By Homer Greene A LINCOLN CONSCRIPT. Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50. COAL AND THE COAL MINES. In Riverside Library for Young People. Illustrated. 16mo, 75 cents. HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY Boston and New York A LINCOLN CONSCRIPT [Illustration: “MY BOY, OF SUCH STUFF ARE PATRIOTS AND HEROES MADE.”] A LINCOLN CONSCRIPT BY HOMER GREENE ILLUSTRATED BY T. DE THULSTRUP [Illustration] HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON AND NEW YORK : THE RIVERSIDE PRESS, CAMBRIDGE 1909 COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY HOMER GREENE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED _Published April 1909_ CONTENTS I. “THE SINS OF THE FATHERS” 1 II. NEWS FROM GETTYSBURG 27 III. A LOVER OF LINCOLN 52 IV. THE DRAFTED COPPERHEAD 77 V. AN UNEXPECTED BREAKFAST 100 VI. A DESPERATE DECISION 122 VII. OFF TO THE WAR 143 VIII. A LETTER FROM THE FRONT 166 IX. WITH ABRAHAM LINCOLN 191 X. FIGHTING FOR THE FLAG 215 XI. THE GREAT TRAGEDY 238 XII. THE WELCOME HOME 260 ILLUSTRATIONS “_My boy, of such stuff are patriots and heroes made_” (_page 244_) Frontispiece “_I’m no traitor_” 12 “_This isn’t fair play_” 54 “_I’ve discovered a way to get rid of these men_” 108 “_Well, what’s your case?_” 154 _Lincoln laid his hand on Bannister’s knee_ 202 “_Father, what does it mean?_” 218 _He faced his fellow townsmen_ 274 A LINCOLN CONSCRIPT CHAPTER I “THE SINS OF THE FATHERS” On the second day of July in the year 1863 the Civil War in America was at its height. Late in the preceding month Lee had turned his face northward, and, with an army of a hundred thousand Confederate soldiers at his back, had marched up into Pennsylvania. There was little to hinder his advance. Refraining, by reason of strict orders, from wanton destruction of property, his soldiers nevertheless lived on the rich country through which they passed. York and Carlisle were in their grasp. Harrisburg was but a day’s march away, and now, on this second day of July, flushed with fresh victories, they had turned and were giving desperate battle, through the streets and on the hills of Gettysburg, to the Union armies that had followed them.