Sword and Pen: Ventures and Adventures of Willard GlazierOwens, John Algernon
History
Sword and Pen: Ventures and Adventures of Willard Glazier
Owens, John Algernon
Glazier, Willard W., 1841-1905; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
The Schenectady _Union_ had heralded his approach by the following
notice:
"Captain Glazier.--This noted soldier, author, rider, and raider,
who raided during the war with General Kilpatrick, will advance
upon this place next Monday, and in the evening lecture upon
'Echoes from the Revolution.' Captain Glazier is a member of the
'Grand Army' in good standing, and will be assisted here by the
members of Post 14, with whom he will divide the profits of the
lecture. The Captain was an inmate of Libby Prison at one time
during the war, and finally made his escape to the Union lines. The
book entitled 'Capture, Prison-Pen and Escape,' and several other
war books, were produced by him."
Reaching Fonda, May twenty-sixth, we find the following entry in his
Journal: "Scenery charming. I saw nothing in Massachusetts equal to the
Valley of the Mohawk, and am surprised that novelist and poet have not
found more material here for legendary romance."
Passing through St. Johnsville, Little Falls, Utica, and Rome--where he
met a large number of his "Grand Army" comrades, and was introduced to
Hon. H. J. Coggeshall, Colonel G. A. Cantine, Hon. W. T. Bliss, and many
others--he arrived in Syracuse June second, registered at the Vanderbilt
House, and lectured at Shakespere Hall in the evening. Rochester was
reached on the eighth, where the tenth lecture was delivered to an
appreciative audience in Corinthian Hall--the introduction being made by
Colonel Reynolds. The Rochester _Democrat_ noticed the lecture in the
following paragraph:
"A very large audience assembled at Corinthian Hall last evening to
listen to Captain Willard Glazier's lecture on 'Echoes from the
Revolution.' The lecture was a very interesting one, and the
audience were agreeably entertained. Captain Glazier proposes to go
to Batavia, and from thence to Buffalo. He is meeting with deserved
success in his journey on horseback from ocean to ocean, which
increases as he becomes better known."
It may here be remarked that during Captain Glazier's stay in Rochester,
an exception was made to the usually courteous reception given him by
the local press. One of the papers threw doubts on the genuineness of
his credentials and the rectitude of his motives. This, however, had
little effect on him. He was conscious of his own integrity of purpose,
and of being guided by a desire to do good while seeking knowledge and
recreation in his own way, and the only notice we find of the
circumstance in his Journal is in a few words under date of June
eleventh: "Was pleased with an article in the _Express_, contradicting
falsehoods in the _Union_."
The following is the article referred to:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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