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BY THE AUTHOR OF THIS VOLUME.

A HISTORY OF THE WAR OF 1812-'15, between the United States and Great Britain.

"It is the best condensed account of that war of which I have knowledge -a compact volume, easy of reference, wonderfully accurate in dates and numbers, grouping the events of the war of 1812 so as to form a strong link in the chain that binds the United States together in everlasting union. Perry's victory on Lake Erie and Harrison's at the Thames gave us possession of the great Northwest, a result mighty in its consequences."--Gen. William T. Sherman.

"It is history written like a novel. From the causes of the war and the beginning to the end, the interest is sustained as it were in the development of a plot."-Indianapolis News.

"The style is clear, the work honest, the sentences concise, and the spirit dispassionate and admirable, though thoroughly American."-Philadelphia

Times.

"While it shows in every chapter the strict accuracy of the most exhaustive history, it yet presents the story of the war in such attractive shape as to seem quite like a romance."-Milwaukee Wisconsin.

"It is by an author whose language is free from all superfluity, and who presents dry fact in such a form that it becomes as interesting as fiction."Detroit Commercial Advertiser.

A HISTORY OF THE FRENCH WAR ending in the Conquest of Canada, with a preliminary account of the early attempts at colonization and struggles for the possession of the Continent.

"The story of these colonial wars was well worth telling, and Mr. Johnson has told it clearly and unpretentiously. His book contains all that any one not a specialist in the subject will care to know."—Good Literature.

"It is not only highly valuable as a historical contribution, but many of its scenes are as interesting as any romance."-Lutheran Observer.

"A very serviceable book for those who wish for a short, connected account of the relations between the French and English colonies."-The Nation.

"The story is told in the entertaining and truthful style which has made for him an enviable reputation."-Columbus Despatch.

"The incidents of the period referred to are found in no other single volume, nor in so concise and satisfactory a form."-Ohio State Journal.

"A succinct and graphic history of the bloody contests between the English and the French for the possession of American territory."-Chicago Interior.

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"

AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF THE FRENCH WAR ENDING IN THE

CONQUEST OF CANADA," AND "A HISTORY OF THE

WAR OF 1812-15 BETWEEN THE UNITED
STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN."

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BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge

1889

11641

COPYRIGHT, 1888,

BY

TICKNOR & COMPANY.

All rights reserved.

1-29-31 7IEN.

to

Sunifer
General Librar
10-26-45

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

CURRENT literature abounds in minute studies of. the separate campaigns and engagements of the great civil war, most of them purely military, and many of them exceedingly valuable; but the reader finds no ready answer to his question, How did it happen that the war took place at all, what was its general course, and what were the motive forces that brought it on, prolonged it, and finished it? There seemed to be wanting a history neither so extended as to bewilder the reader with multiplicity of details, nor so concise as to preclude all color. To meet this demand with a single compact volume is the purpose of the present effort; and, though many interesting particulars are necessarily omitted, it is hoped that the book presents a fair idea of the great conflict that so nearly wrecked the Republic. Scarcely another war in history has had a theatre so extended, few have called out so large armies, and none have sprung from a more popular cause. There were two thousand four hundred engagements of sufficient importance to be officially named, and many that were costlier of life and

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