston Globe.
The adventures of Willard Glazier admirably narrated by John Algernon Owens, under the title 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 participated 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 illustrated and will be an interesting addition to either a public or private library.