A Victorious Union | Page 2

has been

diligently fostered and nurtured in the young, and public opinion has
been voiced and energized in the statutes of many States, and in the
educational machinery of many municipalities. Over vast numbers of
schoolhouses in our land floats the American flag, the symbol of the
Union and the principles that underlie it.
The flag, the banner now of a reunited nation, means something more
than the sentiment of loyalty to the Union as the home of freedom; for
it implies the duty of defending the honor of that flag, the
representative idea of all we hold dear in Fatherland. In the East and the
West a considerable proportion of the high schools make military
tactics a part of their educational course. Companies, battalions, and
regiments of young men in their teens parade the streets of some of our
cities, showing in what manner the military spirit is kept alive, and, at
the same time, how the flag floating over our educational institutions,
which means so much more than ever before to our people, is to be
defended and perpetuated in the future.
The author of the six volumes of "The Blue and the Gray Series," as
well as of "The Army and Navy Series," the latter begun in the heat of
the war thirty years ago, earnestly believes in keeping active in the
minds of the young the spirit of patriotism. In the present volume, as in
those which have preceded it, he has endeavored to present to his
readers, not only a hero who is brave, skilful, and ready to give his life
for his country, but one who is unselfishly patriotic; one who is not
fighting for promotion and prize-money, but to save the Union in
whose integrity and necessity he believes as the safeguard and
substance of American liberty.
Peace has reigned in our land for nearly thirty years, and the asperities
of a relentless war have been supplanted by better and more brotherly
relations between the North and the South. The writer would not print a
word that would disturb these improving conditions; and if he has erred
at all in picturing the intercourse between Americans as enemies, he
has made sure to do so in the interests of justice and magnanimity on
both sides.
In the series of which this volume is the last, the author has confined

his narrative of adventures to the navy. It has been suggested to him
that another series, relating exclusively to incidents in the army, should
follow. After forty years of labor in this particular field, and having
already exhausted the threescore and ten of human life, he cannot be
assured that he will live long enough to complete such a series, though
still in excellent health; but he intends to make a beginning of the work
as soon as other engagements will permit.
William T. Adams.
Dorchester, March 16, 1893.

CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER I.
The Mission to Mobile Point 15
CHAPTER II.
The Departure of the Expedition 26
CHAPTER III.
A Bivouac near Fort Morgan 37
CHAPTER IV.
The Revelations of the Revellers 48
CHAPTER V.
In the Vicinity of the Confederate Fort 59

CHAPTER VI.
Captain Sullendine of the West Wind 70
CHAPTER VII.
A Powerful Ally of the Belleviters 81
CHAPTER VIII.
On Board of the Cotton Schooner 92
CHAPTER IX.
The Departure of the Tallahatchie 103
CHAPTER X.
The Casting off of the Towline 114
CHAPTER XI.
A Happy Return to the Bellevite 125
CHAPTER XII.
A Lively Chase to the South-West 136
CHAPTER XIII.
The First Shot of Blumenhoff 147
CHAPTER XIV.
The Progress of the Action 158
CHAPTER XV.

A Flank Movement Undertaken 169
CHAPTER XVI.
The Lieutenant's Daring Exploit 180
CHAPTER XVII.
A Magnanimous Enemy 191
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Reign of Christianity 202
CHAPTER XIX.
Colonel Homer Passford of Glenfield 213
CHAPTER XX.
A Very Melancholy Confederate 224
CHAPTER XXI.
Captain Sullendine Becomes Violent 225
CHAPTER XXII.
The Disposition of the Two Prizes 246
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Welcome Home at Bonnydale 257
CHAPTER XXIV.
Lieutenant-Commander Christopher Passford 268

CHAPTER XXV.
The Principal Officers of the St. Regis 279
CHAPTER XXVI.
The St. Regis in Commission 290
CHAPTER XXVII.
Captain Passford Alone in his Glory 301
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Off the Coast of North Carolina 312
CHAPTER XXIX.
The First Prize of the St. Regis 323
CHAPTER XXX.
Another Sailing Contest Inaugurated 334
CHAPTER XXXI.
A Victorious Union 345

A VICTORIOUS UNION
CHAPTER I
THE MISSION TO MOBILE POINT
"I almost wish you were the second or the third lieutenant of the
Bellevite, instead of the executive officer, Christy," said Captain

Breaker, the commander of the steamer, as they were seated together
one day on the quarter-deck.
"Do I fail in the discharge of my duty in my present position, Captain?"
asked Christy, very much astonished,